Tantalizing Tuesday - Ready

A macabre teaser today. I'm sure there are other, lighter ones on the blog

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Her mother and aunt flanked her, keeping Lizzie moving. They were herding her, but where? She had tried to ask, twice now, but was hushed.  A plain wooden door opened at her mother’s knock and a weathered brown face peered from the crack.

“Who is it?” a brittle, raspy voice asked.

“The Viscount’s wife and daughter. May we come in?”

The door swung wide to reveal a head of white hair, frizzy and standing in all direction. A hunched back was covered in tattered cloth that looked as though it might fall apart at any moment. Hunched as the person was, Lizzie couldn’t have said if it was a man or a woman.

“She is ready?” the old one asked.

“Yes. Let us prepare her.”

Lizzie didn’t understand. No one would tell her anything.

“Lie down, love,” her aunt said, helping her onto a fainting couch. She took Lizzie’s arm and held it out from her body, over the floor, draping it slightly.

“Fear not,” her mother said, just before leaning onto her shoulder with all her weight. Her aunt captured her legs beneath her skirts and sat on them. Lizzie didn’t struggle until she saw the knife and blood.

Flasher Fiction Friday - Black and White

The horse kicked and neighed, tossing its head to throw Tennyson from its back. Tennyson held on and spurred the beast to ride faster. He didn’t look behind him. He would only see white hats. Hats like his own.

When he thought himself safe, he slid from the horse, letting it run off and not concerning himself with keeping it. It wasn’t his after all. He pulled the white hat from his head and ripped the shirt bearing a silver star from his chest, boots grinding both into the dirt.

He was handed a new black one and smiled thanks.

Find all sorts of takes on this picture by clicking through to the blog.

Thursday Taster - Slave #3

What is going on inside that head? What are his masters going to do about him? Don't forget to check out the blog for all the tasters.

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“Terrance, leave us,” Sophia said, entering the parlor. “William. I don’t know what you saw when you were a boy, but you need to learn new ways. Do you understand?”

His lip curled in a sneer. “You want me to be soft, like you. A woman.”

Sophia stood taller. She slapped him across the face. The nature of his masters had never been a secret. Their inhuman strength and speed was explained by the lack of windows and the blood he so often cleaned up in the rooms. He was positive they were vampires. She was a woman, but she was stronger than he was. The unnatural abounded here. “You think I’m soft?” she asked, her voice sharp as tacks.

“Yes,” he said, sneering again. “You coddle me and you would coddle her.”

Sophia took a deep breath and muttered. It wasn’t English, so he had no idea what she prayed. “What you did worked, but you must not think that is because she is an animal.”

“But she is-” he started to say.

Sophia spoke over him. “It is because she gave you power over her. She wanted you to control her. That control comes with a trust that you will not injure them.”

He snorted. “Of course I would injure her.”

Sophia slapped him again and this time Will fell to the floor. “I will injure you if you don’t listen,” she warned. “We treat people in all sorts of ways here, many are not civil. Always, however, we have the interest of our clients at heart.”

“Clients?” he asked. He’d never talked with his owners about their companions. “She is a slave. You own her. She isn’t a client.”

Sophia’s expression brightened a little, her shining sapphire eyes dancing. “You are beginning to think. We don’t own her, actually. She comes here after she has finished duties. Her sister covers her evenings so she can be here.”

Will tried to remember ever having anyone stand up for or cover for him. There was no one. “She’ll be whipped. They both will.”

Tantalizing Tuesday - Worlds of Wonder

Tantalizing Tuesday gives you the chance to get sucked into all sorts of new worlds. After stepping into mine, head to the blog and read all the others. 

A steady quick clicking grew louder. Danika spun, trying to find the source. It was bad enough she’d gotten lost in this place, she didn’t anyone sneaking up on her as well.

The clicking didn’t speed up, but it did seem to become two-toned, one click louder and more pronounced than the next. Danika stared at the checkered floor, but it gave no hint of what lay in any given direction.

There was a faint whispering that was familiar. She’d run into strange creatures here, too thin to be real. Not skinny, flat almost. Like if they turned to the side you wouldn’t see them at all. She had run from them and wound up here.

She inched along, terrified, until she spied the end of the arching ceiling where it met columns and door. She nearly ran for it.

Click. Click. Before she reached the door it opened and a gigantic woman dressed in red stepped through. Danika wasn’t short, well over five feet, but the woman had to be more than seven. Her cheeks and lips were painted bright red and red ringlets fell to her shoulders.

“Have we found another Alice?” she asked. “Off with her head.”

Campus Sexploits 3 - Fall Into #Romance #BlogHop

Is that a cool breeze rustling the leaves? Is it a good time to cuddle next to a bonfire of colored leaves? Have classes started again? It's the time when those wild girls start walking campus again. I'm giving away a copy of Campus Sexploits 3 which contains four stories about love, sex and school. Let me know what color leaf (or shape) is your favorite. Do you like the chocolaty brown ones? The bright burnt orange? The golden yellow?

Here's a sample of my contribution, The Winning Bid:

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Emptying the third bottle into her glass, Tim asked, “So how long have you and Bobby been a thing?”

She took a deep breath and one last bite of her cannelloni. “We first dated in high school. Sometimes, I think we’re perfect together, but after a few months, I realize that we don’t really get along. I mean, there’s chemistry.” She looked down at her plate and folded her fingers together. “A lot of chemistry. Not a lot else, though.” She looked up and Tim reached over to take her hand again.

“You were planning on bidding on him tonight.”

Laura clicked her tongue. “I don’t know how that got around. Yes, I was thinking this might be a fun way to be ‘on-again,’ but I’m not joined at the hip with him. I can change my mind,” she argued.

Tim squeezed her hand, stroking one finger after another. “I didn’t mean to imply that. Bobby had plans for you, too. Once he heard, he got his room all set for you. Well, that’s what I heard,” Tim told her. They each accepted the waiter’s offer of desert as he topped up their wine glasses again.

“Hmm,” Laura murmured. “I wonder what he had planned.” She looked over her shoulder where Jocelyn had moved around the table and was sitting in Bobby’s lap. “Maybe Jocy will make good use of it,” she said with a smile.

Laura jumped a little at the sudden moistness surrounding her fingertip. Tim had her finger between his lips and sucked it gently. Laura stomach did a little flip. She tried to convince herself that it was just the wine, on his part as well as hers. “You really aren’t upset?” Tim asked, pulling her hand closed and kissing the inside of her wrist. Laura’s mouth fell open slightly at the delicate, but very sensitive touch. Pulled this way, she couldn’t look over her shoulder and completely forgot why she had been. She bit her lip before answering.

“N-no.”

“Good,” he said, looking up at her. She could see heat in his brown eyes. He kissed the palm of her hand before letting go to sip his wine again.

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Don't miss out just because you don't win the contest! Pop over to Naughty Nights Press and pick up a copy of Campus Sexploits 3 or one of the other anthologies in the series. And if you need to jump back to the main hop, here's the link.


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Thursday Taster - Slave #2

Rolling with Will for a little while here. Then I'll go back to Harrold. Check out all the tasters on the blog.

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Will turned to his masters. It was true, they were all standing there. The other female, Lynn, joining the two men and Sophia.

“What?”

Sophia stepped up and slapped him across the face. “How dare you treat another person that way?”

“She’s not a person, she’s a whore,” he answered, confused.

Sophia inhaled and exhaled slowly. “There is much you need to learn about humanity. Return to your reading.”

He ducked his head, still much taller than Sophia. “I may?”

Her angry expression softened. “Yes, I encourage you to do so now that you have learned how. Perhaps the words will show you what life has failed to.” She stalked past him to the woman still tied in the room.

Will didn’t stay to watch what they did with the whore next. If it was like he’d been taught, they would disfigure her so no one would want her again. Instead, he picked up his book from where he had left it.

Terrance came into the parlor and Will dropped his book again, rising in a rush.

“Sit down, William. I came to apologize. Sophia has rightfully reprimanded me. I should not have put you in that position.”

Will sat down slowly, feeling very odd sitting while his master stood. “Why didn’t you deal with her?” Will asked. “Surely, you know what to do with a whore.”

Terrance sat across from Will. “She wasn’t a whore, Will. She’s another slave, like you. She’s been treated like a whore all her life.”

He shook his head. “She would be much uglier.”

Terrance’s jaw flexed and his glittering pale blue eyes seemed to light up. “We saved her from that much at least. We hope to find her an owner in the north.”

Will scoffed. The North was weak, coddling their slaves. Not for the first time, Will’s respect for his owners faltered. They coddled him, teaching him to read, giving him leisure time. However, the one time he had tried to work during the evening, he had been reprimanded and sent to his room next to the kitchen. It didn’t take him long to understand why they wanted him out of the way. The sounds had been incomprehensible to him at thirteen, but now, sixteen, he had a good idea what went on behind all those doors.

Still, by teaching him, they’d make him unfit for any other owner. They were ruining him. He could never leave the service of Blue Moon House.

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Check out all the tasters on the blog. 

Tantalizing Tuesday - Mummy?

Another Tuesday, another teaser. This one is really abrupt. It didn't come together quite the way I'd hoped. Check out all the other great teasers on the blog.

After a rough day behind a sales counter, I happily kicked off my shoes and traded my blouse for a cotton tee. Shaking my hair out of its confines, I sighed in content as I flopped into my chair, the latest murder mystery in my hands. In no time I was trying to pick out the clues that the author had left for me, breadcrumbs that would lead to the inevitable solution.

I had trouble getting comfortable in my chair and shifted many times, crossing my legs, sitting width-wise with my legs dangling over the arms. I even sat right upside down at one point, something I hadn’t tried since I was six. It didn’t work either and I settled into a cross-legged recline.

The scene was ramping up; the detective was about to jimmy open a locked door and I just knew there was something waiting for her on the other side. I held my breath and scanned for the next line.

“Mew.”

I blew out the breath I was holding and bent over to nuzzle Licorice’s nose. “Am I being a bad mummy?” I asked her. “Leaving you with only food and water for hours on end.”

“Mew.”

Flasher Fiction Friday - A study

Roberto surveyed his work. It wasn’t quite right. It was definitely what he was trying to achieve, ink swirling and dripping, but something was missing.

“For Christ’s sake, Rob, could you keep your shit in your own room?”

Roberto gritted his teeth at the grating sound of his roommate’s profanity. The voice was not at all matched by the beauty that stormed in.

“I mean it! If I catch one more sketch in the kitchen or sitting room, I’m knifing some canvas.”

When he saw the smudges left on her cheek by the cheap daily paper, it came to him.

There are more 100 word flashes based on this picture. Just pop over to the blog. 

Thursday Taster - Slave #1

Thought I'd change it up, finally. You're probably all pretty sick of Gentleman, so how about the next Blue Moon House prequel? Here's a clip from the opening to Slave. Check out all the tasters on the blog.

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“Will, come in here.” Terrance called.

The young man, reading in the parlor, dropped his book. “Yes, sir?” His heart raced, afraid his master would punish him for reading, for taking leisure.

“Come in.”

Will had only been in the rooms during the day. They were stark and plain, very easy to clean, though the blood was both disturbing and stubborn when stained. He followed the icy-skinned man into the room and found a woman with black skin like his own, trussed up and hanging from the roof.

“She says she wants more.”

“Yes. Yes, master. I am evil. Punish me more.”

Terrance shook his head, white blond hair swinging out. “I don’t understand. Aren’t you people beaten enough?”

Will’s jaw clenched. “No. Some women never learn their place.” He strode up to the woman and slapped her face. Blood and saliva sprayed the floor. “Some women are no good for anything.” He slapped again, sending her head spinning in the opposite direction. “Some women are only good for fucking.” He unbuttoned his trousers, ready to do what it seemed his master had failed in.

“Will, stop.” It wasn’t Terrance but Sophia. Even after three years in their service, he still wasn’t comfortable with his owners. They could hear everything in the house and they were as fast as ghosts, appearing in one room and then another. He had learned quickly to do as they asked, when they asked, because they always knew if he didn’t. “Go back to your book.”

“No,” he said, not taking his eyes off the woman before him. “This is what you want, isn’t it, whore?” He stepped closer, squeezing her cheeks and deforming her mouth. “You want me to fuck you savagely while I tear out your hair, twist off your nipples.”

“William,” Sophia said again, an air of command.

“No, wait.” This time it was Nicholas. Were they all going to watch him? Not that he particularly cared, but it would increase the woman’s shame.

“Yes,” she said, tears leaking from her eyes. “Please, sir.”

He dropped her mouth to slap her again. “I am not your sir. I am not your master. I am your executioner.” He grabbed her by the hips and attempted to spear her. His cock hadn’t cooperated, so he used several fingers, jamming them into her, pushing hard. He also pinched her butt cheek, pulled her hair, and tweaked her nipple, pulling it and twisting.

She screamed and rocked on his hand, wetness leaking from it around her. She sobbed. “Yes...ah...yes...ah...” Her gasps started to even out and Will pulled back his hand.

“You are nothing but a filthy whore and you will never be anything to anyone.”

Her eyes closed and she sagged against her bonds, relaxing completely.

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Remember to check out all the tasters on the blog.

Tantalizing Tuesday - Incense

With a gentle puff from her mouth, she blew out the flame, leaving a cherry red glow that became enveloped in white-grey ash. 

Immediately the perfume filled her nose and opened her sinuses. She could almost feel the scent opening her mind, easing the pain that had started to pinch behind her eyes. She still covered one, the flaring pain making sparks appear when she let go enough to open it.

She’d been prone to migraines for years. The doctors weren’t helpful, except in prescribing pain killers. They worked some of the time, but she hated being laid up, completely useless for an hour or more while she lay conscious but blind.

Smoke curled up and she moved the stick, watching the swirls. She leaned over and inhaled it, letting out a deep sigh when her lungs were full. Her eyes closed, the sense seemed to move from her nose to her throat and ears, and finally her eyes.

She gazed through the muted light coming through sheer drapes. They damped the sharpness of the sun, easing her vision, but leaving more than enough to read or write or even work on the computer.

Thank God for lavender and mint.

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Now be sure to check out all the 200 word teasers by visiting the blog.

Flasher Fiction Friday - Fluffy

The fan clicked off and Eric sagged as though the wind had been holding him up.

“That’s it for scene two.”

His fluffer came immediately, distracting him as his co-star was bound and stripped by his ‘minions.’ This business really took the soul from him. He was so glad he had Stephanie. There wasn’t a production she hadn’t pulled him through, using her little tricks to get a rise out of him.

“Antoine’s?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

She stroked him while she answered. “Sure. Sounds tasty.”

She didn’t know about the tiny hidden box.

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Check out all the other Flashers based on this picture by visiting the blog.

Since writing this piece in August, I've watched the first episodes of the new series of Dr. Who. This picture reminds me of Peter Capaldi's red lined jacket. Awesome.

Thursday Taster - Gentleman #10

Ready for the repercussions? Here we go with another snip from Gentleman. Make sure you hit the blog for all the other tasters.

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He was unprepared for his second slap of the evening, this from his wife. After landing the blow, she took his arm and pulled him toward the entry. She started her tirade there in a series of whispers.

“I can't believe you just left. If I didn't know your mother, I'd think she'd raised you in a barn. Honestly, I can accept the widow. That's business.” Apparently Veronica had taken notice of Lynn at some point. He could have sworn she was engaged when Lynn withdrew. Once they were in the carriage her voice rose to full volume. “But a whore, Harrold? In the Baskins' house. Do you have any idea how you embarrassed me? I couldn't care less how often you frequent them or what vile things you do with them, but as a guest?”

Veronica's shrill voice had never appealed to him, but her tone, the way she berated him. God help him, it made him want her. For the first time in a long time.

He sank to the floor of the carriage, taking her hands and holding them to his forehead. “Forgive me. Tell me what I must do?”

“Do?” she asked, confused and snatching her hands back. “Whatever do you mean? Get up. Sit like a man.”

He rose, but longed to continue where her command had taken him. He sat beside her, his hand holding her breast and thumb circling above her corset. “Tell me what you want,” he murmured in her ear, nibbling the lobe.

She nudged him with her shoulder to push him away. “I'll ask you not to treat me as one of your ladies of the night.”

Harrold exited the carriage first, offering Veronica his hand. He kept hold when she was on the ground, breathing into her ear again. “What of our room? Can I appease you there?”

“Are you mad? I've had you tear me open quite enough, thank you.” Snatching her hand back, she hurried into the house.

Harrold seriously considered walking to Baker Street before finally following and lying silently beside his lovely wife.

There had to be a way out.

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Don't forget to hit the blog and check out all the other tasters.

Tantalizing Tuesday - Two Minutes

Her mind raced, reeling through lists, appointments. She had to pick up her son at 5 and take him to a game. Then her daughter at 6, return to pick up son, get supper somewhere in there… It was overwhelming, but if she didn’t think ahead to tomorrow, she’d forget something.

She jumped at a loud honk and noticed the light had turned green. Better that than not noticing it was red. She’d done that once or twice since becoming a single parent.

The scales tipped. She couldn’t swallow and her vision blurred. She pulled over immediately, an accident waiting to happen, and parked next to a service station.

She gave herself two minutes. For two minutes she could wail like a baby, scream at the world, swear like a sailor. When the second minute ended, she would wipe her eyes, blow her nose and go get her son. It had worked before.

She opened her phone to set a timer and spied a message from her daughter.

Think Dad’s out there somewhere?

The picture attached included all of heaven, the bright amidst the black. It was easy to imagine him floating among the stars.

She didn’t need two minutes.

Be sure to check out all the other teasers by popping over to the blog.