Ellen Mint’s Halloween PNR Countdown

Today, I’m participating in Ellen Mint’s amazing Halloween giveaway. Thirteen days of paranormal romance books featuring vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and even a Rifaniir security director!

Head over to Ellen’s blog for a chance to win a paperback copy of Izabel, the latest book in the Wolves of Sorrow series, along with a DNA doublehelix charm. The charm will be attached to a custom bookmark, but it’s easily removed to use as a zipper pull or key ring decoration. As a bonus, I’ve included below a deleted scene from Izabel which fits between chapters five and six and isn’t safe for work! So read on… if you dare!

Snippet Fits Between Chapters 5 & 6

Izabel coded herself into Ranoch’s home and sighed. The enticing scents of neroli and warmed amber musk lingered in the air and wrapped around her like a fluffy robe. Comforting and welcomed. Kicking off her shoes, she locked the door before going to his bedroom. After a quick shower, she pulled out one of his shirts and slipped it over her head.

Her lover was a tall man, broad through the shoulders and chest. so his shirt hung on her like a loose dress. The hem fell several inches below her butt to brush against her thighs. The fabric was feather-soft against her skin. She drew it to her nose and inhaled the faint scent of him stamped into the weave. Her wolf stirred, a possessiveness to the animal she’d never before felt. It wanted to mark and claim Ranoch Til until everyone knew he belonged to them. Izabel agreed, but not yet. Not until he knew the truth.

Eschewing underwear, she padded to his kitchen to prepare a quick meal. Nothing fancy since he could only break away from the HQ in short bursts, but it was nutritious and filling and made with love. So much love. It scared her sometimes how deeply she felt for this man who’d captured her wolf’s interest beneath a summer rainstorm.

“What’s for dinner, my Izabel?” Ranoch’s deep voice brushed against her ear as his arms encircled her waist. He pulled her back against his chest and dropped soft kisses down her neck.

“You, if you keep doing that.”

“Sounds perfect.”

He retraced his lips’ path with sharp nips and sensuous licks. Smoothing his hands up her stomach and over her taut nipples, he teased the sensitive tips with his palms. Izabel reached back and let him feel her claws through the thick material of his pants. He chuckled softly and cupped her breasts.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Another kiss to her neck, another gentle bite to that place which made her melt. “Every time I come home and you’re here, I can’t believe my luck. He inched the shirt up her thighs and groaned. “No panties?”

He cupped her damp heat, the touch bold and designed to arouse, and whispered in her ear all the things he planned to do to her before dinner. Izabel grabbed the edge of the counter, her pulse thunder in her ears. She wanted to do everything on his list. That, and that, oh, and this one too. Yes, and please. At his hoarse request, she spread her legs. Giving him room. Giving him access. He rewarded her with teasing, shallow strokes.

“Ranoch!”

“What’s the hurry?”

He dipped a fingertip inside her, circled her clitoris with gentle pressure, then did it again. And again. In contrast, his other hand had slipped under her shirt to torment her nipple. His fingers were rough, pinching and tugging sharp enough the pleasure bordered on pain. Just how she liked it. The dual sensations stoked her desire to a fever pitch. She needed more, needed him.

“I’m going to bite you soon.” She growled. He laughed, the happy sound echoed by the forest song which always surrounded him. She loved his laughter and his song. It soothed her wolf, made her feel cherished. Still, if he didn’t quit teasing her soon, she was really, truly going to bite him.

“I want to see you.” He thrust two fingers inside her in a slow, deep rhythm. “Take off your shirt.” She tore the material over her head and tossed it aside. His hand brushed over her hip, traced the curve of her ass. “Sexy and lovely and mine.”

“Yours,” she agreed. She was his, forever she’d be his, even if he wouldn’t always be hers.

His hand fell away from her hip, and she heard the rustle of cloth behind her. Then he was tilting her forward, and he was pushing inside her. He loved her with a raw carnality which appealed to her wolf and touched her with a tenderness which stole the woman’s human heart. Afterward, they shared a quick shower accented with more teasing caresses and long, thorough kisses.

“You’re a menace.” Izabel laughed when he pulled her onto his lap while they ate.

“Your fault,” he said and offered her a bite. “I came home and found a sexy, half naked woman in my kitchen.” He slipped his hand between her legs and caressed her bare thigh. “You’re spoiling me, my Izabel. This is the second time I’ve had dessert before my dinner.”

Laughing she stole a kiss then lay her head on his shoulder. While they ate, she talked about her garden, the status of her work in the infirmary, and the aggression which continued to ripple through some of the pack.

“Most of the pack understand even if they mourn who they believe the elders to have been, but there are a few who benefitted from what the elders did.”

“Like Friedrich?”

She nodded. “They allowed him the freedom to indulge in his basest urges and looked the other way if his victims had lost the elders’ favor.”

The predator who held her so sweetly stilled. He tightened his arms around her, his forest song turning harsh and dangerous. “Did he touch you?”

“No.” She brushed her lips over his. Later, she promised herself. She’d tell him later why she’d avoided that humiliation. “But I know others he targeted.”

“Good.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and held her for his kiss. It was deep and thorough, a dominant predator reinforcing his claim. “Because I’d have to kill him if he had.”

Thirty minutes later, Izabel walked Ranoch to the door. The unrest in Korlyn’s Glen hadn’t calmed since the elders’ and Takbir’s executions, and he needed to return to security headquarters. He pulled her against her, his hands sliding under her shirt to smooth over her bare skin.

“Lock up behind me, my Izabel. I want you safe while I’m gone.”

“I will.” Cupping his face, she kissed him. “Don’t stay too long. Your bed is comfy, but it’s lonely without you.”

His smile was slow, a little wicked, and so gorgeous it made her breath catch. Ranoch Til was a dangerous, dangerous man. And he was hers. She’d let nothing—not her secrets or the current unrest—keep them apart.

One final kiss, and he was gone, his alluring scent of vetiver spice and warmed amber musk lingering in the air. Already the house felt empty without him.