tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328558842024-03-04T21:46:17.804-08:00Lora Leigh's MusingsLora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-26310011324265073352013-01-25T19:03:00.001-08:002013-01-25T22:43:52.051-08:00THE DEVILS DUE<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b>THE DEVILS DUE</b></div>
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Coming July 2nd, 2013 </div>
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ENTHRALLED, anthology</div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">with; </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Alyssa Day, Meljean Brook and Lora Leigh</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Introducing, THE DEVIL'S DUE</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A new title to the Breed series</span><br />
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Hero: "Devril 'Devil' Black</div>
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Heroine:Mary Katherine 'Katie' :O'Sullivan</div>
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New Mexico hasn't 'just' become a safe haven state for Breeds, it always has been, as 'Devil' Black can attest. Working with the Safe Haven Project, and the more international Breed Protection Project, which had begun decades before, he's not happy with his newest job right now.</div>
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Protect Mary Katherine O'Sullivan. As Irish as they come and the adopted 'breed' granddaughter of a former UK Genetics Council Breed Lab Overseer, Wallace O'Sullivan's only child, his son and daughter-in-law, Barrett and Kella O'Sullivan. </div>
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When Mary Katherine learned her beloved grand father had been part of the Genetics Council, it broke her heart. Coming to terms with it wasn't an easy battle. Because she's a breed herself, found as a child, rescued by the man she come to love as her 'Da', and nurtured by his wife, the only 'momma' she's ever known. Her Grandpa had never revealed his past. Not to her, and definitely not to the son who found his beloved daughter in the filth and savage conditions of the lab she was created in.</div>
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Because of her own creation, Mary Katherine has always been a believer in Breed rights. Even before her friendship with Khileen Gallagher, the step-daughter of a breed as dark and stern looking as any she had ever seen, and as gentle as anyone she had ever known, Lobo Reever.</div>
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Her best friends mother, Josephine Langer Gallagher had been married to a man who fought alongside Mary Katherine's father, and died for Breed Rights. Jorn Langer and Barrett O'Sullivan had been the best of friends since their toddler years, and all through their lives, until Jorn's death during the first harrowing battle to free the breeds in one of the largest UK labs to have been found.<br />
<br />
Even before meeting and marrying Lobo, Josephine had accepted the wild child the O'Sullivan's adopted and after the marriage, grew to care even more for her. While Mary Katherine's best friend, Khileen Gallagher adores her step-father, and his brother, Tiberian, the quiet, uber-alpha she jokingly calls 'uncle' and secretly had a horrible crush on before he left one night, breaking Khileen's young sixteen year old heart.</div>
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Seeking someplace where she won't have to deal with the reporters camped out on her parents doorstep and outside her apartment, or the pure blood groups making threats to kill her, while breed supporters plead with her to tell her story, Mary Katherine asks her supervisor with the Breed Protection Project to help find her a place to hide until it blows over.</div>
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Help comes from from none other than Lobo Reever, Khileen's step-father. Once Mary Katherine agrees to hide in America, Lobo sends one of his Breed team commanders to Ireland to pick her up and she's slipped out of the country where her father's post of Assistant Chief Constable, made her and her family an immediate political target for both blood purity groups and breed proponents, even if Mary Katherine herself hadn't been a wolf breed.</div>
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Escaping to America and the Reever's New Mexico estate, the last thing Mary Katherine expected to find was a breed to interest her. Let alone a breed as dark, brooding and inherently secretive as Devril 'Devil' Black.</div>
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Even in Ireland, as part of the Breed Protection Project, of which Mary Katherine has been a member of since she began training at sixteen, she'd heard of Devil Black, the Wolf Breed known for his swift and often bloody reprisals against former Council Soldiers who had hunted and brutalized escaped breeds in the first decade of Breed Freedom.</div>
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Now, nearing the fifteenth anniversary of the first multi-national strike against a breed lab, and the subsequent freeing of the breeds held there, Mary Katherine is face to face with one of the walking legends of Breed survival and independence. A Wolf Breed associated with one of the labs her grandfather had overseen and one feared by both Breeds and human's alike when he sets out to 'hunt'.</div>
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A Breed who longs to just be invisible</div>
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A Breed that longs to romance a woman, find some laughter with her, perhaps a night of passion, and not have to worry that it will turn up as fodder for the gossip mags as his last affair did.</div>
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A Breed still haunted by nightmares and the ghosts of those who died fighting to be free. A Breed who wakes sweating, certain freedom is a dream and all that waits him is another day of death.</div>
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Until Mary Katherine walks into his life.</div>
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A soldier with the Breed Protective Forces. A woman whose family name was linked to the Council for generations. A woman whose family now fights for Breed Freedom and who's searching for Breed protection now that her family's past is coming back to haunt her in more ways than one. Because wasn't it her grandfather that brutalized the breeds in the labs he'd overseen in the UK. One of which, Devil was confined in? The same man that raped and murdered two of the labs young females.</div>
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And now, he's not just ordered to protect the man's granddaughter, but now, he's beginning to suspect rumors of a 'mating heat' might be true. Because he's definitely hot as hell to mate this descendant of the most reviled man in the labs Devil was created in.</div>
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And now, it's the Devil's job to protect her.</div>
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It will be his pleasure to mate her.</div>
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But, can two hearts linked to such a blood filled past actually find that middle ground where love is possible and the true mating can save them both and finally give Devil his due, his mate, Mary Katherine.</div>
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<br /></div>
Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-23600544099049818332012-09-08T21:29:00.002-07:002012-09-08T21:29:30.062-07:00Nauti Temptress Prologue<div>
The fat, evil little leprechaun was interfering in their</div>
<div>
lives again in a way they would never recover from. Rowdy could</div>
<div>
feel it.</div>
<div>
It was like a chill chasing up his spine. It was a premonition</div>
<div>
of hell. It was a certainty that perhaps they should have just shot</div>
<div>
his ass when he interfered the last time.</div>
<div>
But that last time hadn’t been with one of the Mackays, just</div>
<div>
a friend, and not an old and dear one at that. The brother of an</div>
<div>
old and dear friend wasn’t exactly the same.</div>
<div>
Standing in the marina offi ce and staring out the heavy glass</div>
<div>
door, he wondered what the little bastard was up to this time.</div>
<div>
His eyes narrowed against the bright summer sun as the fat little</div>
<div>
bastard, a.k.a. Timothy Cranston, stood at the open back passenger</div>
<div>
door of the black Ford Excursion, his attention on the</div>
<div>
occupants he was obviously speaking to. He was apparently de-</div>
<div>
<div>
bating something with them, Rowdy thought. The tension in</div>
<div>
Cranston’s shoulders was a sure indication that his frustration</div>
<div>
level was rising.</div>
<div>
There were times Rowdy and his cousins might like the former</div>
<div>
Homeland Security agent, but other times he was more</div>
<div>
trouble than he was worth.</div>
<div>
Rowdy had a feeling he was about to become more trouble</div>
<div>
than he was worth again.</div>
<div>
“What the fu—hell is he up to?” Natches murmured as he</div>
<div>
paced to the door to stand beside Rowdy.</div>
<div>
Rowdy didn’t miss the word his cousin had almost used instead.</div>
<div>
A grin quirking his lips, he slid Natches an amused, knowing</div>
<div>
look.</div>
<div>
“Bliss said the F-word the other day.” Natches sighed in</div>
<div>
disgust. “Chaya’s of course blaming it on me.”</div>
<div>
“I never hear it slipping past her lips, I have to admit,” Dawg</div>
<div>
drawled from behind them. “Warned you about that, cuz.”</div>
<div>
Rowdy glanced behind him where his cousin Dawg sat back</div>
<div>
in the easy chair next to the desk, his long legs stretched out, a</div>
<div>
newspaper in hand as he read an article on a story he’d been following</div>
<div>
for a few weeks now.</div>
<div>
He seemed unusually interested in the reporters far-fetched</div>
<div>
evidence that there was some conspiracy brewing in the mountains</div>
<div>
of Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania</div>
<div>
where homeland militias were concerned. The article was being</div>
<div>
written by a reporter that had somehow managed to infi ltrate</div>
<div>
one of those militias.</div>
<div>
“I’m telling you, it doesn’t slip around Bliss. I don’t want her</div>
<div>
to hear me talking like that,” Natches bit out in frustration, his</div>
<div>
arms crossing over his chest as he glared at each of his cousins</div>
<div>
before turning back to Cranston.</div>
<div>
<div>
Normally, Rowdy would have agreed, because Natches was</div>
<div>
normally not one to slip up once he put his mind to something.</div>
<div>
“You say it often enough when you think she’s not around,”</div>
<div>
Dawg said, glancing around the side of the newspaper.</div>
<div>
Natches just shook his head.</div>
<div>
As he caught the tight-lipped scowl on Natches’s face, Rowdy</div>
<div>
knew it would do little good to argue with cousin over it. He was</div>
<div>
convinced he hadn’t said the word around his daughter, therefore,</div>
<div>
as far as he was concerned, he hadn’t said it. Until they</div>
<div>
actually managed to catch him and point it out, then he’d continue</div>
<div>
to fi ght against the idea that he’d let it drop. Rowdy was</div>
<div>
more inclined to think it had happened out of Bliss’s sight, just</div>
<div>
not out of her hearing. The three of them usually managed to</div>
<div>
hold back the words they didn’t want their daughters to hear,</div>
<div>
whether the girls were around or not. They were all too aware of</div>
<div>
the fact that their girls were growing up and prone to be present</div>
<div>
whether they could be seen or not.</div>
<div>
As far as Rowdy knew, he himself hadn’t said that word since</div>
<div>
the last time he’d suspected Cranston was up to something.</div>
<div>
It never failed that the F-word slipped out whenever that little</div>
<div>
bastard was messing in their lives.</div>
<div>
Holding his hand up in a “wait” gesture to the driver, Cranston</div>
<div>
closed the passenger door to the Excursion and began walking</div>
<div>
quickly to the marina offi ces.</div>
<div>
He wasn’t as fat as he was the last time they’d seen him,</div>
<div>
Rowdy noted to himself. Not that he’d been overly round, but</div>
<div>
he had been a bit portly.</div>
<div>
His brown hair was still a little thin in the front, though, cut</div>
<div>
short everywhere else and standing on end as the wind whipping</div>
<div>
off the lake only made it worse.</div>
<div>
The tan suit he wore was rumpled and wrinkled, as though</div>
<div>
<div>
he’d slept in it for more than a few days. Beneath the suit, it appeared</div>
<div>
he might have been working out just a little.</div>
<div>
Frowning, Rowdy glanced to Natches, wondering whether</div>
<div>
he’d noticed.</div>
<div>
Natches wasn’t saying anything if he had.</div>
<div>
Giving an irritated snort, Natches turned and paced back</div>
<div>
to the desk and the chairs Rowdy had placed behind it for his</div>
<div>
cousins. Cranston’s chair sat all by its lonesome in front of the</div>
<div>
desk.</div>
<div>
Stepping back from the door and crossing his arms over</div>
<div>
his chest, Rowdy scowled as Cranston pushed into the offi ce,</div>
<div>
his hand moving to smooth his hair back rather than running his</div>
<div>
fi ngers through the normally disheveled strands.</div>
<div>
And he looked more harried than usual.</div>
<div>
If Rowdy wasn’t mistaken, the former Homeland Security</div>
<div>
Special Agent in Charge of Investigations looked downright worried</div>
<div>
and possibly even a little uncertain.</div>
<div>
“Rowdy, damned good to see you.” Cranston frowned as he</div>
<div>
stepped into the offi ce and extended his hand. “You ignored my</div>
<div>
invitation to the party last week, by the way.”</div>
<div>
Shaking his hand, Rowdy raised his brows in surprise. “That</div>
<div>
was really from you? I couldn’t believe it. I was afraid it was a</div>
<div>
trick to get us all in one place to kill us at once.”</div>
<div>
Cranston’s frown turned suspicious, and evidently the innocent</div>
<div>
smile Rowdy gave him did nothing to alleviate the suspicion.</div>
<div>
Cranston’s jaw tightened.</div>
<div>
Turning to Dawg and Rowdy, he sighed deeply.</div>
<div>
Dawg was still engrossed in his newspaper, and now Natches</div>
<div>
had a part of it—the comics, no less—and appeared just as involved</div>
<div>
in it.</div>
<div>
<div>
“So that’s how it’s going to be?” Cranston muttered, sounding</div>
<div>
strangely disappointed.</div>
<div>
The look he shot Rowdy had a curl of shame rearing its head</div>
<div>
that only managed to piss Rowdy off. Hell, he had no reason to</div>
<div>
feel ashamed.</div>
<div>
“What did you expect?” Rowdy asked as he walked to the</div>
<div>
desk and took his seat behind it. “Come on, Cranston; we know</div>
<div>
you. When you make one of your infamous requests that we all</div>
<div>
meet you together, it means you’re going to pull us into one of</div>
<div>
your schemes, get us shot at, and piss our wives off. We’re not</div>
<div>
playing this time.”</div>
<div>
“Yet here you all are.” Timothy waved his hands out to encompass</div>
<div>
the room, that glimmer of somber disappointment still</div>
<div>
gleaming in his eyes.</div>
<div>
“Out of curiosity,” Rowdy assured him as both Dawg and</div>
<div>
Natches lowered their papers with a snap.</div>
<div>
The other man sighed –tiredly?— before moving to the desk,</div>
<div>
though he didn’t sit down.</div>
<div>
“There’s no scheme,” he assured them, his voice matching the</div>
<div>
resignation in his brown eyes.</div>
<div>
“Sure there’s not,” Dawg expressed doubtfully. “You’re still</div>
<div>
breathing; that means there’s a scheme.”</div>
<div>
“The party was thrown, Dawg”—he singled Dawg out, and</div>
<div>
it wasn’t missed by any of them, especially Dawg—“to allow you</div>
<div>
to meet four young women and their mother.”</div>
<div>
“We’re not bodyguards; nor are we in the market for a</div>
<div>
woman,” Dawg snapped.</div>
<div>
At this point, Cranston sat down. Slowly.</div>
<div>
His brows lowered, his brown eyes darker and fl ickering with</div>
<div>
what Rowdy had always said were the fi res of hell. It was actually</div>
<div>
the green coming out in the dark hazel of his eyes.</div>
<div>
<div>
They just appeared brown until he was pissed.</div>
<div>
He was pissed now.</div>
<div>
He watched the three of them silently, his jaw clenched and</div>
<div>
granite hard.</div>
<div>
“At what point have you failed to miss the fact that I am</div>
<div>
completely besotted by your wives and children? And since you</div>
<div>
acquired those wives and children, at what time have I asked</div>
<div>
you to do anything dangerous?” he asked them then, and Rowdy</div>
<div>
had to admit he hadn’t expected to hear that edge of some emotion</div>
<div>
akin to hurt, in the agent’s tone.</div>
<div>
Dawg and Natches both put their papers aside as Rowdy</div>
<div>
tensed. They’d seen Cranston in a lot of different moods, but</div>
<div>
they rarely saw him pissed off at them. And they had certainly</div>
<div>
never seen him give the impression that his feelings were hurt.</div>
<div>
They had seen him pissed at others, often— But he’d never</div>
<div>
seemed to care enough about anyone that they could actually</div>
<div>
prick emotions they’d never known he had.</div>
<div>
“That doesn’t mean you’re not trying to draw us into one of</div>
<div>
your damned operations,” Natches growled, clearly missing the</div>
<div>
fact that Cranston didn’t get pissed at them for saying no to a</div>
<div>
mission.</div>
<div>
“Natches.” Rowdy said his name softly, warningly, his gaze</div>
<div>
locked on the former agent. “Let’s see what he has to say.”</div>
<div>
“Why?” Dawg grunted. “He’s obviously out to cause trouble.”</div>
<div>
“Or to alleviate some,” Cranston stated softly, the cool smile</div>
<div>
that crossed his lips sending that chill racing up Rowdy’s spine</div>
<div>
again.</div>
<div>
Cranston stood slowly, the expression on his face hinting at</div>
<div>
not just anger, but also that inner disappointment that had</div>
<div>
Rowdy confused as hell. “Had I known this would be my reception,</div>
<div>
I would have just told you over the phone,” he stated.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
“Rather than believing we had been friends for the past four</div>
<div>
years.”</div>
<div>
Rowdy’s shoulders tightened as Cranston focused his complete</div>
<div>
attention on Dawg.</div>
<div>
Natches and Dawg had stiffened as well, the undercurrents</div>
<div>
suddenly whipping through the room fi nally piercing their suspicious</div>
<div>
anger.</div>
<div>
“Told us what?” Rowdy growled.</div>
<div>
He knew Cranston. It was too late to repair whatever insult</div>
<div>
he’d perceived. Better to just get this meeting over with and fi nd</div>
<div>
out what the hell was going on.</div>
<div>
“Three months ago, Homeland Security received an alert</div>
<div>
from the Louisville Offi ce of Vital Statistics,” he stated coolly.</div>
<div>
“Someone was requesting information on Chandler Mackay’s</div>
<div>
heirs.”</div>
<div>
Dawg stiffened further as Rowdy shot him a warning look.</div>
<div>
They needed to hear what he had to say.</div>
<div>
“I thought you resigned from Homeland Security,” Natches</div>
<div>
reminded him mockingly.</div>
<div>
Timothy shook his head, his expression pitying. “Son, you</div>
<div>
never offi cially retire from Homeland Security. One of these days</div>
<div>
you’ll fi gure that out.”</div>
<div>
“I was never part of it,” Natches reminded him.</div>
<div>
“No, but Dawg was.” He nodded to Dawg. “And because</div>
<div>
you’ll stand with him, no matter the danger, that means you’ll be</div>
<div>
there to realize it as well.”</div>
<div>
“Whatever,” Dawg growled. “But DHS and Chandler Mackay</div>
<div>
are not one and the same. He’s dead, and his heir doesn’t give a</div>
<div>
fuck, remember?”</div>
<div>
Rowdy’s head whipped to Dawg. Hell, Dawg hadn’t said the</div>
<div>
word “fuck” since his daughter was still crawling.</div>
<div>
<div>
“I remember.” Cranston nodded. “But tell me, Dawg, would</div>
<div>
you turn your back on Janey if she needed you?”</div>
<div>
“Janey is family.” Dawg came out of his chair, causing Rowdy</div>
<div>
and Natches both to stand with him, as Timothy had always said</div>
<div>
they would do.</div>
<div>
“So are the four young girls sitting in that vehicle outside,”</div>
<div>
Cranston stated. “They’re your younger sisters. Four girls, Dawg,</div>
<div>
still in their teens with no place to go because DHS found the</div>
<div>
property your father bought for them, and because he hadn’t</div>
<div>
changed the title over to the mother, they seized the property as</div>
<div>
well as the bank accounts their mother was using to help support</div>
<div>
the girls. They’re homeless, without resources, and Mercedes</div>
<div>
never allowed the girls to work. She wants them to get an education.</div>
<div>
Now, are you going to turn your back on them as well? Let</div>
<div>
me know if you are, so I can have DHS drive them to the nearest</div>
<div>
corner and put them and their few belongings out. There might</div>
<div>
be some room left under a bridge somewhere.”</div>
<div>
Dawg sat down slowly, at the same time Rowdy and Natches</div>
<div>
found themselves sitting as well. Rowdy’s knees felt damned</div>
<div>
weak, and his senses in chaos. God only knew what Natches, and</div>
<div>
even more so, Dawg, was feeling themselves.</div>
<div>
Rowdy stared at Cranston, shock warring with the resurging</div>
<div>
shame. Hell, they should have known that invitation to dinner</div>
<div>
that they had ignored a few days before—Cranston never invited</div>
<div>
a soul to dinner—was more than some ruse.</div>
<div>
“Chandler Mackay has been dead for thirteen years.” Dawg</div>
<div>
shook his head, obviously trying to reject the information. “That</div>
<div>
can’t be possible.”</div>
<div>
“The youngest girl is sixteen.” Cranston nodded. “Not one of</div>
<div>
them is more than one year younger than the sister born before</div>
<div>
her. When their mother lost the little boy she’d been carrying,</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
the year your father was killed, he never returned to the Texas</div>
<div>
home he’d bought, though payments on it were sent from a Cayman</div>
<div>
account until DHS was able to shut the account down and</div>
<div>
trace the payments. Now, what do I do with them?”</div>
<div>
Dawg shook his head.</div>
<div>
“Fine.” Cranston nodded his head. “I’ll tell the driver to take</div>
<div>
them to Somerset and drop them off.”</div>
<div>
He turned to leave.</div>
<div>
“Wait.” Rowdy stepped forward, desperation and surging</div>
<div>
disbelief making it hard to think. “The Nauti Buoy is empty right</div>
<div>
now. Put them there.”</div>
<div>
Cranston turned back, his lip curling in a disapproving sneer.</div>
<div>
“Son, their mother, Mercedes, is as proud as they come. She’s not</div>
<div>
going to just unload her daughters on a bachelor barge and consider</div>
<div>
herself lucky. If she had been that sort of mother, then I</div>
<div>
would have handled this far differently. She wants to meet you.</div>
<div>
She wants to be accepted, not pushed to the side until forced to</div>
<div>
come begging.”</div>
<div>
There was something in Cranston’s tone that Rowdy had</div>
<div>
never heard before: an edge of baffl ement as well as respect.</div>
<div>
There weren’t many people Timothy Cranston respected.</div>
<div>
From the corner of his eye Rowdy watched a muscle jump in</div>
<div>
Dawg’s jaw.</div>
<div>
“How old are the girls?” Dawg fi nally snapped.</div>
<div>
“The eldest girl, Eve, turned nineteen on New Year’s Day.</div>
<div>
Piper turned eighteen in February. Lyrica turned seventeen in</div>
<div>
March, and little Zoey just turned sixteen this month.” Timothy</div>
<div>
gave them all a hard look. “Hell of an age to live under a bridge,</div>
<div>
don’t you think? Ever been there, Dawg? Ever seen what it was</div>
<div>
like? What it’s going to be like for four teenage girls that I’m betting</div>
<div>
my pensions are still virgins?”</div>
<div>
They all had. They’d had nightmares for weeks.</div>
<div>
Timothy sighed heavily. “Their mother, Mercedes, was only</div>
<div>
fourteen when she gave birth to her fi rst child. She would have</div>
<div>
had fi ve children if she hadn’t lost the boy she conceived only</div>
<div>
weeks after Zoey was born. Her body was just too weak for</div>
<div>
another child. She developed an infection that forced the doctors</div>
<div>
to do a hysterectomy. She’s thirty-three years old with four</div>
<div>
girls to raise, and she’s not lazy any day of the week, but neither</div>
<div>
does she have family and only very few friends. Those friends</div>
<div>
are not in a position to help her. The only education she’s had</div>
<div>
since she was fourteen was what she’s taught herself. How do</div>
<div>
you go to college with four babies?”</div>
<div>
Dawg was slowly shaking his head. “She was a baby herself,”</div>
<div>
he whispered hoarsely, his eyes fi lled with horror. “She was just</div>
<div>
a baby. Fuck me. God, she’s younger than I am.”</div>
<div>
She was almost seven years younger than Dawg, and she had</div>
<div>
four children by his father. It was unthinkable, even knowing the</div>
<div>
depraved bastard Chandler Mackay had been.</div>
<div>
It was all Rowdy could think. All any of them could think,</div>
<div>
he imagined.</div>
<div>
“He raped a baby,” Dawg’s voice sounded like a wheeze.</div>
<div>
“Not much more than.” Timothy sighed, the compassion he</div>
<div>
felt in this moment making his shoulders droop as he watched</div>
<div>
the four men, wishing he could hide this part from them. “Chandler</div>
<div>
bought her from her parents in Guatemala. She was pregnant</div>
<div>
with his child when he slipped her into Texas and procured</div>
<div>
papers for her. She knew no English, had no way of supporting</div>
<div>
herself, and she didn’t have the option of running. If she ran, he</div>
<div>
told her the police would fi nd her, and they would then send her</div>
<div>
back to Guatemala without her babies.”</div>
<div>
<div>
“The babies of a rapist?” Dawg whispered as he stared back</div>
<div>
at Timothy in shock. “And she stayed?”</div>
<div>
“She loves those girls, Dawg,” Timothy assured him, the sorrow</div>
<div>
he felt at this moment more than he wanted to deal with.</div>
<div>
“She’s given everything to her daughters, and survived at less</div>
<div>
than poverty level with the funds Chandler had arranged for</div>
<div>
her to receive along with the few jobs she had working under the</div>
<div>
table. He didn’t provide her a car; he didn’t provide her a means</div>
<div>
of supporting herself. And he paid others to ensure she didn’t</div>
<div>
date, have lovers, or dare to marry. If she attempted to have a</div>
<div>
lover, he promised her, then he would take the children, have</div>
<div>
them split up and placed in foster homes, and have Mercedes</div>
<div>
sent back to Guatemala. Then he proceeded to describe to her in</div>
<div>
graphic detail a horror story of what American foster families</div>
<div>
did to the little girls given to them.” He said the last with a sneer.</div>
<div>
“You can imagine the nightmares he gave her. The one time she</div>
<div>
dared to assert her independence and attempt to acquire her</div>
<div>
GED to enable her to acquire a better job, he had her babies</div>
<div>
stolen as she slept. She was a month getting them back and they</div>
<div>
all still have nightmares of those weeks.”</div>
<div>
“He was a monster,” Rowdy whispered, his stomach roiling</div>
<div>
at the thought of what his uncle had done to another innocent</div>
<div>
child.</div>
<div>
“Exactly.” Timothy agreed. “Hell is what she has lived in for</div>
<div>
quite a while. Then the money that paid the bills was suddenly</div>
<div>
cut off, the house taken, and with it the vehicle she busted her</div>
<div>
ass for years to buy because she’d been forced to forge Chandler’s</div>
<div>
name to it to acquire it. She was thrown on the streets and</div>
<div>
taken in by one of the Texas-based Homeland Security offi cers</div>
<div>
there that that day. The woman called me immediately. She knew</div>
<div>
9780425245644_NautiTemptress_TX_p1-328.indd 11 9/7/12 7:09 AM</div>
<div>
12 LORA LEIGH</div>
<div>
1S</div>
<div>
1R</div>
<div>
1L</div>
<div>
I’d worked the Mackay case here, and that I was still in the area.</div>
<div>
They’re were ready to fucking deport her, Dawg, and do just as</div>
<div>
Chandler warned her, take her children and put them in foster</div>
<div>
homes. I went after them, had them set up in a safe house until I</div>
<div>
could verify everything and run DNA tests on the girls.” He</div>
<div>
wouldn’t give any of them a chance to deny the girls or their</div>
<div>
mother. “They’re defi nitely Chandler’s daughters,” he told them.</div>
<div>
“And considering the fact that I made damn certain the majority</div>
<div>
of what Chandler had, that I knew of, was very illegally placed</div>
<div>
in your name and backdated far enough that it couldn’t be taken,</div>
<div>
I thought perhaps you could help Mercedes and her daughters.</div>
<div>
Because if you don’t, then she doesn’t have a chance of remaining</div>
<div>
in the states with those girls.”</div>
<div>
The fact that he wasn’t so certain that Dawg would help</div>
<div>
wasn’t lost on Rowdy.</div>
<div>
“You said she worked.” Natches looked as dazed as Timothy</div>
<div>
had felt as Gillian told him what her life had been.</div>
<div>
“She did, at a restaurant. She worked cleaning homes, or</div>
<div>
whatever she could do and still take her kids, until Eve was old</div>
<div>
enough to help with them, allowing her to take on additional</div>
<div>
house cleaning jobs to provide a little more for her children.”“</div>
<div>
“She couldn’t have made much,” Rowdy whispered. “Not</div>
<div>
with four girls to care for.”</div>
<div>
“She had to have made friends.” Dawg seemed more in shock</div>
<div>
than anything.</div>
<div>
“Would you have, if it meant your children would be placed</div>
<div>
in foster care if your so called friends or employers ever learned</div>
<div>
the truth of your presence in America, or the life you were being</div>
<div>
forced to live?” Timothy asked.</div>
<div>
“Why keep the kids?” Natches questioned. “She had to have</div>
<div>
hated Chandler.”</div>
<div>
“Her daughters are her heart and soul. Never doubt that.”</div>
<div>
Timothy sighed, wondering whether he had been wrong all these</div>
<div>
years about the honor and integrity of the three men he was</div>
<div>
facing.</div>
<div>
As he opened his lips to say something more, Rowdy’s gaze</div>
<div>
jerked to the door.</div>
<div>
Timothy felt his stomach drop as the door was pushed open,</div>
<div>
and the tiny, delicate little bundle of fi re Zoey Mackay burst into</div>
<div>
the offi ce.</div>
<div>
“They don’t want us, do they?” Pain radiated in her face, her</div>
<div>
voice.</div>
<div>
She could have been Dawg’s daughter, so much did the kid</div>
<div>
look like his own kid, Laken: delicate and fragile, long black</div>
<div>
hair falling down her back, celadon eyes fi lled with tears, her face</div>
<div>
sculpted into lines of such beauty it made a grown man want to</div>
<div>
weep.</div>
<div>
Timothy rushed to her, bending to one knee as he placed his</div>
<div>
hands lightly on her fragile shoulders and stared into her eyes.</div>
<div>
“Zoey, I told you to stay in the vehicle until I fi nished,” Timothy</div>
<div>
reminded her, his tone gentling.</div>
<div>
Hell, he couldn’t yell at her; he couldn’t get mad at her. She</div>
<div>
knew the hell her mother and sisters faced if Dawg turned them</div>
<div>
away.</div>
<div>
Dawg rose slowly to his feet, causing her to fl inch as she followed</div>
<div>
the movement.</div>
<div>
“If they wanted us, it wouldn’t take this long,” she accused</div>
<div>
him, her voice rough, big tears fi lling her eyes as she turned back</div>
<div>
to Timothy. “They would have wanted to meet us by now.”</div>
<div>
“I was just asking some questions.” Dawg could feel something</div>
<div>
inside his soul bleeding.</div>
<div>
He hadn’t thought Chandler Mackay could do more to make</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
him hate him. That it was possible for the bastard to make him</div>
<div>
despise him more than he already did.</div>
<div>
Until he stared at the girl glaring back at him.</div>
<div>
She looked like an older version of his precious Laken.</div>
<div>
His baby was only three, and already, her delicate, too fragile</div>
<div>
body was forced to keep up with the fi re that burned in her</div>
<div>
soul.</div>
<div>
“What kind of questions can’t we answer?” Zoey propped</div>
<div>
her little fi sts on her hips angrily, demanding that he take her into</div>
<div>
consideration, that he make a choice and he make it now.</div>
<div>
“Zoey, Mr. Mackay and his cousins might have liked a few</div>
<div>
minutes to process everything,” Timothy chastised her gently as</div>
<div>
he straightened and stared down at her.</div>
<div>
“And what makes you think Momma has time for him to</div>
<div>
process anything,” she cried out, her voice trembling as the tears</div>
<div>
that fi lled her eyes suddenly spilled down her cheeks as fear and</div>
<div>
anger fi lled her expression. “He’ll either help us or he won’t.</div>
<div>
Either way, Momma’s sick again—”</div>
<div>
Timothy moved.</div>
<div>
Rushing past the little girl, aware Dawg, Rowdy, and Natches</div>
<div>
were moving quickly to follow behind him, Timothy ran for the</div>
<div>
Excursion at a run.</div>
<div>
Racing to the passenger-side door opposite the offi ce he saw</div>
<div>
the young Homeland Security agent standing next to Mercedes</div>
<div>
Mackay, his expression concerned.</div>
<div>
“Agent Rickers,” he snapped. “What’s going on?”</div>
<div>
“Mr. Cranston.” Agent Rickers straightened quickly and</div>
<div>
moved back, his young face pale. “She’s weak again, sir. I was</div>
<div>
trying to make her more comfortable.”</div>
<div>
The other girls had moved farther back to the third row of</div>
<div>
seats, watching their mother fearfully as she breathed heavily,</div>
<div>
her pale face reddened, perspiration pouring from it.</div>
<div>
“Timothy, I’ll be fi ne,” Gillian promised weakly. “You know</div>
<div>
how frightened they get.”</div>
<div>
But she wouldn’t be fi ne, and Timothy knew it. Not if she</div>
<div>
didn’t get the help she needed.</div>
<div>
“My dear, you should have sent one of the girls for me before</div>
<div>
you became so ill,” he chastised her as he took the damp cloth</div>
<div>
the other agent had been using to wipe the perspiration from her.</div>
<div>
It did little to cool her skin. Few things did when such attacks</div>
<div>
occurred. They came with a suddenness that couldn’t be predicted,</div>
<div>
and often left just as quickly.</div>
<div>
“Timothy, get her in the offi ce; we’ll call for Doc,” Rowdy</div>
<div>
ordered from the other side of the vehicle.</div>
<div>
“Come on, Mercedes.” The gentleness in the leprechaun’s</div>
<div>
voice shocked not just Rowdy, but his cousins as well, though the</div>
<div>
young women in the vehicle didn’t seem surprised at all.</div>
<div>
Cranston picked her up as though she weighed nothing, and</div>
<div>
she had to be three inches taller, at least, than the former agent.</div>
<div>
Pick her up he did, though, and carried her quickly into the</div>
<div>
offi ce, all the girls at his heels.</div>
<div>
“What’s wrong with her?” Rowdy questioned the older man</div>
<div>
as he laid her on the offi ce couch, the girls hovering around her.</div>
<div>
Cranston sighed heavily. “The doctors aren’t certain, but she’s</div>
<div>
refused to see the specialists she’s been referred to.”</div>
<div>
“Why?”</div>
<div>
Cranston’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking at the side furiously.</div>
<div>
“No insurance and no money, Rowdy. I told you, once</div>
<div>
Homeland Security found that Cayman account two years ago,</div>
<div>
they’ve had to live on what she had saved and the money she</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
made working three jobs. She refused to let the girls work.</div>
<div>
The girls weren’t even aware Mercedes was no longer receiving</div>
<div>
the money until DHS showed up at the house and threw</div>
<div>
them out.”</div>
<div>
Rowdy started to say more, but the sight of three concerned</div>
<div>
women moving quickly across the parking lot had a grimace</div>
<div>
pulling at his lips before he turned to his cousins. “Shopping trips</div>
<div>
over,” he announced, nodding toward their wives as they moved</div>
<div>
purposefully for the offi ce.</div>
<div>
“Where the hell were they?” Natches rubbed his jaw in confusion.</div>
<div>
“My guess, close enough to see why the hell we tried to push</div>
<div>
them into going shopping this morning.” Rowdy sighed. “We’re</div>
<div>
getting out of practice, boys.”</div>
<div>
“I thought someone was calling a doctor.” The little powerhouse</div>
<div>
who had interrupted the meeting earlier stood from where</div>
<div>
she had been kneeling next to her mother.</div>
<div>
“Zoey, enough,” Mercedes chastised her. “Where are your</div>
<div>
manners?”</div>
<div>
“They promised, Momma.” Pleading with her eyes, clearly</div>
<div>
afraid for her mother’s health.</div>
<div>
“I sent the text,” Rowdy promised her. “His nurse just texted</div>
<div>
back.”</div>
<div>
He handed the girl the phone.</div>
<div>
“Half an hour.” She murmured the nurse’s reply before handing</div>
<div>
the phone back to him and staring up at him with eyes the</div>
<div>
same pale, intense green of Dawg’s, yet in this child’s eyes lurked</div>
<div>
a deep, haunting fear he knew he’d see in his nightmares.</div>
<div>
Her celadon eyes were surrounded by a wealth of long, heavy</div>
<div>
black lashes, he noticed. She was a beauty already, and keeping</div>
<div>
the wild hearts and even wilder men away from her for the rest</div>
<div>
of her life wouldn’t be easy, Rowdy thought in resignation.</div>
<div>
And there was no doubt she was a Mackay.</div>
<div>
If he had seen any of the four girls on the street at any time,</div>
<div>
he would have known he was looking at the daughter of a</div>
<div>
Mackay. The dark looks were simply unmistakable.</div>
<div>
As Rowdy pushed the phone back into the holster at his side,</div>
<div>
the door to the offi ce was pushed inward and three concerned,</div>
<div>
though borderline furious Mackay wives were moving into the</div>
<div>
room.</div>
<div>
Kelly, whose gentle features had matured in the past fi ve years</div>
<div>
since her daughter’s birth, though she still looked far too young</div>
<div>
for her husband Rowdy’s experienced features.</div>
<div>
Chaya, Natches’s wife, whose brows were drawn into a</div>
<div>
frown, her brown eyes going between Eve, Piper, Lyrica, and</div>
<div>
Zoey in suspicion before dropping to Mercedes Mackay.</div>
<div>
But Dawg’s wife, Christa, was stark pale, so white faced</div>
<div>
Dawg moved for her instantly.</div>
<div>
“No, no, no, no.” He shook his head desperately as her eyes</div>
<div>
began to fi ll with tears. “Oh, hell, no, baby. Sisters. They’re my</div>
<div>
sisters, not my kids. I swear. Sisters, Christa.”</div>
<div>
Her gaze moved to him slowly, reluctantly. She frowned</div>
<div>
deeply, though her face was still stark white as she slowly shook</div>
<div>
her head.</div>
<div>
“This is all Timothy’s fault.” He glared at Timothy before</div>
<div>
pointing his fi nger at the not-so-fat little bastard as Timothy</div>
<div>
stared back at him in confusion.</div>
<div>
“What’s my fault?” Timothy glared back at him, obviously</div>
<div>
offended by the accusation.</div>
<div>
The four girls and their mother were staring at him as though</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
he had dropped into the room from outer space, while Rowdy</div>
<div>
and Natches simply watched him warily.</div>
<div>
Christa swallowed tightly. “I don’t think they’re your daughters,”</div>
<div>
she whispered.</div>
<div>
“Then what’s wrong?” he demanded. “You’re as white as a</div>
<div>
damned sheet.”</div>
<div>
She shook her head and turned back to the four girls again.</div>
<div>
“Oh, my God, Dawg what did Chandler Mackay do? They could</div>
<div>
be, your twins,” she whispered. “As though they were cloned</div>
<div>
from you.”</div>
<div>
“Oh, God, just shoot me now,” Zoey spat in disgust.</div>
<div>
“Momma, I don’t think I can ever forgive you.” Eve sighed.</div>
<div>
“At least it’s him we looked cloned from and not one of the</div>
<div>
other two,” Lyrica said with a grunt. “That would have sucked.”</div>
<div>
“It still sucks,” Piper assured her younger sister.</div>
<div>
“Brats,” Rowdy murmured, though there was no heat in his</div>
<div>
tone; he actually seemed rather amused.</div>
<div>
“Brats? Try bitches.” Natches grunted, his gaze carefully shuttered,</div>
<div>
though Dawg could detect the amusement. “And that little</div>
<div>
one works at it, too.”</div>
<div>
“But not very hard.” Zoey slid him an arch, cool look. “If I</div>
<div>
had, trust me, you’d know it.”</div>
<div>
The girl’s comment had Kelly’s, Christa’s, and Chaya’s gazes</div>
<div>
moving then to Timothy. Then they shifted instantly to the</div>
<div>
woman stretched out on the couch.</div>
<div>
Hell, Dawg thought, this woman didn’t look old enough to</div>
<div>
be the mother of the four obvious hellions staring back at the</div>
<div>
Mackay wives.</div>
<div>
“Natches, sweetheart, what’s Cranston doing here?” Chaya,</div>
<div>
one of Cranston’s former agents, stepped to her husband and let</div>
<div>
him pull her close to his side.</div>
<div>
As she did so, Kelly stepped to Rowdy, while Christa moved</div>
<div>
to Dawg’s side and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. It was</div>
<div>
the look on his face, Rowdy thought, that look of blank devastation</div>
<div>
in his gaze that had Crista bestowing a kiss to assure</div>
<div>
him there was nothing for him to worry about.</div>
<div>
“It would appear we’ve added to the family,” Natches told his</div>
<div>
wife softly. “Meet Dawg’s sisters. I’m certain they’ll introduce</div>
<div>
themselves as soon as Doc gets here to check out their mother.”</div>
<div>
Timothy wiped Mercedes face again. Rowdy could have</div>
<div>
sworn the leprechaun’s hand was shaking.</div>
<div>
“What did you do, Mercedes?” he asked her gently. “Didn’t</div>
<div>
you rest last night?”</div>
<div>
Mercedes lush lips almost tilted into a smile. “What do you</div>
<div>
think, Tim?” she asked, forcing her eyes open.</div>
<div>
Tim?</div>
<div>
No one, but no one, had ever been allowed to call Timothy</div>
<div>
Cranston “Tim.”</div>
<div>
“I think you were up all night pacing and worrying.” He</div>
<div>
sighed. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”</div>
<div>
“Is there not?” she asked him sorrowfully. “Chandler’s son is</div>
<div>
suddenly besieged by four young females he knew nothing of,</div>
<div>
and a sick mother to boot? Ah, Tim, do you not know human</div>
<div>
nature far better than this?”</div>
<div>
“I know the Mackays far better than this,” he assured her,</div>
<div>
praying he was right. “And the Mackays do not turn their backs</div>
<div>
on family.”</div>
<div>
The look he slid them assured the Mackays that they’d better</div>
<div>
not start now.</div>
<div>
“Is Doc on his way, then?” Christa asked Dawg as his hand</div>
<div>
tightened on her hip, his need to draw her closer evident.</div>
<div>
“Half hour, his nurse said.”</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
“Twenty minutes then.” She nodded.</div>
<div>
Dawg watched the young woman; hell, she had four grown</div>
<div>
daughters and she was younger than he was. He watched her,</div>
<div>
watched her daughters, and in their eyes he saw pure, raw fear.</div>
<div>
“Cranston, what do the doctors who have suggested a specialist</div>
<div>
say could be wrong with her?” Dawg asked; the low rasp</div>
<div>
of the tone wasn’t lost on the former agent.</div>
<div>
Cranston swallowed tightly, the action at fi rst almost unnoticed.</div>
<div>
But the slight fl inch of his facial muscles wasn’t missed by</div>
<div>
Dawg.</div>
<div>
“They think she could have an advanced form of chemical</div>
<div>
poisoning that’s slowly weakening her lungs. One of the jobs she</div>
<div>
had was at an industrial chemical processing plant that’s since</div>
<div>
been shut down for its unsafe working conditions.” Clearing his</div>
<div>
throat of obvious emotion, he lifted his gaze to Dawg’s, and no</div>
<div>
one missed the plea in his eyes. “The treatments she needs are</div>
<div>
expensive—”</div>
<div>
“Timothy, no.” Pride was evident in Mercedess weak voice as</div>
<div>
she laid her hand on his arm. “Let’s not talk of this. Let the girls</div>
<div>
and their brother talk.”</div>
<div>
“Mercedes, I won’t let you lie here and suffer,” he snarled, his</div>
<div>
voice hoarse and fi lled with emotion. “Not any more.”</div>
<div>
Timothy Cranston was in love.</div>
<div>
Dawg lifted his gaze from Cranston, only to realize the four</div>
<div>
girls were watching him suspiciously, fearfully. There wasn’t one</div>
<div>
of them who didn’t expect him to turn them away.</div>
<div>
“Doc’s here,” Christa stated as a vehicle pulled up in front of</div>
<div>
the door. “He’s early. He must have already left the offi ce.”</div>
<div>
Dawg nodded. “Let’s get your mother taken care of,” he told</div>
<div>
the girls. “Once we have her checked out, we’ll talk.” His gaze</div>
<div>
dropped to Cranston’s again before lifting back to the girls. “But</div>
<div>
have no doubt: You’re family. And we stick by family.”</div>
<div>
“On of you killed your cousin,” the eldest stated. “I heard one</div>
<div>
of the agents talking about it after we arrived at Tim’s. Is that</div>
<div>
how you take care of family?”</div>
<div>
She might have resembled Dawg enough to be his kid, but it</div>
<div>
was Natches’s emerald eyes she stared at him from.</div>
<div>
“Eve.” Her mother gasped, obviously shocked by her daughter’s</div>
<div>
rudeness.</div>
<div>
Dawg just gave Eve a mocking smile as his hand tightened at</div>
<div>
Christa’s hip once again. “Only those who betray us and have a</div>
<div>
gun trained on the someone we love,” he assured her. “Then, Eve,</div>
<div>
trust me, it didn’t matter who he was then; Johnny was dead.”</div>
<div>
Eve’s nostrils fl ared before she fi nally relaxed enough to simply</div>
<div>
nod her head.</div>
<div>
“Mackays don’t betray one another.” Cranston tore his gaze</div>
<div>
from their mother long enough to stare back at each girl with a</div>
<div>
glint of steel in his eyes. “Remember that, girls. You stand for</div>
<div>
who you are, what you are, and for family. That’s what your</div>
<div>
mother’s taught you, and that’s what you live by.”</div>
<div>
“Only if you stand for us fi rst,” Lyrica spoke up warily.</div>
<div>
Dawg nodded. “Understandable. And we’ll show you our</div>
<div>
good faith.” He glanced to Natches and Rowdy. Each of his cousins</div>
<div>
nodded in turn. “We’ll take care of you and your mother,</div>
<div>
because you’re family, and that’s what families do. Whatever</div>
<div>
treatments your mother needs, whatever care, she’ll have it. Just</div>
<div>
as you’ll return to school and do your part.”</div>
<div>
“In return for what?” the other girl asked suspiciously.</div>
<div>
“In return for being part of the family,” Dawg growled back</div>
<div>
at her. “I just told you that. Loyalty begins somewhere, and I’ll</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
make that fi rst step. From here on out it’s up to you. But betray</div>
<div>
us or yourselves, hurt us, yourselves or another of the family, and</div>
<div>
you’ll risk all of it. Come to us, talk to us, and we’ll help you the</div>
<div>
best way we can. But you don’t lie to us, you don’t cheat us, and</div>
<div>
you don’t dare betray one of us.”</div>
<div>
What the hell was he supposed to do with four sisters?</div>
<div>
Each girl nodded before the door opened, heralding the doctor</div>
<div>
and his nurse. Within an hour an ambulance arrived and,</div>
<div>
with Cranston riding with her, whisked Mercedes Mackay to the</div>
<div>
hospital and left four clearly suspicious, frightened, and exhausted</div>
<div>
young women in his keeping.</div>
<div>
And Dawg would soon learn, along with Rowdy and Natches,</div>
<div>
just what they might have to face in another decade or so.</div>
<div>
With their own daughters.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-7246343698052616772012-09-01T07:06:00.000-07:002012-09-01T07:06:27.423-07:00Something for everyoneSince I want everyone to get something next week I am going to publish the prolue of Nauti Temptress.<br />
so keep checking back.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-21207087107780071982012-09-01T07:00:00.003-07:002012-09-01T07:00:59.494-07:00contest winnersHere are the winners<br />
<br />
Amber Lovvorn<br />
shelbasmom<br />
chelseavohland<br />
Mel from Texas<br />
LynneD0112<br />
<br />
please email lleighpa@aol.com with your addresses.<br />
Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-74714595527398235012012-08-27T20:24:00.000-07:002012-08-27T20:24:04.902-07:00News and a contestHi everyone,<br />
I am sorry I haven't been on lately I have been very busy with deadlines. This year alone I have worked on the Wizard Twins series, the Callahan's series, the Nauti Girl series, the Breeds and the Bound Hearts and the year isn't over yet. So to make it up to all of you I will give away 5 of my new Nauti Girl water bottles? Interested? Tell me what your favorite series is and why?Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com253tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-29716733751516961052011-06-27T08:10:00.001-07:002011-06-27T08:12:10.352-07:00<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.labanksauction.org/" title="LA Banks Fund"><img style="width: 401px; height: 60px;" src="http://labanksauction.org/images/Share%20Your%20Heart%20Banner.jpg" title="A Banks Drive" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center">How do you win Lora Leigh's personal Lawe's Justice Journal, hand written daily detailing the information going into the Breed title Lawe's Justice? This journal includes spoilers to upcoming books, detailed character information within the breed world, almost daily entries detailing the trials, tribulations, joys and pleasures in writing one of Lora's favored characters. Along with winning this one of a kind, never to be duplicated leather journal, you can also win three days, three nights paid room and registration to <a href="http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/" title="RAW 2011">RAW 2011</a>. <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Banks-Auction-Lora-Leigh-RAW-2011-/250842401211?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a675f49bb" title="Lora's Auction">Lora's Auction</a> ends on July 1, 2011.</p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.labanksauction.org/Auction.htm" title="LA Banks Auction">Join the LA Banks charity auction drive. </a></p>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-21735928690320321032010-08-23T07:35:00.001-07:002010-08-23T07:35:38.492-07:00The Lora Leigh Romance Book Discussion Group Hosted by Lora Leigh Will be on Saturday, August 28th from 3-5pm. We will be meeting at the Homewood Suites in Hagerstown, MD.<br />We will be discussing "Bonds of Justice" by Nalini Singh as well as a variety of other subjects, authors, and books.<br /> <br />Please RSVP by August 24th to goshawk21@comcast.net goshawk21@comcast.net so we have an accurate count of arrivals for snacks, drinks etcLora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-69186408608295926102010-07-23T06:37:00.001-07:002010-07-23T06:37:16.503-07:00The Lora Leigh Romance Book Discussion Group will be on Saturday, July 24th from 3-5pm. We will be meeting at the Homewood Suites in Hagerstown, MD.<br /><br /><br />Physical address is 1650 Pullman Lane Hagerstown, Maryland, 21740<br />GPS address is 190 Railway Lane Hagerstown, Maryland 21740<br /><br />We will be discussing "Big Bad Wolf" by Christine Warren as well as a variety of other subjects, authors, and books.<br /> <br />Please RSVP by July 22nd to goshawk21@comcast.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so we have an accurate count of arrivals for snacks, drinks etcLora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-76044485706363116772010-06-21T13:44:00.001-07:002010-06-21T13:44:26.173-07:00Hello,<br /> The June Lora Leigh Romance Book Discussion Group will be on Saturday, June 26th from 3-5pm. We will be meeting at the Homewood Suites in Hagerstown, MD.<br />Physical address is 1650 Pullman Lane Hagerstown, Maryland, 21740<br />GPS address is 190 Railway Lane Hagerstown, Maryland 21740<br /><br />I'm looking forward to seeing y'allLora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-67203949310880781522010-05-27T11:56:00.000-07:002010-05-27T11:59:10.466-07:00Saturday, May 29th, from 3:00 to 5:00, please join me at the Borders Seattles Best Cafe on Garland Groh, in Hagerstown MD for the first of the monthly book discussions I'll be hosting. This week, we'll discuss our favorite authors, the books we'll be reading, and getting to know each other.<br />I look forward to seeing you there.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-15949804872161683532010-04-22T20:34:00.000-07:002010-04-22T20:35:44.239-07:00COMING MONDAY APRIL 26, 2010<br /><br />WOLFE'S HOPE AUDIO BOOK<br /><br />The first Lora Leigh Audio Book releases Monday.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-67432033395194543752010-04-17T11:22:00.000-07:002010-04-17T11:29:20.667-07:00I AM IN LOVE WITH RENEGADE!<br /><br />Nik stole my heart.<br />I'm finishing the edits on Renegade, and I have to say, I think this is the BEST Elite Ops book yet. I think its even better than Wild Card, and that one was my favorite of all favorites.<br /><br />Here's a little peek.<br /><br />RENEGADE<br />Elite Ops 5<br /><br />His jaw ached at the force of his teeth grinding together. His hands flexed deliberately around the hand grips of the motorcycle handle bars as he turned toward town and the shop he knew Mikayla would still be working in.<br /> Creating dreams. That was what she did there.<br />She created dreams in the form of dresses for both the innocent as well as the jaded. In each stitch of each design that she created herself, she lived her own dreams.<br />Dreams of romance and adventure, dreams of candlelit nights and passion.<br />And he knew, in a back room of her own home, she was creating her own dream. The first fragile form of a white gown that she would one day wear as she walked down the aisle herself.<br />He’d seen it when he had slipped into her home. His fingers had touched the fragile lace of the underskirt she had begun as his eyes had memorized the sketch on the table.<br />Mikayla was creating her wedding gown. A creation of satin and lace, of beads and ivory. A gown she would wear for the man who would claim her heart forever.<br />Nik couldn’t allow himself to be that man.<br />There was a part of himself that clenched in fury at the thought of any other man claiming that place in her life, though he knew it was a place he could never claim himself.<br />Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.<br />His job here was to find out why Mikayla Martin was lying about what she had seen.<br />His opinion was, if she was lying, then she was the best damned liar he had ever laid his eyes on. Or simply a woman he wanted more than he had ever wanted any other woman.<br />The potential for destruction was only growing.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-81169387439813312932010-04-13T20:24:00.000-07:002010-04-13T20:28:13.292-07:00Meeting at the Pullman Plaza in Huntington, W.Va.<br /><br />April 15th, Thursday, between six and seven or eight, I will be in the lobby of the Pullman Plaza Hotel to talk to anyone who wants to stop by and talk books.<br /><br />Lora LeighLora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-73570563153745975312010-04-12T22:50:00.000-07:002010-04-12T22:54:13.522-07:00A trip out of town<br />I'll be in Huntington W.Va Weds thru Friday to complete planning for RAW 2010.<br />Be watching tomorrow for a day and time that I will be in the lobby of the Pullman Plaza hotel in Huntington if anyone wants to stop by for an impromptu chat on Lion's Heat or upcoming books. It will most likely be an evening meeting and I'm sorry for the late notice, but if you're in the area, I would love to see you.<br />I'll post the information by tomorrow at five est.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-87957888867855090962010-04-12T21:56:00.000-07:002010-04-12T22:06:14.803-07:00About Cassie...<br />It's really too soon to tease, but I'm getting so many emails, and all the love and intrest in Cassie prompts me to tease just a little bit.<br />Now, Cassie is only nineteen, so understand, she has a little growing up to do before she can actually deal with her mate.<br />Yes, her mate has whispered to me. A breed has claimed her. But this has happened before and the heroine has firmly denied him, so I'm not giving away the secret just yet.<br />Let's say this.<br />He's very special.<br />He's a breed with qualities, and with certain gifts that it will take a very extraordinary heroine to deal with.<br />He's a breed that knows himself too well, and though he wants to protect her from himself, a part of himself is incredibly selfish when it comes to her.<br />He's a breed that doesn't believe any part of him is a man.<br />He's a breed that can endanger her, and he knows he has to be patient right now, he has to be careful.<br />Cassie's book is planned, and is slowly being plotted.<br />Cassie needs to grow up a bit, she needs a bit more strength under her belt, and she needs to show Dash she's a woman not a child before he will ever be able to allow her mate to live once he learns who it is.<br />Letting go isn't going to be easy for the father. He knows her weaknesses, her nightmares. Nightmares that you will begin glimpsing soon.<br />Please be patient. Cassie is part of an overall idea that is slowly developing.<br />I can't write Cassie, until other parts have released. Styx's Storme is a very important part of Cassie's growth experience. It's also an important part of Dane's upcoming story. Though his story too is still a little bit away.<br />I have so far 25 Breed books still to go, and more characters just keep popping up.<br />Dog, Mutt and Mongrel.<br />Lawe and Rule<br />Mordecai<br />Chimera<br />Shiloh <br />Simon<br />Ely, Ice and Jackal<br />I'm getting there. LOL<br />A couple of breed ghosts that you meet in Lion's Heat.<br />Diana, who you meet in Lions Heat.<br />So many breeds are coming.<br /><br />I hope you continue to enjoy reading them.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-52116856529091534332010-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:002010-04-11T10:23:03.852-07:00Romantic Times Convention<br />Columbus Ohio<br />April 28 to May 2, 2010<br /><br />I'm getting ready to leave at the end of the month for the RT Convention.<br />I wasn't able to attend last year, but I'm really looking forward to this one.<br />Sylvia Day and I are hosting a workshop Thursday from 10:00 to 11:00. There will be some great prizes and lots of fun, so I hope to see you there.<br />The rest of my schedule is as follows:<br /><br />10:00 AM - 11:00 AM READER: READERS’ APPRECIATION WORKSHOP WITH LORA LEIGH AND SLYVIA DAY<br />THURSDAY: Join #1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh and national bestselling author Sylvia Day for an hour celebrating the special connection between authors and their readers. With giveaways, Q & A, exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming books, and lots of laughter, this is an hour you don’t want to miss!.<br />Hosted by: S.J. Day aka Sylvia Day and Lora Leigh <br /><br />4:00 PM - 6:00 PM RT BOOK REVIEWS AWARDS CEREMONY <br />THURSDAY: RT BOOK REVIEWS Career Achievement and Reviewers' Choice Awards<br />Hosted by: RT BOOK REVIEWS <br /><br />11:00 AM - 2:00 PM GIANT BOOK FAIR<br />SATURDAY: Where can you meet your favorite authors, get your pic taken with them or a cover model, or get a sneak preview to what's coming out in the wonderful world of women's fiction? At the one and only RT Booklovers Convention Book Fair! Over 300 authors will autograph books, posters and bookmarks, and you can bring your favorite "keeper" books to have your fav author sign them!!<br /><br />12:05 PM - 1:30 PM AUTHOR SPEED MEETING<br />SUNDAY: Go one-on-one with bestselling authors who will switch tables every 15 minutes to meet seated fans and booksellers <br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone who attends. I'll be out and about through the entire convention meeting and talking to as many as I can. I'm really looking forward to this.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-21454799179780792842010-04-10T22:49:00.000-07:002010-04-10T22:50:40.760-07:00I'm finishing edits on Renegade tonight<br />and beginning in the next day or so, I begin Styx's story, from the Breeds series, Styx's Storm.<br />I'm really looking forward to my chocolate loving Scotsman.<br />Let's see how much trouble he can cause. :)Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-1067240361085428852010-04-10T22:38:00.000-07:002010-04-10T22:42:37.728-07:00There was a booksigning today at Borders at Hagerstown MD.<br />Yes, I truly did forget to announce it. I had forgotten we had finalized the plans for it back in the winter, and became caught up in completing several books. This won't happen again.<br />The past year and a half is slowly easing behind me, and life is becoming peaceful.<br />I'm not so used to peaceful. :) But that's where life is. There's a lot of books to complete to get out to you, and I'm running behind, but slowly catching up I think.<br />Thank you to the ladies who were at the booksigning, we had a great time.<br />And those who are in the Hagerstown area, please visit Bordens on May 29th between 3:00 to 5:00 when the first book club meeting that I'm hosting will begin.<br />I'm looking forward to that. It will be great to hear about new authors and talk books with a group of readers. So be sure to join us there.<br />And yes, I promise to post more reminders closer to the event.Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-31017341941710679792010-04-06T09:16:00.000-07:002010-04-06T09:25:50.653-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/lionsheatlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 327px;" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/lionsheatlg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">Available in April by <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/"> Lora Leigh</a>!<br /><br /></span></b></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><i><b>"LION'S HEAT is without a doubt my favorite Lora Leigh release to date. This novel flows very easily with plot twists and turns, old and new questions are solved and asked, and Jonas finds the other half of his heart."</b></i> Natalie ~ <a title="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Lion_s_Heat_LL.shtml" href="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Lion_s_Heat_LL.shtml"> Read more at Romance Junkies</a><br /><br /><i><b>"This next highly anticipated novel of the Breeds is powerful and sensual with enough fast-paced action to make your head spin. A Lora Leigh novel is always a must- read!"</b></i> Mandy Burns ~ <a title="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=25451" href="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=25451"> Read More at Fresh Fiction</a><br /><br /><i><b>"The incredible Lora Leigh continues to write about the breeds while keeping the story fresh and new. While in some series you can feel that you have read the story before but the names are different the breeds' series is not like this. Go, Lora Leigh go!"</b></i> Karla ~ <a title="http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=6082" href="http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=6082"> Read More at Night Owl Romance</a><br /><br /><i><b>"Lion’s Heat is the novel that Jonas Wyatt needed and I quite happily Joyfully Recommend it. I couldn't put it down and I have since read it two more times. It is phenomenal."</b></i> Talia Ricci ~ <a title="http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/RRs/April10RR/lionsheat.ll.html" href="http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/RRs/April10RR/lionsheat.ll.html"> Read More at Joyfully Reviewed</a></span></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh</b><br />Publisher: Berkley (Available April 6, 2010)<br />ISBN-10: 0425233804<br />ISBN-13: 978-0425233801<br /><br /><i><b>The mating urge cannot be ignored... </b></i><br /><br />Bad boy Jonas Wyatt knows it is fate that Rachel becomes his mate. He can sense it. He can also sense her reluctance. But she has little power over the mating heat of the Breeds. It is Jonas's destiny to claim her. And nothing will stop him from having his way. </span></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>EXCERPT from Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh (c)...(unedited)</b><br /><br />For the first time in her life, Rachel Broen was terrified. It wasn't fear. It was soul destroying, mind numbing, and silently screaming terror.<br /><br />She couldn't scream aloud, it would draw notice. Notice that her tears and ragged sobs wouldn't draw, weren't drawing as she slid her unassuming little Civic into the deserted parking lot of the Bureau of Breed Affairs.<br /><br />The night guard on duty had taken her pass without much notice. He knew her car; he'd seen enough of her to know who she was. It wasn't unusual for her to leave late, or to arrive early if she was commanded to do so by the autocratic bureau director, Jonas Wyatt.<br /><br />The guard had easily accepted her hasty excuse that she'd forgotten to update his memos and his morning schedule, and that it had to be done tonight.<br /><br />He hadn't noticed her torn blouse; the jacket she wore covered it. He hadn't seen the bruise she could feel spreading across the right side of her face, or the swollen condition of her right eye.<br /><br />The blow had been carefully delivered.<br /><br />Jumping from the car she felt the rough asphalt bite into her bare feet as she stumbled before racing to the door. It took two attempts to get her electronic card pass to activate the doors and release the locks.<br /><br />A thin sob tore from her chest as she nearly fell through the door and ran for the stairs that led to the third floor and the private offices of the director, Jonas Wyatt.<br /><br />Jonas. The manipulating, calculating bastard. This was his fault. He'd played too many games. He'd pushed the wrong people and had so erroneously believed they would come after him.<br /><br />She tripped, her knee slamming into a step, the skin breaking as a ragged scream of rage and pain tore from her lips.<br /><br />She was paying for it.<br /><br />Oh God. She was paying for it. She was paying for her stubbornness, her determination... No, she wasn't paying for it. The bruises, the agony tearing through her leg, the ragged pain in her side from the fist she had taken earlier, the bruises on her face, they were nothing. She would suffer that pain a thousand times over. She would suffer the fires of hell if only her child was safe.<br /><br />Jonas. He was here.<br /><br />A strangled scream tore from her lips as she fought to breath, to race up the second flight of stairs. One more flight. Dear God, she was almost there.<br /><br />Jonas was here. She knew he was. He had warned her that evening not to come to work tomorrow. He had known his enemies were tracking him. He'd known, the son of a bitch, he'd known and just as she'd warned him months ago, when they struck, it wouldn't be him they went after.<br /><br />She had never believed they would come after her child.<br /><br />"Jonas!" She tried to scream out his name as fumbled the electronic key at the door to the main offices.<br /><br />Sliding it again, again, and still it wouldn't work.<br /><br />"Jonas please..." she screamed out again, terrified he would ignore her, knowing he had to hear her.<br /><br />He was a breed.<br /><br />The lock released, the heavy steel door flew open, and nearly pitched her to the floor as the door to Jonas' office was jerked open across the room.<br /><br />He's here, and he isn't alone. She barely saw the others though. She saw his face, hated and yet adored. His eyes, alive in his bronzed face, swirls of silver mercury as he jumped to her, barely catching her before she fell to the floor.<br /><br />"You bastard!" An open handed slap to his shocked face as sobs tore from her, tears making her vision cloudy as terror choked her, ripping the breath from her body. "I warned you! I warned you they wouldn't strike you!" </span> </span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138&Itemid=105" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138&Itemid=105"> <img title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138&Itemid=105 Men of Danger" alt="Men of Danger" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/menofdangerlg.jpg" align="left" border="0" height="327" hspace="5" width="201" /></a></span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Men of Danger Anthology</b><br />Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (Available April 27, 2010)<br />ISBN-10: 0312576366<br />ISBN-13: 978-0312576363<br /><br /><b>Includes...</b><br /><br /><b>"Hannah's Luck" by LORA LEIGH </b><br />When burglars try to break into her home, kindergarten teacher Hannah Brookes is lucky to have Sheriff Rick Grayson on her side. Especially when their mutual attraction leads to distraction...<br /><br /><b>"Reckless" by RED GARNIER </b><br />Police detective Zach Rivers isn't the only man in Phoenix who's obsessed with the beautiful Paige Avery--but he's definitely the sexiest and, quite possibly, the most dangerous...<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>"Tempt Me" by ALEXIS GRANT </b><br />R&B star Anita has beauty, talent, fame--and her very own stalker--which is why she needs a professional bodyguard. But can she resist mixing business with pleasure when the hired muscle is to die for?<br /><br /><b>"Love Me 'til Death" by LORIE O'CLARE </b><br />Homicide detective Ashley Jones hates working with the FBI. But Chase Reed is one special agent whose rule-breaking methods, razor-sharp mind, and rock-hard body make for one killer combination...</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">Meet Lora Leigh + Many More Authors at RAW2010!</span></b></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/" href="http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/">http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/</a> </span></b></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Where to find News from Lora Leigh...</b></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b> </b></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Website</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/">http://www.loraleigh.com/</a> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Forum</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://pub4.bravenet.com/forum/330493581/" href="http://pub4.bravenet.com/forum/330493581/">http://pub4.bravenet.com/forum/330493581/</a> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Blog</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://loraleighmusings.blogspot.com/" href="http://loraleighmusings.blogspot.com/">http://loraleighmusings.blogspot.com/</a> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> MySpace</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://profile.myspace.com/loraleighromance" href="http://profile.myspace.com/loraleighromance">http://profile.myspace.com/loraleighromance</a> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Newsletter</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SensuousEscapes/" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SensuousEscapes/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SensuousEscapes/</a> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Chatters group</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <a title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loraleighchatters/" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loraleighchatters/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loraleighchatters/</a> </span></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><b> Presented by Millennium Promotion Services, Inc.</b></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > <i>Sharing great books with readers across the net.</i></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > <a title="http://www.millenniumpromotion.com/" href="http://www.millenniumpromotion.com/">http://www.millenniumpromotion.com</a></span></span><br /></div></span>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-88327262409444598102010-03-02T13:32:00.000-08:002010-03-02T13:38:50.388-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/blackjacklg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 327px;" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/blackjacklg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Black Jack is Available Today!</strong><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><em>"With powerfully written fight scenes, stimulating love scenes, and a surprise ending, BLACK JACK will worm its way into your heart." Natalie ~ Romance Junkies ~ Read more at RomanceJunkies.com</em></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><strong>Black Jack by Lora Leigh </strong><br />Publisher: St. Martin's (Available March 2, 2010)<br />ISBN-10: 0312945825<br />ISBN-13: 978-0312945824<br /><br />The Secret Service can't control him. The British government can't silence him. But renegade agent Travis Caine is one loose cannon you don't want to mess with, so his commanders cut him a break--and cut him loose. His new HQ is America's top intelligence force, Elite Ops. His new code name is "Black Jack". And his new assignment is to die for.<br /><br />She's smart, sexy, scintillating--and one of Elite Ops' savviest agents. Lillian Belle's code name is "Night Hawk", and Travis certainly wouldn't mind flying a few midnight maneuvers with her. But when their mission turns into a red-hot game of danger, deceit, and double-crossed signals, Travis begins to wonder: <em> Can he trust her? Can he resist her?</em></p> <p><a title="Purchase From Amazon" href="http://tinyurl.com/ycagn2t">PURCHASE FROM AMAZON</a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Read an Adult excerpt at Lora's site <a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136&Itemid=105"> HERE</a>.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Meet Lora Leigh + Many More Authors at RAW2010!<br /><a href="http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/"> http://www.readerappreciationweekend.com/</a><br /><br />Where to find MORE News from Lora Leigh...</strong><br /><br />Website<br /><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/">http://www.loraleigh.com </a></p> <p></p>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-42437197583157133212010-02-03T07:54:00.000-08:002010-02-03T08:02:33.631-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautidecptionslg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 350px;" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautidecptionslg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">Get something Nauti by <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/"> Lora Leigh</a>!</span></b></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" > Available Today!</span></b></span>
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<br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><i><b>Lora Leigh's Nauti series is one that absolutely no one should miss. The characters are brilliant, sexy and real; while the high-octane action and soul-gripping plots have you on the edge of your seat. I loved it!"</b></i> Mandy Burns ~ Fresh Fiction ~ <a title="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=25131" target="_blank" href="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=25131"> Read More...</a>
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<br /><i><b>"Lora Leigh has spun a smoldering hot tale of secret passion and erotic deceptions."</b></i> Natalie S. ~ Romance Junkies ~ <a title="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Nauti_Deceptions_LL.shtml" target="_blank" href="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Nauti_Deceptions_LL.shtml"> Read More...</a>
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<br /><i><b>"Now the storyline set in motion with the first book is coming to a head, and Rogue is at the center of it all. But Zeke doesn't know who to trust, and he can't keep his hands off Rogue. Five years of holding back is enough for any man, and Zeke has had his fill of denial."</b></i> Chris ~ Night Owl Reviews ~ <a title="http://nightowlreviews.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=5136" target="_blank" href="http://nightowlreviews.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=5136"> Read More...</a></span></span>
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<br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Nauti Deceptions by Lora Leigh </b>
<br />Publisher: Berkley Trade (Available February 2, 2010)
<br />ISBN-10: 0425232557
<br />ISBN-13: 978-0425232552
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<br />Caitlyn "Rogue" Walker left her life in Boston to become a teacher in a small Kentucky town. But her dream was shattered when she was framed in a sex scandal. Refusing to be run out of town, Caitlyn shed the identity she had and became Rogue. Sheriff Zeke Mayes knows there's more to her than meets the eye, though what meets the eye is pretty smoking. He's prepared for a long struggle getting Rogue to drop her defenses-and give in to desire. But soon Zeke will become embroiled in a deadly game that sweeps Rogue up in its wake. And when everything seems to be a matter of life and death, there is no reason to hold back...
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<br /><b>Read an excerpt at Lora's site <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=107" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=107"> HERE</a>.</b></span></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >NEED MORE NAUTI?</span></b></span>
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<br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><i><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">Get the first 4 books in the series and read them in order!</span></b></i></span>
<br /><title>HTML clipboard</title><table style="width: 340px; height: 186px;" id="table5" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;"> </span><td> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=111 Nauti Boy" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=111"> <img title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=111 Nauti Boy" alt="Nauti Boy" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautinitessm.jpg" width="120" border="0" height="180" /></a></td> <td> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=110 Nauti Nights" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=110"> <img title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=110 Nauti Nights" alt="Nauti Nights" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautinight2sm.jpg" width="121" border="0" height="180" /></a></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" > </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><table style="width: 342px; height: 26px;" id="table5" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="text-align: center;">
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<br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </span></div></div><title>HTML clipboard</title><table style="width: 337px; height: 191px;" id="table5" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:black;" > </span><td> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=109 Nauti Dreams" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=109"> <img title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=109 Nauti Dreams" alt="Nauti Dreams" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautidreamssm.jpg" width="119" border="0" height="180" /></a></td> <td> <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=108 Nauti Intentions" target="_blank" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=108"> <img title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=108 Nauti Intentions" alt="Nauti Intentions" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/nautiintentionssm.jpg" width="123" border="0" height="185" /></a></td> </tr> </tbody></table> Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-44012686848937317492009-12-22T07:58:00.000-08:002009-12-22T08:03:21.105-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">January special signing events with Lora Leigh!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">SPECIAL Book signings for GUILTY PLEASURE include a talk, plus question and answer session with Lora Leigh. This is your chance to meet Lora in person and a little birdie told us that there 'may' be a limited quantity of sneak peek excerpts available from Lion's Heat. You know how Lora loves to tease, so don't miss these events!</span><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/guiltypleasurelg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 350px;" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/covers/guiltypleasurelg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" > <span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><b>THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 7PM - HAGERSTOWN, MD</b></span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><b> </b></span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 6:30 PM Arrive</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 7:00PM Begin</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > TALK/Q&A/SIGN </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > BORDERS</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 17636 Garland Groh Blvd</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > Hagerstown, MD 21742 </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > Contact: Gillian Plaunt (202) 466-2152 </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><b>SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1PM - MARTINSVILLE, WV</b></span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><b> </b></span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 12:30 PM Arrive</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 1:00PM Begin</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > TALK/Q&A/SIGN </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > BOOKS A MILLION</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > 300 Retail Commons Pkwy </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > Martinsburg, WV </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > Contact: Kay Blackman (304) 264-0828<br /><br /></span></span></div><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" > </span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b><br />Guilty Pleasure by Lora Leigh</b></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Available January 5, 2010) </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> ISBN-10: 0312541864 </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> ISBN-13: 978-0312541866 </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Marty Matthews swore she would never allow herself to be drawn into the secret, forbidden pleasures that the women she had grown up with enjoyed. Women whose husbands or lovers were members of the exclusive "Club", where they took a selected "third" into their beds. Now, Marty is an FBI agent and her brand new case has put the one man she can't have in her sights. </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Marty's boss is convinced Khalid is involved in a plot to derail talks between his uncle and the President to strengthen ties between the US and the Middle East, and he wants Marty to get close enough to Khalid to prove it. However, Khalid is a member of the Club and he offers to introduce her to the kind of guilty pleasure Marty swore she would never experience. And even though danger lurks around every corner, there is no way to escape the man who threatens not only her control, but her very heart.</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <b>Read an excerpt at Lora's site <a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=105" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=105"> HERE</a>.<br /><br /><br /></b></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" > </span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><b>Presented by Millennium Promotion Services, Inc. </b></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;color:black;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > <a title="http://www.millenniumpromotion.com/" href="http://www.millenniumpromotion.com/">http://www.millenniumpromotion.com</a> </span></span><br /></div></div></div>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-23991299375157329982009-10-03T12:37:00.000-07:002009-10-03T12:47:51.514-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lora Leigh: New Website and New Releases!</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We're excited to announce a brand new website design for Lora Leigh!</span> It's updated with all the latest news, including an excerpt from HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS, plus MORE excerpts in the 'Coming Soon' section as well as current releases! Don't miss the 'Printable Book List' and tidbits from Lora about upcoming books in the 'News and Reviews' section. Click on 'Read More' to get to blurbs and excerpts for each book. Check back frequently for more news... updated weekly! <a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/">http://www.loraleigh.com</a> (warning - this is an adult site so expect adult content)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://97.74.182.94/images/covers/hfthlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 350px;" src="http://97.74.182.94/images/covers/hfthlg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Hot for the Holidays by Lora Leigh, Angela Knight, Anya Bast, Allyson James</b><br />Publisher: Jove (Available September 29, 2009)<br />ISBN-13: 978-0515147001<br /><br /><i><b>Something passionate. Something mysterious. Something sexy.<br /><br />And something totally inviting.<br /><br /></b></i></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><i><b> It's the perfect gift for the holidays. </b></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Four bestselling authors invite readers to spend the night with these never-before-published novellas spiced with sexy romance and paranormal passion. So come in out of the cold and experience the thrill of a soul-stirring new tale of the Breeds from Lora Leigh, a return to the beguiling world of the Mageverse from Angela Knight, and two more mesmerizing and unexpected stories of sensual surprises and seasonal spirits from Anya Bast and Allyson James</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <i><b>Includes A Christmas Kiss by Lora Leigh, which is Hawke's and Jessica's story</b></i></span><b><i><span style="font-family:Arial;">...<br /><br /></span></i></b><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>READ AN EXCERPT AT LORA'S SITE: <a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/">http://www.loraleigh.com/</a></b></span><br /><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >It all began with one night of explosive passion...</span></b></i></p></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/MillenniumPromotion/LLheatseekerlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 350px;" src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/MillenniumPromotion/LLheatseekerlg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>Heat Seeker by Lora Leigh</b><br />Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (Available on September 1, 2009)<br />ISBN-13: 978-0312945817<br /><br />John Vincent has always led a life of danger, and now he has every reason to want to remain as dead as the obituary in the Australian papers had proclaimed him to be. He'd left nothing behind in the life he had once led--except for one woman, and one night of unforgettable passion. Now, both will return to haunt him...<br /><br />Bailey Serborne is still tormented by a past she can't change and a man she hasn't been able to forget. A man who was supposed to be dead. But now, a stroke of fate has revealed that sometimes, a woman is given a second chance to heal her heart--and exact the sweetest revenge...</span><p><b>READ AN EXCERPT AT LORA'S SITE: </b><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/">http://www.loraleigh.com/</a></b></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/"></a></b> </span> </p> </div>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-5172107182991080752009-08-10T11:30:00.000-07:002009-08-10T11:48:37.992-07:00<p align="center"><strong>Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh Available Today - Excerpt!</strong></p><br /><p align="center"><em>"BENGAL'S HEART will make you laugh, possibly cry. It will keep you on the edge of your seat with the twists and turns of an innovative plotline. The love scenes are raw and earthy and simply filled with passion."</em> Natalie ~ <a href="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Benghal_s_Heart_LL.shtml">Romance Junkies</a></p><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 218px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 350px" alt="" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/bengalsheartlg.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="left"><strong>Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh </strong></p><p align="left"><strong>ISBN: 0425229025 </strong></p><p align="left"><strong>Publisher: Berkley (Available August 4, 2009)</strong> </p><p align="left">Reporter Cassa Hawkins has always supported Breed rights--especially in light of a specimen like Cabal St. Laurents, the epitome of the male animal. But when the Breeds are incriminated in a series of violent murders, it's left to Cassa and Cabal to discover the truth before they become prey. </p><br /><p align="left"></p><p><br /><b><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></b> </p><p><b><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></b> </p><p><b><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></b> </p><p><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">EXCERPT from Bengal's Heart</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b> by Lora Leigh ©...(unedited)</b><br /><br /><br />He stumbled. Weakness rushed through him.<br /><br />He'd lost too much blood. His strength was depleted. There was nothing left but the aching rage, the agony of loss and the taste of defeat. He had sworn to save them, and because of this woman's thoughtlessness, because of her trust in the wrong man, he had lost everything he had held dear to himself.<br /><br />He stumbled, going nearly to his knees before he caught himself. Swaying, he forced himself upright as the sliding metal doors into the control room were pushed open, and the scent of breeds filled the room.<br /><br />There was no threat, no feeling of danger. The animal inside himself recognize the animals pushing into the blood filled room. The rescue forces the scientists had been so worried about. Headed by a breed that even the Genetics Council was rumored to fear, Jonas Wyatt.<br /><br />Cabal lifted his head and stared back at them, noting their expressions of disbelief at the sight of the male dying on the floor and the female staring up at him with equal parts fear and anger.<br /><br />She recognized him for the animal he was, and she knew he had stamped her with his ownership. She would walk his line and by all that was holy he would ensure that she paid the price for ever allowing another to touch her.<br /><br />He almost stopped in shock at that thought. He would have, except one of the men stepped for the woman. His hand reach out to grip her arm, to pull her to her feet. And Cabal was there.<br /><br />He locked his fingers around the man's wrist and snarled out a warning. A primal, feral sound that had the female flinching.<br /><br />What was this imperative need inside him? What had the animal pushing forward once again in rage where this woman was concerned. He should want her out of his sight, out of his mind. Never did he want to have to think of the horrors he had faced here or the mutilations that had occurred within that devils pit of death.<br /><br />He could still smell the blood of his family. They shared his blood.Each of them, created of the same DNA of the same Bengal, created of the sperm from the same donor. They were true family. Blood family. And he had lost them all.<br /><br />"Mine," he hissed back at the other breed male, ignoring the arrogance, the dominance in the swirling gray eyes that stared back at him. "Her debt belongs to me."<br /><br />The male looked from his wrist where Cabal held him firmly, then back to his eyes. There was an edge of danger in those silver eyes. An edge of pure, primal command. The scent of it was in the air, the strength and power of the animal he faced would be one he would be hard pressed to defeat, even at full strength.<br /><br />"You're wrong." The dark, even tone had the hairs at the back of Cabal's neck lifting in warning. "You're hurt, and weak, Bengal," he said softly. "I'll let this one go. But she's not one you can use, and she's not one you can harm."<br /><br />"Her debt is mine," he hissed again, baring his canines as he pushed his face closer to the other breeds. Nearly nose to nose now, the battle of wills was one Cabal feared he may well lose if pushed. But he would fight. He would fight to his last drop of blood.<br /><br />"She owes no debt," the other warned him, his voice lowering further. "Don't make this mistake."<br /><br />Cabal's gaze moved to her husband and back to the breed male determined to stand in his way now.<br /><br />"She trusted him." His tongue felt thick, awkward. "She touched him, followed him. He betrayed you all." There was a sneer in his voice now. The bastard would have never betrayed him. Cabal would have smelled the scent of his deceit from the first meeting. He would have never allowed such a creature to live.<br /><br />"Her debt is not his," the other repeated.<br /><br />"She is mine!" Cabal snapped in reply. "Interfere with this breed and you'll die."<br /><br />He could smell the weapons trained on him, sensed the other breeds as they watched the confrontation.</span></td> </p><p> </p><p align="center"><strong>Available Today online at </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425229025?ie=UTF8&tag=loraleigh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0425229025"><strong> Amazon</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bengals-Heart/Lora-Leigh/e/9780425229026/?itm=1"><strong>Barnes and Noble</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0425229025"><strong>Borders</strong></a><strong> or in person at your favorite bookstore.<br /></strong></p>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32855884.post-88313809404927075432009-01-22T11:18:00.000-08:002009-01-22T11:32:07.904-08:00<strong>Lora Leigh News including a Sneak Peek of Coyote's Mate</strong><br /><br />Great Reviews for Only Pleasure!"A sizzling hot love story guaranteed to heat up the cold winter nights." Mandy Burns ~ <a title="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=" href="http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=22498">Fresh Fiction</a>"craftily written...highly emotional, insanely scorching, and truly outstanding novel." Natasha Smith ~ <a title="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Only_Pl_LL.shtml" href="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Only_Pl_LL.shtml">Romance Junkies</a>"ONLY PLEASURE is a wild ride into eroticism balanced with an equal measure of pure romance." Jennifer ~ <a title="http://www.wildonbooks.com/reviews/2008/jennifer/lora_leigh_only_pleasure.htm" href="http://www.wildonbooks.com/reviews/2008/jennifer/lora_leigh_only_pleasure.htm">Wild on Books</a> "Chase and Kia steamed off the pages and when Khalid was part of the action, erotic does not seem a strong enough word. Flaming hot is one word I would use, heart breaking is another when I discovered just what Kia had gone through and had to face yet again. Satisfying is yet another word to describe my reactions and emotions as I finished Only Pleasure." Jo ~ <a title="http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/Dec08/onlypleasure.LL.html" href="http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/Dec08/onlypleasure.LL.html">Joyfully Reviewed</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/onlypleasuresm.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/onlypleasuresm.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 125px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 185px" alt="" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/onlypleasuresm.jpg" border="0" /></a>ONLY PLEASURE by Lora Leigh made the New York Times Bestsellers list for Trade Paperback Fiction!<br /><br /><a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/boundhearts/only-pleasure/" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/boundhearts/only-pleasure/"></a><br /><strong>Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh(Book 10 of the Bound Hearts Series)</strong> <div><br /><div>Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Available Now) </div><br /><div>ISBN-10: 0312368739ISBN-13: 978-0312368739<br /><br />Since Chase Falladay came to her rescue two years ago, Kia Stanton has never been able to forget the powerful man or the kind of life he leads. So two years later when she runs into Chase and his friend, Khalid, and leaves with them that night, she knows exactly where it is all heading. However, little prepares her for what it is like to be in Chase's arms, and in his bed. After years of holding back, Kia is finally able to be the woman she's always dreamed of being in his arms.Kia is a dream Chase has not allowed himself to entertain. Now that he has her, it's her heart he's after and he's determined to win it, no matter the cost. And even though they both agreed that it would only be for pleasure, somewhere along the way it becomes an all-consuming love.<br /><br /><strong>Sneak Peek of Chapter One of Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh ©...(unedited excerpt)</strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><em>Two Years Later</em></div><em><div><br /></em>It was snowing. Of course, it was December in Washington D.C., it was bound to snow eventually. The fat, fluffy flakes drifted like a wintry cape from the dark cloud laden sky. There was little breeze, so it fell and piled and between the time it took Kia Stanton to escape from the hotel and the very boring party she had attended to the little corner bar, it had covered the sidewalks.<br />The salt trucks were already running, their little plows lifted for the time being. The heavily traveled streets of Alexandria would stay clear for a while yet. The sidewalks were another matter.</div><div><br />She stepped carefully in her three inch heels. They were perfectly safe to wear in the hotel, but here, on the slick sidewalk was another story. She held the skirt of her winter white velvet dress to her ankles and wished she had just attempted to grab a cab and risk going home rather than attempting to hide for a while.</div><div><br />There were few places she could hide where she wasn't known. The bar seemed the least likely place. She had been inside it a time or two before in the past year. It was close to the hotels she was forced to attend events in, and those events invariably included her ex-husband, Drew.<br />She lowered her head as she ducked into the bar, pulling the wrap that was much too light for this weather around her cold arms.</div><div><br />She waved to the bartender and he nodded quickly as she headed to the table she always snagged. In the corner, where it was dark and shadowed and she could watch. Just watch the patrons as they chatted, laughed, joked.</div><div><br />Friends came in with friends or business associates. They could get a little loud, but they laughed and slapped each other on the back and had fun.</div><div><br />"It's a little cold out there tonight, honey." The barmaid, a young woman named Andrea sat a chilled bottle of beer in front of her and smiled back at her in concern as she let her eyes rove over her evening gown.</div><div><br />Andrea was quiet, a dark brunette with laughing gray eyes and a smile for everyone. Her sweater and jeans attested to the fact that the chill in the air outside often seeped inside here as well.</div><div><br />"Yes it is," Kia agreed as she accepted the beer. "They're calling for several inches of snow tonight and much more in the morning."</div><div><br />"Ten inches last I heard," Andrea agreed. "We should all just hunker down with a hot man and a hotter fire."</div><div><br />Kia smiled as Andrea turned away.</div><div><br />The pub wasn't very full tonight. The middle of the week, the weekend crowd wasn't here. She sipped at her beer and pulled the wrap closer around her shoulders, restraining a shiver as she looked around.</div><div><br />From where she sat, most of the room was visible to her. The two back corners were as shadowed as her own. They were private, cocooned with darkness.</div><div><br />She sighed deeply as she played with the chilled bottle of beer, stared down at her fingers and wondered why the hell she had come here. She could have gotten a room at the hotel. Drew would have known of course, and getting her room number would have been easy for him, but he couldn't have gotten in. She could have just called security. Except, the thought of the battle she would face there had her flinching. Drew wasn't above causing a scene, and he hadn't yet realized that she didn't give a damn. </div><div><br />All fear of societies gossip had been burned out of her the day she had been forced to retract her knowledge of exactly what her husband was, and what he had been a part of.</div><div><br />In two years, she hadn't forgotten that moment in time for even a single day. Or night. Some nights, she dreamed of it, and the dreams where much different than what had happened in reality.</div><div><br />She smiled at the thought of that. How brave she was in her dreams. And in those dreams, Chase Falladay had tempted her to acts that her ex-husband could have never convinced her to become a part of.</div><div><br />She picked at the paper on the beer bottle and tried to tell herself that it was only the loneliness brewing inside her that made those dreams seem so very intriguing. </div><div><br />Two years. She'd divorced, she had no friends. She had learned that lesson quickly. She had had only a few friends at that time, and once one of them had started the gossip concerning the club she still wasn't certain about, the others had taken up the cause and added to it. By time she had managed to do the damage control Chase had requested of her, it had blown so far out of proportion that no one would have believed it anyway.</div><div><br />But, she had learned valuable lessons from that event. She had learned to trust no one. Except, perhaps Chase. She almost smiled. She'd done as he told her and sued for a high divorce settlement. She'd gotten it easily. But it hadn't compensated for the pain, the humiliation, or the knowledge that her marriage had been a lie from the first day.</div><div><br />She tipped the beer to her lips once again, her gaze straying across the room. As she lowered the bottle she frowned, her eyes narrowing on that back corner.</div><div><br />It couldn't be him she told herself. That devil's black hair reflecting in a sudden spear of light, a profile that was as strong and as determined as the man himself was.</div><div><br />But it was him. She knew it was, and he had company.</div><div><br />She wasn't going to wonder at the sudden trip of her heart, the knowledge that her greatest sexual fantasy was in this bar with a man everyone in the free world knew, had no problems what so ever getting wild and depraved.</div><div><br />Chase Falladay and Khalid el Hamid Mustafa, the bastard of some little known Middle Eastern prince. He was in the news often, the gossip columns even more often. And he was sitting there with Chase.</div><div><br />As she stared, Chase's head lifted, his eyes narrowing through the smoky gloom, finding her instantly.</div><div><br />The breath left her throat. He couldn't know it was her. There was even less light here than there was in his corner. Then Khalid turned as well, his black eyes amused, his expression sensual as he lifted a glass and toasted her.</div><div><br />Shock raced through her. There was no way to run now, no way to hide. This wasn't a society ball or event where she all she had to do was drift to another pocket of guests and so on to avoid either of them.</div><div><br />Chase, because he was a temptation. Khalid because he was known to help Chase tempt the women they shared in the past months.</div><div><br />News of the club of men who shared their women may have died down over the years, but there were certain men rumored, always rumor only, to enjoy that particular pleasure more than any other.</div><div><br />Only a few, as though those brave, hungry souls relished the gossip they caused.</div><div><br />She took a long sip of the beer to ease the dryness in her mouth as she jerked her gaze away from them. They couldn't truly know who she was, she assured herself. She had to assure herself of that, otherwise, she'd never be able to force herself to stay in place.</div><div><br />Chase stared into the corner, wondering if Kia had any idea how the light spilled from the bar and glistened over the winter white velvet wrap and dress she wore. She looked like a snow princess fallen from the cloudy skies. Soft creamy flesh, champagne blonde hair, blue eyes, wide with a hint of nerves and fear. And something else.</div><div><br />Hell, he had to be drunk. That something else couldn't have been there.</div><div><br />"I wondered how long it would take her to get curious," Khalid remarked as he turned back to Chase.</div><div><br />"Curious about what?" Chase asked, watching as the lights caught the twinkle of diamonds in her upswept hair. </div><div><br />"About you my friend, and the pleasures you could give her. I've watched her gaze sweep over you for two years now. And wondered what she hid beneath those lashes that swept over her eyes each time," he explained.</div><div><br />Chase snorted. "Hatred?"</div><div><br />Khalid shook his head. "Never that." His smile was hard, curling with knowledge. "The two of you tip toe around each other as though you're terrified of the electricity flashing between you. She knows what you are." He leaned forward at that point. "And still, she's curious. I of course would be available if you needed a third."</div><div><br />"You're horny," Chase growled. "Who says I'd pick you for my third anyway?"</div><div><br />Khalid chuckled at that. "Who cares? A woman such as that one, you would have no hardship in finding a man willing to provide that service. But I would know immeasurable pleasure in being so chosen."</div><div><br />The amusement in Khalid's black eyes had Chase shaking his head at the other man.</div><div><br />"Perhaps it is fear that holds you back?" Khalid grinned then. "Your brother Cameron I have learned is floating in monogamous bliss where his woman Jaci is concerned. Perhaps, you are afraid it is contagious?"</div><div><br />Chase tore his gaze from Kia. She looked cold. She was too close to the door to manage any warmth dressed as she was. As soft, as delicate as she looked in it, she had to be freezing.<br />She tugged the wrap more firmly around her shoulders when Chase realized he hadn't torn his gaze from her for long. Perhaps a second. Maybe.</div><div><br />"Why not ask her to join us for a drink?" Khalid suggested. "She would be well hidden here with us." He waved a broad hand at the corner next to Chase. "And I have no doubt she wouldn't be warmer."</div><div><br />Chase was rising to his feet before Khalid was finished talking. He ignored the other man's laughter and moved across the room. She would join them, or he would take her home. Any other option was out of the question. She was tempting him to the point that his back teeth ached at the thought of touching her, and he wasn't thinking about the erection pounding beneath his slacks.<br />She watched him as he approached. He felt her eyes on him, raking over him, nervous little looks that made him tense in arousal. She'd been doing to this to him even before her ex-husband had tried to force her into a ménage. And he'd been furious that Drew had chosen to try to draw her into that lifestyle without her knowledge beforehand.</div><div><br />"You look like a snow fairy," he leaned against the heavy post that supported the ceiling, only a few feet from her table.</div><div><br />Her gaze lifted, her slender neck rippling as she swallowed tightly.</div><div><br />"Well, it is snowing tonight," she cleared her throat.</div><div><br />It was there between them, he could feel it. He could see it in her eyes, almost taste in the air around them. If she left that table to join him, it was going to be for much more than a drink.<br />He glanced away from her for a moment, acknowledging that every attempt he had made to stay away from her had just flown the hell out the window.</div><div><br />When he turned back, his jaw clenched.</div><div><br />"I'm not playing games with you Kia. I have too damned much respect for you that that." He held his hand out to her. "Would you like to join us?"</div><div><br />She looked over to where Khalid had turned in his chair enough to watch them. His dark eyes gleamed with sensual, sexual knowledge. Just as Chase's did.</div><div><br />She stared at his hand.</div><div><br />She had wondered for two years what being with him would be like. What the pleasure could be. The knowledge in his eyes when he told her, it was only for the pleasure.</div><div><br />"What if I can't?" she whispered, knowing what he meant. "What then?"</div><div><br />"Then you can't." He continued to hold his hand out. "It's your choice."</div><div><br />It was her choice. She hadn't been offered a choice before, she had nearly been raped by her husband instead.</div><div><br />But this wasn't Drew. This was the man that had been honest with her from the start. He had, in small ways perhaps, but in ways impossible for her to miss, protected her.</div><div><br />She looked at his hand again, remembering the dreams, the fantasies, and all the lonely nights she had assured herself, if this night ever came, she would have the courage to take his hand.<br />She stood slowly, holding her wrap around her shoulders with one hand as she saw Khalid rise from his chair in the back of the room.</div><div><br />"The limo's outside." Chase took her hand in his, broad, warm fingers wrapping around her smaller, paler ones. "Are you going home?"</div><div><br />Where she was alone? Where she could dream about him rather than taking her courage in both hands and becoming the woman she had been wishing she could be.<br />Bold. Courageous. </div><div><br />She was breathing harshly. She could feel her breasts rising and falling, felt his gaze flick over them as he began to pull her to the door.</div><div><br />"I don't want to go home yet," she finally whispered.<br /><br /><strong>Available February 3, 2009!</strong><br /><br /><strong>Reviewer Top Pick! "...a page-turning tale that you will hate to see end" Susan ~ </strong><a title="http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=" href="http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=3002"><strong>Night Owl Romance</strong></a><br /><br /><a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/breeds/coyotes-mate/" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/breeds/coyotes-mate/"></a><br /><a href="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/COYOTESMATEsm.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 114px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 185px" alt="" src="http://www.loraleigh.com/images/COYOTESMATEsm.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>Coyote's Mate by Lora Leigh (Coyote Breeds, Book 2)</strong> </div><br /><div>Publisher: Berkley (Available February 3, 2009)</div><br /><div>ISBN-10: 0425226336ISBN-13: 978-0425226339 </div><br /><div><br />For six years Anya Korbin worked with Del-Rey Delgato--the genetically altered rebel known as the Coyote Ghost--to free a group of coyote women kept in her father's lab. As Anya matured into a woman, she and Del-Rey grew close...but then he broke his promise and killed her father. Now she must deal with her animalistic desire for the one who betrayed her.<br /><br /><strong>Sneak Peek of Chapter One of Coyote's Mate by Lora Leigh ©...(unedited excerpt)</strong></div><div> </div><div>Anya was where she was supposed to be, but things weren't going as they had been planned. Nothing had gone as planned. When she returned to the labs that evening, within hours, the attack came.</div><div><br />There was no warning. There was no call. Security alarms were blaring, cell doors were opening as safeguards were overrode and locks on the weapons rooms deactivated.</div><div><br />She pushed the scientists into a secure, hidden wall she had found the month before. They hadn't been here long enough evidently to know all the secrets of the labs. Dr. Chernov had replaced the aging scientists ten years before and brought his protégé, a much younger female scientist along with him.</div><div><br />"Don't leave. Don't move," she ordered them. "Stay here until you hear only silence."</div><div><br />Pale, shaking in shock, the two scientists did as they were told, huddling in the little room as Anya slid the secured door closed and rushed to the exits that led to the cold, desolate land above ground.</div><div><br />"Anya, get out of here," Sofia Ivanov, one of the administrative assistants gripped her arm and dragged her down another hall. "Go that way." She pointed to the stairs. "They're free. I'll cover you."</div><div><br />Cover her? Anya stared behind her as doctors raced from labs with weapons drawn. They were firing on personnel? Shock rushed through her, tore through her mind. She knew those men and women. Knew them well. And they were firing on the personnel attempting to escape?</div><div><br />"Run damn you!" Sofia pushed her to the exit. "Get out of here before I have to shoot you."</div><div><br />Anya ran. As she ran, fury fed the fear and the shock that coursed through her adrenaline laced mind. This was the exact plan she had given Del-Rey for the rescue. Had he not trusted her? He had attacked only hours after her return, giving her no time to ensure her father and cousins weren't here?</div><div><br />No, it had to be something else, she sobbed in desperation as she raced up the stairs. She gripped an older woman's arm, one of the secretaries and pushed her ahead of her.</div><div><br />"Hurry Marie," she urged the other woman as she sobbed and nearly fell. "We must hurry."<br />Other personnel were racing past them as Anya grabbed Marie's arm and all but dragged her up the steps. Marie had children, grandchildren. A husband that was ill. She was needed. And besides, she always brought the breed cookies. She was kind and gentle.</div><div><br />The door was broken from its hinges above, laying on its side as security forces were waving personnel through, urging them to hurry, to rush. Masks covered their faces to protect them from the cold. It was bitterly cold outside, and Marie had no jacket, no coat to wear.</div><div><br />"Run for the barracks," she told the other woman. "It will be warm there and safer. We'll hide there."</div><div><br />She ran into the cold, aware of the gun fire, the yell of voices, the clash of forces. Then she was only aware of the hard arm that wrapped around her waist, jerked her against a broad chest and the knife that lay at her throat.</div><div><br />She could feel the cold blade pressing into her throat, pinching the flesh, within a breath of actually cutting her skin.</div><div><br />"Kobrin, I have your daughter."</div><div><br />Loud, echoing through the valley, she knew that voice, knew the growl that sounded in it and felt the sob that tore from her throat.</div><div><br />Betrayal. He had betrayed her.</div><div><br />Agony tore through her with such pain she could only sob at the reality of it.</div><div><br />The sound of gunfire faded away. Personnel were no longer rushing through the doors, she could hear them at the entrance though, feel the tension that thickened the air.</div><div><br />Del-Rey. She felt the first tear fall. Oh God, she had trusted him. She had trusted him so much.</div><div><br /><br /><strong>Don't Miss Lora Leigh's RAW2009!</strong><a title="http://www.readersappreciationweekend.com/" href="http://www.readersappreciationweekend.com/"><strong>http://www.readersappreciationweekend.com/</strong></a><strong><br /><br />Visit Lora's site for all her book news</strong><a title="http://www.loraleigh.com/" href="http://www.loraleigh.com/"><strong>http://www.loraleigh.com/</strong></a><strong> </strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><strong></strong></div><strong></strong><br /><strong><div>Need an Elite OPs fix?? </div><div><br />NIGHT HAWK - A never before released free short story from Lora Leigh!<br /><a href="http://us.macmillan.com/author/loraleigh">CLICK HERE</a> to sign up for a free copy of Night Hawk Coming February 2009!<br /></strong></div>Lora Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070389385000329711noreply@blogger.com8