in my head, Raven is a cross between Dita VonTeese and Kat VonD. Long, dark hair, tall and lush. She’s shy and confident all at once. But it’s hard for her to see herself so here’s a bit of her through Jonah’s eyes…

Brown Family Novels: DRAWN TOGETHER by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2013, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group
Releasing in trade paper, digital and audio formats October 1

Long dark hair with threads of deep blue shot through it. Large, high breasts, silver bars through each nipple. Her skin was pale, creamy, and covered with ink here and there. Her legs were long, her toenails a deep red. She was bold, the way she looked back at him. And yet there was a fragility to Raven that grabbed him and didn’t let go. He was torn between a clawing desire and a need to cosset and spoil.

The stars she’d indicated earlier started at her left hip and scattered up her belly, across to her other hip and up her rib cage. Up each of her inner arms she had thorns and roses that wrapped around her biceps and shoulders.

“I see three tattoos. Where are the others?”

She turned, pulling her hair aside. Across her back spilled ivy and purple flowers.

“What are the flowers?”

“Forget-me-nots.”

Her voice, threaded with tension, tugged at him, drawing him closer.

“Eula?” He traced over the word that had been woven into a knot of ivy.

“My great-grandmother.”

Each time she told him something personal it felt like a victory.

“Ah. This work is stunning.”

At each hip on her back sat a triangle with swirls.

“What are the triangles?”

“Triquetra on each side. Same basic concept, but the right is based on the disc I used to put in my 45 singles back when I had a record player. The other, well, it’s got personal meaning.”

“Enlighten me.”

“The nature of three. Mind, body, spirit. Maiden, mother, crone. The three levels of earth. That design is Celtic. Like I said earlier, Brody did all my work. He’s an artist, isn’t he?”

Jonah didn’t want any other man’s name on her lips. Even though he knew Brody Brown was a man who appeared to adore his wife and two daughters. Jonah knew too that Brody and Raven had once been involved.

“You’re quite the canvas.”

He noted the soft upturn of her lips. A pleased, touched smile. He wanted to see it again.

“Can I undress you?”

The two of them paused. Each seemingly surprised by the request.

“Yes.”

She pulled his shirt off again, leaning in to press an openmouthed kiss against his chest.

“Your body is beautiful.” She murmured it, nearly to herself.

He didn’t stop himself from sliding his palms over her shoulders and down her back, drawing her closer as she pulled his pants open and then down, kneeling as she did.