Monday, December 19, 2016

Beholden


Chapter 1

Acacia


“Aspen. What kind of name is that? It’s like his butt owns a writing utensil. Or is a writing utensil.”



Aspen's name is now synonymous with vomit.
I swear to all that's holy if Dahlia says Aspen one more time I'm going to projectile blow chunks all over her. It can't be helped. The physical reaction to--him--is involuntary and violent. She's across the room trying to console me and it's not working. Nothing works. Her precious shifting and running, swimming--none of it do a damn thing to get him out of my head. Eating certainly doesn't help--my stomach rejects it all.
"Cia, you have to get out of here. Tarrow says that As.."
I jump to my feet and point in her direction. "Dahlia, I can make it the five feet over to you and my aim has become extremely precise over the last few days. I could puke into a straw from a mile away. Go ahead. Say the name. But you've been warned."
She rolls her eyes. They are going to get stuck like that sooner than later the way she’s been pulling that move on me lately. She knows nothing about what I’m going through. None of them do.
She has this beautiful mate who is loving and caring and takes care of his shit.
I have Ass-Pen.
That’s the only way I will say his name.
Like he corrals donkeys for a living.
Like himself.
Because he’s the biggest jackass of them all.
“He wants to come see you.”
Well, guess what? I want a lot of things-like a punching bag with Aspen’s face on it. Do I get it? No…
This is the hard part. The part where my bear and I are having a Mexican stand-off. Because she’s fighting herself too. It’s like having a dream about a dream—except it’s a nightmare.
She wants at him—to rake his eyeballs with her claws but also to have him near her and tell her it’s going to be okay.
That one day she and I will be able to forgive him.
Mostly me—the human part of me holds grudges as long as the Mississippi river—maybe longer.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t even sure if I wanted it to be okay.
I wondered if this feeling would ever go away. Would I be sitting next to him while we were surrounded by grandchildren and still not be able to see anything except him with that tramp at the very moment when he was supposed to be only mine?
Because right now that was all I could see.
“I’m not surprised. He likes to see a lot of girls.” I turned to the window before wiping away the ever-present wetness from my cheeks.
“Don’t do that.” Her voice carried concern. All their voices were laden with worry.
“What? Lia? Don’t tell the truth? Don’t say that he is a two-timing, three-timing, maybe even a twenty-five-timing man—slut?
In the reflection of the window I saw her pull the collar of her shirt over her mouth to stop me from seeing her smile even though my back was turned,
My sister clears her throat and shakes her head. “A man slut. That’s a new one. I almost want to write that one down and tell Tarrow.”
“You should. It’s a new one.” One side of my mouth pulls up into an almost grin. Almost is the closest it gets lately.
The silence that followed choked me.  I couldn’t help it. There I was on the verge of something great-something that I’d wanted my entire life and he ruins it.
He ruins the Precious.
Oh, Creator, I was starting to sound like Gollum. If my hair falls out and I start that hacking and gagging thing, Aspen’s ass is mine to beat.
It was time to move on. I’d known it for a while, but, to be honest, I’d run out of foul names for my beastly mate. That meant the holding out was over.
“I’ve decided some things, Dahlia.”
She got up and I could hear the squeak of clothes hangers as she filed through my outfits in the closet. Aspen had even ruined shopping for me. I went out a week ago and tried to buy a dress to console myself, but it didn’t work. “Oh yeah? Tell me.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to register for the Fall semester and get a job on campus—and if it’s not too late, try to get a dorm room.”
The last hanger stopped dead.
“Come on, Cia, you’re taking this too far. At least speak to him before you decide to run out like this.”
The vomit bubbled up in my throat again. “No, taking it too far would be moving to Chile and becoming a professional cliff diver. This is preserving my sanity—whatever is left of it. I know I’m going to catch hell from everyone else. Can’t you be the one that doesn’t give it to me? Please?”
She sighed, heavy and long. “So that’s it? You’re ending the mating?”
“There never was a mating.”
Thank the Creator my sister couldn’t sniff out a lie.




Wednesday, December 14, 2016

About Beholden


Just a quick note: If you downloaded Beholden, please download the more recent version on 12/14 in the morning. Some lovely readers were kind enough to let me know that I had uploaded the wrong version the first time. Thank you!


Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Whatcha Reading Wednesday

I am really not reading anything right now because I am finishing up Beholden as we speak. So, I thought I would do a giveaway instead. Here's what you need to do. Follow me on social media and sign up for my newsletter. There is a rafflecopter below.





Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Teaser Tuesday

Since its Teaser Tuesday I am going to give you another teaser from Beholden. Make sure you are signed up for my newsletter and you follow me on Facebook. I have some announcements coming up and you don't want to miss it.  Just a reminder this teaser is subject to change and is not edited.


There wasn’t really any point in being shy around him anymore. The thoughts I was having alone were enough to start a bonfire.

“Yeah, she probably left my bra and underwear right there on the threshold of our house. That should stir up some gossip. Get ready.”

He didn’t speak for a minute and self-awareness set in. Maybe I’d gone too far.

“That’s actually nothing. One time I changed halfway up an oak tree. My boxers were strung from a tree branch the next morning. Guess who found them?”

“Who?”

“Hawke. I think we were about fifteen. But thankfully he was still reeling from Tarrow’s Speedo incident the day before so he didn’t give me too much shit.”

I could’ve listened to him all night. But I had to hear this story. “Hey, can you give me the clothes? I’m freezing in here.”

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Throwback Thursday

Today's Throwback Post is Hearten (Bayou Bear Chronicles Book 2)


Determined to be the best Beta he can, Rev has made sure to keep his distance from Martha, the female he knows to be his mate. He’s not sure he even knows how to be a decent mate to her.
All that changes when the Alpha and the Coeur conspire to make sure that Martha and Rev both face what they’ve known to be true for so long.
One look is all it takes, but there is so much more to being a mated couple than facing the claim.
Martha is not ready to give up anything in her life, not even to make room for him.
Rev is ready, but only as long as his female bends her life to fit into his.
Pushing and pulling, each one will have to decide which is more important—the life they’ve built, or the one they could have together.

This young adult shifter story is a continuation of Burden (Bayou Bear Chronicles). Each book in the series has it's own HEA.