TJ Michaels

This week’s snippet is a fight scene, but instead of a physical fight (which is coming up soon, I promise ;D) this is an emotional rout between our hero and heroine of Serati’s Flame. Enjoy! Oh, and don’t forget to visit my fellow Snippet’ers – links are at the bottom of this page.

Serati’s Flame (Vampire Council of Ethics 2)
Copyright 2008, T.J. Michaels
All Rights Reserved, Published by Samhain Publishing

The adrenaline rush Tameth had suppressed while hunting came slamming back into her chest. Only this time it rode the waves of anger rather than pursuit and competed with the raw emotions bombarding her heart. Her head claimed there was no reason to be upset. Even as his Second it was his choice to share information with her or not, especially if Bix had been contacted. But her heart wanted him to confide in her. Share everything. Have a real relationship. His brow was furrowed with genuine confusion, the bond hummed with it. But damn it, she needed to make him understand.

“Uh, guys, would you leave Alaan and me alone for a moment?”

The team rose as a unit, then spread out to strategic spots in the restaurant. If she hadn’t been so pissed, she would have chuckled at Kenoe’s grumbled, “About damned time. I’m overdue for something stronger than this piss water beer.” The white-haired, handsome-as-sin Hatsept Seeker made a beeline for the bar lounge while a burly, surly Collins headed outside to cover the front door.

Even with her intense Seeker’s training and experience, it took considerable effort to rein in her reeling emotions. The cider, once sweet and refreshing, was now bitter on her tongue. Downing it in one gulp, she set the glass carefully and quietly on the tabletop and discreetly let it all hang out. For his ears only, of course. She may have been pissed, but she’d had plenty of practice quietly snapping Serati male heads off.

“Alaan Serati, what the hell were you thinking to keep such important information from me?”

The man had the nerve to raise one of those thick blond eyebrows at her as if she’d gone surfing in the middle of a tsunami.

“Er, share it for what?”

“I can’t believe you asked me that,” she hissed. He couldn’t possibly be that dense. No, no way would any man of hers be such a blockhead. She was his Second and he was supposed to trust her, damn it.

“You’re very good at that,” he said with a smirk.

“Good at what?”

“Keeping your expression calm. You’re pissed as hell, but you look like we’re talking about having Sunday tea.”

“Oh shut up, you…you idiot! I’m your Second, and I can’t believe you didn’t…”

“Key word, Tameth, is Second. For now, I,” he emphasized the word, “am Head Seeker, woman. Not you.”

“I’m sure I’m supposed to care but…”

“And I spoke to Bix about this. So why the hell would I run a totally unsubstantiated lead, with no facts to back it up, by you? And don’t pull the Clan Serati woman crap on me. When on duty, you’re subordinate to me, not the other way around.”

His argument made sense, but who the hell cared? Fuck him and Bix, too. She wanted to be treated as an equal. Not shut out of his and Bix’s little Head Seeker club.

Then he grumbled something about why on earth did he have to be born into the only matriarchic clan on the planet. Now that did it.

“Because!” Okay, now she felt stupid, but pushed it away quickly. Besides, no woman in her right mind would want a relationship with a man who refused to understand how much she needed to be included.

“Look, Tam, when I stand in my office as Head Seeker or Second to Bix, I’m not your mate and I’m not your friend.”

“You’ve got that straight, asshole. As a matter of fact why don’t we just say you’re neither mate nor friend, period.”

“Speaking of periods, are you coming on yours?” he questioned. For a second he looked as if the big light bulb had gone on in that giant blond head of his, and suddenly he had the answer to life. Idiot.

“And I am not PMS’ing. If I were a male Seeker you wouldn’t leave me out. I don’t want you to treat me differently just because I’m a woman or because we had sex.”

“Sex doesn’t have anything to do with it. Look, woman, get it through your head. It’s not personal. It’s. Fucking. Work! And since you’re going to be all ‘female’ about it, tell me which of our team members I shared this information with instead of you.”

Her mouth dropped so wide open she was amazed it didn’t make contact with the table. Damn, he had her there. As far as she knew he’d only shared it with Bix. And that sure as hell didn’t count, considering he had authority over the entire Seeker corps all over the planet.

“All right, Tam, what is this really about?”

Leaning forward, he took her hands and held tight while gently stroking the pulse point just above the center of her palm. Suddenly Tameth felt beyond inadequate. She’d never gotten upset before when Alaan sought council about a mission from Bix instead of her. Hell, nothing out of the ordinary about that. It was normal and had been going on for as long as she’d been a Seeker. But rumor had it that Alaan used to include Sher in everything, including Seeker business he had no permission to share. Yet he’d left her out, and while she was Second on a mission at that. Her gut clenched as the seething fog of anger lifted leaving behind a dull ache in its wake along with a realization she’d never admit to in a million years—a dead woman had her tripping.

Bottom line: She couldn’t compete with a ghost.

Oh, yes, he is the man we all love to hate – the bad guy. Today’s snippet shows our villain truly enjoying himself. It should really be wrong, right? *evil grin*

After this snippet, scroll down to the link list below to bounce over to several other authors whose bad guys are having a fabulous day!

First, let me start by saying, “Yes, it’s true.” The beginning of this story where the heroine wonders what kind of man sends his wife an e-mail to let her know he’s leaving really happened to me! And after I finished fuming I had the makings of a great story in my head that practically jumped onto the pages. Meet Delaine Jeris, a brilliant undercover operative headed to Charlotte, North Carolina to begin her new life. Her assignment: Bring down a scientist determined to create his own harem. Delaine never thought it would involve find love in an unexpected place with an unlikely person – a competing agent!

Enjoy this excerpt from Delaine and Justin’s tale of suspense, mystery and hot sex!

Love,

TJ

“Mr. Baker, I’m so sorry. I followed her to the ladies room on the fourth floor then I lost her. I tried to keep an eye on her, I swear I did.”

Sarah Ann flinched when he pierced her with a malevolent glare. Such a wicked look shouldn’t have been possible from such a handsome man. Blond hair, green eyes, perfect white teeth. And brilliant. She was surprised to realize she didn’t even like him, and hated herself for needing him.

“You know, Sarah Ann,” Baker said, rising and circling around his desk to stand directly in front of her chair, “you’re assigned as the R&D specialist to my project. If you can’t carry out simple tasks then perhaps I should have your boss assign you to someone else.” He almost smiled when she blanched.

“I know I failed, Mr. Baker, but please… I-I’ll do anything. Please, can I have some, Mr. Baker? Just a little?”

“What will you give me? I couldn’t possibly let you have it for failure,” Baker sighed nonchalantly, knowing exactly what he would get for his high-grade pharmaceutical candy.

He smirked when she dropped to her knees and tore frantically at the belt holding up his classic cut wool trousers. In seconds she had his limp cock in her hands and plunged her mouth down over him. He stroked her hair and said, “Perhaps just a little bit. Only good girls get a full dose.”

Sarah Ann removed her mouth from his stiffening cock, her eyes wide with need.

“I can be a good girl, Mr. Baker. I swear I can!”

He thrust a hand roughly into her hair, tightened his fingers at her scalp and snatched her head backward, effectively quieting her too-loud pleas.

He snarled directly into her face, “Prove it.”

She was off her knees in a flash. Baker looked down at her bobbing head and gasped as she stroked him expertly with lips and tongue. Her cheeks hollowed as she took him so far down her throat, he felt his engorged head bump against her tonsils. He kept hold of her hair, driving himself brutally into the back of her throat over and over, until his balls tightened and the tips of his toes start to tingle.

Just the sight of her swollen, wet lips wrapped around his shaft turned him on more than the tongue that stroked his length. Her mouth made him think of another pair of wet, glistening lips he’d much rather slide between. Suddenly he pulled away, ignoring the confusion in her wide eyes as she looked up at him.

Without bothering to tuck himself back into his pants, he strode across the room to a line of several dark pine file cabinets fitted into the wall of the elegantly appointed office. He reached into one of the drawers, opened a small safe hidden in the bottom and retrieved a small brown bottle. From it came half of a single tiny pink tablet,, the remainder, of which he put back into the bottle and secured in the safe. The little pink half-tablet teetered on the edge of his finger. Sarah Ann watched it hungrily as he approached.

“Remove your clothes,” he commanded blandly, not really caring whether she obeyed or not.

Baker watched through hooded eyes as she stood and yanked off her sterile white lab coat and tossed it on the floor. His lips twitched up into a sardonic smile when the chit almost ripped her blouse and the buttons on her pants in her haste. She had a gorgeous body. A bit short for his tastes, but what she lacked in height was made up for with lush, full breasts, a tight hot cunt and a willingness to do any nasty, gutter trash sex act he wanted. And she was a good scientist. Expendable, but good.

When she was completely naked, he gave his next instruction.

“Sit on the desk and spread your legs.”

He stood between her thighs and raised his hand. She automatically opened her mouth and lifted her tongue, sighing as the little piece of tablet was placed underneath. Baker took a step back, dug a small stopwatch and notepad out of his lab coat pocket and marked down the exact second the reaction began. He watched closely as her eyes glazed over slightly. Her breathing deepened, her small hands smoothed up and down her body, finally settling on her sensitive breasts. She squeezed them softly at first then brutally as she threw her head back on a ragged moan. Her fingers tweaked and twisted the hard, elongated nipples until they were swollen and red. She keened pitifully while her legs opened and closed as her clit swelled rapidly, painfully.

Thirty seconds this time. Baker was impressed with the progress he’d made in how quickly the drug began to work. He set the watch down on the dark wood top of his large desk and stepped closer to the writhing feast laid out before him. He was glad he’d had the foresight to cover the desktop with a thin sheet of plastic. It simply wouldn’t do for Sarah Ann’s juices to ruin the fine lacquered finish.

“Sink your fingers into that wet pussy and spread some of your cream over your ass.”

Her limbs trembled uncontrollably as she obeyed, spreading her own dewy liquid over herself. Baker’s eyebrow lifted at the unexpected turn of events—the trembling was new. Somehow, the effect of the drug had escalated. He’d have to look into that.

Sarah Ann shook, whimpered and undulated her hips, begging, ready and willing to have him any way he would take her.

“Please, Mr. Baker!”

“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked sarcastically, teasing the very tip of his throbbing cock up and down the length of her weeping slit. He didn’t care whether she was ready or not. Neither did Sarah Ann. The drug saw to that.

“Yes, yes I’m ready. Now, please.”

Her pussy leaked so much, her juices ran down around her ass to coat the tiny opening more. He raised her legs over his shoulders and pushed against the tight, slick hole, gasping when the head popped past her sphincter. She ground down hard and tried to impale herself on him, but he pulled back each time so just the tip remained inside. He held her firmly by her hips, dipped his head and sucked one of her breasts with hard, rough strokes of his
tongue until he felt her pussy flutter through the thin barrier between him and her cunt. Just as he bit down on her nipple, he plunged and sunk deep.

She screamed. The pain tore into her, pushed away the haze of the drug for a moment as he ravaged her ass. A part of her brain was thankful he wasn’t all that big, disgusted that she gave herself to such a devious man, let alone spy and risk her career for him. Another part of her, the part affected by the drug she craved, didn’t care about the pain or the consequences. That part only wanted to be pounded by a hard cock until her eyebrows burned.

Baker continued to pump in and out while he observed the mental tug-of-war going on behind Sarah Ann’s eyes. He was pleased when the drug won the argument. A blond brow shot up when Sarah Ann sank her own fingers into her pussy, stuffing her sex as he filled her ass. The extra stimulation of her fingers against his rod triggered his own release. His head fell back on a shallow gasp as he pumped into her once, twice more, and blasted his seed deep.

The drug was more potent than the last lab tests confirmed. The woman had come four times to his one and still begged for more. He pulled out of her with a plop, cleaned himself with a wet sanitary wipe from his desk drawer and tucked himself back into his pants. He tossed a bottle of sterilizing solution and a roll of paper towels onto the desk next to her naked thighs.

“Clean my desk, get dressed and get out,” he called over his shoulder, stopping at the file cabinet again. A strong antibiotic was in order seeing he’d taken Sarah Ann’s backside without a condom. He popped a dose of Zithromax penicillin, locked the cabinet and walked out. He didn’t bother to lock the office door behind him.

Sarah Ann ignored the bottle of sterilizing solution and frantically pulled and rubbed her clit until she exploded against her fingers three more times. When her legs steadied enough to hold her weight, she slid off the desk and cleaned it and herself. Once dressed, she slipped out of his office and practically ran back to her cubicle in the Research department.

The whole episode had taken less than fifteen minutes.

Cynthia Eden
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Moira Rogers
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Kelly Maher
Taige Crenshaw
Mandy Roth
McKenna Jeffries
SJ Day

For more awesome snippets by the most talented and popular authors, read mine then scroll down to the bottom for links to the author pages. Enjoy!

“You ready to eat?”

Boy was he ever, but his stomach and his heart didn’t agree on what that meal should be. In truth Kenoe didn’t give a damn about food right now. Shinju looked utterly adorable with a smudge of flour across her cheek, and a few loose curls stuck to the side of her face. The smudges on her borrowed clothes told part of the story of what she’d been up to.

Obviously catching wind of his curiosity, she motioned toward the sumptuous spread on the table and said, “Well, you said your boss sent this jet for you and we’re the first to travel on it, right? So I thought we could christen it, so to speak.”

The image of her spread eagle on top of the large and thankfully bolted down table flashed into his head. Dragging his mind out of the gutter kicking and screaming, he forced himself to sit still while Shinju directed the wait staff to clear the hors-de-oeuvres and bring out the main course. Shinju took a plate up to Randall in the cockpit while Kenoe sat and watched in awe as two impeccably dressed chefs brought the food.

Even over the wonderful smells of the various dishes, he still scented Shinju before she re-entered the room. Rising, he pulled out a chair and dropped a kiss on the top of her head as she settled into it.

“Go ahead. Taste it,” she urged with a big, proud smile on her face.

The woman was a wonder. The first meal she’d ever prepared for him in her neat little kitchen had made his stomach sing. This meal might just make his whole body break into a chorus of “One Singular Sensation.” And hallelujah, none of it was Japanese food!

Instead his plate was piled with seafood lasagna with a sauce so savory and light, the scent alone made his mouth water. The pasta was accompanied by a simple green salad garnished with fresh green peppers and tomatoes, tossed in a sweet ginger vinaigrette. The spices were unique, far from the typical basil and parsley in Italian-style cuisine. No, this was a culinary orgasm going off in his mouth. Simply delicious.

I am SO sorry that I was unable to give any notice on this book going to print. It’s an awesome novel and I hope you decide to pick it up.

So…what the hell am I talking about? Egyptian Voyage, a Torrid Tarot novel has hit the print shelves! Yay! Right now you can get it directly from the publisher, but it will also be available from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other Ingrams distribution partners.

I love passing on a good deal, so when I found this in my e-mail box I thought I’d pass it on. Be sure to grab one of mine while you’re over there!

LETTER FROM ELLORA’S CAVE: “As our you probably already know, we’ve been experiencing problems with our websites for the last few weeks. We really appreciate everyone’s patience as we streamline the system we’ve cobbled together over the last nine years as we grew faster than anyone could have imagined.

When the new site is finally up and running, we swear it will combine print and ebooks and be easy to navigate and will let you buy whatever you want quickly and easily.

Until then, we are giving all customers 10% off every purchase through the end of June. For ebooks, go to www.ellorascave.com, on which all prices are already discounted 10%. For print books, go to www.jasminejade.com and enter this code to get your discount: ECWEB2009

Again, thanks for bearing with us.”

Now, go shoppin’ – Love,

TJ

Woohoo! Brenda Novak’s annual auction for Diabetes research has begun! There are tons of items from the best authors, publishers, editors and agents available. The money from this years auction will be donated to The Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami. Just about any and everything, from inexpensive to extravagant. So go bid on something and support this awesome (and certainly worthy) cause.

Oh, by the way, you have the chance to win this from me – Silk (yes, real silk!) napkins with matching chopsticks, a contemporary styled (and usable) tea set and matching wooden bowls.

…everything you need to create a beautiful Japanese place setting. Could be used for a theme party, or just to give your dining area an elegant twist.

So…go bid on something To visit the auction, click here – Brenda Novak’s Annual Diabetes Auction

Terry from Romance in the Backseat (ritbs.blogspot.com) captured me singing! Oh my GAWD! She said she was gonna put that video blog up but I didn’t believe it. ROFL!!!

This is so very cool! I embedded the video here, but if you can’t see it you can visit this link.

So whatcha think?

Hi all,

This is really late notice, but the CataNetwork (ecataromance.com) is hosting a Multicultural Day where romance authors who specialize in this genre are coming out to play.

Check out my interview with them by the lovely and talented Donne *smooch* here.

There’s tons of excerpts from everyone, including small press authors and the big New York houses. The Yahoo group loop is here: CataNetwork on Yahoo.

TJ
www.tjmichaels.com

Yesterday we had an awesome book signing at Barnes and Noble in Seattle. The author company was incredible: The most-fabulous Lauren Dane, Lacy Danes, Alexis Morgan, Shelli Stevens and myself. DOING IT THE HARD WAY was on the shelf ahead of schedule! And yes, I bought a copy of my own book *LOL*

There was some really good interaction with the folks in the audience and they asked a lot of really good questions. To our surprise we were asked to read excerpts from our books…which was a bit awkward because there were children in the audience. We’re all erotic romance authors so it was a bit funny to hear some of the substitutions for certain male body parts and adult words as we read ;D

Next signing is Valentine’s Day at Third Place Books in Seattle. Be there! Yeehaa!!

Now available for purchase at Ellora’s Cave!

DA BLURB: Workaholic Sydni should have known better than to step away from work? Going out for a single evening of fun has ended up as a night spent in damn jail!

Drew is aware that the sexy, sultry and brilliant Sydni could care less about getting involved with him. But he needs her. And the perfect opportunity to prove that she needs him just as much comes along. And all he has to do is get her out of jail…and keep himself free in the bargain.

Their desire scorches them, the connection so real and immediate.

But what will they do about the bad guy determined to set them both up? Solve the mystery, of course…and a little misplaced, hot-as-hell sex wouldn’t hurt either.