Excerpt- Copyright 2023
Dating in Disguise by Lauren Helms
She sets the drink down and turns to me. “You
must love Robin Hood if you’re willing to invest.”
“Robin Hood and I have a
lot in common, actually.” I inform her.
Her nose scrunches. “Oh
really? How so?”
“Well, for starters, I'm
a master archer"
“Nope. I don’t believe
it.” She giggles.
“I am. Really. I learned
at summer camp when I was twelve. Hooked ever since.” I tell her almost
defensively.
“Ah, okay then. What
else do you have in common?”
“I’m glad you asked.
See, I'm also a master of disguise.”
Her eyes widen playfully, “Oh my. I can see
that. Is this even your real face?”
I lean my head back and
smirk at her. “Everything about me is real, baby. Truth is, I'm not worried
about disguising myself tonight, so what you see is what you get.”
“I’ve heard that he’s
also a charmer. A ladies’ man. Obviously, that checks out.” She grins.
I nod. “I was born a
charmer. It’s in my blood.”
“Right.” She nods in
understanding, laughter dancing all over her face. “So what you're saying is
that you are the embodiment of Robin Hood.”
“Oh, I like that. The
embodiment of Robin Hood.” I snap my fingers. She’s brilliant and beautiful.
Her brows furrow, “Does
that make you an outlaw then?”
“Nah, I mean, if
stealing from the rich and giving to the poor is considered breaking the law...”
She huffs out a laugh.
“Stealing is totally considered breaking the law.”
I shrug, “Meh, maybe,
but I've got a heart of gold, so that's all that matters.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
She reaches for her drink and sips it, keeping eye contact with me over the
glass. She’s flirty and I’m digging it, but she’s not getting all touchy-feely
with me, so I’m a little unsure of where this is going.
Excerpt- Copyright 2023
Haunted Melodies, Kate Stacy
“Come with me,” I
say, grabbing hold of her hand.
Remi’s laughter rings
through the night air as I lead her between the cathedral and museum, slipping
into one of the alcoves there. The joy in her voice mirrors the twinkling stars
in the sky, and her eyes sparkle with a mix of amusement and excitement. Fuck,
she’s beautiful.
Carefree looks
incredible on her.
Shrouded in shadows,
I watch Remi as her laughter subsides into a contented sigh. She looks at me
and smiles, so I kiss her again, pressing her body against the hard stone
behind her.
I can’t get enough.
The way she tastes.
The feel of her body
against mine.
“Luke,” she murmurs
breathlessly against my lips.
I trail kisses along
her jaw, groaning when she tips her head back, giving me access to more of her
soft, silky skin.
“Luke,” she says
again, and I want to hear her say it a thousand times more. “We can’t do this
here.”
“Afraid of things
that go bump in the night?” I murmur, smiling as I kiss down the column of her
throat.
She sucks in a
breath.
"No. Just
charges for indecent exposure, public lewdness, or—"
Chuckling, I take her
mouth with mine, kissing her deeply.
Excerpt- Copyright 2023 Love
on the Halloween Dance Floor by Mel Walker
“You promise to wait for me?” She asks the
question, already knowing the answer. At a concert in Detroit that had
technical issues with the lighting and sound equipment, Aaliyah spent nearly an
hour reaming out the organizer. She came out an hour later and was shocked to
see me waiting for her. I committed to her that day that I would never leave a
venue without her.
“The
rest of my life if I have to.” The words slip from my heart to my lips without
thinking. My chest thumps heavily with my misstep. She twists to read in my
eyes the meaning of my words.
Lights
bounce off her glasses, and I fail in my attempt to read hers. An explosion of
cheers erupts in front of me, and I look up to investigate. Ali is bowing at
the front of the stage. The performance has ended.
The
house lights rise in the theatre, and Poppy leads the girls back to their
families. Whistles and cheers continue to float in the air.
A
warm set of lips land on my cheek. I hold my breath and record this moment,
stored alongside a treasure trove of protected memories.
Aaliyah’s
lips linger for a heartbeat longer than normal, a hesitation I pick up on
because when it comes to her, I notice everything. “Really good work today.
Congrats. See you in ten.”
“Here,
let me …” I take her hand to help her out of the pit. I chew on my tongue to
distract myself from the spark that shoots through my body.
“Such
a gentleman. Someday, some lucky woman will …” She doesn’t complete the
sentence. The words hang like a challenge.
A
challenge I’ve yet to answer.
My
eyes linger on Aaliyah as she navigates the narrow aisle. She moves with a
purposeful stride, a woman on a mission. My eye refuses to look away until she
disappears out the exit. Only then do I take a breath. Only then do I realize I
hadn’t.
Like
I said, I got it bad.
She
has work to do. But I’ll wait. I’ll always wait for her. I whisper the words I
don’t have the courage to say to her face. The words I pray may come true
someday. “Someday. Someday that lucky woman will be you.”
Excerpt- Copyright 2023
Ghosted by Susan Renee
“How do you make it
so easy to breathe, Scarlett?” Oliver asks me, his forehead pressed to mine.
“Because I don’t
expect you to be someone you’re not, Oliver. You’re free with me. Zero
expectations. Consider me your safe space.”
“I’m finding myself
overwhelmingly attracted to you,” he says. “And I’m sorry if that’s too much.
Maybe Rowena was right. I’m not good at hiding my feelings.”
“It’s perfectly fine
to have feelings. I have them too.” I bring my hands to his cheeks. “I wasn’t
sure how this day was going to go, but somehow, you’ve managed to make every
moment perfect. You let me take the lead instead of treating me like your personal
arm candy. You’ve asked about my feelings. My desires. What I want for myself
and for my future. Do you know how long it’s been since a man has asked how I
feel? Hell, I could marry you right now and have no remorse given what I was
about to walk into.”
“I’m really fucking
glad you didn’t marry him.”
“Me too.”
Excerpt- Copyright 2023
Hurricanes & Halloween by Katrina Marie
“My bad.” He doesn’t
look sorry at all. The wide grin he’s sporting as he watches the people still
staring at us says he’s pretty proud of himself. I don’t blame him, though. He
never would have had the confidence to do that at eighteen. Now, in our
mid-thirties, he’s sure of what he wants. Even if that person lives hours away
from him, and has no idea how we are going to make this work.
“It’s all good.” I
lean my head on his shoulder. “I’d say it was more than worth it.”
We sit in silence as
the DJ continues to play music downstairs. There are still a couple of hours
until this thing ends. And as much as I want to ditch the rest of the party and
head straight to our hotel room, I know we should stay a little longer.
Especially since our tickets were essentially free. I know the payoff will be
fine with Kelly, though. This was her moment to play fairy godmother. Her way
of making my wildest dreams come true.
“Want to see what
else this party has to offer?” Patrick squeezes my knee. It might be my
imagination, but I think his hand moved further up my leg. There’s a good
chance he’s having the same thoughts I am. Both of us are too polite to voice
them aloud.
“Sure.” I stand and
he does the same. Grabbing my drink, I hook a finger into his belt loop. Not so
accidentally grabbing his butt in the process.
“You keep doing that
and I’ll carry you out of here.”
The drinks are
working their way through my system because what falls from my lips next is
something I’d never say. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Excerpt- Copyright 2023
Masked Love by Courtney W. Dixon
Greyson sat back in
the seat and stared out the window. We were almost there despite the heavy
traffic. “How did we meet?” he asked.
“Hmm, how about at my
favorite coffee shop? You spilled coffee on me.”
He waved a hand at
me. “Ugh. Please. That trope has been done to death.”
I huffed a laugh.
Seriously, I was going to give him wine more often. “And what would you
suggest?”
“Let’s keep it
relatively realistic and almost the truth since it will be easier to remember
the lie.”
“Good at lying, are
we?”
He smirked and leaned
closer to me. “Did you just make a joke?”
“I never joke.” Which
was also a lie.
“Anyway! Let’s say I
applied to Nomadology, and you found me so hot and irresistible that I swept
you off your feet, and you refused to hire me so you could date me.”
For the first time
since I could remember, I barked out a laugh and enjoyed watching him blush.
“What? It could
happen.”
Excerpt- Copyright 2023 Hot
Hex on a Platter by Louise Lennox
At this point, I
have tunnel vision. I’m focused on taking out the piece of shit who had the
nerve to violate my woman. No one touches or hurts what’s mine and gets away
with it.
I maneuver around
him while he continues cursing and swinging, matching his speed and intensity
as he advances closer to me with every step. As he reaches out with both arms
to grab me, I take a chance, knowing I need to knock his big ass out and get
this over with.
I hit him with a
powerful uppercut that sends him sprawling onto the ground below.
He lies there
motionless as I stare down at him with disgust; the power of my punch had been
enough to knock him out cold, and between that and his intoxication, he’ll be
down for a while.
Tessa rushes over
to me, her face filled with worry as she glances at the man’s condition and
grimaces.
“Thank You. But I
had him under control. The violence wasn’t necessary.”
Her voice has a
bite of annoyance, but the relief on her face is evident. She didn’t want to
admit it, but she liked being rescued, but I’ll gladly admit that saving her
has made my dick impossibly hard. I want to love. Protect, and fuck her until
she passes out in equal measure.
Maybe there was a
chance of staying out of her life if I hadn’t seen her in the flesh. However,
now that she’s within arm’s reach, I know I’ll never let her go.
Her sister steps
over the unconscious man, who is now snoring loudly and shakes her head. The
man she was with was long gone. “Tessa, are you kidding me? You couldn’t
control him, and I swear if I had known he was that disrespectful, I would have
never dragged you up here.”
Tears well up in
her sister’s eyes. “I’m sorry; I should have listened to you.”
Yeah, she should have.
Tessa gives her a
sweet smile and pulls her into a hug. “It’s OK; you didn’t know how bad he
could be because I never told you how he harassed me in high school. I was too
ashamed and thought I was leading him on or something.”
“This fool harassed
you in high school?” I roar. “He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as
you.”
Both women look at
me like I’m crazy, but I don’t care. The idea of him hurting my sweet girl in
any way makes me want to wake him up to knock him out again.
Tessa looks at me
warily. “Umm, thank you, I guess.”
She looks back at
Foolio lying on the ground and ponders something before returning to me. I hate
the look of worry on her face, and all I want to do is kiss every stress line
away.
“Look, Marcus, it’s
been a long night. We’re heading home, and you should probably get home before
he wakes up. He will be furious, and I’d hate seeing you get into trouble on my
account.”
I frown. “I’m not
scared of him. Didn’t you see me lay his ass out?”
She rolls her eyes.
“Yes, Action Jackson, we all saw you, but do you even know who you knocked
out?”
Exasperated, I step
closer and breathe her in. She smells like cherries and doesn’t flinch away
like she did with the man lying on the ground. Instead, she subconsciously
steps closer to me.
That’s because she’s mine.
I brush the back of
my knuckles over her arm. “No, sweetheart, I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
Her sister Selene
snorts and speaks up. “Well, you should care Romeo because he’s Richard Harris,
the Chief of Police. What do you have to say now?”
I give her an
incredulous look but say nothing.
This can’t be life.
