Saturday, December 31, 2011

SNIPPET SATURDAY - Endings

This may be a total spoiler, but I couldn't leave it out of this theme. Endings for one were only the beginnings for another. This is a poignant short story I wrote for the GIRLS WHO BITE anthology. Makes me cry every time!
The Gift of Lillith
in the 
Girls Who Bite Anthology  

EXCERPT

I sat for a long time staring at the beautiful, vibrant red-head, gyrating around the floor like there was no tomorrow.  For her, there would be none—for me an endless procession of tomorrows. Molly had lived only twenty five years. I'd lived more than two hundred. She was just beginning her life—I was tired of mine. I wanted to grow old and die. Molly wanted to live.
I stood, walked across the floor, knowing exactly what had to happen, should Molly choose. As if on cue, the music ended and the band went on break. Molly stood out in the middle of the floor as everyone else filtered back to their tables and drinks. Someone played a soft lilting song on the juke box.
I gathered Molly in my arms and swayed with her to the music. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want your pity, just your love."
"Honey, you have my love." I hugged her closer, my eyes filling with tears.
"I wanted you in my life, to grow old with and love for a very long time. But I don't have that long."
"You could, if you choose."
Molly shook her head. "The doctor gives me two months. How can I pack a lifetime in two months?"
"I know how you can live longer."
"You can?"
"Do you trust me?"
She nodded. "With my life."
"I can give you more time in your life, if you let me."
Light from the disco globe shone in her eyes. "How?"
"Just one bite." I ran a finger along her neck, stopping at the base of her throat where her carotid artery beat strong.
Molly leaned back in my arms. "Huh?"
"It's a gift, kind of like the myths of the vampire, but not."
"Vampires aren't real."
"No, they aren't, but I am and it will only take one bite from me and you'll be cured."
"I've never seen you drink blood."
"I'm not a vampire, and you won't be either. You won't crave blood or have to stay out of daylight. But you will live forever or until you decide to pass the gift to the next woman." I cupped her cheek. "Only one woman at a time can carry the gift."
"What gift is this?"
"A gift as old as Adam, the gift of Lilith." I chuckled. "Don't look so doubtful. I'm over two hundred years old."
"What?" She tried to pull free of my arms.
I gently hugged her to me, swaying to the music. "The question is, do you want to live?"
"Yes." She sagged against me, the music the only sound for several moments. "I want to live with you forever, Katherine."
I stopped moving. "That can't be. When I pass the gift of Lilith to you, you will become immortal and I will grow old and die."
"But I don't want you to die. What good would it be to be immortal without you?"
"I've had a long life, you haven't. You have much more to experience—I've had enough. I want to grow old and die. Please, let me give you this gift. I want you to have it."
"But—"
"I ask again. Do you want to live?"
She stared into my eyes, her own filling with tears. "Yes."
I smiled and folded her into my arms. "Then dance with me."
As we moved around the floor, Molly relaxed in my arms and I spoke of the women who'd come before us, of the memories that would soon be Molly's. I knew I'd found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, someone who would understand me and stand by me as I grew old. As the music slowed, I sank my teeth into Molly's neck, our lives became intertwined, our pasts joined.
A new song started. Molly looked up and smiled, and I knew she would be alright. I'd given her the gift of Lilith, and in return, she'd given me the gift of her love.


Check out the other authors who are participating in Snippet Saturday:
Lauren Dane 
Rhian Cahill 
Eliza Gayle 
Selena Blake
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
HelenKay Dimon 

Saturday, December 24, 2011

SNIPPET SATURDAY - Beginnings

SEX, LIES & VAMPIRE HUNTERS
by Myla Jackson




Blurb

Night shift emergency room nurse, Julie Taylor is on the verge of a great love affair and steamy sex after a really long dry spell. Her soon-to-be lover, Roger, is everything a girl could wish for. Tough cop, sexy as hell man and really nice guy, he’s her dream come true. But with both of them working wacky shifts, they never find time to be together and her long dry spell is only getting longer. Just when they schedule a night off together, the unthinkable happens. Julie is attacked by a vampire and turned into one of the living dead. With her life over, she’s still unwilling to end her sex life. But how do you tell your boyfriend you’re dead and one of the bad guys he’s sworn to destroy?
            Roger Decker dared to love again after his lying, cheating ex-wife fooled around on him left him for another guy. The incredibly honest, sweet and sexy Julie is the only woman who’s been able to sneak beneath his armor and resuscitate his heart. Now, when he finally has the time off to tell her how he feels, weird things happen. Strange creatures appear in the night, targeting his newfound love. Does his sweet and loveable Julie have a dark side? Is she like every other woman and lying to him? And why does she totally avoid him during the daytime?

Excerpt

    “Julie? Julie, wake up!”
    What? She was in such a dead sleep, she could barely push her eyelids open. When she did, she stared up at a familiar face. “William? What are you doing in my apartment?” Julie pushed against her bed, only she didn’t feel the soft, clean Laura Ashley sheets. Instead, she felt the grit of pavement and grime beneath her hands. “What the hell?”
    As her vision cleared, she focused on William Fagan, the guy who lived in the apartment across the hallway from her in the old colonial house on Sixth Street. The gray light of predawn filtered through the buildings to barely illuminate the alley in which she lay flat on her face on the dirty pavement. “Where am I?”
    “You’re about three blocks from home and we need to get there in a hurry.”
    “What happened?” She sat up, brushing gravel from her cheek.
    “I’ll explain what I know when we get you inside. But if we don’t get you home soon, you’ll fry.” He scooped an arm beneath her shoulders and hefted her to an upright position. “Come on.”
    Julie sprang to her feet, feeling strangely light and bouncy for having slept on the pavement. What the hell was going on? Before she could ask another question, William took off at a run, her hand still in his.
    Because she hadn’t made a move to follow, he practically jerked her arm out of socket. Once she got her running legs going, she had no trouble keeping his pace, which was strange in itself. She hadn’t jogged or worked out on a regular basis in months. The night shift had thrown her workout schedule completely off. By all rights, she should be gasping for air. But she wasn’t. In fact, she was barely breathing hard at all. “What’s the rush?”
    “No time to explain,” he called over his shoulder. “Hurry!”
    The sky changed from dull, battleship gray to the vibrant pinks, purples and orange of dawn just as they arrived in front of the huge old house that had been divided into six apartments. As the sun popped over the horizon and cast its first rays of light onto her and William, she could feel a terrible burning sensation ripping across her exposed skin. Tingling, turned to prickling and finally to searing and she smelled the distinct odor of burning flesh. Her burning flesh.
    William yanked the front door open and shoved her inside. He pushed her so hard, she sprawled on the floor, sliding several feet before she stopped. “Hey, you don’t have to be so rough!”
    He slammed the door closed behind him and collapsed against the heavy wood paneling. “Whew! That was close.”
    “Close to what?” Julie pushed to her feet and dusted the grit from her hands. “I thought you were such a nice neighbor. What’s with slamming me to the ground? That’s no way to treat a lady.”
    “Honey, I hate to break it to you. But you’re no lady.”
    “That’s not funny.” When William only stared at her, Julie’s back straightened, anger rising in the form of a blood rush to her head. “I beg your pardon.”
    “Beg all you want, but as of early this morning, you’re no longer a lady.” He hooked her elbow and ushered her to the staircase leading to the second level of the house and their apartments. “If you’ll step into my apartment, I’ll fill you in.”
    She planted her feet against the smooth black and white tiles of the foyer bringing William to a halt. Then she shook his hand free of her elbow. “I’m not going anywhere with someone who tells me I’m no longer a lady. I’ll have you know, I don’t sleep around. In fact, I haven’t had sex in…well…that’s none of your business.” Three years, three loooonnnng years. But that was about to change. Tonight. She had a date.
    “I’m not talking about sex.” He reached for her arm again.
    Julie pulled away. “If you’re not talking about sex, then what are you talking about? Unless you know about a sex change operation I might have had in the few short hours I was unconscious, I’m still a woman and therefore—”
    “Could you shut up long enough to get up the stairs?” William left her standing in the hallway and took the steps two at a time. “Sheesh, woman.”
    “Ah hah! You admit it. I am a woman, therefore a lady.” She followed behind him. Taking the same steps he did, two at a time. She never took steps two at a time. Normally, she was wheezing and gasping for air as she climbed steps one at a time, never mind two at a time. But here she was taking two…and she tried it…three steps at a time. No problem. Maybe she should get conked on the head more often. It beat the hell out of a regular workout routine.
    Much as she’d like to get a shower and head for bed, she needed to know a few things. “By the way, William, why was I sleeping in an alley like a homeless person?”
    He waited for her to cross his threshold, and then he closed his door and pushed the bolt home. “Now, that we’re inside and don’t stand the chance of being seen or overheard, I can fill you in. Why you couldn’t just keep quiet until we got here, I don’t know.” He took a deep breath and stared down at her.
    “I never was very good at surprises and I get the feeling you’re about to surprise me. I’m not going to like the surprise, am I?”
    With a worried frown, William blew out a long, steady breath. “Maybe you better sit down.”
    Uh-oh. She didn’t like the way he was stalling. “What, did the landlord evict me and I stumbled out into the street, devastated and homeless?”
    “No, nothing as simple as that.”
    “That’s simple?” Double uh-oh. She perched on the edge of his bomber-jacket brown leather sofa. “Okay, I’m sitting. Just tell me already. I’m dying here.”
    “You can’t die, Julie. You’re already dead.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “Huh?” Who was he trying to kid? She was a walking, talking, gawking person sitting in his living room. “Uh, William. Have you been smoking some wacky weed or something? Hellooooo. If I’m here talking to you, how can I be dead?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    “Try me.”
    “Then keep an open mind.” His eyebrows dropped toward the bridge of his nose in a V.
    “I’m open.”
    “Julie, last night, you were turned.”
    “Turned?” She grasped for any possible meaning she could come up with for the unfamiliar phrase. “Like a fruit held too long on the branch turned?”
    “No.”
    “Like coming out of the closet gay turned?”
    “No.”
    “I give up.” She sat back against the couch, her arms crossing over her chest. “What do you mean?”
    “Turned as in from human to vampire.”
    She could have caught flies as low as her jaw dropped. “William, I’ve known you, what, a year and a half, maybe?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And this is the first time you’ve ever done anything remotely weird.”
    “So?”
    “So.” She pushed up from the couch and strode for the door. “I’ll cut you a break. I’m going home to shower and bed. When I wake up, maybe we can start this conversatio all over. ‘Cause I know you didn’t just say I’ve been turned to a vampire, and I know you’re not crazy. I’m counting it as a really bizarre nightmare I’ll wake up from after a decent amount of sleep.”


Check out the other authors participating in Snippet Saturday
Lauren Dane 
Rhian Cahill 
Eliza Gayle 
Selena Blake
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
HelenKay Dimon 

Saturday, December 17, 2011

SNIPPET SATURDAY - Winter

Yikes! I can't remember writing a story based in winter! Oh, wait...yes I remember now. I have one smack dab in the middle of winter. How's New Year's Eve grab you?

WITCH'S CURSE
by Myla Jackson  


Blurb
As punishment for using magic unwisely, Catherine Wein, ex-witch and totally cursed, is doomed to spend each year in a different woman's life. It's New Year's Eve and at the stroke of midnight she'll make the switch to another host's life. Catherine's determined to grab for as much happiness as she can with her remaining hours in Kindra Merlot's body. Enter sexy cop, Sam Cade. 

Dumped by his girlfriend right after Christmas, Sam isn't in the mood to celebrate until he sees the willowy beauty, Kindra. Her sensuality and sexual aggressiveness revives his lagging spirits. Is she the one for him or is she another lying, cheating woman like his ex? Will he have more than tonight to find out?

Excerpt
    Kindra retreated to her silent place, leaving Catherine alone on the rooftop, the cold seeping into her skin.
    Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, her eyes dry, her heart aching for the young woman inside her. How could she stop the inevitable? She’d cheated death from claiming his prize a year ago, but she had no choice this time. A sob rose in her throat and she swallowed it down, burying her face in her hands.
    “Kindra?” A deep male voice called out to her.
    Gentle hands gripped her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. Then she was pulled against a solid wall of muscles and engulfed in a warm embrace. “What’s wrong?” Sam Cade tipped her chin up and stared down in her eyes.
    What could she say? By morning Kindra would be dead and Catherine would be somewhere else? A mirthless laugh escaped her lips, followed by a trickle of tears trailing down her cheeks.
    Sam’s thumb brushed a tear away, a frown creasing his forehead. “How can I help if you don’t let me know what’s bothering you?”
    “You couldn’t fix the problem if you tried. Even I can’t.”
    “At least let me try.”
    She shook her head and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating against her ear. “Just hold me.” She needed to feel him, touch him. He was so alive. Catherine wanted to feel alive again.
    “You’re freezing. Why don’t you let me take you back to your apartment?”
    “No!” Not yet. Not until midnight. Then she could let Kindra go back to her apartment and go to bed. Maybe she’d wake up just fine. Maybe Michael would give the girl a reprieve from death.
Maybe pigs flew in Manhattan.
    “Then come back to my apartment. I have coffee and hot cocoa.” He hooked his arm around her shoulder and led her away from the rails and through the doorway into the stairwell.
    Numb and shivering now, Catherine’s teeth rattled against each other. She let Sam take over. For so long, she’d had to be the strong one in every life she’d inhabited. Tonight she faced the knowledge her host would die. Suddenly the will to live welled up inside, filling her with a sense of urgency.
    She turned to Sam. “Make love to me, Sam.”
His eyes widened and he paused on the head of the steps leading down to the elevator. “Here? Now?”
     “Yes. Here and now.” She had to show Kindra how wonderful it was to live, how beautiful making love could be. Catherine wanted all those things herself. A chance to live with one man for the rest of her life. Kindra had to see how precious was her gift of a healthy body with nerves, sensations and emotions to feed the soul. Catherine slipped the straps off her shoulders and shivered. “Make this a night we’ll both remember.”



Check out the other authors participating in Snipped Saturday:

Lauren Dane
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Selena Blake
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker

Thursday, December 15, 2011

And the Winner is...

The winner of the T-Shirt contest is DARKREADER. 
Please contact me to claim your prize. 
Thanks for all the lovely comments. Watch next week for the next contest. I'm giving away a Jimmy Thomas 2011 Calendar! Check back here for the details!