Tuesday, October 15, 2024

In the King's Power - Part 3 Cover Art and Excerpt


Part 3 of In the King's Power will go live on November 1. I had originally planned to charge $3.99 for each section, but I realized that some of them are on the shorter side - Part 3 is one of those. It's only about 50 pages, so I will keep it at $1.99 to purchase, free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

If you haven't checked out this new dark fantasy romance series, swing by the overview page. There are synopses for the sections that have dropped so far, links to the excerpts, and prices. 


SYNOPSIS

A bad winter has struck the capital. Thia is sneaking around, trying to find members of the underground organization known as the Red Garters so she can join them, which puts a strain on her relationship with Henri. James and Alyssa come to an uneasy truce that they both know can’t last. 


EXCERPT

James let himself into the girl’s chambers. Sometimes, unbeknownst to her, all he wanted was to watch her sleep. Taking a chair beside her bed, he opened a bottle of wine. She didn’t stir, though it didn’t look as if she were having a particularly restful night. The bedding was quite rumpled from where she’d tossed and turned. Usually, she slept on her side, but at the moment, she was sprawled on her back, one arm thrown out, one leg folded beneath her, hair tangled on the pillow. She’d kicked off the sheets and blankets, and her nightgown had gotten twisted up, exposing her bloomers, one bare leg, and her smooth little belly. Through the light cotton of her drawers, he could see the triangle of her sex, a shadow of pubic hair.

He wasn’t halfway through the bottle when she shifted. Frowning a bit in her sleep, she turned her face away from him, towards the window. Murmuring something too low for him to hear, (it was probably in that foreign jabber of hers anyhow), she stretched out her bent leg and wiggled around a bit, seeking a comfortable position. It occurred to him to wake her then, but for some reason, he did not. Merely observed as her brow furrowed again.

All at once, her limbs jerked as if she’d been electrocuted and she screamed. Without opening her eyes, she began to fight, defending herself from some dread adversary that only she could see. And all the while, she screamed.

Quickly, he set the bottle down. Moving onto the bed, he took her in his arms. “Shhhhh. Chèrie, chèrie, it’s all right. You’re having a bad dream.” He held her tightly, trapping her arms against her sides so she wouldn’t hurt herself—or him. “It’s all right. You’re all right.”

She didn’t appear to hear him, but continued to thrash and cry out, utterly lost to the world. He peered at her for a moment, speculative. Shrugging, he slipped his hand down, into the waistband of her bloomers.

At that, she gasped and jerked again. Then quieted.

Her breasts rose and fell as she breathed deeply once, twice. Her body relaxed, head falling back against his cupped palm. At first, he thought perhaps she’d sunk back into slumber. But then she began to move. Her eyes were still closed, but she was responding to his touch. The muscles of her thighs clenched around his wrist. Her hips began to rock. His fingers worked gently at first, then harder, matching her urgency. She shifted, opening herself to him more fully and he felt the growing wetness, the deep, inner heat of her. She began to make the sweetest little noises, her lips parted in pleasure, and she looked so kissable that he laid her back against the pillows and leaned over her, intending to do just that.

But as he did, her eyelids fluttered. Then opened.

Seeing that it was he, she uttered a cry of disgust. Pushing him off, she scrambled backwards, practically climbing the headboard in her haste to get away.

James bellowed with laughter. “Oho! That brought you right around, didn’t it? And here I thought you’d been exaggerating-- that whole bit about sex acts being grounding? But you weren’t.” Very deliberately, he brought his fingers to his nose and sniffed.

Outraged, she glared at him. She looked like a scalded cat—an observation that only made him laugh harder. Her fist shot out, striking him on the shoulder. “Pig!”

“Ouch!” Still guffawing, he rubbed the sore spot. “No need to get angry. You were enjoying it.”

“I was asleep! I thought I was dreaming!”

“About me?”

“Like you haven’t invaded my dreams before, you perv!”

Smugly, he stood up. “You liked it then, too.”

Alyssa stood as well just so she could shove him again. “Why can’t you stay away from me? Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“I was only trying to help.”

You wanna help me?” she shrieked with sudden ferocity. “THEN FUCKING SEND ME HOME.” With that, she burst into tears. Her body seemed to curl in on itself and she sank back down onto the bed, sobbing.

Shaking his head, James sighed. “When are you going to realize you are home? All this unhappiness—you bring it on yourself, you know. It’s quite unnecessary. Do you hear me? All you have to do is stop. Stop fighting.”

Turning her back to him, she continued to cry, deep, horrible, gulping sobs. Alyssa hated to break down like this in front of him, but she couldn’t help it.

James sat down beside her. For a moment, he said nothing, just stroked her back. She wanted to pull away from him, but she didn’t want to pull away from him. This only made her cry harder...


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