Enjoy our culinary genius as she prepares some sweet dishes for her beau, a kick-butt gorgeous (pronounced ‘go-jus’) Seeker for the Vampire Council of Ethics…only she doesn’t know he’s a vampire. Not yet…

Purchase the V.C.O.E. series in print or e-book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Samhain Publishing and all other fine bookstores.

“Fill me in on the rogue who threatened you the other day. I received your message but you and I obviously haven’t had a chance to talk until now. Very smart of you to leave the guy’s description. I called it in to V.C.O.E. headquarters. We should have something by the time we get there.”

“Look, Kenoe, before we get to that, I need to talk to you about what happened in London. I don’t have an excuse, but I am sorry. I was so caught up in the excitement of running with vampires, living my ultimate fantasy, I didn’t consider anything past that. Not to mention I didn’t expect to ever see you again in my life.”

“Your point?” Kenoe grumbled around a mouthful of some swanky hors d’oeuvres that tasted like smoked salmon and some kind of spicy peppers. Mmm, good.

“No point. I’m sorry is all. And…” She hesitated. “I’m concerned about my cousin. I don’t want her hurt. Not by you or the asshole who was bold enough to step right into her backyard and threaten me.”

Unable to keep his brows from knitting together, Kenoe scowled across the table. “I would never hurt Shinju. She’s my mate.”

“Mate? As in mate-for-life kinda mate?”

“More than that. She’s my bondmate too.”

“Bond…?! Hooo!”

“Keep it down, woman.”

“Are you telling me she doesn’t know she’s the one? Doesn’t know about your so-called family or the Council? Or those badassed vamps that took me out of Lowan’s place? Wait a minute!” Her voice cracked as it rose. “She doesn’t know anything? Not even that you’re a vam—?”

“No, damn it, so keep your voice down. But I have to tell her before we get off this plane.”

Kimora burst out laughing like Kenoe had just been caught telling the funniest, raunchiest joke ever. “Well, good luck with that, my man. I think I’ll eat in my room.”

With that, she unfolded her muscular frame out of her chair and snickered all the way out of the dining room and down the hall. What the hell was that about? But Kimora’s parting shot reminded Kenoe of the last time Shinju had been pissed off at him. His balls tingled, bringing to mind a way uncomfortable moment after the woman had been less than kind to them. In fact, the little firecracker had sent him and Sasuke to their knees. Perhaps he should have followed Kimora out of the room rather than tell Shinju he was a vampire who happened to be investigating her brother.

“Where’s Kimora?”

Kenoe’s neck snapped a hard right as he turned to watch Shinju enter the room unbuttoning a double-breasted white chef’s coat. It had a myriad of stains down the front and looked a size too big.

“She said she wants to eat in her room.”

“Huh. Okay, I’ll ask the chef to take a tray. 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 d’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 main course.

Even over the wonderful smells of the various dishes, he still scented Shinju before she reentered 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.

They chatted amicably but Kenoe didn’t miss the occasional frown whenever he let his guard down long enough for his anxiety, though slight, to creep down the bond. Bottom line—he had no desire to see the you’re-crazy-as-a-loon skepticism in her eyes when he told her what he was. God knew she wouldn’t believe him.

And he was less than enthusiastic about her reaction to the fact that he, Mr. Law Enforcement, as she called him, was investigating her closest relative for something that had nothing to do with honest vamps, and everything to do with Dr. Jekyll humans.

Not to mention the possibility of her flat-out rejecting him.

Ruthlessly squashing down all concern, he filled his mind with lighter thoughts. Actually just thinking on what a fabulous dinner she’d prepared for him, what a kind and considerate woman she was, a woman so sweet yet with an edge sharp enough to cut himself on. The perfect alpha. His perfect alpha.

And she’d prepared a dessert of strawberries covered with brown sugar syrup, laced with lemon zest. Oh yeah, she was a keeper. He only hoped she would feel the same when he told her…

When had she moved from her chair?

Shinju grinned and pushed his empty dishes off to the side. She held her hand out to him.

“What?”

“Up, handsome.”

Wondering what she was on about, he didn’t move but cocked his head to the side and waited instead.

Enjoy all of our Snippet Saturday authors!
Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
HelenKay Dimon
Jody Wallace

Books 1 through 4 in the series are:
Memory’s Eye by Ciana Stone
Book 1 in the Hearts of Fire series

My name’s Memory and I have a slight problem. I walked out on a business I poured my heart and soul into and took off across country to “find myself”. No luck on finding me yet, but I found something I wasn’t expecting. Marco Redwing. Sexy? Hell, that doesn’t even come close. Oh, the things I long to do to him. The kicker? He has a crystal pendant that’s an exact match to the one I’ve worn since I was eighteen.

It’s almost too good to be true. Problem is, every time I’m around the man my crystal pendant goes crazy. Damn thing sends off energy spikes I’m afraid are going to electrocute me.

Could I really find the man of my dreams in this charming southern city? And that’s the real problem. The crystal is supposed to lead me to the man I’m destined to mate with. Which sounds damn fine to me. But it also lets me know there’s something not so good getting closer.

And that’s the rub. There’s a demon after me.

Shards of Ecstasy by TJ Michaels
Book 2 in the Hearts of Fire series

De’alla Isaacs is a typical executive business woman in Seattle, but away from the day job this sexy elemental has serious work to do—carry and protect a precious jewel. Each Piece of Eight is part of a key, the only thing standing between this world and complete demonic devastation.

Just when Dee has finally come to grips with her task, the one person in the whole wide world she never expected or wanted to meet walks into her life, into her office actually. Faison Dow. Celebrity. Playboy. All-out dog. Yet her stone calls to him. Why? Because he carries the other half.

Seeking Charlotte by NJ Walters
Book 3 in the Hearts of Fire Series

Creed Lawson knows Charlotte Jones is trouble from the moment she presses her lithe body to his and kisses him. But that doesn’t stop him from taking what she’s offering-a night of hot, uninhibited sex. But Creed hasn’t bargained for the feelings she stirs in him, nor the talk of crystals, demons and destiny.

Charlotte is an empath. The ability to feel peoples’ emotions has made it difficult for her to lead a normal life. At eighteen, she received one of the eight pieces of the Heart of Fire, a crystal that contains untold power. She was told there was a male who held the other half of her stone as well as a demon that coveted all the pieces of the crystal.

The demon has finally found her. But she’s knows that Creed is the special man she’s been waiting for. Charlotte is facing the fight of her life. Will Creed will fight beside her or walk away?

Kenna’s Cowboy by Nicole Austin
Book 4 in the Hearts of Fire series

Cursed with unusual abilities, orphan McKenna Fulton has always been different-an outcast. But she’s been Chosen. More accurately, she is one of the Chosen. Eight individuals-four women and four men-selected at birth to guard slices of crystal. The Heart of Fire.

The whole thing is more than a little farfetched. Kenna can handle the part of getting down and dirty with the bad dude. She’s even okay with guarding a crystal. But losing her free will and being stuck with some guy, her destined mate, uh-uh. Not happening.

Local mechanic Ryker Thomas is more than he appears and has his own set of abilities. Kenna wants nothing to do with the southern charmer. So what if he has a matching crystal and the damn thing hums and vibrates whenever they’re close together. That doesn’t mean she’ll toe the line.

He can’t be the one she’s supposed to be with. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to send her a cowboy when what she wants is a bad boy.

Some people may wonder, what the heck is a black moment. Well, it sounds ominous and couldn’t possibly be good, right? Right!

A boring, somewhat clinical definition is: At a certain plot point, the hero/heroine appears beaten or lost but something happens to turn the situation around. Right before the unexpected story turn, the hero reaches the Black Moment—the point at which all is lost and the goal looks out of reach.

My definition is, when all hell breaks loose and it looks like the hero and heroine are doomed! Doomed, I say!

Enjoy this snippet from Spirit of the Pryde when our hero is about to literally get his head taken off. If you have trouble viewing the widget use full-screen view. If you can’t see the widget at all (for example, sometimes Amazon’s blog doesn’t display properly), please visit me here at www.tjmichaels.com .

Happy Saturday!

TJ

Enjoy all of our snippet authors today!
Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
HelenKay Dimon

This week’s Snippet is Vacations or Exotic Locations. I love this excerpt from Egyptian Voyage. The story is exotic and takes our hero and heroine, and their resident bad guy, on a trip through the Mediterranean to Egypt. Enjoy! And don’t forget to visit all of our fabulous Snippet authors via the links at the end of this excerpt.

“Mah, come to me,” he whispered around his toothbrush. At least his eyes were open and he was beginning to recall how to focus. Damn, he was tired. Mahpiya eased to the forefront of his mind, the slabs of dense muscle under her tawny coat flexing as she moved. He closed his eyes a second and grinned when the great cat flopped down on her stomach, raised her amber eyes and waited for him to speak.

Glad no one was around, so that he could speak out loud, Rahn jumped right in and said, “I wonder what the hell happened to Chrysalyn, Mah. I mean, the last time I saw her, she was engaged to that asshole, Kevin or Calvin or something like that. What the bloody hell went down? It’s times like this I wish you could pop over to wherever she is and read her mind.”

Shaking his head in wonder, he was still unable to believe the one woman he knew he couldn’t live without was somewhere around this sprawling apartment. And she was available. Heading for the shower, he stopped short at Mahpiya’s next words.

*There is no need for mind reading. Chrysalyn Geyer is your mate.*

Whoa! Back up. Rahn spun around so fast the clear glass door to the huge stall he’d just opened smacked him soundly on the knuckles. Rubbing the now-tender skin, he reached into his mind, demanding an explanation.

“Mah, how the hell can you know that?” When she didn’t immediately reply, he summoned the feline onto this plane so he could look her in the eyes. “Mahpiya, come to me. Right now.”

The sleek African lioness disappeared from behind his eyes and shimmered into her corporeal form right in front of him. Damn, she was huge—four feet tall and almost four-hundred-eighty pounds of raw power. At the top of the food chain, her earthly cousins were the perfect hunters. And Mahpiya was no less formidable. With the ability to speak mind-to-mind with those in her care, Rahn tended to forget how majestically imposing Mahpiya was. He immediately lowered his head and asked her forgiveness for his impertinence. After all, she served him at her pleasure. He was blessed to have such a wise companion.

Stepping into the shower, he dunked his head under the lukewarm flow and exhaled sharply. The scent of his favorite sandalwood soap filled the oversized stall.

“Okay, Mah, what do you mean, Chrysalyn is my mate?” Could it be? Chrysalyn, the woman perfect for him? He should have been shocked, so why wasn’t he? Because Chrysalyn had been everything he’d ever dreamed of in a woman, a real class act. All he’d had to do was pursue her. But noooo, he’d been an idiot and allowed himself to be, uh, distracted by woman who’d chased after him instead. He’d learned later that same woman not only pursued him, but any other cock she could get her hands on. Hell, she had even slept with his best friend. Claimed it was all part of the job as an undercover. Yeah, right.

Obviously, their relationship hadn’t lasted, but by the time he’d pulled his head out of his ass, Chrysalyn had moved on to someone who treated her like she deserved. The two had been engaged to be married and the woman seemed happy enough. So what happened?

He was snapped out of his musings by Mahpiya’s sharp words and sultry voice.

*Get dressed, hoksila. You must be about your business. Your mate awaits you.*

With that, Mahpiya herded him out of the shower and back into his room with an urgency that had him moving double time. Was something wrong? Was Chrysalyn in danger? And where the hell was the woman, anyway? And hadn’t Mah mentioned a spirit guide before?

*If you stop thinking, you can move faster,* Mahpiya growled before swatting him across the backside with a large paw.

“Ouch! Damn it, that hurt,” Rahn yelped, hoping the impending welts didn’t cause him too much discomfort later. A faint sound caught his attention as he fished around for underwear and a pair of sport socks in his dresser drawer. Lifting his eyes toward the quiet splash, Rahn spied an unlikely vision through the glass doors leading out to the deck.

Holy shit! Chrysalyn basked under the early morning sunshine, her body partially hidden by the swirling rush of hot water in the oversized hot tub. Arms spread out to her sides, the swell of her breasts was just visible above the waterline. Her delicious, cinnamon skin gleamed enticingly, wet from the steam and droplets peppering her beautiful body. The leopard-print swimsuit plastered to her curves sent a rush of heat straight to his cock. Her hair was loose and little curls framed her
strong jawline as she laid her head back, eyes closed and…puffed? On a cigar?

His cock screamed as he stood there, mute and unable to get a single muscle in his body to move. She was so damned sexy. And here he stood with another chance to have her and he couldn’t draw his eyes away from the window.

Another swat across his buttocks took care of that.

“Okay, already! I’m going, Mah.”

*Excellent,* she purred as her corporeal form shimmered away.

This was the first book I’ve read by Cynthia Eden. It was freakin’ fabulous! So fab, I immediately bought the next in the series titled I’ll Be Slaying You, which is now keeping me company on my business trip. Love the lead hero and heroine in Eternal Hunter. Usually I like one more than the other, but in this case, they were both phenom.

Blurb: Astin Pharmaceutical and Biotech has its share of mad scientists. Delaine must get the goods on the crackpot who is using his scientific genius to create his own personal harem. During her investigation, she meets a man who would give Adonis a run for his money. After a messy divorce, Delaine is in no hurry to love anytime soon, but her spirit guide, a sleek, black mountain lion, is convinced he’s their mate.

When Justin lays eyes on Delaine, he’s dying to get next to her. There’s one problem—he’s seen her walking around a secret part of the Astin facility that she had no clearance to enter. Is she in league with the corrupt scientist he’s tailing? Or is she a mole who could blow his case, or worse, his cover?

When Delaine discovers the man she’s taken a chance on is undercover, a decision must be made. Should she kick his butt for not being honest about his undercover status while working her case? Or should she simply shoot him for sleeping with her best friend?

NOTE: If you have trouble viewing the flippable pages via Amazon or other sites that don’t display it, please visit me here: http://www.tjmichaels.com/2010/07/10/snippet-saturday-dancing/

Enjoy our other snippets, too!
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Emma Petersen
HelenKay Dimon
Shelley Munro
Ashley Ladd
Lauren Dane

There comes a time in every hero or heroine’s life that their mate does something stupid. And stupid requires an apology…well, unless you’re just a jerk, right? Luckily, our guy, Kenoe Hatsept, isn’t a jerk. And eventhough his sweetheart is angry and upset, he’s so good at making up, she may just decide to pick fights on purpose ;D

Enjoy this Snippet from Hatsept Heat – Vampire Council of Ethics Bk 2

View all my reviews >>