Running Out of Time by @angiestanton_author Book Blitz and Giveaway! #RunningOutofTime #angiestanton #XpressoTours @XpressoTours⁣

Running Out of Time
Angie Stanton

(Carillon Time Travel Series, #2)
Publication date: October 10th 2022
Genres: Adult, Romance, Time-Travel

Time shapes those who travel through it.

Running Out of Time is a love story—spanning across decades—of a young man lost in time who risks everything to save a modern-day girl who is trapped in the past. The wrinkle is that he only travels forward and she back, and their sole means of communication is a buried time capsule.

Goodreads / Amazon

Excerpt

I glance at the infuriating girl out in the middle of the lake, and am incredulous to see her standing up in the boat trying to paddle with one oar. What in God’s name is she doing? I mutter a curse. She will be the death of me yet.

I lower my head and row with all my strength hoping to reach her before she topples into the lake. Then the sky opens up and rain pours down in cold, heavy sheets and the air temperature plummets. Within a minute I’m drenched to the bone.

Finally, I’ve caught up to her and glide my boat up towards hers. She’s entirely soaked, her hair flattened to her scalp, and she’s huddled up, her arms wrapped around herself, her legs bunched close, shivering. She could have died out here.

I am so angry, I yell. “Have you gone daft!”

And she has the audacity to grin.

“Clearly, you have.” I clench my jaw ready to wring her neck but first secure her boat to mine. Then I return my attention to the foolish young woman whose cheeks are chafed and red from the cold. “You think you can climb into my boat?”

“Of course. I’m not helpless,” she yells over the downpour.

I raise an arched brow. Rainwater runs down my face and into my mouth. I spew it out. “I believe you’ve just proven otherwise.”

With one hand I grip the sides of the two rowboats and extend my other. “Take my hand.”

Her expression is a combination of relief and something else. Perhaps it’s determination as this girl is no shrinking violet. She reaches out. I grasp her hand firmly. Despite the rain, wind and rocking of the boats, I notice the delicate hold of her long fingers as she stumbles across the boats in a most unladylike fashion.

I guide her to the bench seat across from me. She’s shivering and pale, and gripping her arms for warmth.

“Are you alright?”

“Never better,” she manages, her teeth chattering.

I strain against the oars, pulling stroke after stroke, my muscles aching from the long trek. The girl, whose name I still have not learned, hasn’t stopped watching me. It’s as if she’s studying a lab specimen. She appears tiny and defenseless in her pretty little dress and shoes that are likely now ruined. With my hands gripping the oars, rain runs freely down my face and into my eyes and mouth.

Suddenly, she smiles, and her face lights up despite the rain and the leaden gray of the sky.

“What is so funny?” I snap between pulls.

“I knew you’d have to talk with me eventually, but I never imagined this is how it happens.”

Angie Stanton is the award winning, best selling author of Don't Call Me Greta, If Ever, Waking in Time, Rock and a Hard Place, Snapshot, Royally Lost, Dream Chaser, Under the Spotlight, Snowed Over, and Love ‘em or Leave ‘em.

A few of her awards include:

If Ever

★ National Readers' Choice Award Winner

★ HOLT Medallion Award Winner

★ Write Touch Readers' Award Winner

Waking in Time:

★ Midwest Book Award Winner

★ National Readers' Choice Award Finalist

Angie has a Journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin. Her books have been translated in German, French, Spanish, and Bulgarian.

A life-long daydreamer, she’s put her talent to use writing contemporary fiction about life, love, and the adventures that follow. In her spare time, Angie loves to sneaks off to enjoy the best live entertainment on earth, Broadway. She is currently working on her next book and is a contributing writer to BroadwayWorld.com.

For more information on Angie and her books, please visit:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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JULIA PRIMA by Alison Morton Blog Tour! @alison_morton @cathiedunn #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub

 

Series: Roma Nova

Author: Alison Morton

Publication Date: August 23rd, 2022

Publisher: Pulcheria Press

Page Length: 335 pages

Genre: Historical fiction

“You should have trusted me. You should have given me a choice.”

AD 370, Roman frontier province of Noricum. Neither wholly married nor wholly divorced, Julia Bacausa is trapped in the power struggle between the Christian church and her pagan ruler father. 

Tribune Lucius Apulius’s career is blighted by his determination to stay faithful to the Roman gods in a Christian empire. Stripped of his command in Britannia, he’s demoted to the backwater of Noricum – and encounters Julia.

Unwittingly, he takes her for a whore. When confronted by who she is, he is overcome with remorse and fear. Despite this disaster, Julia and Lucius are drawn to one another by an irresistible attraction.

But their intensifying bond is broken when Lucius is banished to Rome. Distraught, Julia gambles everything to join him. But a vengeful presence from the past overshadows her perilous journey. Following her heart’s desire brings danger she could never have envisaged…

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/JULIAPRIMA 

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B5LX41B7/ 

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5LX41B7/ 

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B5LX41B7/ 

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B5LX41B7/ 

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JULIA PRIMA 

By Alison Morton

Excerpt 1

From Chapter 1 – Julia is simply dressed for supervising the household making the inventory, and has hurried down to the town market. There, she has a fateful encounter.

Weaving between ambulant hawkers with trays suspended from their necks, I nearly tripped over a pile of metal vessels and tools. Why they had to cover half the street with their goods, I didn’t know. One hot-food trader stirred the contents of a large cauldron suspended over a fire and steaming in the chill, partly tempered by the spring sun. Next to him, a pie and sausage man who wiped his nose on his sleeve. Ugh. More permanent stalls were set up under awnings strung between stakes in the ground. Towards the centre, shops had disgorged onto the pavement and even into the street. The bread and vegetable vendors displaying their produce on wooden tables were more circumspect. At least I didn’t have to make a detour round them like the dratted shoe seller who had set out wooden benches for his customers and marked out his place of sale with curtains hung between columns.

And did they all have to shout so loudly and wave their arms about so much? Along with the chickens squawking, mules braying and children shrieking, my head was fit to burst. At last, it quietened as I reached the crafts and household goods area. Fine pottery, leather and beadwork; one tribesman with curly blond hair and a friendly smile was selling beautifully worked fibula brooches and belt buckles. 

At last, I found the Gaul in front of a small glassware shop at the end of the row. The leather cover of the cart behind him was half drawn up to display stacks of redware, bedded in wooden frames lined with straw, but on the table in front of him were the best.

The redware was beautiful; exquisite figures chased one another on the widest part of one serving bowl, another showed a hunting scene with hare and hounds that my father would love. I stayed silent, picking up each piece, examining it slowly and putting it back. He shuffled behind his counter watching intently. Did he think I was going to steal it? 

When I stopped and looked him direct in the eye, his face was expressionless. But I decided I would take the two serving dishes, a dozen of the cups and half that number of small bowls and plates. In the end, I relieved the Gaul’s agony, gave the order and told him to deliver them to the service area of the palace. 

‘And who are you to give me orders?’ He looked me up and down. ‘I’ll deal with your steward. You run back and get him.’ He flicked his hand at me.

‘How dare you! Do you know who I am?’

‘No, but I know more than to go on a fool’s errand started by some kitchen wench.’ He wiped his hand on his checked tunic and turned towards a newcomer – the new Roman officer. A tall man, he must have been several years older than me, possibly in his late twenties. His face tight with anger above his red neck scarf and scale armour shirt. His boots were dusty as were his breeches. He walked a little wide as if chafed from being on his horse all day. He stopped, set one hand on his belt, the other on the pommel of his short sword. He glanced at the Gaul, then turned his gaze on me. Brown eyes, reflecting the pale light. 

Something twisted inside me, immobilised my breath, then settled in my core. Perhaps a meeting of something familiar, a recognition. He didn’t move, just stared at me. I returned the stare. I couldn’t find a word to say. Heat crept up my neck and into my face. Venus Suleviae, he must have thought I was half-witted.

Eventually, he moved, pointing at the Gaul.

‘Is this man cheating you?’ 

‘What business is it of yours?’ It was out before I could think. 

‘None,’ he said, frowning. He looked at me again, then turned away. 

Oh, gods, I had behaved like a true barbarian and was ashamed. And he was walking away from me. I had to stop him.

‘Wait, Roman.’

He walked on, ignoring me. 

Please, Great Mother, make him stop.

‘I said wait!’ I cried after him.

He walked on. I knew I’d been rude, but he could at least stop and let me apologise. He didn’t need to be so uncivil, even for a soldier. I hastened after him, determined to make him hear me. Nobody turns his back and walks away from me.

When I caught up with him, I seized his arm. He instantly grabbed his sword pommel. The gladius was halfway out of the scabbard by the time he saw it was me. He released it, then looked at my hand on his forearm as if it were a viper about to bite.

‘How dare you touch me!’ He looked at me as if I were the meanest drudge. ‘Remove your hand or I’ll have you whipped.’

‘You can’t,’ I retorted. ‘You have no right.’ 

‘We’ll see about that.’ He went to raise his hand – to summon some of his men, I supposed – then he let his hand drop. His eyes gleamed and he looked down his Roman nose. I caught my breath and tipped my chin up at him. I knew my face was flushed – I could feel the heat – but I was going to teach him a lesson. When he found out who he’d insulted he’d be broken and sent back to Rome in disgrace. I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what his fate was going to be, but as he prised my fingers off his arm they tingled. The rough skin on his hand chafed my softer one. My fingers were jammed together but I hardly noticed. Before I could protest, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. Gods, he was strong. His arm slid round the back of my waist, and he crushed me against his body. Solid, unyielding. He smelt of horse, a day’s sweat and pine resin. His eyes narrowed then gleamed again. His breath shortened. 

I should have struggled, but I didn’t want to. His other hand gripped my buttock. I stared into his eyes. I was lost.

Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her nine-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue. 

She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.  

Alison now lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her latest two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit. Oh, and she’s writing the next Roma Nova story.

 

Alison Morton’s World of Thrillers site: https://alison-morton.com

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton 

Alison’s writing blog: https://alisonmortonauthor.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonmortonauthor/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alison-morton

Alison’s Amazon page: https://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon

Newsletter sign-up: https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/

Tour Schedule:  https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2022/07/blog-tour-julia-prima-by-alison-morton.html 

Murder up to Bat (A Front Page Mystery) by Elizabeth McKenna Book Tour and Giveaway!

 

About Murder up to Bat

 

Murder up to Bat (A Front Page Mystery) 

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series 

Setting - Wisconsin 

Independently Published (August 18, 2022) 

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 186 pages 

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8218055424 

Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BBPPR2SF

Mystery with a whiff of romance…After falling in love with the quiet lake life and a certain police detective, former Chicago Tribune reporter Emma Moore trades interviewing jocks for chasing champion cows at the county fair. As a small-town newspaper reporter, she covers local topics both big and small, but when her friend Luke is arrested for the murder of the head coach of his club softball team, she’ll need to hone her investigative skills to clear his name. Emma calls up best friend Grace for help, and together the women go up against cutthroat parents willing to kill for a chance to get their daughters onto a premier college sports team.

It’s the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded, and murder is up to bat. Can Emma and her friends bring the heat and win the game?

Elizabeth McKenna’s love of books reaches back to her childhood, where her tastes ranged from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to Stephen King’s horror stories. She had never read a romance novel until her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

Her novels reflect her mercurial temperament and include historical romances, contemporary romances, cozy mysteries, and dark mysteries. With some being “clean” and some being “naughty,” she has a book for your every mood.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband and Sidney, the rescue dog from Tennessee. When she isn’t writing, reading, editing, or walking the dog that never tires, she’s sleeping.

Author Links

• • Webpage - https://elizabethmckenna.com/
  • Blog - https://elizabethmckenna.com/my-blog/
  • Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMcKennaAuthor
  • Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_mckenna_author/
  • Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-McKenna/e/B005POMYBO/ref=dbs_p_ebk_rwt_abau
  • Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5337654.Elizabeth_McKenna
  • Twitter - https://twitter.com/ElizaMcKenna

Purchase Links - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

October 3 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

October 3 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 4 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

October 4 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 5 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

October 5 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

October 6 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW

October 7 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

October 7 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW

October 8 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

October 9 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT

October 9 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 11 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

October 12 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW

October 13 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

October 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

October 14 – BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT

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The Bookshop of Secrets by Mollie Rushmeyer Review! #TheBookshopofSecrets #NetGalley

 

A collection of lost books holds the clues to her family's legacy…and her future.

Hope Sparrow has mastered the art of outrunning her tragic past, learning never to stay anywhere too long and never to allow anyone control over her life again. Coming to Wanishin Falls in search of her family's history already feels too risky. But somewhere in the towering stacks of this dusty old bookshop are the books that hold Hope's last ties to her late mother—and to a rumored family treasure that could help her start over.

Only, the bookshop is in shambles, and the elderly owner is in the beginning stages of dementia and can’t remember where the books lie. To find the last links to the loved ones she's lost, Hope must stay and accept help from the townsfolk to locate the treasured volumes. Each secret she uncovers brings her closer to understanding where she came from. But the longer she stays in the quaint town, the more people find their way into the cracks in her heart. And letting them in may be the greatest risk of all…

Mollie writes Contemporary Fiction with a Heart for History, a blend of modern settings and fascinating historical elements woven throughout.

A born and bred Midwestern gal, Mollie Rushmeyer, makes her home in central Minnesota with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She is not only a bibliophile (the dustier the better, in her opinion), she’s a true Britophile at heart. Tea and coffee fuel her travels, by Google maps at least, and her passion for the written word.

https://www.molliejrushmeyer.com/

My Thoughts

This novel is in a bookshop, Dusty Jackets, in Wanishin Falls near Duluth. Hope Sparrow, not her real name has escaped her life as a woman for 10 years in a human trafficking situation. She can't trust anyone because of this and has a genuine fear of what men could do to her.

She comes to Wanishin Falls to retrieve her mother's old books. She becomes ingrained into the lives of Mags and Ulysses, owners of the bookshop. Through them, she is able to have a roof over her head and a job helping Mags with Ulysses. He has Alzheimer's and she needs the extra help that Hope can provide.

As she tries to find her mother's books, she becomes involved with Ronan, Mags, and Ulysses' grandson. Through him, she is able to get back her books. During their attempts to find out more about her family and how they were connected to the town, they become closer and after a while, she reveals what happened to her in the past.

With Ronan's help and with the help of her faith in God, she is able to become the person she should have always been. She learns to trust again and they are able to figure out what happened to her family and its secrets.

This is a story that will tug at the heartstrings, the reader can understand the traumas that can deplete the human spirit. I loved the fact that it took place in a bookshop and the care that was taken in describing Hope and Ronan's traumas make this a very readable book.

I give it 4 stars.

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.

Screwdriver is a Royal House of Saene Spinoff by @kirutaye Book Blitz and Giveaway! #Screwdriver #kirutaye #XpressoTours @XpressoTours⁣⁣⁣

 

Screwdriver
Kiru Taye

(A Royal House of Saene Spinoff)
Publication date: September 30th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

For most of her adult life, boss-lady Oumou has wanted to leave her hometown in pursuit of big-city fame. All her closest friends are doing bigger and brighter things elsewhere; one is even dating a prince. However, her plans to leave small-town Bali are put on hold when the pandemic hits. At least there are some positives. She’s enduring lockdown with her friend, Yahya, who is her exact opposite in personality. But he’s sexy, easy on the eyes, and cleans up his messes. Opposites attract, right?

Mechanic Yahya has two obsessions—fixing damaged cars and his hometown of Bali. He has no desire for fame or fortune. Nevertheless, since flamboyant Oumou set up shop right across the road from his auto garage, he’s developed a new obsession with her. Each day at work, he glimpses her glorious smile and the temptation for her spirals. But why bother? She won’t even consider him—someone she labels as dull—and they are just too different to work.

Then Yahya and Oumou are stuck together as quarantine buddies, and their attraction combusts in the confines of the apartment. Soon the man so skilled at unscrewing her wheel-nut becomes the sexy hunk satisfying her every fantasy. But what happens when reality kicks in the door and their differences threaten to tear them apart?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Okadabooks / Smashwords / Scribd

—

EXCERPT:

A hulking shadow appeared at her window, and a tapping sound made her jerk. “Oumou, are you okay?”

How did they know her name?

Silly question. Anyone who knew her would recognise the bright yellow truck. Uncle Ngarta had helped to secure a good deal with one of his car-dealer clients. They’d even resprayed the vehicle a yellow colour over the original dull white. The contrast of the black radiator grille, front and back bumpers and door handles against the yellow made the vehicle catch the eye and stand out. This was great, considering there were Mou Supermarket logo decals over the side panels and tailgate, which helped to build brand awareness for the store she owned.

However, the deep baritone from the person outside her vehicle sounded familiar.

The pattern of her beating heart changed again, and it had nothing to do with fear. Lifting her phone, she tapped the flashlight app, illuminating the face peering through the window. “Yahya?”

It was him—the close-cut hair on his head, the dark stubble on his chin, the taupe-toned skin, and the full lips she’d shamelessly dreamt about kissing once too often. His penetrating black eyes held hers, and she forgot everything else.

Relief and unexpected excitement flushed through her. Her breath caught, and she gulped, rubbing her thighs together, heat flaring over her skin. Her panties dampened along with her palms and behind her knees. Her mouth dried, and she licked her lips.

“Are you okay?” Something in his deep voice sounded as if he knew his effect on her body, which snapped her out of the spell of lust.

Ridiculous. Her cheeks heated, and she nodded. She turned off the engine, tugging the door handle to open it. He stepped away as she climbed out.

“I have a puncture and was trying to call your garage for someone to come out and help me change it.” She held up the phone in her hand.

He pulled a small pen torch out of his button-down shirt pocket and flashed it at the wheels on this side. “O m wè. Adama, pran yon gade nan sa a.” Oh, I see. Adama, take a look at this.

His colleague, who wore a t-shirt with the garage logo over a pair of jeans, came around from the other side.

“Bon sware,” he greeted before turning his attention to the damaged rubber wheel.

The men conversed briefly in rapid-fire Pidgin French. Oumou could understand it, but she wasn’t as fluent. She’d been forced to learn it as a teenager because she’d only spoken English and Hausa in Nigeria. Meanwhile, people in Bali chatted using a combination of broken French and regional dialects.

“Adama will handle it.” Yahya turned, heading towards his car. “Come with me.”

For a moment, his physique snagged her attention—the expanse of the blue long-sleeved cotton shirt across his back tucked in at the hips, the snug dark denim around his tight bubble butt, the stretch of his muscular legs with each lithe stride and the tan Timbs on his feet.

Damn. Yahya was eye candy. She wouldn’t mind doing more than looking. Her mouth watered, and she swallowed. Shame he would never consider her as a friend with benefits.

Kiru is the award winning author of His Treasure. She writes sensual and passionate multicultural romance stories set mostly in Africa. When she's not writing you can find her either immersed in a good book or catching up with friends and family. She currently lives in the South of England with her husband and three children.

Subscribe to her newsletter for book news and giveaways: http://www.kirutaye.com

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Magic & Home Series: Monster Apocalypse 2 by Author: Alexa Piper New Release and Giveaway!

Title:  Magic & Home

Series: Monster Apocalypse 2

Author: Alexa Piper

Publisher: Changeling Press, LLC

Release Date: 10/7/2022

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 156

Genre: Romance, Erotica

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Synopsis

Over the past two years, Rory has learned that other people aren’t the best of company, that the guilt of causing the Apocalypse is a heavy burden, and that monsters only see him as a meal. Until Rory met Inkiri, who sees Rory as his mate.

Now, Rory has to navigate what it means to be with someone who not only isn’t human but who also is from another world altogether… and since Rory finds himself in that otherworld all of a sudden, he has to adapt fast. Inkiri definitely has no intention of slowing down in his quest to make his human mate happy.

While Rory is beginning to wrap his head around liking the new place and the new customs, he can’t relax into a peaceful happily ever after because whatever connection Rory has to the magic that unleashed the Apocalypse, people want that, meaning they want him. Where Rory and his newfound family ran to may not have been far enough to escape their pursuers’ clutches.

Excerpt

Magic & Home (Monster Apocalypse 2)
Alexa Piper
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2022 Alexa Piper

The sun had risen, and the room in the hotel was no longer shadows of charcoal and ash but honeyed wood and fabrics of red and blue in the bedding and pillows. I was wrapped in big blue monster. Literally. Inkiri, the big blue monster in question, was all over me. Also still in me, but really, a barbed cock in my ass no longer felt as weird as maybe it should have.

“How do you even sleep with those horns?” I asked. Inkiri had been devotedly licking my neck, and with him being so much bigger than me, that meant his ibex horns had gotten pretty close to my face. They were a little bit intimidating.

Inkiri looked up, and it was now bright enough in the room that I could see him properly -- the light blue skin, the ink-dark hair and indigo eyes. His hair was still unbraided. I knew we’d only gotten here, to Aër, yesterday after the shootout and the violence that had happened at the Stone of Destiny back in Ireland, and he’d mostly taken care of me. Doing his braids had been pretty low on his list of important things. What I did remember from that strange state of being unable to interact but knowing was that I had been Inkiri’s top priority, that he’d cared for me, worried for me. He’d barely even left my side.

“Pillows,” he said and fluffed one above my head. Among all the fluffy ones on the bed I’d noticed, the one he was showing me was harder than any pillow I would find comfortable, but that made sense. More support so he wouldn’t lie on those horns. “How are you feeling, sweet thing?” he asked in his sexy, British accent.

He looked down on me with those cat eyes. Those very loving cat eyes. A warm shiver chased over my skin, and it was a bit much, to be honest. Or almost a bit much. Well, with being on Earth no longer, it was a bit much.

“Fine,” I said and looked around the room.

It was now really bright out, a sunny day, but milky screens on the inside of the windows hid the glass and dimmed the light.

I could tell the room was not quite what you’d find on Earth. Most of it was hardwood flooring except for where we were, the bed, or bedding. Thickly woven carpets were piled beneath the bedding, which was pretty soft, actually. Surprisingly soft for pretty much sleeping on the floor, futon-style.

Inkiri’s swords were on the floor next to the bedding, which was not where I would have put them, but okay. Maybe sleeping next to your swords was a thing here.

The only other thing I could see in the room was a low table with several seating cushions around it and a stoneware pot of tea or water next to some cups.

My stomach immediately reacted to the visual cue of food-related items and growled noisily.

Inkiri chuckled. “Fine but hungry?” He kissed the side of my mouth human-style. “Come, let’s clean you up and feed you, sweet thing.”

“I guess I could eat,” I said, and I definitely could. A whole… whatever they served here. I wasn’t sure when my last meal had been, but probably before I had puked all over the corpse of the big orange spider back at the monster place.

The memory of the memorable arachnid also brought back the memory of how the cola ash -- the Koa Esher -- had waylaid us and how Inkiri had said good-bye to me when Vergis had dragged me away. Remember it always, sadir, he’d said. That I loved you. From the moment I saw you. I buried my head in his chest at the memory, relieved to the bottom of my soul that I didn’t have to remember but that he was still here to remind me.

“I love you,” I told him. What can I say? Dwelling on the past always made me very emotional.

“And I you, sadir,” Inkiri said. He clicked at me and ran his warm palms down my back. “But as much as I would like to keep you in bed, I’ll not let you go hungry.”

Inkiri clicked as he pulled out of me slowly. His barb had gone down, thankfully, and also thankfully, he was still slick with his own lubricant. I looked down between us at his massive, self-lubricating and darker blue dick. The top part with its more bulbous and pointier tip still amazed me as did that fact that thing had been in me. With barbs that kept it inside. And I’d sort of liked the thing with the barbs. That was the weirdest part.

Inkiri was extremely graceful for his size, and he was on his feet quickly and just as quickly, he gathered me in his arms.

“I think you are a bit too light,” he said as he walked to the wall on the opposite side of the bed area. “I’d like to plump you up.”

Purchase

Changeling Press, LLC | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes

Alexa (she/her) has a lot of characters living in her head and wanting their stories told. Many of these people get snarky and won’t stop complaining if Alexa is too slow writing them, which means that for this author, sleep is a luxury. Consequently, Alexa is a coffee addict, but she is sure she has it under control (six cups of coffee are normal in a morning, right? Right!?)

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