Hi everyone.
As I mentioned in my last post, Dancing on Air will be
released on the 1st November by Escape Publishing. And as you all
know (because I’ve mentioned it enough!) it’s a Victorian period romance which
is set in the world of ballet.
It’s getting so close I can almost taste it! I can’t wait
to see the cover art.
However, I thought I would talk a little bit about my other
novel – Rain.
Rain is a medieval paranormal romance which has been
contracted by Jupiter Gardens Press.
It is set in the fictitious village of Farran in 1216 AD.
On
the mountain, high above the village of Farran – Nuri is caught between heaven
and hell. Two men fight for her love and her soul. The first is Maras, an
elemental being that follows the storms. Nuri knows that he is not human, he’s
something more. She believes he is her beautiful fallen angel. But he is
transient and is bound to the elements and their love may be as fleeting as the
storm itself. And Brother Erebus, a pious monk whose tortured soul is twisted
by his desire for her, will do anything to protect her soul from the silver
haired devil, even if he has to crush her body to do it.
It’s a love triangle set
against the backdrop of medieval village life, but with a paranormal twist. I
love this story and its characters Nuri and Maras. I even have a soft spot for
the dark and twisty Brother Erebus. Anyway, I thought I would share one of
favourite scenes.
I don’t have a release date
quite yet but it is coming J
Nuri
couldn’t sleep; the straw mattress was hard and lumpy. She had kept a candle
burning, an extravagance, but she needed the dim light to stop the stark stone
walls of the cell from crowding in on her. She turned and she tossed, but it
was her mind that would not allow her to sleep.
Thoughts
of Maras kept turning in her brain. She had seen his pale eyes warm when he
looked at her, and her skin burned at his touch. He would leave her when the
season changed and the storms blew over the mountain, but until then he was
hers. With a sigh, she threw back the blankets and got off the narrow bed. She
shivered as her feet touched the chilly stone floor of the cell. These small
rooms were the guest accommodation for Farran Chapel, but they felt more like
prison cells. There was one high window that was closed with a wooden shutter,
the gray walls, and the floor – everything stark and hard, especially the bed.
Mayhap
Erebus was right. Perhaps he could see her more clearly than she could see
herself. For at that moment, she would have given nearly anything to have the
courage to walk into Maras’s room. The more she thought about it, the more she
came to believe she and Maras were destined to be together – not forever, but
until the rain came.
She
wanted him. She wanted him to hold, kiss, and touch her. She wanted him in
every way, even if it put her on the path that Erebus feared so much. Maras
made her feel alive. Galfridus wanted her to marry, but she knew she would not,
as no other man could measure up to her angel.
She
stood next to the wall that adjoined their rooms, and placed her flattened hand
against it. Her courage had failed her. What if she went to him and he turned
her away?
~* * *~
Maras
stood by the gray stone wall and placed his hand on it. He could hear Nuri
moving about the room, restless. It took all his determination to stop himself
from going to her. He knew that he was leaving, and that he had no right to
complicate her life, as he would never be able to share his own with her. But
with each passing day, he was drawn more and more to her beauty and her quiet,
gentle spirit. He treasured the moments when she would lift her head and smile
at him, the way her hands would glide over his skin and make it tingle. From
the moment he had seen her, he had tried to fight the overwhelming desire to
feel her arms about him, to taste her lips, to take her.
Nuri
made him feel wanted and needed. It was a feeling that he had long forgotten.
She made him feel...human.
He
stood in his dark cell and wondered what she would do if he went to her, even
though he didn’t have the right. Would she welcome him to her embrace, to her
bed, or would she turn him away?
If
she did, wouldn’t that destroy him?
~* * *~
Erebus
had waited until the lonely hours after midnight before he silently crept into
the guesthouse. Without a sound, he let himself into the cell next to Nuri. He
leaned his body flat against the adjoining wall, and listened to the girl toss
and turn in her bed. Pressing his smooth cheek against the rough stone, he
wished he had the ability to melt through the wall so he could watch her every
movement. He told himself that he would endure this vigil to make sure that
Maras would not take advantage...not take her purity. It was his duty to keep
her safe from the devil with the silver hair and pale eyes. He knew in his soul
that there was something different, something wrong about Maras – something not
human. He was a demon among his fold, preying on the innocent, preying on Nuri.
He
heard her get out of bed and cross the floor. He pictured in his head her slim
form, dressed in a long white shift. Did
the shift cover her shapely ankles? Did it slide innocently off her soft
shoulder, exposing her creamy skin? The images tormented and fascinated him. He
wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers across her shoulder, to
kiss her perfect mouth.
He
took a deep breath and shook the images from his head. The pictures in his mind
were sent to torment him. The demon was at work.
He
would be strong; he would not fail. It was his duty to protect Nuri from
temptation. He would protect her soul, even if he had to crush her body to do
it.
Thanks for visiting!
Nicóle xx
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