WIP Wednesday on a Friday – Her Wicked Angel

Since I don’t have a cover for the next Her Angel romance series book, HER WICKED ANGEL, I thought I would use one of my warning signs I often post on my Facebook page… it works for me.

I haven’t made as much progress with this book as I would have liked at this stage. Life things have interferred and stolen my time and concentration, and I was having niggling doubts about the book until I read over it this morning and realised that the 17000 words I have so far are perfectly good, and I’m striking the right balance in the characters.

This one is a tricky book to write. Asmodeus is not your average romance hero. He’s very much full-on evil, and has naughty thoughts that see him regularly contemplating a massacre. The guy was raised in Hell, and it seems the heroine, Liora, is willing to give him a chance to show her that he’s not really 100% evil… it’s more like 95% and a seed of good.

Writing Asmodeus is a fun journey though. So far, he’s been extremely mischievous, very wicked, disobedient, vicious, violent, protective, aggressive, vulnerable, confused, overwhelmed, hurt, offended and generally cruel and prideful. Thankfully, his heroine, Liora, has a full spectrum of her own emotions to run through and she’s been everything from sweet to sassy, peaceful to downright angry, horrified, aroused, worried, extremely dangerous and verging on violent, and all those other things you can imagine you’d feel if you met the king of demons and found him hot!

Let’s just say she’s no saint and she might just be wicked enough to fall for him.

I do like it when I come across heroes like Asmodeus though (or anti-heroes as the case may be) as he’s such a fantastic mixture of experience and innocence. Apollyon is right about him and he’s definitely complicated. I think I’m putting him through a rough time right now and we’re only 17000 words into the novel! He has some seriously bumpy times ahead. I’m sure he’ll make it through with the help of Liora, and maybe some other characters in the series. I really can’t wait to write him and Apollyon in the same scene though. Sparks will fly.

Here’s a teaser from the book so far… all first draft because I’m only just writing it so forgive any errors…

“Bring her to me quickly, Asmodeus,” the Devil said behind him and Asmodeus nodded again.

Perhaps he would dally just a little. Who knew when the Devil would allow him to leave Hell again?

He stepped through the black portal and tensed as he appeared in the mortal realm. His eyes watered and he blinked against the assault of strong light, leaning back into the shade of the tower that speared the blue sky above him.

Blue.

Asmodeus tipped his head back and stared up at it, and then looked at his surroundings. Green trees. Dark metal. Pale stone. Mortals dressed in a multitude of colours. The warm air carried strange scents. Dust. Something sweet. Smoke. Sounds came from every direction. Blasts of noise and distant rumbles of what he suspected were vehicles. Constant chatter. Laughter. Squeals of happiness. All alien to him.

He didn’t like it.

He took a step back towards the portal behind him and glared at everyone as they passed. Ants. Hundreds of them. Swarming. Shoving. Jostling each other. He wanted to kill them all. They were noisy. Brutal. Irritating.

Insignificant.

Powerless.

Asmodeus grinned, his golden eyes narrowing with it, and flexed his fingers. His fangs began to lengthen and his black claws followed them.

Prey for the hunter.

He would drown out the disgusting scents with the smell of blood. He would replace joy with fear, with screams and sobs. He would bathe this colourful world in crimson.

Crimson.

A flash of that colour caught his eye and his gaze zeroed in on it. It was gone, lost in the sea of other hues. It flickered again, further off to his right, and his eyes shot to it. Wavy chestnut hair bounced against crimson ruffled material with each light step. He caught a sliver of black jeans. Crimson and black. The female the Devil wanted.

She turned and he caught a glimpse of her face, and his desire to bathe his hands in the blood of these puny creatures slipped away, calm suffusing him, making him forget his irritation and dark desires.

She blinked, black lashes shuttering luminous hazel eyes, and turned away, continuing onwards towards a strip of green land to his right beyond the shadow of the tower.

Asmodeus felt a tug behind his breastbone, pulling him in her direction, but something told him it wasn’t the Devil commanding him to follow her. It was something else that made him want to track her through the crowd.

Could you love an angel this wicked?