The Omega Archives: Escalation
-- EXCERPT: We sprinted after the last guy who was running through the desert area. My heart pounded as I sprinted after the guy. All I could think about was tackling this guy to the ground and beating the shit out of him. The field seemed like an endless desert of sand and dried-out plants. The last guy made a hard turn into what looked like a cave entrance. The entrance hand a big concrete shaft leading inside with black water pouring out of it. We stopped and shined our flashlights into the cave, but saw nothing. Barns and I went inside. It was dark and smelled like a port-a-potty that hadn’t been cleaned in years; we heard rats squeaking and the echoes of water dripping in the distance. Being in there made my stomach feel like it was going to blow up and I felt like I would never eat again. We walked on until we arrived at a very large room. I went in, and the gate slammed shut behind me. The slamming echoed throughout the room and it froze my heart. I turned and ran towards the gate. “Hey let me out!” I said. I tried pulling on the bars and kicking the gate down, but it was too strong. “Come on, let me out!” I tried contacting Max on my radio. “Max, do you copy?” I asked. “Alex… can you hear…” Max said. My radio went static. “Long live the Union,” Barnes said as he backed off and sunk into the darkness of the cave. My heart dropped into my stomach as he backed off. “Long live the Union, indeed!” Another man said in a British accent. Some lights flashed behind me. I slowly turned around. it was Axel. “Alex Connors, we meet at last,” he said in a soft voice as he took a few steps towards me. “I have been looking forward to this for so long.” A wave of anxiety hit me like a truck. He was a lot bigger in person, but not too big just big enough to pose a threat. I couldn’t take my attention off of how much bigger he was in person. All around was rock and water. I could hear water flowing nearby only to pour out into a drain. I immediately pulled out my rifle and aimed it at him, ready to shoot as that feeling in my stomach came back. “Please put down the weapons. You can’t kill all of us,” Axel said. I looked up, and saw the next level up; a large group of Axels’ men were armed with machine guns and assault rifles. My entire body was covered with laser sight dots like a Christmas tree. My heart froze up as I pictured myself getting blown away. “They all have armor-piercing bullets, and clear shots,” Axel said. I put down my rifle, pistol, and knife. The clank of my rifle and pistol hitting the ground echoed in the room. I stood there feeling naked as I took some breaths, trying to calm myself down. “So you’re Axel? What do you want?” “Ah, straight to business huh?” he said, smiling. “You know I have orders to bring you in, right?” I said. Axel walked closer to me, seeming to grow bigger with each step. “Oh, I am aware of your mission, indeed,” he said “You think I don’t know you, Alex? I’ve been watching you for some time now,” he said while still speaking in his soft voice. I started to sweat. I wiped my head while I tried to process my thoughts. I continued to try and get my mind off my feelings as I focused on Axel. “Yeah. Well, to me, you are just another terrorist on some kind of mission. An anarchist,” I said as Axel laughed. “Ah, so young and still so much to learn. I have been doing this far longer then you have,” he said. “Age does have its advantages,” I said. “As well as its disadvantages,” Axel replied. “Why did you attack the Pentagon?” I asked as I walked closer to him. Axel started to walk to me. “Easy. I needed to draw attention.” “By killing innocent people?” “Ha! Just another stereotypical word: Innocent. Please, Alex, those people were just expendable assets, just like everyone else.” “We will see about that,” I said as I walked towards him. At that moment, all I thought about was beating Axel to a pulp. I ran up to him and struck at him with all the strength I had. His steel-like body just absorbed the strikes, taking little to no damage whatsoever. I threw another right hook. He blocked it and threw an uppercut elbow to my face, knocking me back, then a spin kick to my chest, kicking me into a pile of bricks. I felt like someone had hit my solar plexus with a sledgehammer as I tried to breathe. All I could think about was the pain as I lay there like I was a plant being eaten by rodents. I rubbed my jaw, trying to ease the pain, and my body was covered in sweat and dust. The Mercenaries just stood by and watched. “Your confidence has gotten the best of you. You have been fighting so much of these mere humans that you believe yourself to be unstoppable. You proclaim that you are a super-soldier. But really you are just a boy,” he said. As I laid there, feeling like my body was crushed by a wrecking ball, I kept thinking about my training. I could still hear the trainer shouting at me to control my emotions. I closed my eyes and breathed, trying to get my mind off of my feelings. “I’ve beaten people like you before,” I said as I got up slowly, trying to fight through the pain. I did a spin kick to his face with Axel leaning back, slightly dodging it. I then did a spin side kick to him, with him blocking it, followed by a spin jump kick to his chest, which seemingly did nothing to him. I threw more hooks to his face with every bit of strength I had. When I went to throw the third, he grabbed my fist and started squeezing it like an empty Coke can; several snapping sounds emerged from my hand. I could feel the bones in my fist being slowly crushed like wood, and it was all I could focus on. I screamed in pain as I slowly dropped to my knees. I tried to break his grip, but it was as strong as steel. My right hand was practically destroyed. “All this strength and no coordination. You are truly an amateur,” he said as he pushed me to the ground. He then did a powerful bottom fist strike to my back, which felt like being hit by a pipe wrench. I took another breath, trying not to explode with anger so I don’t throw up, then got up and went to do another spinning jump kick. While I was in mid-air, Axel punched me directly in the solar plexus, knocking me down. All the air was knocked out of me again, and I could barely breathe. He then picked me up and threw me into a wall. A bang followed as I hit the floor. My body felt like all the bones were broken into bits, and I could not get up. My mind was glued to the pain as it settled. As I lay there, Axel walked up and crouched next to me. “I understand what you are going through. You’ve spent half of your life training, and now you are split. Every day you contend with adapting to human life. These humans have corrupted your mind, but I can help you. I can save you from them. Please let me help you,” he said. His voice was pretty calm and soothing for a terrorist. I slowly picked myself up, feeling like my body was going to break into pieces at any second. My arms felt like they were weighed down by trucks, and my chest weighed a ton. I gripped my broken wrist as I tried to find my balance. “I don’t need your help!” I said, standing ready. “Very well then,” he said as he did a spinning heel kick to my face, knocking me out. From there it was just blackness and nothing.
GIVEAWAY! Sir, Yes Sir
#Book Blitz #The Backup Princess by Kate O'Keeffe #Contemporary Romance @Xpresso Book Tours8/4/2024
The Backup Princess
-- EXCERPT: “Hello?” I fumble with my phone to locate the torch app, which suddenly seems to have disappeared. “Who’s in here?” I demand, half expecting to find a murderer or some kind of psychopath, wielding a knife, ready to attack. “Who are you?” an indignant voice responds. Finally, I locate the torch app and flick it on, scanning the closet. I suck in a breath as it illuminates a woman, her features lined with fear as she squints at me, her hands held in tight fists in front of her chest. I relax. She doesn’t look like a murderer or a psychopath, or even a ghost. Well, a little like a ghost. The woman is rather pale. But there’s something recognizable about her. The look in her eyes is like a deer in headlights. A beautiful deer. A familiar deer. I take a step closer to her. “Get back!” she screeches. “I’m warning you; I know tai chi.” I press my lips together to stop a smile. “You know how to do slow, controlled movements at sunrise?” If I tried to keep the amusement from my voice it wasn’t much of an effort. “I meant… karate. I know karate and I’m not afraid to use it!” She unfurls her fists and brandishes her flat hands at me. A laugh bubbles up, and I do my best to style it out as a cough. “I come in peace, I assure you.” “How do I know that?” She does a chopping motion with one of her hands, presumably to demonstrate her karate prowess. “Why don’t you put those weapons of yours down?” I reach for her hands to hold them in mine reassuringly. This woman is freaked out and I need to do something. As my hands fold over hers she snaps them away, raises one in a fist, and before I have the chance to ask what she intends to do with that fist, she jabs it straight at my face. “Argh!” I call out, my eyes watering as my nose throbs in pain that pulses painfully across my cheekbones. I stagger back, clasping my nose “What did you do that for?” But no sooner have the words left my mouth when she yanks the cupboard door open and bursts from the room, her skirt billowing behind her as she rushes away from me down the hall. “What the—?!” I trail after her, muttering in disbelief. Who punches someone in the face in a hallway cupboard when all they were trying to do was show they weren’t a threat? Through watering eyes, I blink at her as she tears away from me down the hallway—only to fall flat on her face, her skirt billowing up behind her to expose her plain white cotton underpants, and her tiara pinging off her head and bouncing across the carpet. Who is this woman and what the heck is she playing at? My instinct kicks in, and before I have the chance to second guess myself, I hurry down the hallway to her aid. “Are you all right?” I ask. Her eyes are wild as she yells, “Stay away!” She clamors back to her feet, clutching her head. “Are you hurt?” I ask, and she shakes her head, her eyes searching the floor. She must be looking for her tiara. “It’s over there.” I point at the tiara on the ground, still in one piece. She grabs it and turns back to me. “I—please don’t tell anyone.” “Okay.” She doesn’t say another word, instead she turns on her heel and dashes away, rounding a corner and disappearing from sight. I stand, rooted to the spot, my brain scrambling to make sense of what just happened. I sought a brief moment of refuge in a cupboard only to be attacked by a beautiful woman in a tiara with an American accent. My nose throbs painfully as realization dawns on me. She’s Madeline, the American here to claim the throne. The woman a nation has pinned their hopes on. The woman who wields a strong right hook.
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Crown of Wings and Thorns by May Ting #Fantasy #New Adult #Romance @Xpresso Book Tours8/4/2024
Crown of Wings and Thorns
-- EXCERPT: I’d heard tales that vampires had an uncanny ability to beguile their prey. Their attractive faces and bewitching scent, partnered with their commanding voices entranced victims, making them do whatever was asked of them. He must be using the same supernatural powers to captivate me. Despite his effort, I prevailed and pushed the horrendous thought to the far recesses of my mind. “Never in peace.” He growled, his hot breath fanned the shell of my ear. “You are my enemy.” “Fine. You want to die here, right now?” I gritted the words through my teeth as I slowly released my feathers, my chest rising and falling just as fast as his. He made the mistake of pulling back just enough for his eyes to lock with mine. I pushed off with the strength of my feathers, taking him with me. His back thumped the opposite wall and I trapped him with my body and wings. Victus’s eyes grew wide, stunned. With an ear-piercing snarl, his feet tangled with mine to launch us into a wild spin, and then he pushed me against the wall with such force that all of the air was knocked from my lungs with an oomph. “I loathe your kind,” he hissed, baring his teeth. “And I despise everything about you.” I clenched my jaw. “My hatred for you is greater.” The tendrils under his eyes throbbed. We were thrown into a battle of push and shove, taking turns on who would be on top of our chaotic tumbling until we eventually stopped at the opposite end of the room, panting. With my back to the wall, he took a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side, exposing my neck. His hot breath and his sharp fangs grazed down my skin. I shuddered and every vein in my body seared. I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or from the heated tussle and our bodies colliding. “If you believe I’m your enemy, then bite me.” I took a chance by saying the latter. Since he found me revolting, he would likely release me. He gripped my hair tighter and snarled
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Lady of Cosa Nostra: Victoria's Secrets by Contel Bradford @Xpresso Book Tours8/4/2024
Lady Cosa Nostra: Victoria’s Secrets
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GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Two Truths and a Marriage by Nicole Snow #Contemporary Romance @Xpresso Book Tours3/4/2024
Two Truths and a Marriage
-- EXCERPT: I’m instantly peppered with goosebumps at what he’s proposing. Another date. Another important family member to impress. Another lie. More people we have to deceive to keep this big ball of fake engagement crazy going. Even if we’re getting better at this, something’s got to give. “There’s something else I had to bring in person,” he says slowly, watching me warily. “For your trouble.” What’s he talking about? His hand drifts out of his pocket, clasping a small grey box with gold lettering. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. When he opens it, revealing what I’m dreading, I don’t remember how to breathe. A freaking ring. And not just any ring. No, this is a ring from Dexter Rory, a man who never learned how to do anything without going all out. Of course, it’s gorgeous enough to make me stupid. All diamond-studded white gold with a sparkling blue stone in the middle. The whole vibe is both delicate and totally over the top. I’m already in love with the wretched thing. And I hate that I love it. “There’s no sense in being subtle anymore. Counting my brothers, a ton of people know we’re engaged,” he explains. “No one will believe I’ve proposed without a ring on your finger.” “Oh my God.” I’m hyperventilating. “You just… you went and… you bought me an engagement ring?” I say faintly, knowing full well there’s no doubt. An engagement ring. Those three little words feel completely alien. His face blanks, but he’s smiling with his eyes, midnight-blue apologies sparkling like stars. “I’m sorry if it’s not your style, Junie. There’s still time to swap it out.” “Are you insane?” I could have searched the world twice over and not found an engagement ring half this magnificent. This man, who doesn’t even know me, is some sort of personal jewelry genius. “It’s really pretty,” I whisper. “It’s yours to keep when this is over. Don’t even ask how much it costs,” he says. “Sell it, keep it, give it to your cat, whatever. I’m sure this isn’t the type of engagement you wanted—and technically, it’s not. I’m just grateful you’re willing to go along with it.” Why does he sound like he’s trying to make himself believe it? My brain sputters. All I can see right now is that ring in its little grey box, the blue velvet inside cushioning the precious diamonds and stillborn promises. I don’t doubt for a second they’re real, and they’re spectacular. Oh, and its resale value will probably break my jaw when it hits the ground. He’s paying me a massive premium in jewelry on top of the six figures hitting my account. The bigger the lie, the more I earn. That should thrill me, coming into a small fortune I never imagined, but it doesn’t. Not while I’m staring at something that shouldn’t exist. A ring from a man who’s hilariously out of my league. The one thing I never thought I’d get with a monster catch. A fake fiancé. A man who doesn’t want to marry me. Of course, he shouldn’t. He doesn’t even know me. Still. Still, I can’t help feeling it bone-deep, knowing that the only ring I’ll ever get is just a whacky business transaction. Not because I’m lovable. Not because it means anything. Not because I’m someone he’d ever date, much less marry.
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Cursed Wolfby Sophie Ash (Howling Death MC) #Paranormal Romance @Xpresso Book Tours2/4/2024
Cursed Wolf
-- EXCERPT: “I love that brain of yours, but don’t think so much right now Emmaline.” His next kiss was softer, sweeter. The warm rumble of his voice pulled me right out of my head. “Be here with me, beautiful. Just feel.” Don’t think. Feel. The voice in my head echoed what he said. In an effort to do just that, I barely lifted my head to kiss him again. My eyelids fell closed and I poured all of my focus into feeling Tryn. The softness of his lips contrasted with the roughness of his beard. The heat of him and the breadth of his body. My hands landed on his back and went searching. When I found the hem of his T-shirt, I dipped under it. Oh, I did not expect his skin to be so soft. The muscles underneath were hard, but also moved with a fluid grace that I never wanted to stop feeling. I already knew he gave great hugs, but to feel him wrap around me skin-to-skin would be on another level. As if reading my mind, Tryn made off with his shirt when our kisses broke apart for air. When he lowered to me again, his fingers drifted under my shirt slowly, giving me every opportunity to stop him. I didn’t. I kissed him harder, molding my body to his. A strong hand lifted me a few inches from the bed, just enough to get my shirt and bra off. “Fucking perfect,” Tryn murmured along my collarbone before kissing lower. My gaze found the ceiling. Any other time, I’d be in my head again, wondering if I looked weird topless, if my chest was smaller than what he preferred. But what I was quickly figuring out? Tryn knew how to make a girl feel.
GIVEAWAY! An Accident Waiting to Dragon
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- EXCERPT: Sweaty from their trek and the feelings that refused to fade, Gwen was damn tempted to dive right in, but before she could, Asher stripped off his shoes and socks, his hands going to the fly of his jeans. “What are you doing?” she asked. He didn’t face her, but she could hear the rare teasing smile in his voice. “Bathing.” He was going to bathe. Right now? In front of her? Sure. No big deal. She was a fully grown adult. Most supernatural creatures didn’t have hang-ups about nudity the way humans did. She could handle this. He’d go first, then she’d take a turn. They could draw their drinking water upstream when they were done. Asher dropped his pants, leaving him in nothing but black boxer-briefs, which showed off the muscles of his thighs as he waded into the water. Then he turned to face her, a playful glint in his eyes she hadn’t seen in a long time. Sure enough, next came the shirt. Damn. There went the small amount of control she’d wrangled for herself over the course of their trek. Gone in an instant. With an eye roll, she walked to a flat rock at the edge of the water. A second later, a splash told her he was fully submerged now. By the time she’d taken off her sock and shoes, and rolled up her pants to dangle her legs, she figured it was safe for her to look. A horrible idea, it turned out. A flash of movement under the surface caught her eye a second before Asher came up out of the water, facing her, lifting his hands to slick back his dark hair, his muscles rippling with the movement. Now that was just freaking unfair. It was like nature was trying to highlight all the hotness she’d been missing all this time. Hotness that had just been inside of her. Oh. My. Gods. Heat flared in her cheeks yet again. Which was when Asher opened his eyes and caught her staring. His gaze locked in on her, and for once she couldn’t make out what he was thinking. But she couldn’t look away, her chest growing tighter by the second. Was he-- Asher swam toward her. “Why aren’t you coming in?” She nearly shook her head. No, it couldn’t be. Her oh-so-serious dragon wasn’t trying to…tease her, play with her? Was he? He’s not your dragon, Gwendolyn Moonsoar. He’s not your anything, she tried to remind herself. But that thought was feeling more and more flimsy by the second…considering the way he was looking at her. She shrugged, trying to play it cool while her face was probably still flaming red. Maybe he’d put that down to their trek? “I’ll wait until you’re done.” A frown flitted across his features, far more familiar and comfortable than his teasing, but then he swam forward until he could stand in front of her. “You don’t have to wait. There’s plenty of room.” Gwen opened her mouth to wave him off with something vague only to get a little lost in the deep navy of his eyes. “I…don’t think that would be a good idea,” she found herself saying. His jaw tightened visibly. “I would never—” Without thinking, she pressed a single finger against his lips and they both sort of froze at the contact. Gwen swallowed and pulled away slowly. “I know,” she whispered. “You’re not the one I don’t trust.” Asher’s brows drew together, stopped, then crept back up as her meaning sank in that she was the problem here. Her and all her discombobulated feelings. That glint from a moment ago reignited in his eyes, only up close it was even more potent, more dangerous. “Do you need rescuing?” he asked, his voice dropping lower. Oh my gods. The memory of their first kiss, the first time he’d said those words to her, swirled and blended with this one, and excited butterflies hit her insides full force. But she couldn’t. They couldn’t. Could they? What she wanted to say was, “From you?” like she had back then. Instead, she just shook her head and went to stand up, to put distance between them. Only Asher grabbed her hand, his hold gentle as she stilled. “I’ve missed you, Gwen,” he said softly. “I want you to know that.” A lump of emotion and longing formed inside her throat. Was he trying to make this a thousand times harder for her? More confusing? More need-inducing? When she didn’t say anything but she also didn’t leave, he slowly moved closer, right up against her rock, so that he was standing between her dangling legs. He paused there. “I really want to kiss you, and not just in a dream, but I won’t if you say no, or if you need rescuing for real.” This close, right in her space where she could feel the natural warmth of a dragon shifter radiating from his skin, feel his breath against her cheek…gods, he was temptation. Gwen forced her gaze away, dropping it to her lap. It didn’t help. She still wanted to kiss him. “I—” She shifted her gaze to the left and paused, then peered closer at his side. What the—? Then she choked. Asher jerked to follow her gaze, searching the water around him for some threat maybe. “What’s wrong?” She stared at him with her mouth ajar for enough time that he stopped searching for danger to bracket her face with his hands, his expression growing harder with concern. “Gwen—”
GIVEAWAY! My War, My Child
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- EXCERPT: Farzad startled when she touched his arm. Her voice had changed indeed, weaker, but still the voice that in old days—not so very old either—-was the one voice that meant the whole world to him. For a single instant, his thoughts strayed away into the past, and the marvel of his first love came back to him. His heart awoke under that touch, like a sudden flash of light, bringing back happy moments. And sad. He remembered that he had turned away abruptly, that in his preoccupied state of mind, he had not spoken one soothing word to her. The days when he adored her, thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, the days when he lived on in the bitterness of missing her gentle love for him, could not be revived again. And it occurred to him that he still had a moment to decide, only a brief moment now, whether to take her back or abandon her.
GIVEAWAY! The Model’s Last Pose
-- EXCERPT: Two koi swam away, but a majestic red one with white fins and tail stayed. “Oh, I see how it is. They’re loyal to Nina. But you?” Serena pointed to the fish. “Have sympathy for everyone.” She threw her head back and blew air through her lips. “Where do I begin?” When Serena looked at the pond again, the koi hadn’t budged. “I loved him, you know. Madly. Passionately.” She stared at the fish. “Who am I talking about, you ask? My ex-husband, Justice Tate. He was a bad boy, and I loved bad boys. He owned a motorcycle, and we’d go on day trips, seeing parts of the state I’d never seen before. We had fun together, so much fun. When he asked me to marry him, I think I fainted. Not literally. But in my mind, I did.” The koi’s mouth formed in the shape of an “O”. He, because Serena decided it must be a male, seemed interested in the story. “You want to hear the rest? It gets uglier. Sadder. I can’t really label it.” Other fish swam by, distracting the red and white koi. He turned away but reappeared after a dip underwater. “What do you like to eat?” Serena asked. “Next time I’ll come prepared.” The fish seemed to like her statement. Serena swore he nodded. They sat in silence for a moment, and she decided he was waiting to hear more of her sad tale. “Okay,” Serena finally said. “Fine. I’ll tell you. We were young when we got married. Twenty-one, to be exact. We had two great years together, then I got pregnant with twins. Girls. Justice wanted to name the girls Jade and Jewel like the shiny, precious gems they were, and so we did. At first, everything was fine. Justice was the typical doting dad. But they cramped his style. We couldn’t take off at a moment’s notice with a double stroller. That didn’t fit on the back of a motorcycle. We needed a practical car. I encouraged Justice to choose whatever he wanted so he’d feel invested. Once the girls started school, I thought things would get better.” She paused and shook her head. “Nope.” She put emphasis on the ‘p’. “They got worse.”
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