A week and a day: WAKING KISS!

All this time I have been vaguely promising, mid-June, mid-June…you are all so wonderful to put up with me. I can now say with certainty that it will be ready to start uploading on Monday of next week. Yay!

The truth is, Waking Kiss is probably the most difficult work I’ve ever fought through and I wanted it to fulfill my vision before I put it out. Also, it has a follow-up book about Rubio, Fever Dream, and I wanted them to go together just right. I created this little world and these people, and they ended up being very complex, with intricate stories.  I HOPE YOU LIKE THEM!

I’ll share one last snippet before next week’s release. Waking Kiss has many dark moments but many light-hearted moments too. (It’s an Annabel Joseph book, lol.) This is one of the lighter moments, when Liam drags Ashleigh off for a private tete-a-tete during a New Years Eve Gala party.

     I looked around but no one was paying attention to us. He hustled me to the side of the auditorium and into the shadows near the stage door. “Where are we going?” I asked.

     “I don’t know. To a closet somewhere.”

     I tugged against him, gripping my basket. “I can’t leave. I’m supposed to sell shoes.”

     “I’ll buy the whole fucking basket of shoes, okay? Just…quit selling those. It’s creepy. Put that down.” We fought for a minute over the basket but he managed to strip it from me. He put it down next to the wall. “You can come back for it later. I need a minute with you. Alone.”

     Just a minute? He seemed really keyed up, and I was adrenalized just to be close to him. From the beginning, I’d felt that way. He pulled me into the first room we came to, a cramped, obsolete sound room.

     “Speaking of creepy,” I whispered, “I think someone died in here.”

     “No one died in here. Someone probably got groped in here a few times.” His hands opened on my throat and he kissed me, pressing me against the wall. “I’ve missed you, Ash,” he said in between ravishing my mouth. “How are you?”

     I struggled for breath. “I’m— I’m— I don’t—”

     He kissed me again, his black tie standing out against the white of his shirt in the dim room. I touched his neck, his cheek. There were no other bare spots to touch. His fingers roved over my pale pink leotard with its short, diaphanous skirt. “I could see the outline of your ass in this leotard,” he whispered with ferocious craving. “I’ve wanted to grab it all night.” He did then, firm and hard, and kneaded it in his palm. “Your body is ridiculous.”

     I probably should have said “Thank you” or something similar but I was losing my ability to speak. His hands were all over me but they didn’t feel smothering or scary. They felt wonderful. I was turning all liquid inside, growing hot and wet. He cupped my breasts and then he yanked down the bodice of my leotard and ran his thumbs across both my nipples.

     My breath stuttered in my throat. “You’re—you’re t—touching my boundaries.”

     “Yes, I am. They feel beautiful.” He nuzzled his face against my neck. “You’re coming tomorrow?”

     I gasped as his fingernail flicked one of my nipples. “Yes, Sir.”

     “What time?” he asked, moving his hands back down to circle my waist.

     “Noon.”

     “What happens if you’re late?”

     I could feel the heat of his lips against mine. “Punishment,” I whispered.

     He brushed my hair back and feathered kisses across my brow. “Don’t be late. We have so many fun things to do.”

     “N-No. I won’t be late.”

     He gave me one last, mesmerizing kiss. “Happy New Year, Ashleigh.”

     I could hear everyone out in the auditorium exclaim as the clock struck twelve. It was the very last thing on my mind.

Here’s a blurb for you, in case you haven’t read it yet. You can read the same blurb on the Goodreads page here (click) and add my book to your TBR list if you like. 

A stranger in the wings, a traitorous pair of toe shoes, and a traumatic turn dancing with The Great Rubio… For ballerina Ashleigh Keaton, it’s been one hell of a night.

But it’s not over yet. When Rubio drags her to a private BDSM party at his friend’s house in the ritzy part of London, she meets Liam Wilder, a lifestyle dominant and frighteningly seductive man. Liam pursues Ashleigh, attracted by her strength and talent, but she has secrets—an abusive past and a crippling fear of intimacy that prevents her from connecting to anyone, especially a kinky playboy reputed to be legendary in bed.

Eventually he wins her trust and sets out to heal the troubled dancer, awakening her to a world of erotic obedience and sensual abandon in a series of “sessions” at his home. But how pure are his motives? Is he helping her or endangering her fragile soul? Liam hides his own destructive secrets, and so does Fernando Rubio, their temperamental friend. Over time the three become embroiled in a tangle of artifice, fears, and lies that threaten to undo everything they’ve worked for.

Will Ashleigh and Liam find the strength to defeat their demons? Or are they cursed to sleepwalk through life forever, afraid to experience the passion and intimacy of love?

I hope you’ll be watching for Waking Kiss early next week. I’ll be sure to tweet and Facebook about the release, and of course, post links here. Thanks for all your encouragement through this process. And your patience!