This will probably come as a shocker to anyone who has read my books,
and particularly for anyone who has ever chatted with me, but my mind
hasn’t always been a fantastically smutty wonderland filled with hot
naked werewolves and sex swings. No, that particular odyssey didn’t take
fruition until late 2009, when I wisely asked my editor if she thought I
should try my hand at writing a menage. At the time, I was continuously
getting beaten over the head by my muse (she’s exceptionally mean to
me, let me tell ya.) with this sparkling plot bunny involving two dragon
brothers and the woman they’ve been sent to collect as their sacrifice.
I’ll be honest, a menage was so far removed from anything I’d written
before, it actually scared me to contemplate writing one. But there was
also a part of me that loved the challenge of stepping out of my
comfort zone. When my editor gave me her wholehearted approval for the
idea, I jumped in with eyes wide open and no freakin’ clue of the
monster I was about to create. No, I’m not talking about my dragon
beasties, but the insatiable smutter hunter I would become. That’s
right. Smutter hunter. Plop a fedora on my head and a dick-shaped pencil
in my hand and I’ll put Indiana Jones to shame. But I digress. Once I’d
unleashed that Pandora’s box of kinky delights there was no way I could
shut it again. Trust me, I’ve tried. But no matter how hard I attempt
to convince them otherwise, my characters keep insisting on kinking up
the pages of my books. They’re insatiable, incorrigible, and a bunch of
other words that start with “In” that I’m too lazy to go look up in the
dictionary. But you get my drift. So this brought me to my own shocking
epiphany. Is it possible that I’ve always been drawn to the smuttastic,
but for whatever reason, I’d muted out my muse before that fateful book? Possibly.
You see, I’ve always been one of those readers who’d get irrationally
huffy if I accidentally fell across a book that presented the promise
of hot times between the sheets but failed to deliver the goods. Closed
door sex?!? WTF?!? I’ll say it again for proper and needlessly dramatic
emphasis. W.T.F. Just like some readers investigate whether a book has
sex in it before they buy, I go out of my way to ensure that it does.
Hell, if I was interested in a sex free zone, I’d travel back to my
twenties. Ahem. But that’s another story for another time.
So how about you, lovely readers? Do you ever get irrationally huffy
when the book you’re reading falls short in the sex department? Or have
you read some really excellent ones where it didn’t matter? And for
those who might be wondering, that kinky dragon menage book is Light My
Fire. If you’re interested in a properly smuttastic excerpt, read on for
a peek into the book that started my smutter hunter journey.
Double the firepower, triple the heat…
Aiden Fortune’s orders are clear: Find the woman, claim her as a
sexual sacrifice—and share her with his horndog twin brother.
Distasteful as it is, the Drakoni council insists the ancient custom be
honored. Or Aiden will be banished.
One glance at Dana Cooper, and Aiden is thrown into the dragon
version of a tailspin. Claim her? Hell, yes, he’ll claim her. Problem
is, she has no idea her father signed away her destiny at birth.
Dana has dated enough whack-a-doodles to fill an insane asylum. Two
gorgeous men claiming to be dragons? Par for the course. Until they give
her a tantalizing glimpse of their inner beasts, which makes her think
she’s the one headed for a padded cell—for actually considering their
offer of the hottest sex of her life,
for life.
Her resistance melts away under the onslaught of two men who pack
enough heat to set off smoke alarms in a six-block radius. Especially
when she realizes she’s falling for Aiden. But with a town full of
dragon hunters and an enemy lurking in the shadows, surviving a week of
Aiden and Jace’s double-teaming will be the least of her problems…
Warning: Contains two smokin’ hot dragons and their not-so-unwilling
sacrifice. A few wardrobe malfunctions and inappropriate use of
paintbrushes. You might want to have your local fire department on speed
dial.
Wiping her damp fingers on the hem of her polo, Dana hustled
toward the rear hallway. She rounded the corner in time to see Aiden dragging a
limp Emmaline through an opened doorway. Breaking into a run, Dana barreled
down the corridor and skidded into her aunt’s small office. Her heart
thundering, she gaped at Aiden and Jace while they gently settled Emmaline onto
the raggedy tweed loveseat wedged in the corner. “What happened?”
Aiden grunted. “My dumbass brother showed your aunt his
inner beastie.”
Dana glared at Jace. “That better not be code for you waving
your Johnson.”
Jace sputtered a laugh. “No.”
A low groan floated from Emmaline and her eyelashes
fluttered. Dana rushed to the sofa. She dropped to her knees on the cushion,
prompting the broken spring in the frame to give an indignant woongg. Emmaline gave her a blank stare.
“I think I fainted. How quaint and embarrassing.”
Relieved almost to tears that her aunt was apparently okay,
Dana grinned. “You always were a bit of a drama queen.”
“No, hon. You have me confused with Raul.” Emmaline shifted
her head and yelped when she spotted Aiden and Jace. Her face went whiter than
Raul’s homemade Alfredo sauce.
Dana shot Jace a fierce look. “Are you certain you didn’t
show her your dick?” A hum of warning came from her aunt and Dana rolled her
eyes. “Sorry, I mean penis.”
Emmaline struggled to the edge of the cushion. “Don’t
antagonize them. Dragons have a fiery temper.”
“Oh my God. I
can’t believe you guys told her that kooky story!” Dana jumped up and slashed her
hand in the direction of the door. “Get out. Now.”
Emmaline tugged the hem of Dana’s polo shirt. “Hon,
fireballs. That’s all I’m saying.”
One corner of Aiden’s mouth tipped upward. “Don’t worry. We
have no intention of flambéing your niece.”
“Arrgh. Would you
stop it? And you…” Dana shook a finger at Emmaline. “Don’t encourage their
lunacy.”
“Sweetheart, listen to me.” Emmaline grabbed Dana’s extended
hand and tugged her onto the loveseat. “They really are dragons. Drakoni. I saw
it with my own eyes.” She sent a pleading look toward Aiden and Jace. “Show
her.”
Both men stood stubbornly mute.
“Oh no you don’t.” Displaying her typical spunk, Emmaline
pushed onto her feet and stormed toward the brothers, her orthopedic sneakers
squeaking. The crown of her permed hair barely reached the middle of Jace’s
broad chest. The huge discrepancy in their sizes didn’t stop her from yapping
at him like an enraged Pekinese. “You’re not getting away with making me look
like a blabbering fool. I’m giving you two seconds to flash her some lizard
eyes or I’m telling those hunters out there exactly what you are.”
Aiden’s nostrils flared. “You wouldn’t.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Emmaline tapped a foot.
“Try me.”
“Damn it.” Aiden plowed his fingers through his hair, leaving
it in messy spikes. “We didn’t want to throw everything at Dana before she’s
ready.”
“Ah, screw it.” Jace stalked toward the sofa and leaned over
Dana. He blinked and his blue irises glimmered, shifting into brilliant amber.
Quicker than she could fathom it, his pupils elongated into distinctively
reptilian-like slits.
Her chin plummeting, Dana slumped, banging her head on the
loveseat’s tall back. Jace turned to face Emmaline. “Happy now?”
“Wh-what was that?”
Wincing at the screechiness of her voice, Dana scrambled from the cushions and
whirled in front of Jace. His eyes had returned to normal. For a brief moment,
she wondered if she’d imagined the whole thing. No, that didn’t make sense. She
wasn’t prone to hallucinations. Okay, there’d been that freaky incident
involving cold medicine and a talking Ficus tree, but that was a long time ago.
“It was a brief glimpse of my Drakoni form. I’d have shown
you more, but I didn’t want to scare you. Not to mention your aunt would have
been pissed if I tore through her roof.”
Emmaline sniffed. “You can bet your cute dragon buns on
that.”
Dana sank onto the arm of the loveseat and scrubbed a hand
across her face. “You know you guys are only supposed to exist in fairy tales
and low budget sci-fi movies, right?”
Aiden’s dark, penetrating gaze ensnared her. “And your
paintings. Let’s not forget those.”
His husky voice provoked unbidden images of her fantasy
dragon—the decadent beast that starred in her most bizarre and X-rated dreams.
The same beast that ultimately earned a depiction in her most erotic creation.
Heat spiraled from the core of her sex all the way to her nipples. Just
thinking about her nocturnal dragon almost made her orgasm. Jeez, thank God she
didn’t. How embarrassing would that
have been? “Let’s pretend for a second that my head isn’t ready to explode.
Mind explaining how you’re able to walk around in a man suit?”
Aiden’s eyebrows winged upward. “Man suit? Interesting term. I’ll have to remember it.” His
expansive shoulders hitched in the faintest shrug. “The abridged version is
we’re shifters. Our human form was built into our genetic code to enable us to
blend in with society.”
Jace nodded. “Yep. Kinda tough for a fourteen-foot dragon
not to stick out in the crowd.”
Automatically, Dana’s attention lifted to the ceiling. Okay,
he hadn’t been exaggerating about damaging the roof. “Man, you guys must have
ginormous houses.”
A chuckle broke from Aiden. “We limit our Drakoni forms for
the outdoors.”
“Smart thinking.” Dana fiddled with a stray lock of hair that’d
escaped her scrunchie. “Next question—what are you doing here? With me, I
mean.”
Aiden stepped beside Jace. “I told you. You’re our
sacrifice.”
“What?” Emmaline
shrieked.
They all turned to stare at Dana’s aunt. The color slowly
leached from her skin again. “Are you saying you’re going to eat her?”
“Well, not necessarily in the way you’re thinking.” A wicked
grin stretched Jace’s mouth. Aiden punched him hard enough in the arm he
stumbled sideways.
“What my brother means is she’s not that kind of sacrifice.”
“All right, then what kind is she?” Emmaline demanded.
The flush that raced over Aiden’s cheekbones was downright
adorable. “Uh…it’s probably best if we don’t go into the nitty-gritty details.
I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
Enlightenment replaced Emmaline’s scowl. “Sex? Is that what this is about? Jeez
Louise, I’m not a nervous virgin who’ll fall into vapors at mere mention of the
word.” She suddenly frowned. “Come to think of it, Dana isn’t exactly a virgin
either. Isn’t she supposed to be untouched in order to be placed on the
sacrificial chopping block? She’s had her fair share of lovers. Not an
outrageous amount or anything, but let’s just say the girl’s no longer pure as driven
snow. Maybe she’s not exactly tarnished as the mucky black stuff you see piled
on the side of the—”
“Okay, you’ve officially clobbered that simile and it’s now
whimpering for mercy.” Dana didn’t know whether to hug her aunt or throttle
her. On one hand, it was darned sweet that Emmaline was fishing for a way to
save Dana from becoming the sacrificial offering. On the other hand, it was
rather mortifying to have her sex life up for debate.
“Virginity isn’t a requirement,” Aiden said, his strained
voice breaking through Dana’s internal grumblings.
“Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a
virgin these days?” Jace’s smile turned teasing. “We’d have better luck finding
the Easter Bunny.”
Dana dug her fingers into her temples. “Don’t tell me it
exists too?”
“Don’t know. But I sure do love me some rabbit.” Smacking
his lips, Jace rubbed his stomach.
“That is really
warped.” Despite the weirdness of everything, Dana couldn’t help her chuckle
from joining Jace’s full-scale belly laugh. Once the hilarity passed, the
seriousness of the situation returned and she shoved her hands against her lap,
twisting her fingers together nervously. “I’m still not clear on this whole
sacrifice thing. You want me to have sex with one of you—why?”
The now all-too-familiar silent communication passed between
Aiden and Jace, earning an exasperated groan from Dana. “Would you quit that
and just spit it out already?”
“Fine, you want blunt?” Aiden, his jaw hard as stone, pinned
her with a stare that sizzled. “You’re not having sex with one of us. We’re a package deal.”
