{"id":2878,"date":"2013-10-27T19:00:02","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/?p=2878"},"modified":"2013-10-15T22:12:57","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T22:12:57","slug":"dark-and-dangerous-six-in-one-hot-paranormal-romance-books-boxed-set-just-99c-99p-excerpt-from-hard-mated-by-jennifer-ashley-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/27\/dark-and-dangerous-six-in-one-hot-paranormal-romance-books-boxed-set-just-99c-99p-excerpt-from-hard-mated-by-jennifer-ashley-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DARK AND DANGEROUS: Six-in-One Hot Paranormal Romance Books Boxed Set – just 99c \/ 99p – Excerpt from Hard Mated by Jennifer Ashley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DARK AND DANGEROUS: Six-in-One Hot Paranormal Romances Boxed Set<\/a> featuring six books by six best-selling authors is out now in ebook and for a limited time only, it’s just $0.99 \/ 99p<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

That’s right, you can get these 6 hot paranormal romance books by Felicity Heaton, Jennifer Ashley, Bonnie Vanak, Caris Roane, Laurie London and Erin Kellison for under a dollar right now.<\/p>\n

Find out more about DARK AND DANGEROUS<\/a> at my website: http:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/darkanddangerous\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s your next excerpt from one of the books in this fantastic boxed set of paranormal romances.<\/p>\n

Today, we have an excerpt from HARD MATED by Jennifer Ashley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DARK AND DANGEROUS is available in e-book from:<\/strong>
\nAmazon Kindle Stores:<\/strong>
\nUS\/International<\/strong><\/a> | UK<\/strong><\/a> | Canada<\/strong><\/a> | Germany<\/strong><\/a> | France<\/strong><\/a> | Italy<\/strong><\/a> | Spain<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Other Retailers:<\/strong>
\nBarnes and Noble Nook<\/strong><\/a> | Kobo Books<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

(Coming soon to Apple iBooks Stores)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

HARD MATED by Jennifer Ashley<\/a><\/h3>\n

Hospitals sucked. Myka hated them. Their pale rooms were filled with soft electronic sounds that told you that the person in the hospital bed, the person you loved, was dying. Plus, the overriding scent of antiseptic never could quite mask the mixture of bodily odors and illness.<\/p>\n

Broke Myka\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart to see Jillian in that bed, her body that once had enticed every male in Hill Country wasted, her red hair thin and dry against the white sheets. Her blue eyes were washed out under the fluorescent lights, her skin tinged with gray.<\/p>\n

Jillian smiled at Myka over the foot of the bed as Myka led in Spike, which couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be his real name. Spike, tall and Shifter, in jeans and T-shirt, his black hair buzzed into almost nonexistence, tatts of wildcats marking him up and down his arms, gazed down at Jillian in shock and grief.<\/p>\n

Grief? Jillian was nothing to Spike, was she? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had to dredge her out of his memory when Myka had said her name. Jillian hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mentioned Spike at all until their shocker of a conversation this morning. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d sent Myka to Shiftertown to find him, and hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that been fun?<\/p>\n

Shifters. There was a reason they were Collared and made to live in Shiftertowns. Myka couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand the women who longed to sleep with them. Too much excitement for this girl, thank you. Training horses gave her all the time she needed with animals, had taught her enough about animals that she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much want to be around ones that could turn human.<\/p>\n

Shiftertown had been almost deserted, Spike not at home in the modest bungalow to which Jillian had sent her. Casual conversation with some humans in a little bar outside the perimeter of Shiftertown led Myka to the abandoned hay barn out east of town, and there she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d found the Shifters in all their wild glory at their so-called fight club.<\/p>\n

The way Spike had beat the shit out of that bear Shifter was evidence enough of why humans wanted to contain them. They weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even supposed to be able to fight like that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe Collars were designed to stop them. If Myka had been a good citizen, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d report the illicit three-ringed fight club and all the Shifters there betting on their favorites.<\/p>\n

But she hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been a good citizen since the day the system had given ten-year-old Myka into the custody of Randall, the stepfather from hell. Randall had been very good at charming judges, social workers, and anyone else who came along. Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bear to be separated from Myka, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d said, after Myka\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother had died, in a hospital room just like Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. Randall had gotten himself appointed Myka\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legal guardian, and nine long years of hell had ensued, until the day of Randall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death.<\/p>\n

Jillian produced a thin smile as she looked over the foot of the bed at Spike. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You came. Thank you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

That was the first word he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d spoke since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d followed Myka out of the barn into the cool of the night so she could drive him here. Not What happened? Why is she asking for me? Just stone silence in the cab of her pickup.
\n
\nSilent, sure, but his presence was weighty. This was a Shifter, for crying out loud, big, tough, able to break tiny young women like Jillian in half with one hand. Yet he stood there looking down at Jillian in the bed as though someone had sledgehammered him between the eyes and he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remembered to fall down yet.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a lot of time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jillian said, her voice a faint whisper. A far cry from the girl who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d balanced on top of a rail fence at the rodeo a year ago, screaming for her favorite bull rider. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d slept with him too. Men usually took one look at Jillian and became her devoted slaves.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a gift for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jillian said.<\/p>\n

She held out her hand, and Spike reached down and took it. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold her hand awkwardly\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhe closed it between his two big ones, as though trying to comfort her.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asked, his voice a quiet rumble. Even a Shifter could feel the dampening presence of the hospital room.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Myka will show you. Myka and my mom. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what else to do, all right?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Jillian pressed down on his hand, the movement so weak that Myka saw it only because a tendon moved on Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrist.<\/p>\n

Spike nodded. What was in his eyes, Myka couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see, because his gaze was fixed on Jillian.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Myka, go get my mom, okay? I asked her to wait down the hall.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Myka didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to leave Jillian alone with the Shifter. Jillian let her stare go steely, which she was good at, even while dying. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Myka? Okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Spike turned his head and looked at Myka, and for the first time, Myka got the whole connection of his Shifter gaze. Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes were dark brown, his pupils black, windows into nothing.<\/p>\n

No, not nothing. An intense something. Myka saw wildness inside him, the beast that had charged a bear four times his size and sunk his teeth into the big animal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neck. Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throat was singed where his Collar had shocked him, but the shocks hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t slowed him down a millisecond. This was an animal who looked for his prey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weakness and went for it.<\/p>\n

Myka did not want to leave him alone in here with Jillian.<\/p>\n

But Jillian had hours to live, not days, the cancer taking away the last of what she had been.<\/p>\n

Myka made herself turn around and leave, walking rapidly down the corridor to the little room where Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mom Sharon waited, surrounded by vending machines, a television that blared a news channel, and other tense people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d come to see their families.<\/p>\n

Sharon got rapidly to her feet and followed Myka out. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Damn, I need a cigarette. Jillian kicked me out when you called from the parking lot, but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go outside with \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She wriggled her arm, jostling what she was pulling.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like this,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Myka said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Jillian wants, and I think she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Myka had to shut up, because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d entered Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room again. Spike swung around, inhaling sharply.<\/p>\n

His eyes changed to Shifter\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbrown tinged with gold, the pupils slits\u00e2\u20ac\u201das his gaze riveted on the small boy Sharon gripped by the hand.<\/p>\n

At four years old, Jordan had lost his baby chubbiness and was turning into a sturdy, strong-boned lad. He had dark hair brushed with blond and brown, and dark brown eyes framed with black lashes. Until Myka had seen Spike looking at her with the same eyes, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d doubted Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claim.<\/p>\n

Jillian drew a breath to speak, but Sharon shook her head, seeing it was too much for her. She walked Jordan forward.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is your son,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sharon said, her voice heavy from too many years of smoking. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So says Jillian.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He is, Mom,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jillian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whisper came.<\/p>\n

Jordan stared up at Spike, who filled the room not only with his presence, but with the bulk of him. Though smaller than the bear-man he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fought, Spike was still big\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsix and a half feet tall, arms as big as a wrestler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and covered in tatts that disappeared inside his T-shirt, shaved head on a muscular neck encased by an inch-thick Collar. Jordan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soft mouth hung open, his small teeth white in the moisture behind his lip.<\/p>\n

Spike stared back at Jordan just as hard, the shock mutual.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jordan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jillian said from the bed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do your trick for Mommy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Jordan, caught in the spell of Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gaze, remained frozen for another moment. Then he looked away and stripped off his shirt. Almost proudly, he shoved down his pants and underwear and stood without clothes, as unashamed as the Shifters had done at the hay barn.<\/p>\n

The little boy lifted his arms over his head, closed his eyes, then gave a little squeak as his body changed shape.<\/p>\n

His legs bent and became haunches, his little feet morphed into awkwardly big paws. Jordan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands became paws before his arms did, the smooth spotted pelt sliding down to join the one that rose up his chest. His face elongated into a cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nose, ears popped up on his head, and his eyes became rounder, fuller, eyelashes and whiskers growing swiftly. The fur that covered him was dark yellow with the broken black bands of a jaguar.<\/p>\n

In only a few seconds, Jordan dropped to all fours and let out a tiny wildcat yowl.<\/p>\n

The suspicion on Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face turned to amazement then a hungry longing. Before Myka could stop him, he bent down and scooped up the cub between his big hands.<\/p>\n

He lifted Jordan to his eye level, staring at the cub, who wriggled and squirmed but not in alarm.<\/p>\n

They studied each other, Shifter and cub, the big man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes wide, the cub\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unworried. Jordan opened his mouth and emitted another little growl.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I named him Jordan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jillian said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s yours. Take care of him for me, all right?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Spike didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take his eyes from Jordan. Myka saw the pulse in Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neck, the hard beats pressing under the Collar.<\/p>\n

Sharon waited, her fingers playing with the clasp on her cigarette case. Myka waited too, for Spike to deny it, to tell Jillian to prove it, to bail the hell out of there. Men didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like suddenly to be told that they were fathers, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be held accountable for whatever grew from their sperm.<\/p>\n

Spike lifted Jordan higher. Jordan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paws hung down from Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s giant hands, his tail snaking around Spike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrist.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My cub,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Spike said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My cub.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d His voice rose to a deep roar that shook the window across the room. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My cub.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Did you enjoy today’s excerpt?<\/p>\n

DARK AND DANGEROUS is available in e-book from:<\/strong>
\nAmazon Kindle Stores:<\/strong>
\nUS\/International<\/strong><\/a> | UK<\/strong><\/a> | Canada<\/strong><\/a> | Germany<\/strong><\/a> | France<\/strong><\/a> | Italy<\/strong><\/a> | Spain<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Other Retailers:<\/strong>
\nBarnes and Noble Nook<\/strong><\/a> | Kobo Books<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

(Coming soon to Apple iBooks Stores)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DARK AND DANGEROUS: Six-in-One Hot Paranormal Romances Boxed Set featuring six books by six best-selling authors is out now in ebook and for a limited time only, it’s just $0.99 \/ 99p! That’s right, you can get these 6 hot … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158,9,27,8,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dark-and-dangerous","category-paranormal-romance","category-shapeshifter-romance","category-vampire-romance","category-werewolf-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}