The lovely Tina Donahue has another scorching release this week! Check out the intriguing excerpt below from
Stolen Desire and don't forget to enter Tina's contest!
STOLEN DESIRE
BOOK FOUR –
OUTLAWED REALM SERIES
EROTIC
PARANORMAL
Blurb:
Her freedom
depends on one man. A criminal to his realm…
Outlawed Realm,
Book 4
One minute, Paige
Ross is outside a Seattle bar, grieving a failed engagement. The
next, she jerks awake in a weird, candlelit room with velvet walls, black silk
sheets, and a man who motions for silence.
Paige has little
choice but to trust the powerful stranger who promises a way out of what looks
like Satan’s brothel. And pray his promise to keep her safe is as real as the
heat burning in his eyes.
Banished from E2’s
ruling elite for supposed crimes against the realm, Zekin risks everything to
rescue those brought to E5 for the guards’ carnal pleasure. Paige will be
leaving this inhospitable realm of fire and ice—if he can somehow forget the
way her trembling body melts in his arms.
Safe—temporarily—in
an underwater world populated by strange creatures, Paige’s sexual awakening
explodes into an unquenchable need that consumes them both. But the guards will
be looking for her. And Zekin’s plan to send her home is a dangerous journey
she cannot—will not—take without him.
Warning: Scorching-hot
sex and loads of aching tenderness between a drool-worthy hunk who’s determined
to do the right thing and a woman who’s not about to give him up.
Excerpt:
Thick gray clouds rolled above them, heavy with more snow. A
sliver of bluish-white light poured through a gap in the cloud cover, as though
the moon were trying to bleed through. Its rays swept across the land, which
shimmered in the frail glow, sparkling like thousands of diamonds. The effect
lasted only a moment, and then the light receded, with shadows once again
taking over the hostile terrain.
As though that worried him, Zekin increased his already fast
pace, pausing only once to shove her clothing into a snowdrift, burying it.
Why?
Paige wasn’t able to ask. She struggled to keep up, gulping
air. It should have been icy, hurting her throat, but wasn’t. The transparent
mask no doubt heated it. How was that possible? Desperate for answers, she
cried out, “Where are we going?”
Zekin looked over. “A colony where you’ll be safe.”
Paige dug her fingers into his hand. “Where are we? What is
this place?”
“E5.”
What in the hell was that? A government installation where
scientists conducted classified studies and had pleasure slaves on the side?
That made absolutely no—
Wait a sec. Suddenly, Paige recalled Zekin mentioning E1
when he’d first come into her room.
“I’ll do all
I can to bring you back to E1,” he’d promised her then.
Instinctively, she held back. Just as quickly, Zekin yanked
her forward.
“Don’t fight me,” he warned, “or you’ll end up like the others
you saw outside the guards’ outpost.”
Paige shivered so badly, her voice shook. “Did those
bastards throw the bodies out there after they murdered those people?”
“Only some. The others they pushed out there to die.”
“Why?”
“They weren’t useful any longer.” Again, he glanced over.
“When one of the guards found you and brought you here, they got rid of the
other woman. That’s what they do when they tire of females from your realm, or
the pleasure slaves they haven’t already killed.”
Paige was about to pepper him with more questions. Instead,
her mind snagged on one word—realm.
“You mean country?” Maybe she’d been wrong about his
nationality. It wasn’t Greek or Middle-Eastern but Russian. Could be this was Siberia. In a weird
sort of way, that made sense. “Is that what you meant—my country? The USA? America?”
He regarded the landscape past her. “We have to hurry before
the other guards return and see us.”
Paige couldn’t imagine how that was possible. The material
covering them was the same tint as their surroundings, making them virtually
invisible…unless the guards had some kind of special eyewear, like night-vision
goggles, that allowed them to see what the naked eye couldn’t. “How far is the
colony?”
“Past that body of water.” He gestured toward what appeared
to be an enormous frozen lake ringed by drifts.
As Paige scanned the area beyond it, searching for some sort
of building, a flock of birds flew over the lake. At least she thought they
were birds. Their thick feathers were an ashy white, their wingspans enormous,
like nothing she’d ever seen.
They flew in an odd formation, not the usual V pattern, but
in a perfect circle. Paige couldn’t help but stare at the phenomenon. How in
the world did they do—
A thunderous crackling sound interrupted her thoughts, and
the again screeching wind.
She flinched. Zekin released her hand and moved in front,
his body pushing hers back, shielding Paige as something shattered the ice from
beneath the center of the lake. Within seconds, a creature pushed through,
hurling its milky body upward. The waves that followed it froze instantly in
the raw air, the ends of the water curled over like a fine crystal sculpture.
As massive as a blue whale, the creature surged from the lake, a horn
protruding from its snout, no doubt what pierced the ice. With blinding speed,
it penetrated the circle made by the birdlike creatures.
Shrieking wildly, they scattered, but it did no good. The
whale-like thing swung its monstrous head back and forth, gulping several of
the creatures before gravity pulled it back down to the water. A thin sheet of
ice formed instantly, hiding its exit. Harsh winds toppled the frozen waves as
easily as if they’d been a house of cards, then pushed them against the
snowdrifts, returning the scene to the relative calm of a few minutes before as
though none of the carnage had occurred.
Paige continued to hyperventilate. What kind of fucking
nightmare had she stumbled into? Was it possible she’d been drugged and was
hallucinating? If not… Aw crap, she didn’t want to think about that.
“There’s nothing to fear,” Zekin assured. “The thing has had
its fill for the moment. It won’t harm—”
Her embrace stopped him. She clung to Zekin, her face
pressed against his back, praying he wouldn’t push her away. “Don’t leave me,
please,” she begged.
Her fiancé, Johnny, had done that, calling off their wedding
after she’d worked so hard on the plans and getting him to want her. He never
apologized. He’d just told her the score, saying they could still live
together. As if she’d want that. Before he’d bugged out on her, her mother and
then eventually her father had also left. She’d had no one for too long and by
God, right now, Paige needed the warmth of Zekin’s body, the security and
comfort of his size to preserve her sanity. To give her hope that they’d both
get through this.
“Please,” she repeated.
“I won’t,” he murmured. “It’s all right.” With his hands on
her wrists, Zekin gently pulled her arms from him but didn’t step away.
If he had, Paige would have followed. Out here, she had no
shame, no pride, just an unbearable need to be close.
He turned to face her, then hesitated only a moment before
wrapping his arms around her in a sheltering caress. She couldn’t stop shaking.
As he ran his hand down her back, he whispered, “You’re safe.”
No, she wasn’t. Neither was he. Not out here in arctic-land.
Deep inside, Paige was terrified they weren’t on Earth any longer. It was crazy
to even consider that, but how else to explain all of this? How could either of
them survive? Why had he even risked his life to rescue her? Who was he? Where
had he come from?
She pressed her cheek against his shoulder. The transparent
material covering her face was exactly like skin, letting her feel his solid
frame, his heat. She snuggled, unable to stop herself, indulging in this small,
welcome intimacy as the world went crazy around them.
The wind died for a moment, then picked up again, slamming
against her body as it screamed past. Clouds continued to sink, weighted with
snow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
His hand stalled on her back. “For what?”
Being scared and being a burden, asking too many questions,
not knowing how to make this better. All her life, Paige had done whatever she
could so people wouldn’t leave her. Didn’t work. They always had.
“Getting you into this,” she finally said.
If she hadn’t had those stupid drinks at Rozie’s, if she
hadn’t gotten involved with Johnny—a damn fool who couldn’t commit to marriage
much less save her ass out here—none of this would have happened.
“You had nothing to do with this,” Zekin said. “It was my
choice to come.”
Release:
March 11
Other
books in the Outlawed Realm series:
About
Tina:
Tina Donahue is an award-winning,
bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance
for Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, and Kensington. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic
Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic
romances (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and
Deep, Dark, Delicious) were named
finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. The French review site, Blue Moon reviews,
chose her erotic romance Sensual Stranger
as their Book of the Year 2010 (erotic category). The Golden Nib Award at Miz
Love Loves Books was created specifically for Lush Velvet Nights, and two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark,
Delicious) received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition
(2011 and 2012). Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC
RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the 2012 Novel & Short
Story Writer’s Market. She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern
newspaper and worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company.
CONTEST
DETAILS:
Tina
will choose one commenter as her winner. Winner gets her choice of one of
Tina’s award-winning, bestselling ebooks from this list:
1. Adored – RWA
award-winning; EPIC 2011 Finalist; 4 Stars RT
2. Deep, Dark, Delicious
– EPIC 2011 Finalist; Holt Medallion Award of Merit
3. Lush Velvet Nights – EPIC 2011 Finalist; Golden Nib Award
4. In His Arms – SIX 5
Star Reviews; 4 Stars RT
5. Sensual Stranger –
2010 Book of the Year (erotic); 4 Stars RT
6. The Yearning – Top
Ten Bestseller
7. Take Me Away – #1
Pick, Miz Love Loves Books
8. Unending Desire –
Best Book Rating LASR
9. SiNN – Nominated for
Book of the Week LASR
10. Sinfully Wicked –
Magnificent – Romancing the Book
11. Claiming Magique – Top Pick – NOR
12. Illicit Desire –
Four Stars Romantic Times
13. Come Fill Me – Five
Stars – Guilty Pleasures
