No, you are not going crazy. There were posts the last two days only the server migration that I thought was over wasn’t and they’ve disappeared into the ether of cyberspace.
These things happen, so I’m going to try and recreate the posts today and tomorrow.
Wicked Wednesday was all about DESIRE CALLS, the free novella that’s up at eharlequin.com right now (you can click here to start the read!)
As I was telling you, I almost feel guilty because this story just flew off my fingers! There was such tension between Stacia and Blake that the story almost wrote itself, but please don’t tell my editors that.
Some people think writing is hard work, but for me it’s a pleasure, especially when everthing flows as it did in DESIRE CALLS.
So to get you started, here’s a sneak peek at Chapter One:
The piazza always provided a fine selection for dining, Stacia thought as she sat on the railing along the edge of the Bernini fountain in Rome’s Piazza Navona. She gazed at the choices available in various spots around the square. French. German. Italian, of course.
Her stomach rumbled with hunger. It had been a day since she had eaten. Placing a hand over her belly, she rose and sashayed toward her first pick, but as she neared the Frenchman, she realized he was beyond loaded. The stench of cheap wine clung to his shirt and oozed from his pores.
Shaking her head, she thought of the oft repeated adage all those television chefs used: If it’s not good enough to drink, it’s not good enough for cooking. Or in her case, for eating. That cheap stuff just left a bad aftertaste in her mouth along with a wickedly nasty buzz.
She preferred something cleaner on her palate tonight.
Which definitely had her bypassing the Aryan god she had noticed just a short distance away from the Frenchman. Germans were always a trifle heavy in her belly. However, the broad set of his shoulders and well muscled chest made her reconsider. She loved her men big and strong and so she lingered by the front of the outdoor café where he was seated. Even made eye contact with him for a moment.
Amazing crystal-blue eyes twinkled with interest. That much was clear.
Stacia smiled back, thinking that maybe he might be worth a nibble after all. Maybe they might actually even click, finally providing her with true pleasure after nearly two thousand years of undead life.
Mr. Tall, Blond and Brawny rose from his chair, seemingly intent on making a move in her direction, but suddenly an equally tall, blonde and muscled woman joined him. Seeing that his attention was on Stacia, his companion began a harangue loud enough to make heads turn. The man plopped down into his chair, looking like a dog with its tail tucked between his legs.
No spirit. That was so not good, Stacia thought and moved onward, still in search of something to satisfy her hunger.
She needed a man who could not only take a lickin’, but gave as good as he got. And not just when he was in a fight. It had been a good long while since any man had really satisfied her in bed, one of the downsides of having lived so long. Of being a vampire elder.
Even her own kind avoided her at times, aware that with her age came not just vast power but also vast hunger. For blood. For sex. For control over lesser vamps. She didn’t want to admit that, in her case, she still hungered for love. For real passion and desire.
Things she hadn’t felt in way too long.
Some of the other elders said she was foolish to yearn for such things. That she should let go of the last little bit of humanity within her that prompted such desires. Then, and only then, could she truly relish the immense vampire power that her age provided.
Stubbornly, though, Stacia refused to relinquish that lingering trace of humanity. For want of something more than an eternal existence filled with only…
To continue reading, click here!
P.S. — Look for Stacia and Blake in FURY CALLS and ARDOR CALLS, two new novels in 2008 from THE CALLING Vampire series.