Next On the List

In case anyone's wondered what will be following my paranormal trilogy, I've been working on this month's writing goals, which includes revising a short contemporary romance.

The photo above made me think of the couple in that story, as they were a long time ago...a young couple, first love, sweet, a much different place than where they are when we meet them at the start of the book. I'm having a good time with these revisions, though there are some points in this one where I've needed tissues. Haha. This story is the first in a series featuring a large group of cousins and siblings falling in love, with varying levels of heat, though most are less steamy than my Medusa's Daughters trilogy.

Balancing that, I'm also working on the fourth story in my tiger shifter series, which is flat-out hot, with a heroine on the run, and a hero who thinks love makes you weak. Boy, is he in for a bumpy ride.

Before I get back to my revising, I have a snippet for you this week from Protecting Medusa.

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            “I’ve been following a Harvester.”

            Philomena tugged her hand free and clasped her fingers in her lap, looking at her half-empty plate. Her stomach squeezed, and she was grateful she’d hardly eaten.

            “Met him here earlier, right, Mena?”

            Her mother’s gasp made her shoot a glare at him.

            “I think you should take Jason to Mena’s tonight, Aggie. Just in case.”

            “I think you’re right,” her mother said after a moment. “How did he find us?”

            One of his big shoulders lifted. “I wish I could say for sure, Aggie, but I imagine they’re just tracing families like when Kallan was still hunting. But this guy seems to know, or at least to believe, that Mena’s the Medusa. He’s been in town for two days, checking out the lay of the land, driving by the house.” His dark gaze slid to Philomena’s face. “I’m going after him again.”

            She swallowed, feeling a little guilty for wishing he’d leave, and averted her gaze.

            “Will you go right away, Aggie?”

            “Well, yes. But what about the two of you?” Her mother got to her feet, her frown deepening as she looked from one of them to the other.

            “We’ll be fine here for tonight,” he said. He rose and caught one of Aggie’s hands. “I’ve got a buddy coming tomorrow to upgrade your alarm system, though. Everything needs to be sensored, not just the first floor. This guy came in upstairs.”

            Her mother shut her eyes, no doubt imagining what would have happened if she and Jason had been home, or if the Harvester had come in the middle of the night. “Whatever you think is best, Ryder.” She squeezed his hand. “Let me get some things together.”

            That left Philomena alone with him, and the tension ratcheted a few degrees higher.

            “You don’t think he’ll come back, do you? Tonight, I mean?” She remained seated, not wanting to bump into him while she cleared away the remains of their meal, keeping her gaze on the table. Flitting from her plate to the leftover peas and sloppy joes. The open bag of rolls. Jason’s empty plate.

            “I don’t know. He seems to believe this is your primary residence, which means your mother and Jason need to be out for now. But I winged him earlier, so he’ll have to patch himself up first.” He inhaled deeply. “We’ll be fine until my buddy gets here.”

            She arched one eyebrow. “‘We’?”

            His lips curved into a cocky smile that made goosebumps lift on her arms. “Yeah. I think I can protect you.”

            “Who’ll protect me from you?” It was out before she could stop it, and she colored again.

            “If you need protection from me, I’m sure you’ll do fine. You wear your knife all the time, right?”

            “Not to bed.” Dammit, what is wrong with my mouth? More heat crawled up her throat to her face.

            “Well, that’s reassuring,” he drawled, his eyes darkening. “Why don’t you let me help you clean up?”

            “Why don’t you go sit with Jason?” she countered, pushing to her feet. Standing made her feel slightly better, though he still towered over her by a good six inches. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to catch you up on his show.” She carried her plate to the sink and scraped the remains of her meal into the disposal, turning it on and drowning out any response he might have made.

            When she turned around, she saw his back as he went into the living room, where Jason greeted him enthusiastically. The back looked as good as the front, she admitted, faded jeans clinging to a tight ass, strong thighs and calves.

            “Gods,” she muttered, shutting her eyes. Her hormones ought to have settled since her three days of exile were over till next month.

            She very deliberately didn’t think about him while she put away the leftovers and started the dishwasher. Or about the intent look in his eyes earlier, right before he kissed her. Instead, she focused on the website she was creating for a new client. She’d nearly finished tweaking the design, and in another day or two, it would go live, and a nice fat check would deposit into her bank account.

            “Philomena.”

            She glanced over her shoulder at the strained sound of her mother’s voice. “Are you okay, Mom?”

            Aggie nodded. “I’m worried about you.”

            “I’ll be fine. You know I’m armed,” she joked, patting her thigh.

            Her mother didn’t smile back. “If he’s tracked you here, it’s only a matter of time before he finds your house, too.”

            She couldn’t disagree. She’d thought it herself while poking at her dinner–what if he’d arrived at her house in the past three days while she was alone and bed-ridden? “Looks like I need to add to the protection here,” she said instead of responding to her mother’s last comment. “Aside from Ryder boosting the alarm system, that is. Do you mind?”

            Her mother shook her head. “Of course not. We have to make sure Jason is safe. I should have thought of refreshing the wards sooner.”

            Ryder came into the kitchen, Jason clinging to his back like a little monkey and giggling all the while. “I told Jason he’s going to stay at your place tonight, Mena.”

            She frowned. “It’s Philomena,” she said, realizing he’d been calling her Mena since his arrival. He did the same thing when they spoke on the phone, too, no matter how many times she’d corrected him over the years.

            The grin returned in a flash, and heat curled into her belly once more.

            So much for not thinking about that.

            He squatted so Jason could climb off. “Okay, sport, time to get your coat on.” Still, his gaze stayed on Philomena’s face.

            She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling the heat sink lower, spread. It was a very good thing he hadn’t arrived right before her period last week, when her hormones were amped up about ten thousand percent, thanks to Athena’s curse if she was reacting to him like this now. Even her panties were damp. If he’d been here last week, she might’ve done something regrettable.

            She swallowed and forced her gaze away from him as he rose to his full height again. “Can I help, Jason?”

            “Nah, I got it.” His fingers fumbled a bit on the zipper, but then he slid it to his chin.

            She smiled and knelt in front of him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, buddy?”

            He nodded and flung his arms around her neck. “I hope you have the best dreams.”

            She shut her eyes. She loved their bedtime ritual, established when he was barely speaking yet as a baby. “I hope you have even better dreams.”

            “No, you have the bestest.” He hugged her tighter.

            “Sleep great, baby.” She kissed him, a big, smacking kiss and released him, getting to her feet. “And you have the bestest, bestest dreams ever.”

            He laughed and took Aggie’s hand at the door.

            Philomena kept the smile on her face while she watched them go, though worry niggled into her chest. They needed to be safe.

            The heavy weight of Ryder’s arm settled on her shoulder. “They’ll be fine for tonight,” he murmured near her ear while outside a car started.

            She nodded, biting her lower lip. They had to be. If anything happened to them, it was on her head.

            “And I have to go.” He stepped away and took his coat from the hook behind the door.

            She grabbed the nearest jacket, which was too light for the brisk winter night, but she pulled it on anyway, then walked outside with him, noting her mother’s headlights leading away from the house. “You’re going to be careful, aren’t you?”

            “I’m always careful.” He shot her a bad boy grin that had her heart racing as they made their way along the sidewalk to the front of the house, where she saw his truck parked out front now beside the mailbox.

            “Nothing can happen to you, Ryder. You have Jason to worry about.”

            He kept walking.

            “Are you listening to me?” She glared up at him when he came to a stop beside the truck.

            He put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you more worried about Jason? Or me?”

            She blinked. “I’m worried about what will happen to Jason if something happens to you.” He smelled really good. Her pounding heart sped up still more. He stood too close. She needed a distraction. “You know Desi is a lousy parent. Might as well not even be a parent.”

            “What if something did happen to me? Would you miss me?” He bent nearer, his mouth almost grazing her temple.

            She tried to concentrate on his words, but the awareness rushing through her made it difficult. And dammit, she couldn’t even blame it on pre-curse hormones.

            “Would you be upset if I were hurt?” His open mouth slid down her cheek, hot, damp. Tempting. 

            Desire raced along her veins. Under her sweater, her nipples tightened in anticipation.

            “Mena?” He licked the corner of her mouth.

            She gasped, and he swooped in, covering her open mouth with his, and pressed her against the side of the truck, his warmth compensating for the cold metal at her back.

            He was aroused again. The heavy erection nudging her belly made her panties wetter.

            Shocked by her reaction, she couldn’t resist anyway, lifting into his kiss.

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How are your March goals/to-do lists looking? Are you checking things off, too? I'd love to hear about it!

Until next week, happy reading!