DEMON INSIDE excerpt--with added fireworks! Um, sort of.
It's the 4th of July, and DEMON INSIDE is released in 24 days, and I like posting excerpts. So I decided to post one today. And although demons explode in the book, I posted a demon-explosion excerpt last time...so I decided to do a very different scene today, with its own little sort-of-sparkliness.
Yeah. That metaphor doesn't work very well, does it? Essentially, it's a sexy little scene. No full-on sex, but a sexy little scene nonetheless; one of my favorite scenes in the entire book, in fact.
“No, no,” Greyson said into the phone. “Kadagia. Yes. Goraner lisket ti bressma, okay?”
Megan stepped in front of him, her back to him so he could unzip her dress. This he did, giving her bra strap a tiny tug when he was done-a habitual gesture that made her smile.
They had about forty minutes before they would meet Brian and Tera for lunch. Just enough time for him to make some calls and her to-well, to flip through a magazine or watch lame daytime television.
Maybe she should get used to it, get herself hooked on a soap. She had nothing else to do during the day, after all. When Megan was little her mother had watched The Guiding Light-she still remembered sitting next to her, watching. One of the only memories she had of feeling close to her mother.
Damn it! Why were these memories still hurtful?
“I need hin beranto etcha bayena, and sint restor. By tonight, escazer.”
She opened her suitcase and grabbed a black sweater and jeans, while Greyson kept ordering around his minions or whatever it was he was doing. The demon language flowed through the motel room like water, soothing and oddly comforting at the same time, a backdrop for her thoughts better than the talk show on low volume.
Once she’d gotten past the initial terror at the thought of feeding from her demons, it didn’t seem so unmanageable. Creepy, yes. But she didn’t eat much as a rule. She could handle this. None of the urges she’d had so far had come to fruition, after all, which meant they didn’t have to.
Today it had been forced on her. It wouldn’t be again.
Fooling herself? Very possibly. But it made her feel a little better, and right now she would grasp at just about anything that would make her feel better. It was easier, too, in the unreality of Grant Falls, so far away from her real life. Here (minor spoiler cut) didn’t seem as important. The worries plaguing her receded.
The Christmas season always had an air of time suspended anyway, especially at the Serenity Partners office, where they tried to give their patients a sense of family and celebration. There, and at every other job Megan had ever worked, the last couple of days before the holiday were spent eating rumballs and doing shots-which were basically the same thing, if Megan was doing the cooking-opening presents, running into other offices in the building with cookies and snacks…it was like a bubble existed, and in that bubble responsibilities disappeared.
Death was kind of the same way, although with far less tinsel and photocopying of private parts.
Speaking of which…
Greyson hung up, then immediately started dialing again. He glanced back at her, still standing in her bra and panties, and raised his eyebrows, but lifted the phone to his ear just the same.
She could have blamed it on her fear, and the need to be held and comforted. She could have blamed it on her sadness and the need to forget. She even could have blamed it on that strange biological urge to reproduce that takes over so many people when a death occurs.
But those were all excuses, and she knew it. And she didn’t care.
Her bare feet made no sound as she crept up to him, circling his waist with her arms. He kept talking, but his free arm stole around her, his palm resting possessively on the small of her back, as she stood on tiptoe to nibble at the smooth, smoky-scented skin of his throat. His fingers found the top of her panties and insinuated themselves beneath. She felt goose bumps rise on her back.
“What? No, tell them no. Not until they hear from me.”
Good, but not quite good enough. One by one she opened the buttons of his white shirt, then lifted his T-shirt to expose a slice of hard, flat stomach. She scratched it lightly. His breath hitched in his chest. Megan slid her hand down far enough to know his mind wasn’t entirely on his conversation anymore.
His voice didn’t falter until she’d undone his belt and tucked her hand under his waistband, closing her fingers around him. Her bra came loose; he’d unfastened it with his free hand. Sparks flared throughout her body, tiny spots of tingling heat adding to the warmth already there.
“Oh, I know, I…what?”
She sank to her knees in front of him and pulled down his zipper.
“I’ll call you back,” he said, and the phone fell to the floor.
Yeah. That metaphor doesn't work very well, does it? Essentially, it's a sexy little scene. No full-on sex, but a sexy little scene nonetheless; one of my favorite scenes in the entire book, in fact.
“No, no,” Greyson said into the phone. “Kadagia. Yes. Goraner lisket ti bressma, okay?”
Megan stepped in front of him, her back to him so he could unzip her dress. This he did, giving her bra strap a tiny tug when he was done-a habitual gesture that made her smile.
They had about forty minutes before they would meet Brian and Tera for lunch. Just enough time for him to make some calls and her to-well, to flip through a magazine or watch lame daytime television.
Maybe she should get used to it, get herself hooked on a soap. She had nothing else to do during the day, after all. When Megan was little her mother had watched The Guiding Light-she still remembered sitting next to her, watching. One of the only memories she had of feeling close to her mother.
Damn it! Why were these memories still hurtful?
“I need hin beranto etcha bayena, and sint restor. By tonight, escazer.”
She opened her suitcase and grabbed a black sweater and jeans, while Greyson kept ordering around his minions or whatever it was he was doing. The demon language flowed through the motel room like water, soothing and oddly comforting at the same time, a backdrop for her thoughts better than the talk show on low volume.
Once she’d gotten past the initial terror at the thought of feeding from her demons, it didn’t seem so unmanageable. Creepy, yes. But she didn’t eat much as a rule. She could handle this. None of the urges she’d had so far had come to fruition, after all, which meant they didn’t have to.
Today it had been forced on her. It wouldn’t be again.
Fooling herself? Very possibly. But it made her feel a little better, and right now she would grasp at just about anything that would make her feel better. It was easier, too, in the unreality of Grant Falls, so far away from her real life. Here (minor spoiler cut) didn’t seem as important. The worries plaguing her receded.
The Christmas season always had an air of time suspended anyway, especially at the Serenity Partners office, where they tried to give their patients a sense of family and celebration. There, and at every other job Megan had ever worked, the last couple of days before the holiday were spent eating rumballs and doing shots-which were basically the same thing, if Megan was doing the cooking-opening presents, running into other offices in the building with cookies and snacks…it was like a bubble existed, and in that bubble responsibilities disappeared.
Death was kind of the same way, although with far less tinsel and photocopying of private parts.
Speaking of which…
Greyson hung up, then immediately started dialing again. He glanced back at her, still standing in her bra and panties, and raised his eyebrows, but lifted the phone to his ear just the same.
She could have blamed it on her fear, and the need to be held and comforted. She could have blamed it on her sadness and the need to forget. She even could have blamed it on that strange biological urge to reproduce that takes over so many people when a death occurs.
But those were all excuses, and she knew it. And she didn’t care.
Her bare feet made no sound as she crept up to him, circling his waist with her arms. He kept talking, but his free arm stole around her, his palm resting possessively on the small of her back, as she stood on tiptoe to nibble at the smooth, smoky-scented skin of his throat. His fingers found the top of her panties and insinuated themselves beneath. She felt goose bumps rise on her back.
“What? No, tell them no. Not until they hear from me.”
Good, but not quite good enough. One by one she opened the buttons of his white shirt, then lifted his T-shirt to expose a slice of hard, flat stomach. She scratched it lightly. His breath hitched in his chest. Megan slid her hand down far enough to know his mind wasn’t entirely on his conversation anymore.
His voice didn’t falter until she’d undone his belt and tucked her hand under his waistband, closing her fingers around him. Her bra came loose; he’d unfastened it with his free hand. Sparks flared throughout her body, tiny spots of tingling heat adding to the warmth already there.
“Oh, I know, I…what?”
She sank to her knees in front of him and pulled down his zipper.
“I’ll call you back,” he said, and the phone fell to the floor.