A Big Move and a Nod to Cupid--All in One Week!

As my tribute to Valentine's Day, each day from now through Saturday, I'll be posting scenes from some of my novels depicting love between my characters (makes me wish I hadn't already posted the wedding of Alex and Robyn from An Army of Angels so recently). I hope you enjoy them.

 
But first, I have news! Collin and I are signing with Creativia! I have said I would never go the traditional publishing route again, and I won't. Creativia isn't a conventional publisher--nor is it a vanity press--it's the best of both worlds for any author--full creative control with none of the grunt work. We are going to be releasing all of my backlist books in ebook and paperback format--and we'll be doing heavy revisions and rewrites on them, some more than others, to bring them into the 21st century (after all, these books were published back in the late '80s-early '90s. Since we're going to be using speech recognition software, it won't take nearly as long as you might be thinking.

But back to my Valentine's Day tributes. Today, I give you Connor and Lynne from Chasing the Wind.  These two have been thrown together in an isolated area of the Sinai Peninsula on an archaeological dig. Connor has an agenda--and he's a man on the run. Lynne is divorced and somewhat wary of her houseguest, but even more bothered by her growing feelings for him....

 
Lynne

I woke early the next morning with a splitting headache. It took me a few moments to get my bearings and realize where I was. I lay on my back on the couch, my legs across Connor’s lap. He was shirtless, sleeping in an upright position.

I tried to remember what had happened the night before, but most of it was a blur. I did recall celebrating the find, drinking champagne, kissing Connor….

“Connor.” I nudged him with my bare foot. “Connor, wake up.” I nudged him again. When that produced no results, I kicked him. “Connor!”

He woke with a start. “What?”

“Refresh my memory,” I said. “Why are we here, like this?”

He regarded me with a lazy smile. “You don’t remember?”

“Obviously, no.”

“We had quite a celebration last night,” he said. “I’m hurt you don’t remember. Most women find me unforgettable.”

Was he saying we'd had sex? For a moment, I wondered. “I remember the champagne, but—”

He licked his lips. “You were delicious.”

“Nice try, Merlin, but I still have my clothes on,” I realized.

“Getting them off was simple,” he said. “Putting them back on presented problems. I suspect I put your underwear on backwards.”

I pulled at the waistband to check. He laughed. “Had you there, didn’t I?”

I snatched a pillow from behind my head and hit him with it. He took it from me and threw it back. I caught it and tried to hit him again, but he blocked the blow. I sat up, throwing a mock punch. He grabbed both of my wrists. “Bit of a hellcat, aren’t you?” he laughed as he twisted me around so that my back was pressed against his chest, my arms pinned to my sides.

“Let go.” My tone held a warning note.

“Turn you loose so you can assault me again?” he asked, kissing my neck. “I don’t think so.”

“What did we do last night?” I wanted to know.

“Got off to a brilliant start,” he said, still nuzzling me. “Making out, you were all over me.”

“Connor!”

“The champagne rid you of all those nasty inhibitions,” he told me. “Then you passed out.”

“Passed out? While you were—” I couldn’t finish. I was laughing too hard.

“You dealt a severe blow to my ego.” He nibbled my earlobe. “Now you’re going to make it up to me, aren’t you?”

“In your dreams, Merlin. In your dreams.”