Vixenwriter

COUNTDOWN TO COMING UNDONE – WHEEEEE!! Just a little over two weeks to go! How about an excerpt?

Brody Brown has always been responsible for others. After his parents’ death, he gave up a promising artistic career to care for his younger brother and sister. Now, with his siblings grown, Brody owns his own business, has a nice house, makes a nice living, and for the first time in years he’s on his own.

Elise Sorenson has come to Seattle with her young daughter to find peace. After years as a world-famous ballerina—(and just as many years in a marriage-gone-bad)—she’s looking for neither love nor attention. But she finds both in the handsome, honest man who befriends her with no strings attached.

More than friends, Brody and Elise discover in each other what they need—wild, physical passion without commitment. But it’ll take a shadow from Elise’s past to make them look beyond what they need—to what they truly desire.

COMING UNDONE was given a TOP PICK by RT Booklover’s Magazine! Dane revisits the Brown family from LAID BARE in this knockout erotic tale. This is a major “feel good” book about two people rebounding from hard knocks without bitterness. It also comes with emotionally mature characters, palpable love and caring among family and friends, an adorable child and suspense. It that’s not enough, this is also passionate fun and intense sex. Hero Brody is a winner — sensitive and sexy.

COMING UNDONE by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2010, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group

She laughed. “Well, we dancers don’t like to just walk away if we don’t have to. I don’t want to stop dancing. I just can’t do it at the level I had before. So this is a wonderful opportunity for me. And yes, it helps that I was at the level I was when I . . . retired.”

The weight of all they left unsaid hung between them. “Will you dance for me? I’ve only seen The Nutcracker. My mom, she took us every year. I didn’t see much of you when I came in.”

“I’m not . . . not what I was in those pictures. My right leg was broken in two places. I’m older now. I’m not her anymore.”

He stepped closer, so close she scented the soap he’d used that morning. “You’re you. Please. I’d very much like to see you dance.”

She paused, taking his measure. “All right. You can sit over there if you like. How about something a little nontraditional? Before I left, one of the choreographers did something for me. It’s one of my favorite pieces.”

“I’d like that.”

She moved away and he settled into a nearby chair. She bent in half, and he had a brief but very vivid image of bending her over just that way and sliding his cock into her from behind. Christ, the woman did things to his mind.

But when she hit the remote and moved into position, and a few moments later Tito Puente came through the speakers, he was a goner.

Shoulders rolling, she moved slowly, sensuously, across the hardwood floors. She opened herself up to the music, to the movements, until it was all one thing. Like breathing. She was the dance. The beat was cha-cha, so the choreography was all about sensuality, grace, balance and movements from the toes up. So many times every day she failed to find the words, but when she moved she didn’t need words, she spoke with her body.

His eyes on her were a brand. The tension between them was taut, exciting. She felt him watch her, his gaze a heated caress of her neck, her arms. In his eyes, she felt beautiful and sexy. Elise was, right then, a siren, a seductress with her body and her grace. It was rare to feel that anymore, and the confidence of it roared through her. She knew her leaps were beautiful, her grand jetés precise and her pirouettes spot-on. Part of her wanted him to see how good she was, wanted him to realize she was more than a broken dancer who’d run from the spotlight, but a dancer who’d held it for good reason for many years.

It burned within her, that recognition, that beauty, until she stepped back on her left foot, rolling her shoulders to set her head when the music died.

Time slid by as she stood tall and met his gaze. Silence, thick, charged, hung between them. Everything unsaid, everything said and done, it was all there in his gaze, in the one she returned. Oh, how she wanted this man. He simply continued to watch her without speaking. He stared for so long, she wondered if she’d misinterpreted those looks from him as she danced.

“I’ve never seen anything like you before.” He moved to her slowly, not gracefully; he was too big for that. But enough to let her step back or run. The heat in his eyes, the memory of his lips on her wrist, of his taste on her tongue, held here there, rooted to the spot.

“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?”

“To be honest with you, Elise, I don’t know. Here’s what I do know. I can’t stop thinking about you. Thinking about those kisses we shared, about the way your pulse at your wrist beat against my lips. The hollow of your throat.” He drew a fingertip over that very sensitive skin and she drew in a shaky breath. “The way you smell. Christ, so feminine. Not flowery, not vanilla, but so female. Drives me crazy.” He leaned in and took a deep breath, his lips hovering just above her shoulder.

“I probably smell like female sweat just now.” She tried to joke, but his nearness put her on edge. Not with fear but with desire, with wanting things she’d never imagined she’d want. Of wanting him to give her exactly what he said he wanted to deliver. Of wanting him to take.

“You smell so fucking good, I want to take a big bite. I want to lick you from the tips of your toes to the tops of your ears.”

His words left her gaping like a goldfish in a bowl. She gave in to the feelings, let go and let her fingers thread through that thick hair of his. It was softer than she’d imagined. The strength of him under her hands, as he bent to her, sent a tremor through her. Oh, she wanted this, wanted the power of his body against hers, sliding skin to skin.

“I want you, Elise, and I think you want me too. No. I know you do. I can see it there in your eyes. I tasted it on your skin.”

SENSUAL MAGIC by LAUREN DANE
part of the WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…AFTER DARK anthology
Copyright 2009, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Enterprises
Releasing May 1

In the narrow alley, Nell crouched, turning her face to the stiflingly hot blast of air apparently referred to as a breeze in these parts. She shut out all other stimulus, simply waiting for the magic to come to her. Tendrils of energy hung in the air, spicy and unique to the individual who worked the spell. The taste of it wove through her system. Nell’s own magic broke it down, analyzed it, identified the owner.

It was her particular talent. Hunting. Tracking. A family trait she inherited from her mother. Not just a gift but a calling. Who she was as well as what she did on behalf of her Clan.

She stood and tapped a finger against her iPod. Music filled her senses, drowning out all other noise. Dio’s Rainbow In The Dark kept her company as she made a few notes before tucking the pad into the back pocket of her jeans.

Mage magic. The metallic flavor identified it as other. Not the earthy tang of her own magic. Witch magic like hers was inherent and came from the earth beneath her feet, from the air around her and the water under and aboveground. Mages weren’t born with magic, they traded for it. Most of the time with the kind of creatures best left alone.

It cost a lot to trade for power. It cost in lives, energy, dark gifts and money too. This Camarilla was on Nell’s shitlist because they were in possession of nearly a hundred thousand dollars belonging to the Owen Clan.

The Owen Clan—a circle of witches and the Clan Nell belonged to and worked for—didn’t take thefts of any kind lightly.

And what they took seriously, Nell took seriously. Frankly, this Camarilla, their little name for a group of them, seriously pissed her off. She’d spent the last two months traveling from city to city until she’d finally locked onto Las Vegas. Summer in Las Vegas was not Nell’s idea of pleasant and she planned to take her annoyance out in someone’s hide.

A man stood just a few feet away, eyes warily scanning the area, body taut, ready to spring should it be necessary. Galen, Nell’s partner and the physical muscle to her magical strength.

“Got it?” he asked as he stalked toward her, golden skin rippling over roped muscle. His hair was close cropped, pale blond against his skull. He slid dark sunglasses up over his eyes, all velvet cool and alluring.

A smile canted the left corner of her mouth. “They’re here. We need to get in to see that ex-boyfriend of hers. It can’t be a coincidence she’s in the same city.”

Galen shrugged, his dark sunglasses reflecting her face. “Dunno, Nell. From all accounts she screwed him over but good. Could be a coincidence. She might not even know he’s here.”

Nell rolled her eyes. “Please. How could she not know? That bitch knows where the money is. He’s got it big time. Of course she knows. Right now though, I have a trail, let’s follow it to see where it leads.”

Sometimes you have to go more than halfway to meet in the middle.
Caitlin Moore has every reason to celebrate. She’s through with law-school finals, and out for some post-semester fun when she runs smack dab into Eamon Blake, the Irishman with whom she had a summer fling years ago. Time hasn’t dimmed their lingering friendship—or their sexual chemistry.

But Eamon doesn’t much relish leaving the life he’s been building in Los Angeles—and he really doesn’t like ultimatums. At an impasse, goodbye seems the only direction to go. Ending it is the right thing to do…or the biggest mistake they ever made.

Warning: Like-whoa sexy Irishmen speaking French in the ear of a very willing Seattleite. Sexin with all the big words.

Always comes out from Samhain on April 14, right before I’m off to RT! I thought a wee excerpt would be fun to toss up here as I’m on the very last bit of polishing Coming Undone before I send it to my editor.

ALWAYS by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2009, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, Samhain Publishing
Releasing April 14

Caitlin woke up to a slight headache and sore thigh and groin muscles. Stretching experimentally, she bumped into the hard wall of warm, naked man and smiled.

Eamon.

It was then she realized what had roused her from slumber after a night where he’d woken her up twice more to make love.

She nudged him gently. “Eamon, wake up.”

“We’re out of condoms, darlin’. I can run out and grab us some if you let me sleep just a wee bit longer,” he mumbled, making her laugh.

“I’m not sure my muscles are up to another romp with you just now. Your pants are ringing.”

He opened his eyes and groaned. “Shite.” Rolling out of bed, he scrambled to his pants and fished out his phone, answering it quickly.

Not wanting to intrude on his call, she eased out of the warmth of the blankets and headed to the kitchen. Once she’d turned on the coffeepot, she headed to the bathroom and turned the hot water on for a desperately needed shower.

It wasn’t but about ten minutes later before he tapped on the door and stuck his head in as she was drying off.

“You have no idea how much seeing you that way makes this even harder.” He groaned. “I have to go. The PR guy from the record label needs to reschedule one of the bands to today. I need to get back to my hotel and change and grab some supplies before heading over to Bellevue where they’re all waiting.”

She frowned, disappointed. Still, she understood the demands of a career. “Oh, okay. I understand, believe me. Work comes first. It was lovely to see you.” She grabbed her robe. “Let me give you my cell phone number. Give me a call if you have the time while you’re still in town.”

Rustling through her utility drawer in the kitchen, she found some paper and a pen and wrote the number down along with her home number and handed them to him. “You want some coffee to take with you? I’ve got a million travel mugs you can take.”

He looked damned good as he cocked his head and gave her a sexy smile. “That would be fantastic. Thank you. Aren’t you going home for the holidays then?”

She avoided his eyes as she grabbed a mug and poured the hot coffee into it. Hell no, she wasn’t going back to Boston to be harassed about her choices by her family. “Sugar and milk there if you like.” She indicated their spot on the counter. “And no. I’ll be here. My mentor and her family will have me over for Christmas. Anh is a cross between a mom and a big sister. Her kids will run me ragged all day and I’ll eat too much. Her husband is a sous chef so there’ll be plenty on their table.”

“Well, good then. I’m sure your family will miss you though.” He looked at his watch before securing the lid on the mug and sighed. “I really have to get moving. I’ll call you soon. We didn’t do much talking last night. Not that I’m complaining. Still, I want to know what you’ve been up to.”

“Call me and I’ll tell you. I’ll even make you dinner if you like.” She cocked her head and smiled. How could he resist such an invitation?

“Sounds like a very fine offer.” He kissed her quickly before rushing out and she sighed, tossing herself onto her bed, loving the way the pillows still carried his scent.

wanna win something? Since it’s the tail-end of Read an Ebook Week – I thought it would be fun to give away an ebook, or two even. So how about an easy contest? What books are you looking forward to picking up between now and June? Winners will receive their choice of my backlist available in digital format! I’ll choose a’la randomizer at noon pacific tomorrow (Saturday the 14th)

(nothing smutty, just the scene where Abbie and Roman meet for the first time…)

RELENTLESS BY LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2009, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, Penguin Group
Releasing May 5

This is where Abigail Haws lived? Roman took in the building. Not bad at all. He’d expected shabby once he’d left the Family living blocks near the Municipal Complex. While still within the first circle, he rarely got out this far. Roman realized he’d lived a sheltered life. He did get out from time to time, but it was usually on some sort of mission to view how the unranked lived, a visit to a school, something of that sort.

Listening closely, he knocked once he heard movement on the other side of the door. It was very late but he hadn’t wanted to let the day end without trying to see the woman. Once he’d read the file and spoken to Saul Kerrigan he’d been livid. He wanted to hear Abigail Haws’s side of the story.

“Who is it?” A pause as he heard the view port on the door slide open. “Oh, you. What in the seven hells are you doing here?” she snarled as her door flew open. A tiny sprite of a woman stood before him, long dark hair hanging loose to her waist, big brown eyes flashing behind a pair of spectacles. He hadn’t seen spectacles very often. Most of the time surgical treatment repaired vision problems.

“I’m…”

She had the audacity to grab his arm and yank him into the apartment, slamming the door behind them both. “I know who you are. Why are you in my house?”

He looked around, again, surprised. The place was lovely. Plants exploded from pots hanging, draping, perched and placed in the window sills. The furniture was nice, not expensive like his, but it fit the space.

He sniffed, trying to keep it to himself but a redolent, heady scent hung in the air. It came from her kitchen where a pot sat on a cook top. She cooked too? Pictures sat in frames on shelves and on tables. Abigail Haws led a full life and suddenly, he got a whole different perspective on her.

“Hello?” She snapped her fingers in front of his face, jolting him from his inner thoughts. She may have had a lovely apartment but her manners left something to be desired.

“Please don’t do that.” He stepped back. “I’m here because you left before I could meet with you today. Marcus, my assistant, assured me you’d be home and that your assistant had told you to expect me. Apparently that did not happen.”

“I was before an Administrator all afternoon. After you missed our appointment. I met with several of my clients at the lock-up, did research at the library and came home. I haven’t even eaten yet.”

“You left out speaking with a vid crew.”
She had the audacity to laugh and he had the audacity to be charmed in a startled sort of way.

“Oh that’s right. Yes. And spoke with a vid crew about yet another instance of a Family using the system to harm the unranked. I nearly forgot that part, thank you for reminding me.”

She turned, pushing that dark river of gleaming hair over her shoulder and headed to the kitchen. The scent of her soap wafting in her wake met his nose. Light, feminine, not much like her personality at all.

“Why are you using spectacles?”

“Why aren’t you using manners?” she countered, ladling the fabulously aromatic concoction into two bowls. “Would you like some stew? It’s nothing fancy but it’s good.”

He wanted to say no but he had to speak with her and he hadn’t eaten in hours. “Thank you.”

“Hmpf.” She placed the bowls on the table in the corner of her kitchen and turned again, returning with a pitcher of juice and some bread. “Sit.”

He did, surprised by how quick he’d simply obeyed her order.

Countdown begins – in less than twenty four hours, Sweet Charity releases from Samhain!

This book takes up a year later after To Do List ends and it’s Rafe’s brother Gabriel’s story. It’s also a friends to lovers theme, one I totally love to write!

Blurb: Charity Harris has finally got a taste of handsome bad boy and lifelong friend, Gabriel Bettencourt after eight years of pretending a horrible one night stand never happened. Trouble is, he’s persisting with his story about not wanting a relationship and not being good enough for her.

Gabriel has ached to make Charity his for many years now and having her in his bed, willing and not flinching away from his darker urges is more than he’d ever imagined it could be. But Charity needs candlelight, not candle wax and he didn’t have the kind of soul she needed in a husband. But he’d be a fool to turn down the offer of a short term fling so he could have his fill until it was time to move on.

Charity can’t be managed and Gabriel finds less and less resistance to her insistence that good girls can still be naughty and bad boys like him can still be gentle and loving when the time was right.

When he runs away to think things over on New Year’s Eve, she follows. Gabriel is about to find out that even sweet girls have their limits.

Excerpt after the jump! Read the rest of this entry ?

Out Tuesday, August 26 in trade paper!

An excerpt behind the jump!

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The next book set in the Cascadia Wolves universe, FATED, is now available from Samhain Publishing!

Just because Fate brings you your perfect mate doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.

Cascadia Wolves series

Could there be any worse fate than a road trip from Seattle to L.A.—with one’s mother—to attend a wedding? Why yes, when one isn’t married yet, like Megan Warden. Toss in a grandmother and a carload of already married sisters and it’s a recipe for sneaking sips of “special” coffee while someone else drives.

Shane Rosario has better things to do than attend a wedding where his father’s relatives will be at him nonstop about getting married and having children. If it weren’t for seeing his anchor bond, Layla, he’d have taken a pass on the entire weekend. It would be easy, since he’s become adept at hiding who and what he is.

When the two weren’t even looking, Fate steps in and before they know it, their bond is sealed. Bonded pair, married in the eyes of their people. Two people tied together in every way. Trouble is, Shane’s not sure he wants all that comes with Megan. And Megan’s certain she’s not willing to live outside her pack, pretending to be human.

The distance between them is more than geographical. It’s a widening gulf rapidly filling with resentment…an emotional divide only acceptance could bridge. Can Shane can accept himself to cross it? Only if they let love take control.

Naughty Type Excerpt after the “read more” Jump!

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92,685 / 90,000 (103.0%)

RELENTLESS – FINAL

I have just finished Relentless. Happy sigh. It’s off to beta and when I get it back and read it over, it’ll be off to Berkley. Thank you soooo much to Anya Bast, Megan Hart and my third little crit birdie – you have helped so much! I’m relieved and happy and now I’m moving on to Outshined.

So to celebrate, how about a snippet from Undercover – coming December 2 from Berkley Heat

UNDERCOVER BY LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2008, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Penguin Group

Her entire life as she knew it had been upended in such a short time! But the truth was, she�d felt dead inside in so many ways. When she�d walked away, she expected Ash to follow. And when he didn�t and she saw he meant to go on, she�d been devastated to see the marriage every time she turned around.

For a time, she sought a replacement for him. Fucking rough men who didn�t know the difference between mastery and abuse. No one had topped her and she�d never been able to let go enough to submit. It was self abuse, she knew that as she looked back. But at the time, she wallowed and became another person. It wasn�t something she liked to dwell on overmuch because it was weak and she didn�t condone what happened. It filled her with shame but in the end, she�d risen above it and had found something better than an empty life. She�d found a calling.

Work became her salvation. She didn�t become the best at everything she tried. Instead, she worked to be the best she could be at those things she excelled at. Once she focused on languages and culture and martial arts, they took over her existence. The military became her everything and over time, she�d stopped dating and even seeing herself as a sexual being except for when the need hit every year or so. She�d engaged in brief relationships for sex only and when she�d been sated, she�d moved on. She�d been a finely honed tool in the war against the Imperialists.

And now she felt it all. So much rage, fear, pain and loss that she would have crumpled to knees and wept but the hope burning deep in her stomach saved her. Hope that no matter the outcome with these men, she�d found herself again, the part of her that was more than just a soldier.

So I looked at my calendar yesterday and realized Reading Between The Lines is coming out in print at the end of this month! **CORRECTION – apparently I’ve been wrong for most of the last year and the book will be out in print AUGUST 26 and not this month, just FYI!**

For those who haven’t read it, RBTL is set partially in Ireland, partially in San Francisco and partially in a faery sithein (a fairy mound). It features a woman who’s grown up knowing she posessed something extra but was discouraged from delving into it by her parents. She’s in Ireland working for an international foundation as a linguistic and cultural expert when she’s asked to translate some Ogham scrolls.

Anyway, so that’s how it opens and how Haley comes to set Conall free from a spell he’d been under for generations. The struggle in this story is not internal. That is to say this couple is together early on and the threat is to their lives, not their relationship. Haley finds out what her gifts are and why her parents kept them from her and she ends up discovering a whole new part of herself.

There’s magic, hot sexin, action, battles, celtic mythos, etc. I hope you all enjoy it because I loved writing it.

Here’s an excerpt – meet Conall:

READING BETWEEN THE LINES BY LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2007, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, Samhain Publishing
Releasing in trade paper July 29!

Conall looked out the windows of his study, past the wall of his books. His muscles trembled, still twitching as he stared out over the wildflower-covered slope leading to the glistening lake below.

Nearly a thousand years without emotion had caught up to him and he’d only barely put Haley’s sleeping body down in his—their—bed before he’d begun to drown.

Setting a ward to alert him if she stirred or called out, he’d headed down to his study, a place where he’d always felt comforted and safe in the past. His knees buckled and he’d begun to weep in deep, gut wrenching sobs.

So much had been stolen from him. His family had moved forward. He had four siblings. The sister just younger than he was had mated and married and had children. They lived in another sithein and he’d need to take Haley to meet them sometime soon.

The sister just younger than her, Brenna, had married and had children as well. The baby of the family, Aideen hadn’t yet taken a husband but lived in the brugh. Lastly, Conall’s older brother Riordan had spent generations learning how to be a warrior and teaching it to the Fae here within the brugh. Conall was disappointed to hear his brother was off on a top secret mission of some sort and wouldn’t be back for another few weeks.

Overall, not a whole lot had changed about how the brugh looked, with the exception of another pub. His world had continued on without him as he’d lived, wrapped in the cotton of his emotionless state, lifetime after lifetime.

After the tears, the rage had come. He’d broken a few things, pulled books from the shelves on the far side of the room, overturned furniture as he’d fumed. That bitch had stolen his life! She’d scared his family and made them think him dead or lost to them.

And now, hours later, he’d reached an equilibrium of sorts as it all eased and he felt love. Love for his family, his tribe and the woman in their bed. Without the curse, he’d never have met Haley and for that reason, he could actually thank Ninane for her treachery. After he killed her perhaps.

A wee snippet from Taking Care of Business, shall we?

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS BY MEGAN HART AND LAUREN DANE
Copyright, Megan Hart and Lauren Dane, 2008
All Rights Reserved, Random House
Releasing: UK October 08; US January 09

Katherine loved the way his voice sounded. The tease layered in innuendo. If any other man had spoken to her the way Charles Dixon did during her business day, she’d have cut him off at the knees. He was that one little bit of dark chocolate she allowed herself in a sea of eating fiber and doing the right thing.

To what extent she gorged on the absolutely sinful man, no one but the two of them knew.

She’d decided to walk from her hotel to Hargrave and Aaron. Normally she would have ignored the call, preferring not to carry on phone conversations on a public sidewalk but she’d seen it was him on her caller ID and picked up. She flipped the phone shut and tucked it into her bag as she approached the glass revolving doors to the building housing the Philadelphia offices of her firm.

The artificially cool air soothed over her skin as she pulled Katherine tight, pushing Kate far away. Here in midst of three thousand dollar office chairs and floor-to-ceiling glass and chrome, there was no room for mistakes.

The shiny reflective walls of the elevator showed a confident, cool woman. Feminine, but not too. Her heels weren’t matronly, nor were they sexy. Understated and expensive, chosen with the same deliberate care she put into everything else to do with her career. The suit, a summer weight, was smoky gray. The wine-colored blouse added just enough color. Not flashy, but it complimented her skin tone and hair. Hair carefully tucked into a sleek chignon at the base of her skull completed the look she wanted to achieve.

Choices. It all came down to choices, and Katherine Edwards made the right ones. The right choices were what it took to get ahead in the savvy and male-dominated world of corporate law. It didn’t mean she was a ball-busting bitch, but she’d made her share of attorneys on the other side of the aisle cry, she was sure. A smile touched her lips at that.