Have you heard of Dana Pratola? She's new to me too but we should check her out!!

 

EXCERPT - DESCENDED~Jett

“Why do you wear that stuff on your face?”

Haven’s hand jerked, dragging a stripe of eyeliner across her temple. She ground her teeth.

“I apologize.”

“I could have poked my eye out! And you aren’t supposed to look in the bathroom when I’m in here.” She wiped away the smudge with a corner of tissue.

“These are not your quarters, and the door is open,” Jett answered. “So, why do you paint yourself up like that?”

“It’s a mask.” She threw the answer out flippantly, but knew it was the truth.

“What are you hiding?”

She shrugged. “I guess the real me, same as you.”

“You don’t hide the real you.” Annoyance tinged his voice. “You’re the most open person I’ve ever met.”

Haven set down the pencil and shifted her feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” He didn’t answer and she sighed. “I guess I wear it out of habit. Growing up, girls are told they need to be thinner, prettier, sexier. It sticks with you. The world isn’t a very encouraging place. I just want the outside to be more appealing.”

“You couldn’t be more appealing.”

 She hesitated, blinking while her skin heated. “Thank you.”

Jett cleared his throat, evidently as surprised by the compliment as she. “So where are you going, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“A movie, then dinner. You know, traditional.”

“This is a date, then?” Bewilderment and a definite touch of hostility colored his voice now.

The guilt was back, the same niggling self-reproach she encountered every time she thought of Chris and Jett in the same timeframe. “Yes.”

“And is this the young man you were with the night Paris went missing? The charming Christopher Andrew Pembroke?”

Haven turned to see him, which of course she couldn’t. “Don’t you respect anyone’s privacy?”

“I’m concerned.”

“You’re nosy. You could only have found that out by poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. He isn’t an employee. And how did you know his full name? I didn’t even know it.”

“There is much you don’t know. Shall I enlighten you?”

“Don’t you dare!” She jabbed a finger in the air. “And I mean it!” She took a deep breath, gripping the front of the vanity with both hands. “Is there going to be a problem if he wants to come in when he brings me home?”

“Problem?”

“Yes. You said I could have people here. Are you are going to behave yourself and keep out of my business?”

“What you do with your date is your affair. I won’t intrude.”

She smacked a hand on the counter. No matter what he said, she could tell his teeth were clenched. “You aren’t my guardian or my husband. You have no right to try to make me feel guilty for seeing a nice guy. I’m not going to sleep with him—and if I were,” she added quickly, “it would be none of your business. You and I are friends.”

“Is that what we are, Haven? Friends?” His words rang with a peculiar strain.

She swallowed. “Sure.”

“Very well. But if you think you can feel free to express to me your desire for another man, I hate to disappoint you. Our friendship will never extend that far.”

Emotions were escalating, his and hers, and she seemed unable to help it. “Great, just great.” She should shut up, but she shouted instead, arms flailing. “A friendship with conditions. Great. Tell you what? Why don’t you take your friendship and—”

“Ah, ah, ah. Don’t say something you’ll regret.” His voice held a clear warning.

Haven stopped and dropped her hands in surrender. “You’re right. So with that in mind…” She swung the bathroom door closed with a satisfying bang.

 

 

 

 

Excerpt - DEBSCENDED~SEBASTIAN

Natalie could become a significant hindrance to moving forward, especially now that he found himself suddenly filled with the beat of her heart. It thudded in his chest, a perfect accompaniment to his. He was breathing, finally, but it was her rhythm, faster, more shallow than his own. He blinked and pulled back.

“I know this isn’t the time for this....” He shook his head. “Forget it.”

“No, what?” she asked.

It was insane. Nuts! “Can I kiss you?” he asked. Natalie stared back. “Just once, for my own personal reference. I have to see if I’m off my nut or not.”

He took her silence for permission and leaned toward her. She met him half way.

He couldn’t say there were fireworks. There was heat, and light, but instead of quick, random bursts of energy and color, there was one long, white hot blaze.

This was bad. This was so bad.

As his lips pressed more firmly onto hers, as hers softened beneath his, his mind tumbled through time and space. And though he’d never felt anything like this—ever—he recognized the white light for what it was—an emergency flare. Not to signal the forces of nature to run to his rescue and prevent disaster, only a marker, to pinpoint the wreckage of his former life.

Was it insane to believe this single kiss changed the course of his life? Because he did. He knew that even in these bizarre circumstances, something had just clicked into place and he was exactly where he was supposed to be. It felt right.

He was having such a hard time coping with his own overwhelming reactions that he almost missed hers. She was emotionally engaged, yes, nearly as much as he, nearly as confused, and holding back. Sensible. And necessary at this moment. One of them had to keep a firm grip on reason, and it wasn’t him. His thoughts ran to carrying her to the couch and indulging his fantasies until the sun rose.

But, the very next thought made his eyes pop open, his hands ball in his lap, his head lift. Jett could be watching.

 

 

 

THE COVERING

At the top of the stairs she heard a low groan and hurried to find Gunnar sitting up with her sheet pooled at his waist.

One large bicep flexed as he kneaded the back of his neck. He looked like a man stumbling out of a dream, and she watched his expressions change, knowing he was trying to piece together the past day’s events. After a few seconds, he glanced down, peeked under the sheet. “Where are my clothes?”

“My aunt has them,” Tessa said, stopping inside the door.

“Why?”

“You were sweating. She wanted to keep you—oh.” Tessa quickly covered her eyes when Gunnar started to throw back the sheet.

He stopped. “Give me a break. I don’t have anything you haven’t seen before.”

Tessa let her hands fall to her sides, but her cheeks warmed.

Gunnar cocked a brow. “You’re kidding. You’ve never seen a naked man?”

Tessa tipped her chin. “Of course I have.” On TV.

He snickered. “When?”

When she didn’t answer right away she watched that magnificent face go through several more

transformations before coming to the logical conclusion.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never—”

“I don’t sleep around.” Intellectually she comprehended there was no reason to be embarrassed.

Quite the opposite. Yet…

“Never?” He pulled the sheet tighter around him.

“Ever?”

Tessa exhaled sharply. “Why does it matter?”

“Our patient is up?” Elaine asked, pushing past a grateful Tessa.

“Where are my clothes?” Gunnar asked her.

“In the wash. You’ll have them back soon enough.”

“I have other clothes in my room.”

Ignoring him, Elaine sat on the edge of the bed and gave him a pat on the cheek. “You had some nap. Do you feel any better?”

Gunnar moved his face away. “I don’t nap.”

“I suppose not. I’d say it was closer to a coma, since it’s Saturday,” she countered.

“Saturday?” Gunnar watched Tessa move to the window. “Saturday,” he repeated.

Elaine regarded him with cool eyes. “Tessa is convinced you have the flu, but I’m not. Are you into anything you shouldn’t be?”

“What are you asking me?” he demanded.

Unruffled, Elaine smoothed the sheets under her hand. “You’ve been basically unconscious for almost a full day. Don’t you find that odd?”

“It’s exhaustion,” he said.

“Tessa’s very worried. She watched over you all night.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” he told Tessa.

Elaine cocked a half smile at him. “Do you need anything?”

“Yeah, my clothes. I want to get up.”

She nodded and pursed her lips. “Well it’s a shame to hide all that, but suit yourself.” With an

appreciative lift of brows she walked out, with Tessa following close behind.