Laid Bare With Flair Contest – Day 30!
Aug
1
2009

Today we’ve got the lovely Shelli Stevens with her fabulous upcoming book, Take Me and a Jane Austen Sachet to go along with it!

Blurb:

After years as a slave to the pleasures of the powerful, Talia knows how to make a man mad with lust. But her pleasure counts for nothing—until a handsome, ruthless stranger appears. Ryder dares to look at her… to touch her… to awake in her a desire she’s never imagined. When he kidnaps her to learn her secrets, Talia vows not to let her passion take control. But soon she discovers that her captor’s intense gaze and searching hands can perform their own kind of interrogation, a sweet torture she finds impossible to resist…

Reviews:

“Stevens is a provocative new voice in erotic romance. Take Me will leave you breathless.” – USA Best Selling author Jaid Black

“Shelli Stevens’ vision of future worlds is powerful and sexy. Hang on! This is a scorcher.” Author, Bonnie Edwards

“A sizzling and emotional tale of a woman’s journey from captivity to strength, freedom and love. Couldn’t put it down!” Author, Susan Lyons

“Enter the lush erotic world of ‘Take Me’ by Shelli Stevens-you’ll be instantly hooked.” Author, Kate Pearce

“I always enjoy a little sci-fi intrigue mixed in with some very hot romance, and Take Me is a wonderful combination… a little something to spice up your life, and put a smile on your face.” Coffee Time Romance

“…the sex scenes between the lead characters are plentiful and surprisingly well done.” Romantic Times

Excerpt:

“Don’t call me Talia,” she muttered, attempting to pull away but his grip simply tightened.

“In the corridor you told me that was your name.”

Her laugh rose to semi hysterical. “In the corridor I was out of my mind.”

“Perhaps you were in the state of mind you have always deserved to be in.”

What did he mean? And yes. The accent was gone, and his words were more formal now than that bizarre slang he’d been speaking to the

Council with.

They arrived outside her chamber and she turned to him, her brows drawn together in a frown. When she hesitated to open the door, he grabbed her hand and placed it on the palm recognition security box. A few men passed by them in the corridor casting curious glances their way.

The door slid open and he pushed her inside.

She stumbled to the middle of the chamber, swinging around to face him. Her breasts rose and fell beneath the fabric. “You need to explain.”

A predatory smile crossed his face and he reached for the tie around his neck. “I don’t need to explain anything, princess.”

His voice was cold, not even a trace of the accent. Who was he? A shiver ran down her spine and she took a few steps backwards.

He pulled off his suit jacket and dropped it to the floor. “Take off your dress.”

Her pulse slowed and then accelerated right back up into double time. The heat that spread throughout her brought a flush to her body.

She ran her tongue across her lips. “No. I will not.”

“Agreeable indeed.” He raised an eyebrow. “All right. If you will not remove it, then I will do so for you.”

He lunged and her scream reverberated through the chamber. Her dress ripped as he caught the hem and jerked.

“No!” She twisted away, causing the dress to split halfway up her hip.

He jerked hard on the fabric he held in his fist, catching her off balance and sending her sprawling to the floor.

“Barbarian!” she screamed trying to scurry away.

He fell to his knees and straddled her, grabbing her wrists in one hand and forcing them above her head. With his other hand free, he grabbed

the bodice of her dress and ripped hard. Her breasts spilled free and she closed her eyes with a groan.
The room went quiet, with only the sounds of their ragged breathing to break the silence.

“By gods, Talia,” he rasped. “You’re more beautiful than I imagined.”

She shook her head and tugged at her wrists. She tried to hold onto the anger inside her, but there was a more dominant emotion fighting to take hold. Hot fire spread through her body, locking the breath in her throat and hardening her nipples.

“Oh gods. This makes no sense,” she confessed huskily. “I should not want this.”

His eyes darkened. “But you do.” The calloused pad of his thumb smoothed over one nipple and she gasped, heat moving between her legs. “You do, princess.”

He lowered his head and nuzzled her throat, kissed the pulse that beat there before sliding up toward her ear. His palm, wide and rough, cupped her breast. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and bit gently.

Talia’s hips arched off the floor, a guttural cry escaping past her lips. It was back, this strange heat and almost drunken state of arousal she got when he got near her.

He rolled her nipple between his finger and thumb. Another tremble rocked through her body and hot cream gathered in her pussy.

“I can smell your desire for me.” His fingers moved between her legs and rubbed lightly between the folds—the sensation so intense the muscles of her cunt clenched. “Unfortunately, fucking you will have to wait.”

“I…I don’t understand.” She squirmed, desperate with the need for him to press his fingers inside her. “Alan…please.”

His lips moved against her ear, his words just a whisper. “My name’s not Alan.”

The odd response brought her up from the thick depths of desire. “W-what?”

His hand moved away from her pussy and slid over to wrap around her right thigh. His expression turned somber, hard. “I’m sorry, princess.”

She saw the flash of the needle, just before it swung down and jabbed painfully into her thigh.

“No!” She struggled again, panic slicing through the fog of desire, but it was too late. Her flesh burned from whatever he was injecting into her.

Oh Gods! What had he just done? She struggled harder, managing to free one wrist because of the terror—induced adrenaline.

“Hold still.” He recaptured her wrist and held her down, kissing the tears that rolled down her cheek. “Just relax.”

She shook her head, but the movement made her dizzy. The lights above her head left tracers. Opening her mouth to speak, she found her tongue thick and the words stuck in her throat. Why? Why had he done it?

“That’s it, princess. Close your eyes,” he whispered and smoothed his thumb over her lips.

Her eyelids grew heavy, too heavy, and finally she closed them, almost certain she would never wake up.

Today’s Question: One of my favorite quotes about love is from Anais Nin: Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

I’ll choose a winner from the commenters tomorrow at noon pacific! Remember you have three days to claim your prize or I will re-draw for a new winner!

63 comments to “Laid Bare With Flair Contest – Day 30!”

  1. Booklover1335
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:05 pm · Link

    oh I love Pablo Neruda and Anais Nin, but I think I will add a little Jane Austen into the mix.

    “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart”.

    Love that quote! This is such a great question to ask, I am so enjoying reading everyone else’s qoutes 🙂



  2. Christine
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:19 pm · Link

    Fish and visitors stink after three days.



  3. Armenia
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:28 pm · Link

    “All you need is love. Love is all you need.”–John Lennon

    Immature love says “I love you because I need you.” Mature love says “I need you because I love you.” — Erich Fromm



  4. Llehn
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:31 pm · Link

    I love this quote from Shakespeare : Our doubts are traitors. They make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing the attempt.



  5. Mari
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:55 pm · Link

    I love Mae West. Favorite quote:

    A hard man is good to find.
    An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.
    Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.



  6. Bella
    August 1st, 2009 at 8:27 pm · Link

    Congrats on your releases Lauren and Shelli! Great excerpt — I am dying of curiosity!

    Wow — what an erudite bunch of commenters here!

    Some of my favorites:

    Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit
    – Peter Ustinov

    I have great hopes that we shall love each other all our lives as much as if we had never married at all.
    -Lord George Gordon Byron

    ~bella



  7. Annmarie Taylor
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:03 pm · Link

    🙂 This looks so good, on my to be bought list.



  8. Allison
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:05 pm · Link

    Hi Shelli and Lauren, I like this one:

    “You don’t marry someone you can live with – you marry the person who you cannot live without.”
    -unknown



  9. Mitzi Hinkey
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:26 pm · Link

    Don’t count me twice, but these quotes are to good not to comment on. They are all so great!!!…I absolutely love that quote by Mae West from Mari….West was such a free spirit when it was such a No No.



  10. bookfanatic
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:59 pm · Link

    Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars. – Les Brown



  11. Beverly G.
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:33 pm · Link

    congrats on the release

    i have two fav quotes that i use often 3 if u count the one used for my aunts wedidng invitations that i designed
    the quote i used for the invites

    ” The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is any reaction both are transformed”

    Carl Jung

    my personal fav
    “when you feel alone, Just look at the spaces between your fingers, Just remember that in these spaces you can see my fingers locked with yours”

    one i fully believe in

    “There is Always some madness in love but there is also always some reason in madness.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche



  12. RachieG
    August 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 am · Link

    “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” Ha, can’t remember right now but it was a quote from a song that my class used when we graduated. 🙂



  13. Lyoness2009
    August 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 am · Link

    Happiness is what you make it. 🙂