I've never been so happy and at the same time, so nervous. I've been working on Seduced in the Dark for release September 1, 2012. I'm nowhere near finished; I have so far to go, but I'm dedicated to making it into the story you all want it to be.
Because I've been asked repeatedly for more 'sneak peeks' into SITD, and because I can deny you nothing, please enjoy the following excerpt:
Livvie got in the car and slammed the door. She tried to hide it, but Caleb saw the way she winced and rubbed her collarbone.
“Happy? Have we taught the door a lesson?” Caleb taunted through a gentle laugh.
Her eyes narrowed in his direction, her rage unmistakable. “I can’t believe what you did to those people Caleb. You’re just...never mind. Can we just go please?”
Caleb’s ire, dormant because of his unexpected orgasm earlier, now rose to the surface. “Which part can’t you believe?” he snarled, jamming the key in the ignition of the stolen car and turning it. “Is it the part where I rescued you from a bunch of would-be rapists that beat you half to death? Or perhaps the part where – at great risk to myself – I kidnapped a doctor to help save you? Which part is it, because I’d like to know which of those things I should never do for you again?” He threw the vehicle in gear and took off, for a moment uncaring that Livvie had been jostled in her seat.
Silence.
Yeah. I thought so.
Caleb sat back, self-satisfied. It wasn’t like he killed them. The doctor and his wife were free to live their lives, no worse for wear. Livvie had been mortified to find the couple exactly as he had left them the night before – taped to their dining room chairs. Granted, the fact they had urinated on themselves during the course of the evening was distasteful, but they were otherwise unharmed and Caleb thought he deserved some credit for that.
After threatening their lives a little and getting their vows of silence renewed, he cut them free. He wasn’t even going to keep the car, he’d ditch it the moment they were out of the city and steal another. What was so horrible about that?
“Thank you,” Livvie muttered from the passenger seat.
“For what?” Caleb was still irritated.
“For saving my life. Even if you’re just going to put it in danger again,” she whispered.
Caleb had no response. It was exactly what he was going to do. Drive her to Tuxtepec, bring her to Rafiq, train her, sell her…lose her forever.
And kill Vladek. Don’t forget that part.
The thought didn’t assuage the guilt taking up residence inside him. His heart was heavy, his thoughts scrambled. Still, he couldn’t allow himself to show weakness. All the turmoil within him had to be hidden, from every one.
“You’re welcome, Kitten,” he scoffed. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kitten swipe at her eye and flick her tears toward the floor of the car. Ruining my life!
Things had been so much easier in the shower, easier when it was just the two of them and the outside world seemed irrelevant and beyond the reach of his thoughts. The world was in the car with them now and it was Kitten who seemed beyond reach.
After she’d made him feel more pleasure than he’d ever had – with a handjob, no less – he’d reveled in soaping her skin, watching intently as water sluiced over the taut peaks of her nipples, down the slopes of her tan belly and hips, and descending past the raven triangle between her thighs. He’d touched her there as well, sifted his fingers through her sparse hair until he felt her slippery flesh part under his fingers. It was like opening a flower, her petals pink and vibrant, shiny with dew and lust.
He’d knelt before her, worshipful. She’d opened for him, hungry, full of want. His every sense had been engaged and focused on her. He could smell her arousal, he could see the way her flesh darkened, and against his fingers he had felt her tremble, he had heard her soft whimpers. She had begged him to taste her. Slowly, he had licked her tiny bud.
Oh! How she had wanted him.
She’d spread wider and placed her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer.
“Beg me,” he’d whispered the words against her.
“Please, Caleb. Please lick me.”
He’d obeyed. One long, wet, lick across her open petals.
She sobbed, “Again. Please. Again.”
“Say you want me to lick your pussy.”
She gripped his hair tighter, “Caleb!” she’d grated.
“Say it. I want to hear more filth from your mouth.”
She hesitated. Her hips rocked toward his mouth, but he’d do no more than kiss her with his lips.
“Please, Caleb. L-lick my…pussy.”
Nothing had ever turned him on more. He’d pushed her legs wide, cradling her thighs on his shoulders and pressed his face into her pussy. Lick her? He fucking devoured her.
Pain had no longer seemed to be an issue for her as she undulated and rocked her hips against his rapacious mouth. Her hands held his head, pushing him deeper, demanding more, even as he gave and gave.
When she’d come, her pussy had gripped his tongue. Wet, pulsing, flesh fluttering against wet, pulsing, flesh. Her juices saturated his mouth, a rush of honey that he not only swallowed, but sucked from her flesh long after she had begged him to stop.
But that had been then. This was now.
Caleb sighed heavily, irritated by the turn of events. More bothersome than Kitten’s demeanor, was the prospect of Rafiq’s impending visit. He had tried to call Rafiq earlier while Kitten was getting dressed and combing her hair, there had been no answer. Caleb could only assume Rafiq was either on his way or ignoring him. He hoped it was the latter and not the former. The last thing he needed after what was sure to be a very long and taxing car trip was a confrontation with Rafiq.
Their relationship was beyond complicated. Rafiq was many things to Caleb. At one time, his guardian. Later, a friend. Now? Rafiq called him, brother. But Rafiq was also much more. Rafiq held a power and a sway over him that Caleb had never felt comfortable with. There were times when they argued that Caleb had seen things in Rafiq he wished never to see again.
Rafiq would stop at nothing to have his plans carried through. No one, not even Caleb, could keep Rafiq from doing the things he deemed necessary. If ever it came down to it, Rafiq would kill him, and therefore Caleb always had to be prepared to strike first. The truce lay in the fact that neither of them would relish the task.
As Caleb made his way through the narrow roads, he spared a thought to think about what he would do if Rafiq were waiting for them in Tuxtepec. A shiver ran down his spine.
Prepare her.
“It’s going to take us all day and part of tomorrow to reach our destination. I suggest that you take the time and wrap your mind around the seriousness of your situation. I forgive you for running away, but only because fate has done a better job of punishing you than I could.” Caleb kept his eyes forward, refusing to acknowledge the heartbroken girl next to him. But he didn’t have to see her to know how much his words hurt her. An echo of her pain seemed to reverberate through him. At least, that’s what he wanted to believe it was – an echo.
He recalled the press of her lips against his scars. She kisses my scars and I create new ones for her.
“So you’re still going to go through with it then?” Kitten’s tone was anguished, but also angry and determined.
She’s plotting her revenge already. She’ll never care for you. You’d die for nothing.
“I never said otherwise, Kitten. I’ve broken no promises to you,” Caleb grated. He knew he was being harsh, but it was all he was capable of at the moment. He had to slam the door shut on everything that had happened between them. It was the only way to move forward. The only way they would live.
Caleb expected her sobs at any moment. That was their dance: she fought him, he hurt her, she cried…he felt like shit. Repeat.
He was surprised to hear the steel in her voice when she snapped at him, “You promised me once that if I did as you asked, I would always come out better for it. Do you still believe that, Caleb? Do you think allowing you to sell me into sexual slavery will make me better? Fuck you.”
Anger surged and flared on the heels of his guilt. He had promised her that, but not in the way she proposed. “I mean to teach you how to survive this ordeal. I have always intended to arm you with what you’ll need. In that way, yes! I’ll keep my promise. But I’ve made other promises as well – to someone who has earned my loyalty.”
“Am I supposed to earn your loyalty, Caleb? Why? What about my loyalty? What have you done to earn that? You think you’re any better than those fucking bikers?” Caleb clenched his jaw.
“Don’t answer! You’re not! You’re even worse than they are. At least they knew they were monsters. You’re pathetic! You’re a monster who imagines he’s something else.”
