Shadow of Ruin (The Complex)

by Cherie Marks

  God, what was she thinking? A darkness chasing her? Could she just be imagining the whole thing? Not quite sure how to integrate this incident, the latest in a series of inexplicable episodes, she hurried on, hoping to make it to her apartment before whatever it was caught up to her.

  What was wrong with her? Was she just shoulder-deep in a paranoid delusion? When she had no history of them? It was beyond strange and frankly made her concerned for her sanity.

  Janna picked up her pace as her building came into view. She was close now, but as she drew nearer, it became obvious, like a flashing storm cloud, the dark presence had shifted to the front of her. What the… Without thinking, she veered toward the park across from her building, preferring complete avoidance to a possible confrontation with some unknown evil manifestation. Since when had she become the ghost-freaking-whisperer?

  Her attention was still focused on the energy behind her as she turned past the hedges and iron fencing that fronted the park. She didn’t see the body in front of her until she’d collided full on with a tall figure clothed all in blue. She let her gaze start on the heavy, dark utility belt and rise up the shirtfront, past the buttons and the strong chin, past the straight nose into the impossibly blue eyes under his adorably wrinkled brow. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. And though she clearly had never met him, something about him felt familiar, like she did know him somehow. But without a doubt she’d never forget someone like him if they’d ever met before.

  “Whoah! Everything okay?” His voice ran over her like warm, soapy water and heated her up from the inside out. Relief bloomed in her chest as she recognized the blue uniform of a police officer. And a gorgeous one at that. The burning in her lungs began to ease as her pounding heart thudded still. She suddenly became aware of his hands wrapped around her upper arms and his concerned gaze scanning her face and body. He’d asked her a question, and she needed to give him a believable answer.

  But what could she say? There’s something evil blocking the entrance to my apartment building. Her breathing sawed in and out heavily at the very real possibility. Yeah, that would go over like a pile of smelly garbage in the middle of a pristine white showroom. More than likely, he’d rush her off to the nearest in-patient treatment center. But he was staring at her, and she needed to say something.

  The Vampire Next Door

  For Mia Alexander, the world is getting hotter—literally. Not only is she slathering on gobs of sunscreen, but she’s developed a ravenous desire for rare meat. As if not strange enough, a freaking hottie-like-no-other just moved in next door and can’t seem to keep his gaze off of her.

  Campbell Reid has wandered this earth as a vampire for a long time, but since the tragedy of his family’s death, he’s perfected an unbreakable control—until he encountered his latest target. His mission from The Supernatural Council is to protect her from other vampires as she transitions and from a mysterious, emerging threat. But can he protect her from himself?

  Things heat up as the danger closes in, and Campbell fights by her side as The Vampire Next Door.

  Excerpt:

  Mia Alexander woke, hands around her neck. They were her own and there to protect against an attack, guarding her exposed skin from some unknown horror. Yet, she recognized there wasn’t any real threat near her. A quick glance around reassured her she was still in her bedroom and seemed to be completely alone.

  She dropped her hands to her sides, using them to brace herself on the mattress below her and sit up, slick droplets of sweat sliding down her torso. Another nightmare. She’d had another nightmare. One just like the others where she fought for her life against dark figures she could never quite bring into focus. And as before, she’d reacted in real life, trying to protect herself against the acts going on in her dream world. These vivid dreams were driving her crazy.

  A quick look at the red glow of the clock showed 2:34 A.M., the same time she always woke when she had the nightmare. An odd coincidence, surely, but not one easily explained away. Something was off in her brain, and it was beginning to affect her everyday life.

  She’d researched the heck out of repetitive dreams, specifically about ones in which the dreamer was attacked, but all she’d figured out was that she might have trust issues with the people around her or she might be beating herself up over recent experiences. Well, duh! Either way, with such vague answers, she was pretty sure dream interpretation was a throw-a-dart-at-the-wall kind of science, and she’d better look for answers elsewhere.

  The t-shirt she’d worn to bed stuck uncomfortably to her skin. She threw the covers back, deciding to change before attempting to drift back to sleep. As she rose, a feeling she was being watched raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Using the scant light from the streetlamps and the moon shining through the closed French doors that when opened led to the tiny balcony outside, she scanned the bedroom. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She shook off the sensation, feeling a little silly. Must just be a remnant of the nightmare.

  She turned to the oak wood dresser and pulled another shirt from the top drawer. With careful movements, she peeled the damp shirt she wore over her head. Thank goodness she’d gone braless tonight. One less piece of sweat-dampened laundry to worry about.

  She jerked her head up at a low, strangled sound behind her and covered herself quickly as the cool night air cascaded through the now open door to the outside. She caught a glimpse of a shadow exiting and took two steps back toward her closet as the figure turned one last time before disappearing over the rail of the balcony. Her instincts had been on target, and she didn’t have a weapon. Why didn’t she have a weapon? There had been someone in her room. From the tall, broad frame, over six feet at least, it had to have been a man. And son of a beezy, she’d undressed in front of him. Eeeewww!

  Mia swallowed a few times and waited, paralyzed. After a few moments, she realized the intruder was truly gone and crossed to the open door to search the grassy area below, but nothing stirred. Whoever it was seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, but he’d left a trace of himself behind. A rich, spicy aroma, a sensual promise in its very essence, still floated in the air and tickled her nostrils. She paused, processing the enticing smell, committing it to memory. Her skin sizzled and electric fingers slipped down her spine, spreading through her mid-section. Surprised by the intensity of her reaction, she worked to slow her breathing and stepped back into her bedroom. She closed the door and turned the deadbolt, watching the metal slip into the casing to be sure it was locked.

  Nervous energy fired through her as she stood in the dark trying to understand what had just happened. Someone had been in her bedroom while she slept. Tune her guitar to freaked-the-hell-out. That shit was scary.

  Lost in New Falls

  Blurb:

  Kate Delaney left New Falls, Tennessee, heartbroken and hell-bent for Hollywood. She’s spent the last ten years in LA, but is back in town, fifty pounds lighter, California hotter, and she’s written The End on a screenplay, which is movie magic in the making. Just one problem—a nerve-nuking thief runs-off with her laptop, attached USB back-up, and the contents of her underwear drawer—and as if that wasn’t enough, the heartbreaker from ten years ago just walked through the door with a sheriff’s badge and looking more hormone-carbonating than ever.

  Quentin Taylor likes the new and improved Kate, but honestly, his feelings are anything but new. When a teen-aged Kate bloomed, her older brother Reese established a no-look, no-touch, no-anything else rule. Quentin figured it was the anything else that worried him most. Attractive then, now she was sex-on-a-stick hot, and he needed to know one thing. Was touching her still off-limits?

  Despite a meddling, matchmaking mother, a gossiping dispatcher/receptionist with an obsession for orange, and a small-town burglar who steals thimble collections, garden tools, and underwear, Quentin and Kate search for her missing script and try not to fall for each other as they get Lost in New Falls.

  Excerpt:


  "I don't think you've been hanging out with the right people."

  "Oh, and who would be a good person to hang out with?"

  He crested a hill and the lake came into view. "Someone with a good heart and a huge..." he paused for effect, "...fascination with you."

  He felt her gaze like a heated wind until she turned away. What was she thinking? She stared quietly out the car window. "Did you have anyone in particular in mind?" She chuckled and his abdomen tightened.

  "I might know someone."

  She seemed to hesitate, but spoke quietly, “I realize I’m kind of a little-sister figure for you, but I don’t appreciate you teasing me about this.”

  Don’t tease her? Hell, if he had his way, he’d tease her all the rest of this weekend and beyond. Time to lay his cards out and make his play. “What if I’m being totally serious? What if

  I’m attracted to you, Kate? Always have been?”

  Her mouth dropped open as she shifted to face him. “I call bull, Quentin. You can’t pretend

  I didn’t come onto you ten years ago, and you can’t deny you pushed me away. I was there. That did happen.”

  And there it was. The biggest mistake of his life thrown back at him, and for the first time, he saw it from her perspective. She’d thought he didn’t want her. In her mind, he hadn’t found her appealing. How did he convince her the opposite had been true? He’d wanted her so badly, he’d been ready to sacrifice a friendship with the one guy who’d been like a brother to him, with the one guy who’d stood by him when everyone else had run.

  The minute he saw a gravel drive on the right side of the road, he pulled off and parked the car. He turned to stare at her for a moment. Her hair was down and fell in large, loose curls he wanted to twist around his fist, and her fiery blue eyes were wide and expectant, even as her lush lips pursed and her cheeks flushed in annoyance. Like this, she was his fantasy come to life, and she didn’t even know it.

  “Truth—and this might be a little vulgar, but I’m just going to say it—I wanted you that night and would have gladly taken what you were offering. Kate, you’ve always turned me on. But I couldn’t do it because Reese would have gone ballistic. He’d already told us all to keep our hands off his little sister.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That night at the lake, I wanted you. I thought I’d won the ultimate lottery when you pulled me in for a kiss, but then at the last moment, I remembered a promise made to a friend, and I knew I couldn’t do it. No matter how irresistible you were to me, I couldn’t do that to Reese.”

  “So, Reese told you not to kiss me?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, or anything else. I think he was more worried about the anything else.”

  Her face twisted as she contemplated his words, and he was sure it was news to her that all the boys had lusted over her. He wasn’t going to enlighten her about the others, but he wanted to make his own attraction clear.

  “No doubt about it, Katie. You turned heads ten years ago. And the minute I saw you in your cabin yesterday, even before I recognized you, instant attraction hit me like a log roll on the loose. I still want to know.”

  “Know what?”

  “Well, seeing as I screwed it up the first time, I want to know what it’s like to actually kiss you.”

  Her gaze met his. Electricity sizzled between them. His heart raced. What would she say?

  Would she kiss him or had he blown all chances ten years ago?

  “What about Reese?”

  What about Reese? They were all adults now, and Kate was fully capable of making her own decisions without Reese. And, hell, Reese would surely understand.

  He smiled. “I don’t want to kiss him.”

  She laughed lightly, but her eyes closed half-way, and the heat between them intensified. “I mean, what do you think he’d say now?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m at the point, I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”

  Into the Fire

  Months after he stole her affections—then her executive chef position—Shyann and Luke meet again under sizzling circumstances, competing head-to-head on a televised cooking show called Kitchen Twist. Each arrives with a motive: Luke intends to win back Shyann’s heart, even as she wants closure on the not-so-tasty heartbreak he once served up.

  Luke knows culinary masterpieces require a delicate touch, but that knowledge is tossed out with the leftovers as he works to show Shyann he’s not such a bad guy. Now he pushes his skills to the limit to win the competition and satisfy a bet.

  Can two top chefs resist each other as they move out of the pan and into the fire?

  Excerpt

  Silence reigned for half a minute before he reached out a hand and touched hers like a breezy whisper. Her head went a little fuzzy at the warm contact. He shouldn’t still be able to affect her so strongly.

  “I regret it went down the way it did, but why did you show me the exit before giving me a chance to explain, not to mention—dress? Enlighten me, sugar cheeks?”

  With a jerk, she pulled her hand free. He was really asking for it. Sugar cheeks? Seriously?

  Now she knew he was only messing with her. She could give as well as she got.

  “Tell you what. You win tonight, and I’ll give you your chance. You lose, we go our separate ways, and you walk out all by yourself, big boy.”

  A crooked grin formed on his face as he reached a hand toward her hair. He fingered an escaping curl before she pulled away, leaving his hand hanging in mid-air.

  “You can call me big boy all you want, but I’ll do you one better. How about if I win, I take you to dinner, and you let me explain the whole situation?”

  She felt her eyebrow rise and knew he’d read it as interest, but she didn’t care at the moment. “I honestly don’t want to hear any explanation from you now or ever, but if I win?

  Which I will, of course.”

  “Then I’ll leave it up to you. If you want me to walk away, I will.” He took a step closer, placed his hand on her shoulder, and leaned down, his mouth right next to her ear. “But if you want me to call you darling, sweetheart, and sugar cheeks all night long, I’ll do that to.”