The Extremist

by Juniper Bell

BLURB: For Annie Swenson, only one cure works better than psychotherapy… Annie’s afraid of heights, she’s afraid of crowds, and she’s not too crazy about flying. When her therapist orders her to take a vacation, she picks remote Cat Island in the Bahamas, hoping to hide away. Mortified to find she’s the only single woman at the resort, she pretends the handsome, mysterious stranger behind her in the buffet line is her boyfriend. He goes along with the charade … for a price! The choice is simple: reveal her sham or go along with his erotic, boundary-pushing games. Annie’s life will never be the same after her sensual encounters with The Extremist.

Excerpt:

Next to her was the remarkable, amazing presence of Martin. She had never been so intensely aware of anyone in her life. She knew when he reached for his glass. She knew when he looked out at the dark ocean. She knew when he wanted to change the direction of the conversation. Every time she glanced over at him, he met her eyes with a look of amused approval.

He was either a hallucination or an angel.

Gratefully, she shifted her chair to be closer to him. She leaned her body into his and rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. Looking up, she caught that playful smile she was beginning to adore, but this time, it had a wicked edge to it.

He turned to Missy and Daryl and leaned forward to ask them an innocuous question about their last trip to the Bahamas. At the same time, a big warm hand touched her knee, and Annie bit back a startled shriek. The hand squeezed until she gained control of herself. Then it began a slow, teasing march up her thigh.

“Did you enjoy Nassau?” Martin asked, looking extremely interested in the Hertzbergers’ response.

Meanwhile, his hand pushed under the edge of her skirt, and Annie bit the inside of her lip. He smoothed her inner thigh, making circular patterns on the tender skin. His palm was surprisingly rough-skinned. Did he work with his hands?

“Oh sure, I think it’s thoroughly stunning,” she heard Martin say, and from the teasing tone of his voice, she knew he was referring to her. His hand gently pulled her leg so it brushed against his. She felt a finger pull back the edge of her panties, and fresh air moved against her private parts. She couldn’t stop a surprised little gasp from escaping.

“Are you okay, Annie?” asked Missy.

“Yes,” she said in a strangled tone.

“Take a sip of wine,” said Martin, and the quietly masterful tone in his voice made her obey instantly. As she sipped from her glass, Martin took the opportunity to pull her panties completely away from her sex. She held the glass in front of her burning face, as though admiring the wine.

My God, she was entirely exposed to anyone who happened to be under the table. No one was, but the thought brought a flutter of terror. At the same time, it made moisture drip down her thighs.

Martin’s thumb was now holding back her panties while his fingers went on a determined quest through the wet folds of her sex. He found her clitoris and teased it with his forefinger, pressing it, circling it. His finger left her for a moment to dip into her heated sex. She felt its curious exploration; each little movement sent new shocks through her body. Then the finger withdrew, and it felt like eons before it returned, slick from her wetness, to continue rubbing her clitoris. Although she didn’t dare look at him, she felt his satisfied smile.

Annie thought she might die from the excruciating sensations he was creating. She couldn’t bear it another moment. She had to make him stop, but when she tried to close her legs, he pinched her clitoris just enough to make her yelp.

“Did you say something, Annie?” Missy flicked her cigarette ash into the clamshell ashtray.

“Did you get bitten by one of those bugs, honey?” said Martin tenderly. “They’ve been driving me crazy all night.” He took her whole crotch in his hand and gripped it tightly.

“Maybe it’s time to go inside,” she managed with a remarkable degree of dignity.

“One more glass, what do you all say?” said Martin, with an infectious enthusiasm that made Daryl pour another round. “We’re on vacation, darling. We don’t want to disappoint your friends, do we?” He winked at her.

Disappoint her friends? Annie got the message. If she didn’t let him continue, he might expose their charade to Missy and Daryl. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t be worse than that humiliation. No doubt about it, Martin was in control here. He had all the cards. The only question was, what did he intend to do with them?

As she gripped the edge of her chair, he showed her. He stroked her until her sex was pulsing with red-hot need, until she had to bite down on her lip to keep from screaming. She summoned every ounce of willpower - every particle of control - to keep her face still and her body immobile. He plunged two fingers inside her, then three. When it felt like his whole hand was inside her body, he pulled her forward, so she had to shift to the very edge of the chair. That changed his angle so his wrist could rub against her throbbing clitoris.

Annie felt the world had split in two. Beneath the table, her body was on fire. Her legs were quivering; her sex, screaming for release. Above the table, she was a calm statue with an interested smile plastered to her face. Daryl was in the middle of a long story about a trip to Australia, and luckily, Annie only had to nod now and then. This she did, at random moments.

She completely lost the thread of the story when the heel of Martin’s hand ground into her clitoris. A rush of pleasure overwhelmed her, and she could no longer even make out the other couple’s faces. Everything was a blur: Missy’s head thrown back to draw on a cigarette, Daryl’s arm draped across the back of her chair, the swaying palm trees, the hanging lanterns, and the wait staff lounging around a nearby table. The scent of the sea drifted from the beach and seemed to join with the sharp taste of wine swirling through her senses in a wild tsunami. She balanced on the unbearable edge of a tall cliff, dying to fall, terrified to fall. Despite herself, she pressed into that insistent hand. She felt the flush on her face, felt her breath coming faster through her clenched lips.

“Have a little more wine, darling,” she heard Martin say. How on earth could he sound so calm, when he held a handful of dripping, scalding crotch? Jerkily, she moved to obey. “Here, let me,” he said, as her hands shook. He reached in front of her, blocking her from the Hertzbergers, and in that instant, he tightened his grip, inside and out, as if making a fist around her privates. Now she had no choice. Burying her face into his back, she rocketed over the edge into a freefall of ecstasy. She didn’t know where she was anymore. All she was, all she wanted to be, was a pile of hot, wet, pulsing flesh being shaken and squeezed by that relentless lion’s paw of a hand.

Buy-it-now:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Extremist-ebook/dp/B002V1INMS

Author website:

http://juniperbell.com/

Join us tomorrow with FL Bicknell hosted by Juniper Bell:  CLICK THIS LINK

I’ve sold three more manuscripts. One is for a full romantic m/m novel I’m co-authoring with a colleague and it will be available in print with a cool advance! The title will be under one of my kept-mum pen names. I’ve had so much fun writing this one! It’s steampunk, paranormal, and a bit of science fiction.

Contract number two is erotic romance and urban fantasy. It’s a short novella of about 16K. However, it’s under the same pen name too. The nice thing about this contract is that out of my shorter works, this story is my dad’s favorite. The publisher is a new one that is backed by an owner with an amazing background in publishing. I’m totally stoked to be a part of her new venture!

Also, dear readers, forgive me if I’ve mentioned this before (my confuzzled brain is on overload of late), but I scored a contract for a reprint too. The book has been re-titled and is called Feathers of Silver with the distinct possibility of a print release. The original release was under my old Zinnia Hope pen name, but the reprint will be under my real name of F.L. Bicknell.

The Darkness of Sable will be out this month. I’ve seen the galley and I’m ecstatic about how it looks. I have to say that Passion in Print is going to sweep the publishing scene and shock the hell out of authors and publishers. The quality of their editing is top notch (and my editor is da bomb! You know who you are, hon!), the covers are outstanding, the formatting and fonts, and…and… LOL!

Seriously, I truly believe Passion in Print is the next rising star in this business. The publishing scene is in for the shock of the decade as PiP wows readers and its popularity zips around the world.

Today is a day to sit in the air-conditioned office and work on revisions. It’s too infernally hot to even step outside the door. Our back exit is through the laundry room, and it’s this massive wooden door with a huge bolt lock that leads out onto the carport. However, it won’t shut and lock because the humidity is so darn high the block and the wood are swollen. Thank God we have an inner back door too!

Anyway, I have to fulfill the two contracts, so I need to get busy on the WIPs, and I also need to get my last revision of “RUBY” finished and returned to my agent by the weekend. I grew tired of traveling the stairs for coffee as I work, so I found a four-cup Mr. Coffee coffee maker at Pamida (it’s like a mini K-Mart in this neck of the woods), for $9.99. I snatched up the bargain and now my pristine white coffee maker is sitting on the end of my big desk, lol. I even told the redheaded mountain man that sneaking up the stairs to drain my coffee pot would not be tolerated.

He just looked at me and grinned. {shakes head} Like he’ll listen!

Okay, what’s the latest?  Well, I’ve been in the bat cave a lot so…

The Darkness of Sable is published by Passion in Print and comes out in ebook and in print August 2010. Here’s the blurb:

Struggling to deal with the disappearance of her daughter and in a creative slump, sculptress Sable Hendricks-Tade travels to Florida for rest and relaxation only to find herself thrust between divided paranormal worlds. One side wants her dead and the other will do anything to keep her in its “wicked” embrace. Determined to get answers, she searches for her missing daughter and spirals into the realm of immortals and goddesses where she quickly realizes her agent is her only anchor to reality. But can she trust him to keep her safe?

Thomas Valimar, a highly trained marshal working with a network of humans to maintain the line between the paranormal and human worlds, is assigned to protect Sable from the magic she doesn’t realize she possesses. Operating undercover as her agent, his duty soon turns to passion as he falls for the beautiful artist.

Drawing Sable into their world of sex, magic, and intrigue, the dark forces will do anything keep Sable in t heir clutches so they may feed from her emotions and mysterious ability. Only through sheer determination and Thomas’ love can Sable walk through other realms and not only battle the paranormal creatures that wish to destroy her live but save her daughter as well.

I cannot wait for this novel to be released! And it’s a whopper of a novel too. At a touch over 104,000 words, you’ll get your money’s worth and it will be full of romance, action, mystery, the paranormal and several scenes of steamy eroticism and sex.

Thomas, the hero, is sort of like Blade. And yes, he’s AA, so this romance is an IR romance. I loved developing Thomas’s character and watching how his romance bloom with Sable. And when they finally make love? Hooboy! Katy bar the door! Their first sexual encounter has to be read to be appreciated lolol.

Next in my news? My alternate pseudonyms are doing very, very well. Right after I returned from the Lori Foster convention, Dreamspinner Press contracted one of my m/m romances based on only two completed chapters! At the moment I’m also co-authoring another m/m romance that happens to be under consideration with Dreamspinner Press too.

Let’s see…oh! I recently signed a contract for an erotica series with Breathless Press. This series has a short pre-quel book, and then there will be five to six ebooks with word counts that should be around the 10K mark max.

I’m also back to work on RUBY, one of my agented novels. I have a few things I need to change and develop, so I’m crossing my fingers that one will be done and out of my hair by the end of July.

I have book two to write in a trilogy, another full novel over 100K to revise (ugh), and ideas for about a dozen books flying through my head like missiles. Since we moved into this new house and I returned from the writer’s convention, my brain has been going a million mph and my damn fingers are tired, but things are racing right along!

And there are a couple upcoming releases under my Molly Diamond pen, so if you’re curious you can visit my other site and take a look around.

If you’d like to keep track of what I’m up to, you can subscribe to this blog as well as my Molly Diamond blog, or join my newsletter where I’ll send through links to blog updates and release/contest information HERE.

I think that’s all for now. Be sure to visit Flirty Author Bitches on July 12, which is my day to blog there too.

I’ve cut, rewritten, cut again, revised, swapped and so on entire sections of this novel, but one thing that keeps tripping me up is the ending. I haven’t been able to get the ending to come to me. The one ending I had, I scrapped. So I began a second ending. It fizzled and I scrapped it.

No amount of brainstorming would bring me the answer on how to finish up these last two to four chapters.

I’ve talked about RUBY with my AWH puppies. I’ve tossed ideas and discussions around with my beta readers.

Still nothing would come to me.

But today, as I laid down to rest and brainstorm some more on the ending of this erotic paranormal romance, I closed my eyes and KA-BAM!

It hit me. The entire ending totally intact.

Was the problem due to some of the things I mentioned on the AWH Blog? I really don’t know. Whatever the problem, it’s behind me now, and RUBY will be finished very soon, printed, and mailed off to my agent.

Thank God. Not only is the character Ruby difficult and unique in the book, she was creating havoc in the real world too!

All I have to say is this: 2010 is a year to watch out for Ruby, whose magic has already left a fictional world. Hmm…maybe that means I have some magic in me too.

What’s next? A couple novellas to finish in a series, a couple stand-alone novellas that are in progress, and a slight break before I begin the next erotic paranormal romance novel.

Oh, one more thing. Avoid Writers Hell is now a workshop (think classroom), and AWH Chatters is its sister group, a place to promote your work, chat with others, and commune with fellow writers.

Got a few li’l cheer-me-ups over the weekend.

Take a look at the #1 book on this publisher’s page of All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/category0.html?sortBy=bestSelling&searchBy=publisher&qString=Freya’s%20Bower (if the link doesn’t work copy and paste it into your browser search engine)

It’s a free read now but I don’t care, lol. It means readers are downloading it, so since it’s the prequel to the Daughters of Trinity Series, we’ll see what happens.

I also got one hell of a review for my last release. Click on Dark Diva’s Review graphic. It’ll take you straight to the review. http://faithbicknellbrown.com/books/atasteofecstasy A 5 rating AND a Recommended Read!

I discovered that Bedevilled is #2 today at fictionwise’s Freya’s Bower page too.

Oh, and Conspiracy of Angels got this: http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/conspiracyangelshope.htm

After the last 8 months of one crummy thing after another hitting me or my family, these li’l tidbits helped raise my spirits, so I just wanted to share.

I’ll blog again soon!

I have four under my roof who are mine, and two older stepsons. The other day I vacuumed the kitchen-well, I tried to vacuum it. I purchased a new sweeper last year that cost about $200. After about a month, I began having trouble with it. Actually, I have horrible luck with sweepers; it seems that I’m always blowing up the motors or the belts keep breaking. So, we picked up an old Kirby at a yard sale as a backup.

Every time I tried to use the new vacuum I’d always end up getting the Kirby out, the old reliable dinosaur. Sometimes the new sweeper would work, but most of the time it blew dust everywhere making me cuss and choke at the same time.

Back to the kitchen…I’m vacuuming and dust blows out everywhere. Muttering expletives under my breath, I pulled the hose lose for the millionth time. I turned the sweeper upside down and looked for hairballs, wads of paper, etc., that my kids are notorious for sucking up when they sweep.

I yanked a monstrous dust bunny from the opening by the spindle, turned the sweeper on, and even more dust flew out.

Furious, I performed the same checks again.

Then I spotted it. A wad of debris was wedged against the hole that deposits the dirt into the hepifilter (sp?) thingamajig. I found a Phillips screwdriver, disconnected the hose, and pulled about 8 inches of compacted dust and hair out of it.

But something kept sliding back and forth in the tube.

Upending it, I dumped a Hotwheels car out onto the floor.

“Hey,” my four year old yelled. “I’ve been looking for that car forever!”

Yeah. Lots of story fodder for my stories.

So, I put the sweeper tube back on, screwed the screws down tight, turned it on-the motor squealed and blew up.

Which was followed by the handle breaking in two.

Thank God for the Kirby!

Maybe I’ll buy an Oreck or one of those Dyson Ball vacuums with my next royalty check, lol.

I laughed so hard with Trinity and Jade that my belly muscles were sore two days later. And the cool thing about the convention was that I finally got to put faces to the names that I see online.

Trinity and moi.

The amount of raffle baskets, bags, and other lovely methods of putting together prizes for a giveaway boggled my  mind. Now I’m one of those folks that never wins anything, so when I won a li’l door prize AND a beautiful wooden birdcage crammed with lovely and shiny books, I was ecstatic (although Trinity and Jade couldn’t restrain themselves and had to delve into the books, shame-shame, girls! LOL!)

This is Trin’s donated basket. Isn’t it pretty? And it’s the only one I saw that had something unique like the doll.

A view of the ballroom.

Lovely  Alyce, aspiring m/m author and publishing reporter. She’s a cool lady. (you can see my table nametag too on the right)

Author Blake Deveraux enjoying a fruit martini as he talks publishing, writing, and life with us.

The birdcage basket with books that I won. (See that cord behind it? I know I put it in my suitcase when I left, but I’ll be darned if I can find it now. Dell.com here I come…sigh)

View from our Marriott room.

One of the games at the Luau sponsored by Author’s Island.

I attended a couple of presentations. Also I offered some editor appointments; as a result I met some lovely aspiring authors.

Here I am at an age where I look back on the smoking ruins I’ve left in my wake, the black smoke curling around memories both good and bad; whereas, others who know me insist that my past is a learning curve, that I have so many who rely upon me, look up to me, and consider me mentor and friend.

I’ve thought a lot about my past. I’m a hick in the middle of the Appalachian foothills, I use a wringer washer and I make green tomato jelly and other strange concoctions. I maintained a 3.8 GPA at one of the toughest colleges in the U.S. but had to leave my education unfinished. Now I always have more kids around me than sense, and I feel that I can relate to David, who, upon seeing Goliath step out to kill him thought, “Oh, crap! If that size 54 sandal steps on me I’m a grease mark in the sand!”

My oldest daughter saw this contest and insisted that I enter it. “Mom, you gotta do this! Do it for you,” she said.

Sometimes teenagers know what buttons to push. In this case, she pushed me to do something for myself. Even if I win the ring or one of the other prizes, I know I’d share it with my daughter.

I do, however, have some good news. One of my new titles debuted today. If you like humor with heat, and unusual life circumstances with spice, please take a moment to check out the following.

A TASTE OF ECSTASY
Zinnia Hope

Erotic Romance: Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60435-303-7
Cover Artist: Emily
Editor: Marguerite L. Lemons
Word Count: 22,320
Release Date: March 12, 2009

Humor with heat, are you up to it?

From a romance with Jack Frost to a star-lit rooftop to sex with an Elvis impersonator, A Touch of Ecstasy sizzles with hot sex, romance, happy endings, and even some unexpected humor.

LINK: http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=420

How about a brief excerpt? And yes, I’ve written for UK editors, so here’s a bit of British flavor from the collection. I hope you enjoy it.

Can owning a bed-and-breakfast become a double entendre? Oh, yes, in more ways than one…

Cuppa Romp

          Managing a B&B alone in Brighton had been hard. My husband died two years ago, and I had been so lonely that everything about life looked grey.

My life changed the morning Simon signed his name on the registry, took his key, and offered me an erotic smile that nearly ignited my knickers. I stood looking at him like a dumb cow, my mouth hanging open. I watched him ascend the staircase, admiring his firm bum. I have always loved a man with big rough hands and broad shoulders, and his arse looked great in his suede trousers!

“Mum, your gob is hanging open,” Lillian said.

          Heat singed my cheeks. “No one could ever replace your father.”

“Who said anything about replacing Dad? You need a good shag.”

          “He’s at least ten years younger than I am!”

“Who cares as long as he can make you come?” Lillian retorted.

“No young stud is going to want sex with a forty-year-old widow with a bum that you could park a lorry under.”

          “Mum, you’re an attractive woman,” Lillian said.  “You have big boobs and a bum that matches. You look positively voluptuous.”

I had been forlorn and celibate since Toby became sick, but I wasn’t about to fuck the first man who caught my eye!

          Lillian retrieved her wallet and coat. “I’m off to do a bit of shopping,” she announced as she stepped out the front door.

          I watched her go, a small pang of jealousy skewering my gut. I once looked like Lillian when I was her age. Her long chestnut hair, green eyes, and hourglass figure kept the men flocking around her. A knot of guilt settled in my belly. It was wrong to feel envious of my own daughter. Glancing down at the large bosoms straining against my dress front, I smoothed my hands over my too-wide womanly hips. A young man wouldn’t want a widow with too many miles on her body.

The following morning, I stood in the kitchen cleaning up the breakfast debris. The door opened softly behind me.

“G’morning, bird,” a male voice said. “Is there something left for breakfast? P’raps a few bangers?”

          Turning, my heart stuttered. Simon looked wonderfully handsome in dark trousers and a jumper that matched the deep green of his eyes. He favored me with a wide, endearing smile that made my legs wobble as if someone had replaced my knees with lemon curd. Even so, a bit of anger flashed through me. Not so much at Simon as myself. I wasn’t a young girl any more. Guests were not permitted in the kitchen; a sign was even posted on the door. Most of all, I was angry at how I had let a young man, a good ten years my junior, rattle me sexually. I could almost see chemistry sparks flying off my body. Did Simon sense the effect he had upon me?

          “I’m sorry, luv. Did I frighten you?”

          Yes, he did frighten me. Not in the sense that I felt danger, but in how he made butterflies explode within me and how I couldn’t breathe when our gazes met. Again, my brain stopped functioning, and words refused to come out of my mouth.

          Simon leaned close, looking over my shoulder. He smelled like fresh linen and musk, making my senses spin.

          “I could use a cuppa,” he said close to my ear.

          Those five words, spoken so softly fluttered upon my nape like a gentle wren. A fiery sensation swept through my body, and when I looked up at him, his mouth met mine. A small surprised exhalation escaped me, and standing rigidly as he explored my mouth, I wondered if my heart would explode, every nerve ending in my body going hugger-mugger.

          Raising his head, he whispered, “There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

          I honestly don’t know what came over me. The next thing I knew, I grabbed him, pulling him toward me.

LINK: http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=420