Photo via Mixxula (Flickr CC)Guess what's only two months away? The release of my e-serial NOT UNTIL YOU! I can't believe it's almost here already. I'm really excited about this story and this format. It's my first time writing something in serial format, my first time writing a college-aged/New Adult heroine, and the first time I'm using first person POV for the heroine.
So I thought today I'd give you an inside look into the story. This is an exceprt from NOT UNTIL YOU Part I: NOT UNTIL YOU DARE. And if you'd like to pre-order the first part (Nook or Kindle
), I'd not mind at all. ;)
NOT UNTIL YOU DARE Excerpt
Copyright 2013 Roni Loren - All Rights Reserved Berkley Publishing Group
Foster watched Cela’s throat work as she sipped her margarita. The club was in full swing, but Pike had used his connections to get them a table on the balcony so that they could all have a drink and talk without the music drowning them out.
This kind of club wasn’t usually Foster’s speed. Too loud. Too crowded. If he was going to go out, he usually drove to The Ranch where true privacy could be had if needed. But when Pike had suggested dancing, Foster couldn’t resist the thought of having Cela’s body pressed against his, the scent of her swirling around him.
But unless Cela relaxed, they were going to be cemented to these chairs all night. Her salt-rimmed drink sloshed precariously in her unsteady hand as she sent the tables nearby a darting glance and sipped. If he said “boo”, she’d probably leap off her seat.
Way to go, genius, he chided himself. It was his and Pike’s job to make sure Cela had fun tonight, and they were reaching epic fail status quickly.
Pike was at least trying to put her at ease. “So how long do you have before you move back home?”
“I’m going to help out in the clinic at the vet school for a few more weeks. I’ve been interning there this year, and I wanted to make sure they had a replacement for me before I left. So before the end of June.”
“Wow, that soon, huh?” Pike asked.
She looked at her drink and seemed to sink into her thoughts. “Yeah.”
Damn, they needed to turn this night around quickly. Cela seemed to be getting more morose instead of relaxed. Enough sitting around. He didn’t have Pike’s talent for settling women with humor and the occasional off color comment. If he said half the stuff Pike did, his face would be permanently marked from angry slaps. But he did have one potent tool in his arsenal—one that only worked on a special type of woman. And all his God-given instincts were telling him Cela was exactly that kind of girl, his kind of girl. Even if she didn’t know it yet. Time to do what he’d been wanting to do since he’d first met his shy neighbor.
He reached out and plucked the glass from her hands. “Stand up, Cela.”
She turned toward him and blinked as if to clear her vision of some afterimage. “What?”
He stood. “Up. Now.”
She glanced at Pike with a what’s-going-on look but rose to her feet anyhow.
“Thank you.” He stepped around the small cocktail table to stand in front of her, using his height advantage to the fullest. “Look at me.”
Her head tilted upward without hesitation—like he’d tugged a string attached to her chin.
Good girl, his mind whispered. But he shoved the instinctual response to the back of his brain. “We brought you here to have a good time tonight.”
Her lips rolled inward, nervously smoothing her lip gloss, and she took a breath. “I know. I want that, too.”
“Good.” He glanced at Pike, who was watching the exchange with deceptively casual interest. Pike gave a barely perceptible nod, somehow always in tune with Foster’s thoughts, and climbed out his chair. He moved behind Cela with easy confidence and slid his hands along her waist.
She jolted a bit at the touch, a flush creeping over the skin exposed by her V-cut neckline, but she held Foster’s eye contact.
“You’re shutting down on us.” Foster reached out and cupped her face, running a finger along her cheekbone. “I need you to let go of the nerves. You have no reason to be anxious around us.”
She scoffed, then bit her lip when she realized the sound had escaped.
Pike smiled over her shoulder and moved in closer, pulling her gently against his chest, swaying a bit to the music. Foster knew this would be the make or break moment. She’d either jump in with both feet or shrink back into her shell like a hermit crab. But he was done trying to resist his urges with her.
So far, she was responding just as he’d hoped, the submissive undercurrent almost a taste on his tongue. The desire to take control, to take her over, surged inside him like lifeblood. His dominance could calm her. “You’re safe with us. Neither of us would ever make you do something you don’t want to do. Understand?”
Her gaze shifted, and he could see her body going rigid. Her fight or flight was kicking in—which only served to activate his chase and conquer gene. But right as he thought she may wiggle out of Pike’s arms and run, she blurted out, “But I don’t know how to do this!”
The honest response made him want to smile, to kiss her, to soothe that insecurity. “Do what?” he asked calmly, letting his hand drift to her throat, feeling her pulse quicken against his palm. “Tell me what you fear.”
She closed her eyes as if gathering her strength around her—finding that steel core he sensed resided under all that cottony soft innocence. “I’m…not used to this. Being out with guys. I don’t know how to act, what to do.”
“Ah, sweetheart,” Pike said, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. “You’re doing just fine.”
Foster breathed slowly, willing his own heartbeat to slow, his protective instinct flooding him. Oh, how he’d like to show her exactly what he wanted her to do when she was with him, how to act, how to submit. But she was so young, so untouched. He’d fear crushing her under the weight of all he desired.
Despite his body screaming for a different outcome and knowing that he and Pike could seduce her into their bed tonight, he forced the right words to come out of his mouth. “Listen to me, Cela. Tonight, we’re just going to dance. All you need to do is relax and have a good time. We don’t have any expectations beyond that.”
*
What if I want you to? The question sat full on my lips, my body already in overdrive from Pike’s warm chest pressed against my back and Foster’s commanding gaze holding me captive. But I couldn’t deny the unwinding ball of tension in my stomach at Foster’s statement. They weren’t expecting anything from me. All I needed to do was get the stick out of my backside and have fun. Give myself over to the night.
Give myself over to them.
Hope you enjoyed it! You can pre-order the first part for only $1.99 on Kindle or Nook.
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by Rainbow Rowell before I left, and she's my go-to girl for YA and NA recommendations. Our tastes almost always line up, so I figured it was a safe bet to pick that one up first. And boy am I glad I did. I almost forgot I was so tired and stuck in an airport.