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. Calila
    August 1st, 2009 at 3:11 am · Link

    My favorite love quotes has to be this one by Pablo Neruda…

    I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.

    Honorable mentions are…..

    I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz
    or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
    I love you as one loves certain dark things,
    secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
    –Pablo Neruda

    Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great. –Comte DeBussy-Rabutin



  2. Cheryl McInnis
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:53 am · Link

    This one is my favorite, and I try to follow it’s advice 😉

    “Live your life in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip”

    ~ Will Rogers ~



  3. RKCharron
    August 1st, 2009 at 5:07 am · Link

    Hi 🙂
    Thanks for sharing.
    I enjoyed the excerpt!
    Shelli is a talented writer.
    My favorite love quote is:
    “All you need is Love” – The Beatles.
    (ha, you, the reader, are immediately singing it in your head!)
    🙂
    All the best,
    twitter.com/RKCharron
    xoxo



  4. Amy M
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:02 am · Link

    “Love is patient, love is kind…it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preseves. Love never fails.” This is from 1 Cointhians 13:4. I used this verse at my wedding. 😀

    Have a great day!

    Thanks~
    Amy M



  5. Amy M
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:02 am · Link

    I guess I cannot spell this morning. It would be from Corinthians! 😳



  6. Edie
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:07 am · Link

    “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!”

    “Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Know what I mean?”

    “Well, we’ll not risk another frontal assault. That rabbit’s dynamite.”

    “He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!”

    I am not very inter-lect-ual.. but I love those quotes! 😀



  7. cristina
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:41 am · Link

    Charlie Kaufman: There was this time in high school. I was watching you out the library window. You were talking to Sarah Marsh.
    Donald Kaufman: Oh, God. I was so in love with her.
    Charlie Kaufman: I know. And you were flirting with her. And she was being really sweet to you.
    Donald Kaufman: I remember that.
    Charlie Kaufman: Then, when you walked away, she started making fun of you with Kim Canetti. And it was like they were laughing at *me*. You didn’t know at all. You seemed so happy.
    Donald Kaufman: I knew. I heard them.
    Charlie Kaufman: How come you looked so happy?
    Donald Kaufman: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn’t have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.
    Charlie Kaufman: But she thought you were pathetic.
    Donald Kaufman: That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s what I decided a long time ago.
    Donald Kaufman: Whats up?
    Charlie Kaufman: Thank you.
    Donald Kaufman: For what?

    best movie scene ever from adaptation. i think i used that mantra in my head for a long time…”you are what you love , not what loves you…” genius…



  8. Erica B.
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:46 am · Link

    My ABSOLUTE favortie quote is:

    “Maybe they know what I know, that the true way to a man’s heart is six inches of metal between his ribs. Sometimes four inches will do the job, but to be really sure, I like to have six.”
    — Laurell K. Hamilton (Narcissus in Chains)



  9. Sarah
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:50 am · Link

    “I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.”
    WC Fields.
    “Not only is life a bitch, it has puppies.”
    Adrienne Gusoff.



  10. Taylor Z
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:51 am · Link

    O i like the beatles one about 2!! But i like this one by Amy Bloom.

    “Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.”



  11. Linda Henderson
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:51 am · Link

    I kind of like the phrase “Use it or loose it”. It works for so many things.

    Linda Henderson



  12. Nancy
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:50 am · Link

    My favorite is ‘To thine ownself be true’. 😀
    It’s one of the most difficult things to be today but the most rewarding and the only way we can really find true happiness and peace.



  13. Fedora
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:57 am · Link

    “She who laughs lasts,” because so many times, you’ve just got to have a sense of humor about things 🙂 I’ve heard it attributed to Lucille Ball.



  14. Lisa J
    August 1st, 2009 at 8:02 am · Link

    “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras

    or

    “No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich.” – Louis Sabin



  15. TAMARA HOLBERT
    August 1st, 2009 at 8:09 am · Link

    My fave quote is “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” (Acheron from Sherrilynn Kenyon’s Dark- Hunters). 😎



  16. alba
    August 1st, 2009 at 8:11 am · Link

    Great except. most fun favorite quote is
    DOWN WITH PANTS, UP WITH KILTS,
    2ND IS Where you find friends, there you find riches.
    HAVE A GREAT DAY.



  17. Marjana Kaly
    August 1st, 2009 at 8:47 am · Link

    I actually don’t have favortie quote 😕



  18. elaing8
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:12 am · Link

    This is what my parents said to me when I was in trouble for doing something with my BF
    “If she jumps off a cliff,are you gonna follow her”

    love the excerpt,I’m looking forward to reading the book.



  19. Teresa
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am · Link

    Samuel Goldwyn’s “Coffee isn’t my cup of tea” would be the one.



  20. Jody F.
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:18 am · Link

    Here are a few of my favorites….

    From True Blood tv show–“I’m a vampire, I’m supposed to be tormented.”

    From 30 Rock–“If reality TV has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t keep people with no shame down.”

    “The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.”–David Brinkley



  21. Morning Glow
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:19 am · Link

    My favorite quote is short and simple.. “If you’re bored, then you’re boring.” I try to live by that, keep myself busy, trying new things, taking up new hobbies, amusing both myself and other people. I don’t want to be bored, and I certainly don’t want to be boring!

    Really looking forward to checking this book out!



  22. Gloria T.
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:23 am · Link

    On of my favorite quotes is
    A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.
    Thomas Carlyle
    another one is
    First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity.
    George Bernard Shaw



  23. Blanche
    August 1st, 2009 at 9:48 am · Link

    My favorite quotes………..

    “Life’s too short……..party naked!”

    “Sometimes you have to stand alone to prove that you can stand.”

    “Love is when you look into someones eyes and go all the way into their soul, and you both know … instantly.”



  24. Cathy M
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am · Link

    “I never knew softness,” he breathed. “Not until the moment you touched me in your store. My life is violent and dangerous. It’s dark and twisted and no place for someone like you. I have more people wanting me dead then I can count. They will stop at nothing, and you…..” He ground his teeth before he spoke again. “You’ll never want again for anything in your life. I swear it on what little bit of human soul I have left.”

    Vane – Night Play – Sherrelyn Kenyon



  25. Amelia
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am · Link

    My favorite quote “Fake it until you make it”.



  26. Lillie A
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:30 am · Link

    One of my favorite quotes is from Love Me Still by Maya Banks.
    “Sometimes forgiveness is the hardest thing to give, but the most cherished thing to receive.”

    Another favorite is from Dark Possession by Feehan. “Don’t cater to stupidity”



  27. Lori
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:46 am · Link

    My favorite quote is from Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues:

    It’s never too late for a happy childhood.

    You know what, it’s true too!



  28. Lea
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:54 am · Link

    Oh, I am so excited to read “Take Me”, it sounds great!!

    My favorite quote is: “The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”

    By Andy Rooney…

    Have a great day Lauren.
    Best
    L



  29. Jane
    August 1st, 2009 at 10:57 am · Link

    Sun-Tzu- “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”



  30. chey
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:12 am · Link

    My favourite quote:
    Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like hard work.



  31. Valerie
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:13 am · Link

    Ok, this is a simple but true quote.

    Love makes the world go round!!!



  32. limecello
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:20 am · Link

    Oh I immediately thought of “Love is not love/
    Which alters when it alteration finds.” From Shakespeare’s Love Sonnet 116 (and I normally don’t really care for the bad.) Otherwise, the first and last sentences of a tale of two cities 🙂



  33. MichelleKCanada
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:24 am · Link

    I actually want to quote my mom. I am not sure if this is hers but it is advice she gave me when I was young and that I always followed.

    “You can tell a man is good man by the way he treats his mom.”

    I always used that advice when I started dating as a teen. When a boy was nasty towards his mom, you can bet he ended up being a jerk. The man I married, adores his mom and they have a wonderful relationship. He also happens to be an awesome husband. (15 yrs and going strong!)



  34. Mitzi Hinkey
    August 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am · Link

    My favorite quote from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: “When the day shall come, that we do part,” he said softly, and turned to look at me, “if my last words are not ‘I love you’— ye’ll ken it was because I didna have time.”

    Makes me cry every time I read it..

    mitzihinkey at sbcglobal dot net



  35. Sarai
    August 1st, 2009 at 12:24 pm · Link

    As far as love goes, I think this one of my favorites in terms of common sense:

    “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”— Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

    As far as philosophy and love go, this is my favorite:

    “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
    — Martin Luther King Jr.



  36. Diane M.
    August 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pm · Link

    Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it by George Santayana.



  37. Susan
    August 1st, 2009 at 12:58 pm · Link

    “Can I ever know you Or you know me?” – Sara Teasdale

    Congratulations Shelli on your new release. That is a great cover and terrific excerpt! 😀



  38. Roberta Harwell
    August 1st, 2009 at 1:24 pm · Link

    Hello Shelli,

    Here lately I’ve come across several quotes I just love. Here is one: “A true friend is someone who likes you despite your achievements.” This is one for the men out there: “Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.” I hope you like the quotes. Have a great day.



  39. Kainani
    August 1st, 2009 at 1:31 pm · Link

    I can’t remember what book I read it from but it was in a romance author. I liked it so much that I started saying it to my kids before bedtime. Here it:

    “I love you like the flowers love the sun and I love you like the earth loves the rain. ”

    Now it’s gonna bug until I remember what book it came from. For some reason I’m thinking it might be from one of Lora Leigh’s books. I could be wrong. Now I gotta go look it up. LOL.



  40. Lexee
    August 1st, 2009 at 1:37 pm · Link

    My fav quote would have to b roll with the flow.



  41. bridget3420
    August 1st, 2009 at 1:45 pm · Link

    My favorite quote is “who are you to judge the life I live? I know I’m not perfect and I don’t live to be, but before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean”



  42. Shell the HOckeyvampiress
    August 1st, 2009 at 2:09 pm · Link

    ÃŒ walk on toilet paper cause I am the shit…. LOL I can`t remember who it was from but I love it….. I think it would be great for Shelli to let Shelley to win this book…..



  43. Diane Sadler
    August 1st, 2009 at 3:52 pm · Link

    “…when just the art of being kind is all this old world needs”
    my father in law used to quote this to us but I don’t know where he got it from



  44. Jeanette Juan
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:04 pm · Link

    Life is too short, so have fun!



  45. Kris
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pm · Link

    Everyone has a photographic memory.
    Some, like me, just don’t have any film.

    -I do not know who said it



  46. lilly M.
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:28 pm · Link

    Nothing of me is original. I am a combined effort of everybody I’ve ever known. – Chuck Palahniuk



  47. Jessie
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:38 pm · Link

    One of my favorite quotes is from a Sherrilyn Kenyon book
    “Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. “



  48. Mary Preston
    August 1st, 2009 at 5:20 pm · Link

    “Pleasure is the object, duty and the goal of all rational creatures.” Voltaire



  49. Terri W.
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:25 pm · Link

    One of my favs is from Gone with the Wind “I don’t give a damn”! – Rhett Butler

    Another is from Casablanca “Here’s looking at you kid!” – Rick Blaine



  50. Larena Wirum
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:38 pm · Link

    One I love is:

    “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem.” – Ronald Reagan