Progress on first draft of Tempted by a Rogue Prince (Eternal Mates #3) with special SNEAK PEEK!!!

I kicked off writing the first draft of Tempted by a Rogue Prince this week, which is the third book in the Eternal Mates romance series.

As many of you probably already know, Tempted by a Rogue Prince is Vail and Rosalind’s story, and it’s set in the Fifth Realm of the demons in Hell. I’m loving writing the book so far. It’s filled with angst, but there have been lighter moments, mostly when we’ve been in Rosalind’s point of view, because we all know that Vail is hardly “light” material. The guy is as dark and troubled as they get. Oh, and a tad mad too.

I’m already up to 22700 words in the book. That’s good progress for three days writing and I’m bang on target and schedule with it. The book is slated for a possible July or August release. I can’t be any more specific than that as I don’t know how much editing this book will need for it to find the right balance between Vail’s darker side and lighter one. I don’t want it to end up all angsty and depressing. I need to write Vail as he is, and he’s got serious problems, and all of them for a good reason, and I can’t just gloss over what he’s been through because it has made him who he is, but I also need to balance it with lighter stuff, with romance and happier moments, and hopeful ones too. I’m sure you get what I mean. As I would say to my husband, I used all my good words writing and left my confused, not so great ones for the rest of the day.

So, how about a special teaser from the book? This is where I finished today… and boy do I want to continue!

Remember… it’s all unedited first draft… be nice and do leave a comment to let me know what you think so far! Oh, and a little scene setting. Both Vail and Rosalind are captives of the demons of the Fifth Realm, and Rosalind has been sent to Vail’s cell to heal him after a particularly cruel round of torture…

The elf snarled and thrashed against his bonds, his actions growing in their violence and causing the manacles to cut into his wrists and spill blood. The chain holding his ankles burst free of the stone and Rosalind took another step back, fear pounding through her. He was growing stronger. If he broke the chain holding his wrists, nothing was stopping him from killing her.

He suddenly stilled.

She breathed hard in the silence, staring at him, amazed by how quickly he had regenerated. He was perfect now. From the slight points of his nails to his honed, powerful body. Every part of him had healed.

All from a few drops of her blood.

His eyes snapped open and he snarled through his regrown fangs, “What did you do to me, Witch?”

He didn’t remember.

“I gave you my blood,” she said and his expression darkened dangerously.

“No… why… why would you do that to me?” The wildness that had been in his purple eyes when he had been lost in whatever madness gripped him was coming back again and her magic wanted to rise and protect her.

Rosalind held her cut wrist to her chest and kept her distance, ignoring the sting in her heart. “You asked.”

He hissed at her, his pointed ears flaring back against the sides of his head through his blue-black hair.

“What have you done?” he snarled and flexed his fingers, his claws growing into deadly points. His fangs lengthened. “What have you done?”

Rosalind had had quite enough of him. She stomped across the cell, towered over him and shoved her hands against her hips. “I did exactly what you asked of me.”

He panted hard, his muscular chest heaving, looking as if he was going to lose control or pass out. Rosalind hoped it was the latter.

“You told me I was this ki’ara thing and asked for blood.” She jiggled her left foot, a nervous trait she had never quite gotten under control, and waited for him to explode.

“Would not… never… curse your sorcery… I will not let you bewitch me too!” He bucked off the stone slab, holding the chain of his cuffs in both of his hands, pulling on it. The thick metal cuffs bit into his wrists as he tugged, rubbing them with each attempt he made to break the chain holding him to the slab. A red line formed and then blood bloomed.

“Stop it. You’re hurting yourself.” She was damned if he was going to damage himself and undo her hard work. The demons would demand that she heal him again and she really wasn’t in the mood. She would probably tell them to go to hell and then she would have to take a trip to the rack for her insolence.

Rosalind reached for his wrists.

He sucked in a sharp breath and instantly stilled, his purple eyes locking on her cut wrist and his colourful markings flaring over his body. “You are bleeding.”

“Duh!” she snapped. “You asked for blood. I supplied. Remember?”

He stared at her wrist, a pained look entering his eyes, and jerked his chin, his voice distant as he murmured, “My female bleeds. I will heal her.”

Rosalind froze. “Your female?”

His eyes shifted to meet hers, dark and possessive, filled with fire that scorched her. “Ki’ara.”

Hers widened as it dawned on her that he hadn’t been calling her a sweet name to get her to comply with his requests, or even because somewhere beneath his witch-hating exterior he liked her.

No. Not at all. He had been calling her by a special word, one reserved for a person who was one in around seven billion.

His fated female.

Rosalind suddenly had an urge to see what all the fuss was about fainting fits.

Her legs buckled beneath her.

“Oh. Dear.”

So… what do you think?

If you haven’t had a chance to read any of the books in the Eternal Mates romance series yet, they’re all available at major ebook retailers and in paperback, and you can find the links and samples of the books at my website:

Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates Romance Series #1)
Claimed by a Demon King (Eternal Mates Romance Series #2)