( Photo credit: philosophy_rebel / Foter.com /CC BY-NC-ND )
I have clearly lost my mind. There are so many things on my schedule for the next month, and I let myself be persuaded by one of my CPs to join NaNo, too. This is our busiest month of the year at work, so there will be quite a lot of overtime coming up. Then there is Thanksgiving, and all of the prep work that comes with it (during one of the busiest weeks at work). Plus I am behind on meeting my goal to have this first tiger shifter ready for my agent to see it.
What on earth was I thinking?
Oh, wait. I was thinking it might be my best chance to actually get closer to the writing goals I set for myself way back at the beginning of the year. Unless I win the lottery and stay home full-time to write, there’s no other way I’m going to actually reach those goals, but I can get a lot closer.
So I said yes.
And now that it’s here, I’m panicking. Revising the first tiger shifter won’t actually add much to my word count for the month, especially when I need to cut words from that manuscript. But working on the second tiger shifter will add a lot of words, particularly since today I discovered I lost a huge chunk of a scene I’d scribbled down for that one months ago.
My words here won’t count, so I’m going to keep this brief tonight–and I’m going to add a small snippet from Hunting Medusa for those of you who haven’t yet read it. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since the paperback release! I am still very in love with this hero, and I hope you love him, too.
—————
Her eyes burned, and she cursed her stupid hormones. She blinked hard and steeled herself. Lifted her hips away from his. Her breath hissed in as he groaned a protest. She felt cold suddenly.
Ignoring that, she clambered off the bed, searching for some piece of clothing to put on. She’d never felt so naked.
“Andrea.”
She ignored him too, moving to her dresser and taking out some clean clothes. She didn’t even notice what. With her stinging eyes, she couldn’t quite see the things she’d grabbed.
“Andrea.” His tone this time was harder, more insistent.
She glanced toward the bed.
“Don’t do this.”
“I have to.”
“It’s not safe.”
She forced a laugh. “Yeah, you’re so concerned for my safety. Does it really matter which one of you kills me? As long as it gets done?” She jerked on panties, then jeans before wrestling with a bra.
Kallan sat up, gripping the headboard with his cuffed hand. “Stavros won’t be as concerned with how he kills you, or how he gets the amulet.”
Andi swallowed as she yanked on her shirt, then froze when he put his free hand over the cuff on his wrist. She heard the unmistakable sound of it releasing before it jangled to the pillow.
Impossible.
He got to his feet, his green eyes dangerous now.
She dashed toward the door. She only made it halfway before he caught her, ripping one of the belt loops on her jeans in the process. She fought, striking whatever she could reach and wishing she’d at least gotten shoes on so she could do some real damage since he was still naked.
But the Harvester was stronger than she was, and he simply held on until she wore herself out.
Andi finally stopped struggling, her head drooping, breath coming hard again, but with far less satisfaction this time.
He carried her back to the bed and snapped her wrist into the handcuff, his mouth set in a hard line. “I have another set, if I need both of your hands out of commission,” he ground out.
She didn’t bother to answer, struggling still to catch her breath. And against more of the unexpected tears. Damned hormones.
He sat down beside her, hands braced on his hair-spattered knees. “I thought we were going to each do a little trusting,” he said finally.
She looked at the wall to her left, rather than at him. “I saw the handcuffs and I had to try.”
“Was it worth it?”
A scalding tear rushed down her cheek, making her glad she’d turned her face away.
“I know you weren’t faking,” he whispered, leaning nearer. “You can’t fake that.”
She bit her lip, swallowing around the giant lump in her throat.
“And neither was I.”
She barely kept herself from turning to look at him, but the shock still made her body jerk.
—————
I hope the start of your November isn’t too crazy. I’ll be looking for my lost mind, between rounds of writing and revising.