Tomorrow is Halloween! For today’s MFRW Book Hooks blog hop, I have an excerpt from my paranormal erotic romance Damned If You Do, which reaches its climax on Halloween, as the Devil comes to claim my heroine’s soul at the lavish release party for her best-selling novel...
Blurb
Sometimes romance can be hell
Wendy Dennison is tired of being a starving author. The royalties from her critically acclaimed romance novels barely pay her bills. Her devoted agent Daniel Rochester may be smart and sexy, but he can't get her the sales she needs. Then a charismatic stranger appears at her coffee shop table, promising her fame and commercial success, as well as the chance to live out her dreams of erotic submission. But at what cost?
Nothing you can't afford to lose, my dear.
Seduced by the enigmatic Mister B, she signs his infernal contract. He becomes both her Master and her coach, managing her suddenly flourishing career as well as encouraging her lusts. Under her mentor’s nefarious influence, she surrenders to temptation and has sex with Daniel. The casual encounter turns serious when she discovers her mild mannered agent has a dominant side. As the clock ticks down to her blockbuster release and Mister B prepares to claim her soul, Wendy must choose either celebrity and wealth, or obscurity and true love.
The Halloween Hook
“No!” Somehow she found the strength to wrench herself from his grip. She backed away, into the corner where the rail made a right angle. “Get away from me!”
Mister B put his hands on his hips and shook his head, his expression one of wounded disbelief. “I’m surprised at you. After all we’ve been through together, you reject me? Do you really want to give it all up? The adoring fans? The five star reviews? The fat advances and the hefty royalties?”
“Um…no, no, that’s not what I’m saying…” Panic swept through her. To lose everything she’d worked for? Unthinkable. At the same time, she couldn’t bear to have him touch her.
“Make up your mind, Gwen.” With each step he took in her direction, he seemed to grow taller. “It’s almost midnight.”
She cowered against the balustrade as he came closer, her mind whirling with contradictory desires. Alcohol, fear, and lust combined to muddle her thoughts.
Now he loomed over her, his teeth bared, his face a horrible, leering mask. A whiff of sulfur burned her nostrils. “Don’t resist me, woman. Give me your body. Give me your soul!”
He reached for her with taloned fingers. She stumbled, tripped by the panties he’d pulled halfway down her thighs, and fell against the pane of glass that extended from the railing to the balcony floor. Impossibly, the glass shattered into a million shards. All at once she was teetering on the edge, her frantic grip on the cold steel the only thing keeping her from an endless, deadly fall.
“Get back!” she screamed. “If you touch me, I’ll jump!”
He released a chilling laugh. A sudden, frigid wind whipped her hair into her eyes and numbed her fingers. “That will work, too. Suicides are automatically mine.”
“Leave me alone! Please…”
“You can send me away. All you have to do is say the words. But you won’t. I know you won’t. Because in fact, Gwen, you’ve already relinquished your soul.”
The wind howled in her ears. She scarcely heard it. An awful quiet crept over her. She realized, all at once, that he’d spoken the truth. In her single-minded pursuit of fame, she’d willingly jettisoned her friends and neglected her family. Blinded by the sparkle of wealth, she’d bulldozed over everything and everyone that blocked her path. She’d chosen commercial success over art, manipulation over sincerity, shallow pleasure over love. She’d become, as Daniel had accused, a cold bitch who cared about nothing but herself.
No wonder she felt so empty.
Let go. She knew that voice, insinuating itself into her thoughts, soft and persuasive. It will be easy. Just release the rail and it will all go away.
So tempting. So rational. Erase the guilt by erasing her morally bankrupt self.
The air stilled and grew warm again, more like April than October. The melancholy wail of a siren reached her from far, far below. It called to her.
Think how your fans will mourn you. Posthumous sales will push you way past E.L.James…
“Wendy! Hold on!”
Someone called out, someone she’d known long ago…it took several breaths for her to recognize the voice as Daniel’s.
She opened her eyes, blinking away tears caused by the wind. Her agent stood framed in the penthouse doorway. The brightness behind him made it difficult to see his expression, but she heard the terror and concern in his tone.
“Go away, little man!” Mister B flicked his long fingers in Daniel’s direction.
Wendy half-expected her friend to vanish. Instead he stepped onto the balcony, pushed his way past the hulking demon, and rushed in her direction. He clamped his hands around her waist and dragged her back from the edge, onto the glass-strewn floor. “Are you hurt, love?” He smoothed her hair away from her eyes and cupped her cheek, then scanned her body. No doubt he noticed the underwear tangled around her legs and the livid hickey below her ear. “Did he hurt you?”
“Get away from her!” Mister B grabbed Dan by the collar and tossed him into the opposite corner as though he weighed nothing. “She belongs to me!”
Dan’s body slammed into the barrier across from her. The glass groaned with the force of the impact, but did not break. He slumped against the wall in a motionless heap.
“Dan!” she screamed, struggling to her feet and heading toward her agent’s inert form. “Daniel—Sir! My love…”
Buy Links (Ebook)
Kinky Literature: https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/713-damned-if-you-do/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PSN7XGX
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PSN7XGX
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/damned-if-you-do-lisabet-sarai/1126292735?ean=2940165738319
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1124531
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/damned-if-you-do-12
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35009284-damned-if-you-do
Buy Links (Audio)
Narrated by Audrey Lusk
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Damned-If-You-Do/dp/B078NC1MGN/
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Erotica-Sexuality/Damned-If-You-Do-Audiobook/B078NC27YX/
Don’t forget to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!
2 comments:
Sounds like she made a bad decision going with Mr. B. I hope it's not too late!
Wow! Great excerpt for Halloween 🎃🧹
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