Simi fell as the heel broke off from the shoe and the last stroke of midnight faded away. She didn’t reach the cold, hard pavers. Two strong male hands grasped her waist #midweektease #PNR #eroticromance

This week I'm celebrating the holiday season with a #midweekteaser from

Candle Magic

Simi finds an old candlestick in the props room of the PR company she works for. It's about to change her lonely life. On the stroke of midnight Christmas Eve, she falls into the arms of sexy, romantic, but mysterious Jason Chandler 
http://www.bookstrand.com/candle-magic
https://www.amazon.com/Candle-Magic-Siren-Publishing-Classic-ebook/dp/B00SGCDRN6
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Candle-Magic-Siren-Publishing-Classic-ebook/dp/B00SGCDRN6
http://mybook.to/CandleMagic

Read the teaser

The biting wind penetrated Simi’s coat as she teetered along on her black spike heels. Their sharp click on the sidewalk was the only human-associated sound other than her occasional sigh in the dark night. She pulled her hands from her pockets and crossed her arms over her body to shield herself a little. Not far to go. There was rain in the wind now and it felt like ice as the splatter hit her face. The weather forecast had been for snow. The sky was leaden with something unshed, and Simi quickened her pace as not snow or rain, but sleet started to fall.

Her shoulder bag bumped against her hip as she walked and Simi wondered if she should have left the bulky item behind at work until after the holidays, but the gift it contained from Kris Kringle was the only one she’d get to open on Christmas morning. She could have left the candlestick, but then again, she’d so liked it. Her last red candle would fit and make her solitary Christmas lunch more festive.

Another sigh escaped her. Not for the first time that day, she wished she had a boyfriend, someone who loved her. He would have helped me clear up, poor Carl would have gone home earlier, and we would have made it to the last subway train that came out this far on Christmas Eve. I wish I had a gorgeous, kind, gentle, sexy man. I wish…the huge clock on the deserted town hall startled her with the first resonant chime of twelve. Midnight. So it’s Christmas day and I’m going to spend it alone, again.

Simi hurried on past the huge fir tree decorated with bright white fairy lights. The seventh chime of twelve echoed out. A car suddenly sped by, sending a spray of icy water up onto the sidewalk and drenching her calves. The shock made her falter. One of her spike heels caught between pavers that had cracked in the summer. Simi fell as the heel broke off from the shoe and the last stroke of midnight faded away.

She didn’t reach the cold, hard pavers.

Two strong male hands grasped her waist, lifted her, and set her on her feet. A deep, attractive voice asked, “Are you okay?—You’re not. You’re freezing and your shoe is broken. Let me help you. I’m here for you.” He held her shoulders, taking some of her weight as Simi limped to face her rescuer.

She looked up and into the eyes of a gorgeous man. Strands of his thick dark hair glistened in the light, thrown off by the strings of fairy lights threaded through the branches of the trees lining this part of the sidewalk. The sleet lent a sheen to these strands and lit him up as if he, too, was a Christmas decoration. Simi gazed at him. She drank in the perfect features of his face. Her eyes dipped to take in his obviously muscled body under his clothes. His overcoat hung open over a black suit. He wore a gleaming white shirt and a black bow tie. He’s perfect.

“I’m fine, thank you,” her voice scratched out.

He gave her a look just short of amused, but definitely disbelieving.

“I know otherwise. Please, it’s Christmas. Let me be here for you.”

The sincerity in his voice soothed her. Trepidation left her, replaced by hope. Bizarre, considering he could be a murderer. She hopped a step.

The gorgeous man stooped and pulled the heel from the paver crack. He grinned at her mischievously and put it in his pocket.

Simi let her shoulder bag dangle from her arm and tried to walk with one foot five-and-a-half inches higher than the other.

The delicious man held her arm gently. He took her bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“I’ll carry that. Put your arm around my waist and lean on me.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders.

She did as he asked. His hard body under her arm comforted her. Simi tried another step. It was still a limp, but suddenly amused, she laughed. She looked up into his handsome face.

“If I’m going to be hanging onto you, I should know your name.”

“Jason. My name’s Jason, and you’re…?”

Simi was lost in the sound of his voice and the flow of delicious tingles down her body as his arm tightened around her. She whispered, “Simi.”

He smiled, his eyes alight with emotion. “That’s a beautiful name. A lovely, soft name for a beautiful girl.”

A little alarm bell went off for Simi. Isn’t that a little too charming? Maybe he is a murderer trying to lull me into trusting him. “Look buddy, don’t bother trying flattery on me.”

His smile widened. Crinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. He laughed and then shook his head. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you, quite the opposite, and you are beautiful.”

The wind whipped strands of her hair across her face and she limped along. “I don’t have far to go now. I can manage. You must have somewhere to be.”

Jason sighed deeply.

The sound traveled over Simi in a wave. It brought a wash of regret that she’d suggested this gorgeous man stop helping her and leave. She looked up into his eyes and saw sadness.

“I have nowhere to be. It’s Christmas. I’m free to be with you if you want me. I’m no threat. I’d love to help you…at least to your door, Simi.”

Her longing to have a man like him with her for comfort, help, and maybe more seeded acceptance and trust in her heart. She gripped his overcoat as she leaned into him again, trying to excuse her outburst about flattery. “I’m not used to knights in shining armor.” 

Copyright Elodie Parkes, Siren Publishing

HOP to the next #MIDWEEKTEASER

Captured and tortured by shifter hunters, Ryder wakes to the gentle care of Evie Thomas. #midweektease #romance #PNR

#Midweektease is from Siren Publishing

Book three of

The Venn Pack in Love

Captive Wolf

When Ryder Venn sets out to do a favor for his alpha brother, Joshua, he thinks it’s just an ordinary day. Little does he know the horror and adventure that awaits him. Captured and tortured by shifter hunters, Ryder wakes to the gentle care of Evie Thomas.

As Ryder Venn falls in love with the mysterious girl who nurses his wounds and feeds him, Evie discloses her reason for being part of the hunter’s group. 

As Evie reveals her identity and plans to Ryder, they fall into a heated and passionate love affair. 

Meanwhile, the shifter hunters plot to force Ryder into cage fighting. The trouble is just who or what will they make him fight?

Deep in love, Ryder marks Evie as his mate.

Gorgeous Ryder will do anything for her.

Lovely Evie will do anything to free him.

A noise brought his head up. It came from behind him. A door opening, bolts sliding, hinges creaking, and then a small gasp and muffled cry. Was some other captive being thrown in to be tortured? Dread flooded his foggy mind. Was he going to be tortured again?

He closed his eyes. Maybe if they think I’m still unconscious they’ll leave me alone.

A dull clunk nearby sounded as if someone put down a plastic container. Something else scraped the floor as it was placed alongside the metal chair.

Ryder pushed down panic. He didn’t know how to withstand more torture.

Gentle fingers traced a path along his cheek, and a soft wet cloth was dabbed onto his forehead. Water from the cloth ran in a swift rivulet down his face and his thirst drove him to try to catch the precious liquid with his swollen tongue. It tasted vaguely of antiseptic, but he desperately licked at it.

A female voice whispered, “You’re awake. You must be in such pain. I want to take care of you, but I can’t free you, not yet, anyway. Here, drink first. Not too quickly or you’ll be sick.”

A plastic cup of some kind was pressed to his mouth. It hurt, but he opened his eyes and drank, gulping the water.

“Slow down, there’s a lot, and I’ll bring more. I’m going to wash you now. I’m sorry if it hurts, but your wounds need dressing or they could become infected.”

The voice belonged to a pretty young woman. In his fog of pain, Ryder registered that and her dark wavy hair pulled back in a thick braid that fell over her shoulder as she bent. She tossed it down her back and dragged a bucket closer after placing the cup on the floor next to a tall bottle of spring water.

Ryder gazed at her almost stupefied with relief he wasn’t going to be tortured.

She brought out a white cloth from the bucket, squeezed a little water from it, and then proceeded to clean him up. From head to toe she worked on him, soothing, calming the injuries, rinsing the cloth, bringing more water in the cup to his lips for him to drink.

She moved around the back of the chair and washed the sticky stuff from his hands and wrists.

“What is that—on my hands?” his voice scratched out.

She moved closer to his mouth, leaning over his shoulder. “Blood, you’re bleeding in lots of places. I have to do something about your genitals. I’m sorry. I have some cold water by the door. You need them cooled.”

Ryder grimaced. “No.” Shame filled him. Bad enough I’m naked, but an unknown girl washing me…down there…

She slipped a cool, delicate, hand around his face. “Yes. I must. I’ll take care. Close your eyes. Think about the ocean, a river, somewhere beautiful you know.”

She moved away.

Ryder jerked as his balls were cradled in cool hands and then surrounded in cool water. She must have been holding a bowl under him. A wet cloth traced the underside of his balls, all the way to his ass and then back again, until it could go no farther as the young woman wielding it reached the edge of the cutaway in the seat. Ryder swallowed a sob. The tender way she washed him made everything worse. Her care made him feel like crying, and he didn’t know why.

She brought her cloth, freshly squeezed of cool water, to his flaccid cock, and washed him. She brought the drinking water and gave him more to drink, and then she used splashes of it on the burns that dotted around his stomach.

She stood back after giving him another drink and searched in the button-down thigh pocket of her cargo pants. She brought out a tube and a bubble pack.

She squeezed the tube, and smeared the white cream that wormed out over his cuts and burns. Then she popped a couple of tablets from the bubble pack, and made him take them.

“They’re pain killers. You need them. Drink more.” She ran a gentle hand over his forehead after he’d swallowed down the tabs.

They scraped his sore throat. He gulped more water, trying to stop the feeling that the tabs had stuck halfway down to his stomach.

The girl put down the cup of water and squeezed out the last of the cream from the tube. She went around to his wrists tied behind him.

Her soft touch on his wretched wrists soothed him anew, and a sigh escaped him. “Thank you for this, for the care and water.”

She murmured softly, “I couldn’t see you in this condition. It broke my heart.” She came to kneel in front of him. “I wish I could do more. I’m going to bring you food later. I have a lot of leeway here. I convinced Steve—that’s the leader of this hunter group—to let me tend you, only because of my association with his new deputy.”

Ryder gazed at her. She’d switched on a low light that sat on a table in one corner to look at his wounds, and he could see her eyes, the color of harebells, appraising him with a mix of concern and tenderness.

“Where am I?”

Copyright Elodie Parkes, Siren Publishing

http://a-fwd.com/asin=B018RNAV0U

http://www.bookstrand.com/book/captive-wolf

HOP to the next midweek teaser

Jake meets Pixie in #midweektease #romance #detective The things people do for love #FREE this weekend

Midweek tease is from romance detective story

Jake Snow

PI Jake Snow is tired. He’s a senior investigator in the Brandt Black Private Detective Agency, but recently he’s chosen less high-powered cases to work on than he used to. He’s tired of his job, and of being single. He’s out there in the hot city nights working cases and hoping for love. A sweetheart, gorgeous, intelligent, dedicated, Jake never takes vacations, but now he’s requested leave.

Life takes a surprising twist, when just before he’s due to take his vacation, he’s sent on what he thinks is a simple surveillance assignment. What he finds is a tangled web of lies, and a fashion designer in trouble...

The question is will he also find the love he wants and needs?

An erotic, romantic, lighthearted mystery story—the things people do for love and fashion…

Read the #midweekteaser

Jake was tired. He knew if last night’s intruder came back that night it would be in the early hours of the morning. He checked the time after reading for a while—only ten o’clock. Jake tried reading again as he waited for midnight to click over. He felt his eyes close once or twice, shook himself awake, and went back to reading. He woke up with a start—it was nearly two in the morning. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Hope I haven’t missed the action.

Jake poured coffee from his flask and drank it down. He was tempted to get out of the car and walk around, but didn’t. He hadn’t checked the photographs he’d taken the night before apart from when he’d scrolled through them then. He got the camera out and was about to look at them again when he glanced up and saw a person was on the roof. Cursing softly, he leapt out of his car, and locked it on the run, as he dashed as quietly as possible for the alley, the fire escape, and the roof of the atelier.

At the building, Jake ran up the fire escape steps as the person ran across the balcony, and took a leap to the neighboring roof. Jake froze and watched for a second, then turned to run and meet them as they descended from that building. He arrived just in time, grabbed, and tackled the person to the ground. It was incredibly easy. Jake knew the intruder was slight having seen them leap, but now he knew it was a woman, and he held her carefully.

“Please don’t run. I’ll have to restrain you. You need to tell me what you’re doing on the roof.” As he said this, he helped her up, and took off the black beanie she had pulled low over her face. At the same time, he realized what she was carrying…a black satin backpack. I’ve seen that before.

She lifted her face to his and Jake let out a small sound of surprise. It was the young woman from the atelier, the one who had passed him on the stairs. “You…”

“I can explain. I need to explain. This isn’t what it looks like.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “No?”

She stood in front of him looking dejected and disheveled.

Jake felt a wave of some emotion. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it made his voice soften and his stance kinder.

“Okay, we’ll go to my car and you can tell me your story. You know who I am?”

She nodded. Her voice was small and she slumped a little. She certainly didn’t seem dangerous or about to run.

“Jake Snow, private detective.”

Jake felt an amused smile start and squashed it.

He took her backpack from her, and held her arm to lead her along the street and through the alley to his car.

She walked silently and Jake glanced at her a couple of times wondering what was going on. She only just came up to his shoulder, and was so slender, he felt as if the arm he held could snap if he pressed too hard. He estimated her age to be a couple of years younger than he was. Her braid had come loose from the hair comb that kept it wound around her head, and now it fell down her back as she walked. Jake put her backpack on the hood of the SUV to unlock the door. He kept his hand on her arm and put her into the back seat, then bringing in the backpack, he sat alongside her.

“We’ll start with your name shall we?”

The young woman rubbed her arm.

Concern flooded him. “Did I hurt you?”

She looked sadly at him. “Not really. I think I knocked it as you felled me to the ground.”

Jake’s forehead furrowed with sorrow. “I’m sorry. Do you need medical attention?”

She shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll be okay. My name’s Pixie, Pixie Donohue. I was just checking to make sure my suspicions were correct about Graham. You see he’s stolen my designs. The dresses in his ‘secret room’ have been made up from my designs.”

Jake stared at her. “How can you prove that? He’s said the same thing—‘Someone is out to steal my designs.’ Now I find you two nights running on the atelier roof, messing about near the skylight.”

She widened her eyes. “You saw me last night?”

“Yes I saw you, and I know you took photographs, so why are you here tonight?”

She looked away from him.

Jake knew she was pretty. He’s seen that earlier in the day. Now, seeing her close up, she was so lovely he gazed at her fine skin, and her delicate cheekbones. Her full lips enticed him. Lips to kiss, bite, and suck.

Jake waited for her answer, pushing away his attraction to her.

Copyright Elodie Parkes 2017 new edition

FREE on all Amazon sites February 2, 3, 4

https://www.amazon.com/Jake-Snow-Black-Agency-Story-ebook/dp/B06XBP62FY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jake-Snow-Black-Agency-Story-ebook/dp/B06XBP62FY

https://www.amazon.ca/Jake-Snow-Black-Agency-Story-ebook/dp/B06XBP62FY

 HOP to the next #MWTease

Michelle Vega has everything to hide except her beauty and her instant attraction to Dominic #midweektease #romance #suspense

Midweek Teaser is from An Unusual Vacation

erotic, romantic suspense from Evernight Publishing 

At thirty-two Dominic Carr thinks it’s time he met a girl he could love. He’s tired and jaded from his high power job, and hoping that this summer’s vacation will be refreshing. When he sees Michelle Vega in the art gallery of a harbor town he visits, her long legs in pink couture shorts grab his attention.

Michelle Vega has everything to hide except her beauty and her instant attraction to Dominic. She’s not on vacation as she visits the gallery—more like on business.

As the two of them fall into a hot romance, Dominic is sure Michelle could be ‘the one,’ but Michelle is filled with doubt when she considers how he might react to discovering her secrets.

When Michelle’s business takes a dangerous twist Dominic finds he’s pulled into a perilous situation.

Will this be a test of his love or the finish of it?

Read the Midweek Teaser

Michelle Vega wound her long hair up into a topknot. Assigned below to the cabin for hours, she needed some fresh air. Jackson was at the helm when she stepped up onto the deck. She stood beside him, hanging onto the rail as the powerboat jumped in the water. They’d dropped Brad and Connor at the first riverside town to meet with their client, and now hurtled up river to the log cabin, where they were to lie low until contacted. The beams from the huge spotlights on the powerboat lit the way. The wooded riverbanks loomed in the darkness, briefly lit, and then receding in strange shapes as their boat flew by.

“What’s the hurry now, Jackson?” Michelle called as the wind whipped some of her hair from the topknot and slapped it against her lips.

Her brother glanced hurriedly at her. “Once I’ve dropped you, I have to clean and dump the boat a few miles upstream, and hike back to the cabin. I just want rid of it.”

A moment later, the spotlights picked out the private mooring of the log cabin hideout and Jackson brought the motorboat alongside the wooden, planked walkway.

“Michelle, take the gym bag from below with you. Be careful with it. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

She nodded at her brother, nervous about arriving at the cabin alone in the pitch-black night. She stepped down into the small covered area. The bag was bulky and misshapen. Michelle grabbed a flashlight from where two lay on the bench seat, next to the bag.

Jackson gave her the slightest goodbye, then reversed the boat, and took off up river again.

Michelle stared after him for a moment before aiming the beam of her flashlight along the walkway to find the path through the small trees and shrubs to the cabin. A bird flew up with a squawk, and still other birds fidgeted in the taller shrubs as she passed. The soft gurgle of the river, and the scrunch of twigs and gravel under her feet, emphasized how alone she was in a place she’d never been before … and at night, no less. Hell, I hope this place is safe. I hope Jackson gets here soon. I hope Brad and Connor are okay and on their way here. I wish we’d never taken this job. The bag bumped against her leg when she found a shallow pothole with her boot and stumbled a little. What’s in this bag, anyway?

The log cabin looked bigger than she’d imagined as she approached. A small Jeep stood to one side of it. The moon didn’t provide much light and the place seemed to crouch like a predator surrounded by the trees. Connor had said the cabin wouldn’t be locked. Michelle tried the door and when it opened, she aimed her flashlight around inside before walking in. To her surprise, there were modern lights, and she flipped them on as she explored each room. Michelle grinned to herself. She’d expected some kind of primitive shed, but the place was more like someone’s home. If the cabin belonged to her, she wouldn’t leave it unlocked, ever. She clicked down the catch on the Yale lock of the front door and heaved a sigh of relief.

The cabin was comfortable with supplies laid in by Connor. It was where Connor took his fishing breaks and had been his dad’s place until he passed a few years ago. A change of clothes for each of them had been left there, too, and Michelle had given Connor a backpack with some underwear and toiletries to leave for her as well as the clothes.

She dumped the gym bag and flashlight on top of a large desk in one corner of the room and went off to make coffee. She checked inside the fridge for something quick to eat, and found sliced cold chicken in a deli pack. She turned on the TV affixed to the wall and flipped through the channels for news, before making a sandwich as the coffee percolated. Then there it was—Alexander Probert, the billionaire entrepreneur, was to fly home from his vacation in the Bahamas as his staff reported a theft from his city home, and police were investigating the audacious robbery. The broadcaster flashed up photographs of the city home, presumably the staff member who’d reported the theft, and, inexplicably Probert’s country mansion, and then the billionaire, but when questioned at the news conference, the police admitted there were no leads as yet and their investigation would continue.

Copyright Elodie Parkes, 2016 Evernight Publishing 

4 and 1/2 stars from Manic Readers

Every time I think I have Parkes figured out, she imagines a story that is purely different from what I expected.

http://a-fwd.com/asin=B017AL884Q

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/an-unusual-vacation-by-elodie-parkes/

http://www.bookstrand.com/an-unusual-vacation-mf

HOP to the NEXT  MIDWEEK Teaser 

Sascha caught the vague smell of vampire heavily disguised by a mix of sandalwood, cedar, rosemary. #MWTease #PNR

Midweek teaser is from PNR , The Black Lion 

vampire romance with a twist

Recently re-edited second edition now available on kindle unlimited 

When Melissa fleetingly meets Sascha in The Black Lion nightclub, she hopes he will approach her.

Sascha has secrets and it’s a long time since there was a woman in his life. He hesitates, even though he’s drawn to her until...

When she is threatened, he acts. When he is hungry, she hunts.

Unknown to both of them someone watches jealously.

Will this jealousy stop the budding romance between two people who both have something to hide?

An erotic, paranormal romance, full of surprises.

Read the teaser

Sascha gazed at the young woman, whose name, Melissa, he’d stored away like a precious jewel. He memorized the heart shaped face, the big green eyes, the dimple in her right cheek. He moistened his top lip with the tip of his tongue as he considered her mouth. That bottom lip needs sucking. I’d love to hold her close, just feel her warmth against me. I’d like more … I bet her hair feels like silk. He sighed as his gaze traced the length of her glossy chestnut hair. It fell around her shoulders and down her back. Sascha longed to grasp a handful, pull her close, and kiss her. He imagined it. His cock hardened as he recalled her scent when she stood in front of him. He thought about her look in the mirror. She was interested in him. It was obvious, and his own ineptitude was why he stood staring down at her, instead of grasping her to his naked form, fucking her hard. I could have compelled her. I could have tasted her cream, pushed my fingers into it, slid them over her clit. I could have licked her lips, her breasts. I could have her hands wrapped around my cock. I could have her writhing under me, coming, and driving me insane with her softness. I could give her so much love…

A low voice to his left suddenly invaded his thoughts.

“She’s not for you, brother. I see your scrutiny. I saw her first.”

Sascha prickled with anger at the voice and himself for not hearing the approach, nor scenting this man who leaned casually against the barrier. His fury burned in his chest and he whispered dangerously. “Who the hell are you?”

The man stood straight and so did Sascha.

They faced each other.

Sascha caught the vague smell of vampire heavily disguised by a mix of sandalwood, cedar, rosemary. How could I have missed a vampire in the club? He must have just arrived.

“I’ll ask you again. Who are you? I know what you are.”

The man before him sighed and waved a hand elegantly. “Fonteyn. Pleased to meet you, brother.”

Sascha bristled. “I’m not your brother.”

“Come now, it’s just a greeting, between two of the same kind. I’ve seen you here before. You’re not very careful or perhaps you’re more daring than I am. I thought to make a friend after many years without meeting another … vampire.” His low voice dropped to a conspiring whisper as he mouthed the last word and then grinned.

Sascha ached to slaughter this threat to his happiness. He was far from desirous of a friend. He’d never experienced anything but rivalry from other vampires and didn’t trust any of them, although he stopped short at violence toward them. His life in the early days had been harsh and he knew it could be a difficult life. “You disguise yourself well. I’ve never seen you here.” Sascha decided on a friendlier approach.

“Practice, herbs, and the truth is I’ve only been here a few times before tonight.” Fonteyn glanced away from Sascha’s face and down at the table where the young woman now sat alone watching her friends gyrate on the dance floor a few yards away.

Sascha’s instinct was to back off. Pretend he had no more interest in the girl to make sure she wouldn’t be in any danger from this other vampire. “I didn’t realize she was with you, Fonteyn. How long have you known her?” He coated his voice with acceptance, resignation.

Fonteyn looked back at him. His black eyes full of suspicion, and then he changed. His expression told Sascha this vampire Fonteyn believed he was no longer interested in the girl.

“I followed her here. Her fragrant blood drew me like a moth to a flame. The sway of her hips, the shimmer of her hair as she passed me on the corner of the street were like a magnet for me. I fell in love. What a morsel. What a tasty, rare treat she will be when I eat later.”

Sascha was as tall as Fonteyn, but more muscular and healthy. Turned in the early prime of his life, Sascha retained his youthful looks, his beauty enhanced by vampirism. He radiated masculinity, sex. Ancient, his life experience made him gentle.

Fonteyn was older when turned. Still, he was handsome, Sascha reflected. His black hair traced with only a few strands of silver. His black eyes fringed with dark lashes, he had an exotic air.

Sascha gave the slightest nod of his head. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Fonteyn’s dismay at Sascha’s intention to go was apparent on his face.

“Going so soon, brother? Maybe I’ll see you again here.” He almost bowed. It was a weird, old-fashioned movement, and caused Sascha to question what era Fonteyn hailed from.

Sascha shook his head. “I’ve tired of the place. I dropped by tonight out of habit. I doubt I’ll be back.” His lie left a bitter taste in his mouth. He turned and left the place via the balcony. He only stopped shaking with anger when his feet touched the ground below.

Sascha burned with fear for Melissa. He groaned in pain at the thought of her becoming Fonteyn’s meal. A huge shudder went through him. He tore into the nightclub not even a blur to the doorman nor the patrons. His presence like a breeze, moved the frilly cuffs of Goth shirts, ruffled tendrils of long hair, put ripples in satin evening dresses, and he picked the young woman up. He flew with her so fast her hair streamed out behind her, her cry of surprise and fear was lost in the night. The small evening bag on its gilt chain draped across her body, bounced against her hip.

Sascha stopped running only when he was halfway home. He settled on a rooftop and looked around. He held Melissa close to his chest. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m saving you from someone who meant to harm you.” He raised his head and breathed in the night. Identifying smells and sifting through sounds in search of Fonteyn. There was no sign that he’d followed … no sign at all. Sascha placed the trembling woman on the felt membrane of the flat roof. They stood behind a sign. Huge letters cut from wood were anchored to the edge of the roof. Sascha could tell it read, Happy Inn.

“Melissa, please don’t be afraid. I had to do this. My name is Sascha.”

 Copyright Elodie Parkes , The Black Lion second edition , 2017, Hot Ink Press

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Lion-Elodie-Parkes-ebook/dp/B00LU918A6

Global link http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00LU918A6

HOP to the next #MWTease 

Gorgeous Ethan Ross believes he’s immune to love. #PNR #vampire romance for #midweektease

Looking back on vampire rock star romance Deep Dream for Midweek Teaser

Gorgeous Ethan Ross believes he’s immune to love. He’s a lead member of, Deep Dream, a rock band that often plays at StarZ, an up-market, and mysterious, New Orleans rock club. He’s never short of romantic offers, so, he reasons, why bring love into the equation? He also works in StarZ as a bartender, which is great cover for what he really is and gives the ladies the opportunity to flock to him. He’s seen some strange things there, but Ethan isn’t easily shocked, after all, he’s been around a long time.

When music magazine journalist, Anna Prideaux visits StarZ to interview his band, she’s drawn to Ethan in a way she’s never experienced before. As she returns to the club time and again in the hope he will ask her out, she slowly becomes aware that the club holds real mystery. Who are the beautiful people that frequent the club and what really happens in clouds, the private upstairs bar?

Anna is ready to give up the idea of ever gaining Ethan’s attention when handsome Remy Dubois hits on her.

Sparks start to fly as Ethan feels...what...not a twinge of jealousy, surely?

Who will win Anna’s heart and how low will the two men stoop to do it?

Read the #midweek teaser 

Anna flicked her eyes to Ethan’s face. It felt as if he was studiously ignoring her presence. It crushed her. She stared at him, willing him to look at her as he served the drinks.

He only looked at Remy.

Anna switched her gaze to her hands as she sat with them in her lap.

Okay then, Ethan’s not interested. Maybe Remy is. He’s dishy.

She told herself to take Remy’s attention, but her heart sank with disappointment that Ethan showed no interest in her at all. He’s being rude, too, ignoring me when I’m doing a piece on his band in the magazine. Her pain made her petulant.

Remy handed her the martini and she took it gratefully. “Thank you.”

His expression was kind and he lingered with his fingers touching hers over the stem of the cocktail glass. “You’re welcome, Anna.”

A shiver went down her spine. His touch was like a shock of static electricity. The sensation hovered between intensely pleasurable and strangely scary. Her hand trembled and the liquid in her glass swished.

Remy gently moved his fingers, but his appraising gaze penetrated her remaining composure, and she drank the martini almost all in one go. 

She clicked the glass down onto the bar and took a deep breath, attempting to get a grip. Focusing on something tangible, she smiled at Remy.

“I’m intrigued by the private bar they all call the clouds, not that I’ve ever been, but I’d like to. I’d at least like to know what really happens there.”

Remy’s smile turned mischievous. “Ah, what happens there is … magic.”

Despite his expression that remained wreathed with fun, Anna knew instinctively this was true, and yet she pressed on, her heart beating faster. “How would I get in?” She watched his silver eyes darken.

“I could take you. I’d love to have your company. You’re so very lovely.” He reached out and ran a fingertip down her cheek. He grasped a tendril of her hair that escaped from her chignon. “Do you want to come with me?”

Anna’s stomach flipped. Suddenly the air between them sparked with sexual tension. She knew his question held a double meaning. He’d asked her to have sex with him. To her surprise, her pussy clenched at the thought. Her tongue flicked along her top lip as her gaze traced his sexy mouth. To hell with it, he wants me and Ethan doesn’t.

Anna was short of sexual encounters. She couldn’t remember the last time she even shared a kiss and now she realized how much she wanted a date, a romantic date that might end with soft kisses and the intense pleasure of sexual release. Captured in his sensual spell she leaned toward him.

Remy met her. He bent his head to hers and stopped a breath away from her lips.

The tease was excruciating as Anna waited for the kiss. When it came, her whole body responded. She fell into a whirlpool of sensation. Her eyes closed and she drifted as the kiss went on.

Remy drew away, and Anna followed his mouth not wanting the kiss to end. 

She struggled to open her eyes. Unexpected lust filled her and weighed her down.

Remy’s voice reached her. It sounded low and distant. “Delicious, just as I expected.”

Anna nodded her head slowly, “Absolutely,” she answered, and for some reason it was difficult to talk at all.

She gazed at him.

His silver eyes darkened further, until his eyes seemed black. “Do you accept my invitation?”

Anna pulled herself together. “To go to the private bar … to go to the clouds? Yes … I’d love to,” she stuttered.

****

At the other end of the counter, Ethan was watching and listening. Anger blazed through him. He knew the warlock, and if he was truthful seeing Remy kiss Anna hurt like hell. He held himself back from racing over there, literally gripping the bar counter so hard there were imprints, and he rushed to cover them with a bar counter mat embellished with the logo for StarZ. His anger wouldn’t go away. He fretted as he watched Anna fall further under the warlock’s spell. He seethed at her response to Remy as she smiled and touched the silver-eyed man’s hand. He swore softly when Remy began trailing his fingertips up and down Anna’s bare shoulder.

Copyright Elodie Parkes, Hot Ink Press 

http://smarturl.it/DeepDream

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HOP to the next #midweek teaser