A scene from Arcane Kiss

Here's another excerpt from Arcane Kiss.

Alone, veteran Kurt Briggs is no match for the Arcane terrorists who threaten the nation's leadership. He needs Arcanist Genevieve Reyes by his side. But when shared danger leads to shared desires, the consequences could be deadly for them both.

 In this scene, Kurt and Genevieve make love for the first time. Kurt has just melded with the spirit of a tiger, which is eroding his normal self-control. He's worried he could endanger Gen, who has just had a nightmare about his losing control.

 

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She sighed. “It was just a nightmare, Kurt. It didn’t mean anything.”

“There’s fear in your scent.”

“It was just a bad dream.”

He sank back on the couch and rubbed his eyes with one hand. In his own dream, he’d been the one to trip the Arc’s booby trap in that cave. He’d been the one to go mad when someone bumped him from behind, reacting in blind animal rage. Except it hadn’t been Dave he’d killed.

It had been Genevieve.

I’ve got to get out of here before I do something really stupid. Like kiss her again. Kurt dropped his hand, shoulders slumping. “I don’t blame you for being afraid, especially after the way I acted tonight. Look, I’m going back to…”

Gen touched him, shutting him up in mid-word. Her silken fingers curled along his cheek. “I’m not afraid.” Her blue eyes gazed into his, vivid and steady. “You didn’t lose control, Kurt. Your father was just murdered, but you still held on. You didn’t hurt anybody. I’m not sure I could have said the same if somebody’d killed my dad.”

He inhaled sharply. Her scent flooded his head, and he realized she meant it. The acridity was gone, leaving only her personal scent, all magical ozone and Genevieve.

But if the fear had faded, the need had not. It still rolled from her, smoky and tempting as incense. “I’m not afraid,” she repeated softly.

“You were.”

“I had a bad dream. It’s been that kind of night. But if you were really going to lose control, you’d have done it in the arena when your dad died. If you didn’t then, I don’t think you’re going to.”

Kurt closed his eyes, fighting temptation, and saw her magic glowing behind his lids. It wasn’t just gold like his, but a hundred other shades, colors chasing each other across her aura like the aurora borealis.

The glowing woman leaned toward him. His eyes flew wide as Genevieve kissed him. It might have been their third kiss of the night, but it didn’t feel like either of the others. Those had been kisses of desperation, of grief, of pain and sympathy. This was a gentle exploration of a kiss, slow and soft.

Her tongue slipped into his mouth in a teasing lick that burned smoky with bourbon. Kurt closed his lips and suckled her gently, tasting her with senses both feline and human. Her lips brushed back and forth across his in slow seduction. He returned the swirling stroke of her tongue, sliding his own into her mouth, tilting his head as he explored her.

At last she eased back from him. Kurt stared at her, fighting the need that burned hot in his groin, his and Stoli’s desire flaring like gasoline teased with a torch.

Cool little fingers touched his hand and took the glass away. Leaning forward, she put both their empty glasses on the coffee table with a clink. His eyes caught on the sinuous curve of her back, leading down to the swell of her ass.

Genevieve turned back to him, and he took her in his arms. She felt perfect, skin soft and smooth and lush.

That image flashed through his mind: Gen on her hands and knees. Stoli wanted her to pull her under him, but he refused. Not after the fear I saw in her eyes. I am not going to scare this woman again. He was going to make love to her. Despite common sense, despite his better judgment, he wanted her. Needed her.

Craved her.

But he wasn’t an animal. He eased back and looked deep in those cornflower eyes. “You trust me. But do you want me?”

She caught his shoulders in both hands and pushed him back against the couch, then slung a leg astride his lap. “Yes.”

Kurt stiffened… in more than one sense of the word. His cock leaped as her soft weight came down on his thighs. She felt so delicious, he groaned. Gen covered his mouth with hers and drank the sound, kissing him harder this time, demanding, tongue swirling around his.

Closing his eyes, he watched her glow as the heat in his veins blazed.

She stroked him as she kissed him, tracing the cords of his throat, the thick muscle of biceps and shoulders.

He cupped the rise of her hips, slid one palm up to the dip of her narrow waist. Pushing up the hem of her shirt, he found bare skin, warm and smooth and soft under his fingertips.

Stoli rumbled, and Kurt had to suppress a magical echo. He had no intention of killing this mood with a growl, even a growl of hunger. Especially a growl of hunger. “Are you sure this is what you want? Because I’ll go if you’re not.”

She pulled back just enough to glare. “Don’t you dare.” Sharp little nails dug into his chest.

“All right, all right!” Laughing, he reached up to cup her breast. Soft. God, she was so incredibly soft. The smooth, warm curve filled his hand with pure erotic delight. He groaned.

So did she.

He caressed her gently, squeezed, stroked. Found the stiff little nipples that had been driving him crazy since she’d walked into the room. Made them even stiffer with gentle tugs between thumb and forefinger.

Genevieve pulled away from his mouth and let her head tilt back, eyes slipping closed. “I do love a man with talent.”

“Thank you.” He pulled the top up, revealing both lovely breasts. With pleasure, he saw her nipples were a luscious candy pink, furled tight in arousal. “See what you think of this…”

Leaning forward, he closed his mouth around one delightful bud. The taste of her was more intoxicating than the bourbon, sending fire roaring along his veins like a flame following a trail of gasoline.

A cool low voice that sounded like his father said, This is a really bad idea.

He ignored it.

Thanks!

Angela Knight

 

Arcane Kiss is out!

I'm delighted to announce the publication of my newest full-length, novel, Arcane Kiss, the first book in the Talents series.

It's up for sale here: (Note that I will add the other links as they go online.) I plan to add a paperback as well.

Amazon -- Barnes and Noble -- Kobo 

By the way, I'm going to be holding a launch party on Facebook Monday, Jan 30, 8-11 p.m. EST. I'll be giving away a Kindle Fire, Amazon gift certificates, and  books by some dear friends. Please drop by to win!

8-8:30pm EST- Cree Storm Book Series
8:30-9pm EST- P.T. Macias
9-9:30pm EST- Mary Morgan
9:30-10pm EST- LaVerne Thompson
10-10:30pm EST- M.A. Abraham
10:30-11pm EST- Author Trina M. Lee
11-11:20pm EST- Amelia Hutchins
11:20-11:40pm EST- Angela Knight

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Kurt Briggs has a spirit link to a tiger Familiar that gives him superhuman abilities, but when his father is murdered, the military veteran becomes a target for terrorist sorcerers. Alone, Kurt finds he's no match for the witch and her shape-shifting polar bear. He turns to Arcanist Genevieve Reyes for help in fighting the killers' spells.

As Genevieve and Kurt hunt the terrorists, shared danger leads to shared desire. But they soon realize Kurt's passion for Gen weakens his control over his cat. The consequences could be deadly for them both. Genevieve is attracted to Kurt's animal sensuality, but she knows she may be in as much danger from his tiger as she is from the terrorists.

Then they learn the terrorists plan to sacrifice Kurt to power a horrific spell designed to decimate the U.S. government. Even if Kurt and Gen manage to stop the terrorists, their evil sorcery may trigger a witch hunt that could mean the destruction of everyone with magical Talent -- including Kurt and Genevieve.

Becoming one with a big cat did not automatically make you crazy. After all, Fred had been melded with his lion for twenty years since the animal’s death, but there was no indication he’d had any problems with self-control. Given what an extremely public person he’d been, there would have been rumors if he’d ever lost it.

But Kurt’s meld was too fresh, leaving him vulnerable to his tiger’s instincts. If she followed up on this attraction, he could easily become even more dangerously possessive -- as male cats tended to be. Considering he’d already come close to attacking both Sawyer and Jake…

“No! Goddamn you, you bastard!” Feet thudded to the floor, accompanied by a snarl that had not come from a human throat.

Genevieve froze, staring at the wall opposite the bed, her heart thundering.

The bear. Had the bear assassin broken in and attacked Kurt? For a long moment, she heard nothing more than her own ragged panting.

“You fucking idiot,” Kurt’s voice growled.

She strained her ears, but seconds ticked by in ringing silence.

Her shoulders slumped in relief and she settled back against the headboard, swinging her legs up. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who’d had bad dreams. Though his would probably have been even worse. At least hers hadn’t featured her father’s murder.

A door opened and closed in the hallway, and the floor creaked as he walked past her door and started down the stairs.

I need to go back to bed.

But what she really wanted was to follow him down the stairs. Dumbass. Didn’t we just go through that? Getting involved with the magical were-tiger is not a good idea.

But there’d been such defeated pain in that “You fucking idiot.”

“He’s not the only one,” she growled, and rolled out of bed. She’d worn her turquoise top to bed, so she put on her shorts and padded barefoot out into the hall.

Gen was midway down the stairs when Kurt looked out at her from one of the downstairs rooms. “Sorry I woke you. Everything’s fine. You can go back to bed.”

But everything wasn’t fine. He looked haggard, his handsome face drawn under disheveled dark hair that looked as if he’d been raking his fingers through it. He was shirtless, his glorious chest bare.

She tried to ignore the view. “Actually, I was already awake. Had a nightmare.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around. You want something to drink? Dad’s bourbon is really…” He broke off. His expression twisted before going controlled again. “… good.”

“Sure.” As she followed him into the parlor, she thought, I am such a moron.

If the house was Victorian, its decor was not. An oxblood leather sectional couch faced a flat screen television on an entertainment center. On shelves beneath that sat a satellite box and a video game console with a pair of controllers. At the opposite end of the room, a gas fireplace had replaced one that had obviously once burned wood.

But it was the walls that caught her attention. They were covered in photos of lions, tigers, jaguars, pumas, leopards, lynxes -- all kinds of cats, including species she didn’t even know the names for.

Compelled, Genevieve walked over to the nearest of them, a lion with bright Feral gold eyes. Judging by the skillful composition and quality of the print, it was obviously professional work. “These must have set Fred back some serious cash.”

“Actually, no. Dad was an amateur photographer. Did photos of every cat BFS ever housed. There’ve been a lot of them over the past twenty years.” He moved closer. “That’s Lahr, Dad’s lion. He’s the one you see in the BFS logo.”

She looked around at him. “Lahr?”

“As in Bert Lahr, the actor that played the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz.” He grinned. “Which was something of a joke. Lahr loved a good fight. He had a roar that could vibrate the paint off a wall.”

“Sounds intimidating.”

“Yeah, but deep down, he was a softy. Especially with me. He’s the reason I was so determined to join the Corps and get my own cat. I loved him.” His smile faded. “Mom, not so much.”

“Your mom didn’t like him?”

“Mom hated him. I think she was actually glad when he died -- testicular cancer. It wrecked Dad and me. I was ten.”

“I’m so sorry.” Her gaze drifted back to the lion’s hypnotic gaze. There was more than an animal’s intelligence in that intense stare. “Your father had real talent.”

“He loved his subjects. That always helps.” Kurt moved over to a walnut bar that ran beside the television and poured himself a glass of something amber from a cut-glass decanter. “Want any? Aged Kentucky bourbon. Dad loves… loved the stuff.”

“Sure.” Maybe it would help her get back to sleep.

As he filled a second glass, she asked, “Where’s Dave?”

“Took the first watch. He’s probably skulking in the bushes outside the house.”

“Is that safe? I mean, between witches and polar bears…”

His mouth pulled into a flat line as he handed her the glass. “We fought a war, Gen. We know how not to be seen.” He nodded toward the sectional, and she followed him over to it to sit down. “What did you dream about?”

Genevieve froze. And knew by the heat in her cheeks that she was blushing.

Kurt blinked and looked startled. His nostrils flared. Almost like an animal scenting…

He looked quickly away, downing a deep swallow of his bourbon.

I need to get my ass back to bed. Instead she took a sip of the bourbon. Liquid fire detonated in her mouth, smoky and dark. It burned all the way down. She coughed, acutely aware of him, sitting bare-chested and handsome in the light of the single lamp he’d turned on.

God, that chest. I’d love to paint him.

It wasn’t the first time tonight she’d had that thought. But then she hadn’t known what a bad idea it was.

He almost lost it twice tonight. Only an idiot would go for three. She forced herself to look away. But a moment later her gaze drifted back to dwell on the ridged muscle of Kurt’s flat abdomen and broad chest. His biceps flexed as he lifted his glass for another sip. Heat rolled through her, and she swallowed. Bad idea.

Really, really bad.

Really.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoy Arcane Kiss!