by Conn, Claudy
She liked his kisses. She was nearly sure he was the ‘special one’ she had been looking for, but she just couldn’t put a finger on her reluctance to take it to the next step. Jump into bed with him, her libido demanded.
At twenty-one she was old enough and mature enough to handle what her mother had called the consequences of sleeping with a man who may not want you the next morning. Would he not want her the next morning? Did it matter? It did, but why—why should it matter? She was living in an age when a woman could be intimate with a man just for pleasure … just for a night. She wanted more, that was why; something in her inner being wanted more, and she knew with a shake of her head what that something was … hidden, dormant … secret.
A tall, beautifully framed mirror hung on the far wall of her bedroom, and she moved to stand in front of it. She blew at the wavy golden bangs that tickled her forehead. She cocked her head, gave her waist-length silky hair another brush, and twirled the shorter curls on either side of her heart-shaped face. She supposed she would do.
Ravena didn’t consider herself stupid about sex and guys. She used to laugh with her friends and say she was a slow-blossoming flower waiting for just the right amount of water and sun.
She knew the general male population considered her hot, and she had to admit she liked the way she looked in the reflection staring back at her. Yup, she told herself, her dress was really eye-catching. However, insecurity nibbled at her mind. What if her inexperience turned him off? What if she got clumsy taking off her clothes? What if … on and on.
She sucked in air. For Rave, this was a really big step. Guys had been coming on to her ever since she was fourteen, but no one had ever interested her before Todd. Her Todd (and he had encouraged her to think of him that way) was big, bold, handsome, ambitious—a keeper. She liked him so much … but did she love him?
Her girlfriends had told her to go for it because it was time. Her best friend Meg had told her she was crazy if she didn’t close the deal with Todd because someone else would. Meg had laughed at her and told her she didn’t need to be ‘in love’ to have a good time.
Her mother had told her to wait until she was ready. Her father had whispered over the phone quietly that he rather thought she should wait until she was in love. Was she ready? Was she in love?
She wasn’t sure, but she did think it was time to find out.
Her heart wanted to do what her dad had told her—fall in love and know it first. She sighed and wished she were with her father roaming the Highlands of Scotland like they always did every summer. She wished she could sit and talk to him; he didn’t get her all crazy like her mother always did.
Another sigh followed this thought. It was because of Todd that she had told her dad she might not be staying the entire summer with him this year. That troubled her as well. She really wanted to return to the Highlands and her father—even more than she wanted to be with Todd. Did that mean she didn’t love Todd?
She smoothed the low-cut black silky dress that clung to her curves.. She had designed and then made the dress herself. She knew she looked sexy as hell and that her mother would raise an eyebrow—so the trick was to get past her overprotective parent without being seen.
She made it down the stairs of their Colonial styled-home and then remembered the keys were in the kitchen. She peeked into the kitchen. Her mother wasn’t there—nor was her stepfather, who was probably tinkering around in the garage. Rave scooped up her keys from the tray on the desk near the fridge and was out the door and nearly to her pale green Saturn parked out front when she heard her mother call her name.
“Rave—honey … wait!” Her mother ran towards her.
Ravena couldn’t stop the impatient tone as it escaped her lips. “Yes, Mom.” But she loved her, so she stopped and turned, glanced archly at her, and sighed. It struck her that no one would guess the petite, green-eyed redhead staring authoritatively at her was her mother.
Rave had her father’s gold hair and his dark, multi-shaded gray eyes, and although she was not tall, she was in her stocking feet, five feet five inches and towered over her mother’s five foot one.
Her mother gave her back the challenge with a raised brow that said it all. Rave laughed and hugged her before holding her shoulders. “Don’t worry.”
“Where are you going?” She looked her over and sighed. “Wait, let me guess: to see Todd.”
Ravena frowned. “I know you don’t like him, but I don’t have time now to argue in his defense.”
“No, it is more than a simple matter of liking or disliking the young man. It is that I don’t think he is the right man for you. He is still a boy … and, Rave, that will never do for you—you need a man.”
“And what sort of man are we talking about?” Ravena teased.
“This is serious. You will know when you meet him, and it isn’t Todd, who is more interested in himself and his needs than yours.”
“You don’t really know him.”
“I do know him. I watch from the outside and know him very well.” Her mother sighed. “However, perhaps it is as my Tom says. He feels the same way as I do about Todd, but he doesn’t want to be drawn into this. He says sometimes we each have to learn from our own mistakes.”
Tom was her mother’s husband. Her parents had been divorced since she was two, having married only because her mother had found herself pregnant. Her stepfather had come into their lives when Rave was ten. He was a good guy, and she had grown to love him over the years.
Affection flooded her, and she smiled in spite of her impatience. “Tom is right, Mom. I need experiences—good and bad.” She had never called him anything but ‘Tom’ because although she did in fact love her stepfather, she felt she had only one dad.
“Look, baby, I don’t want you hurt …”
“Like you?” Rave again arched her brow.
“Don’t be annoying to win a point. You know your father didn’t hurt me. He and I were never in love … not really. And we certainly weren’t made for each other. He was who he was … and I was so different. We were friends—we still are. But I have this awful feeling that Todd will hurt you.”
Ravena saw the look of helplessness in her mother’s eyes and touched her cheek. “I am old enough to know what I am doing.”
“We all say that at your age … ”
Irritation swept over Ravena’s face, and she grimaced at her mother before she walked away with a wave of her hand. “Don’t wait up.” She jumped into her car and did not look back as she pulled away from the curb.
Guilt suddenly flooded through her. She shouldn’t have left her mother like that. But what could she do? She would make it up to her tomorrow. Besides, she was a college grad. She was twenty-one. She was all grown up.
Over the years Ravena had heard her mother refer to her marriage to her father, Daniel MacAllister, as a mistake, and she hated hearing that. It negated all the good.
She was so much more her father’s child than her mother’s. An odd thing to admit even to herself but so true.
For the hundredth time she thought about changing her plans once more and just heading off to Scotland for the summer—maybe making a side trip and visiting with her grandmother, her father’s Canadian Indian mother, first.
She took a long gulp of air and bolstered herself. Todd was a great guy. She was doing the right thing—wasn’t she? He had committed himself to her in so many ways. He talked about the future. It was what she wanted, wasn’t it—a normal future? Did she want a future with him? Was she making the same mistake her mother had made—settling for someone who made her comfortable? Because to date, he damn well did not make her feel … passionate! The sorry truth was that no one ever had … yet.
Well, that would change tonight—wouldn’t it? She turned the corner, pulled into the lot adjacent to Todd’s apartment house complex, and parked. Princeton was a charming university town, and students were everywhere. Two acquaintances waved to her as she got out of her car and headed for t
he building.
She reached his door, key in hand, and hesitated. She had never used the key before. She was here unannounced. Should she use the key? Don’t be silly—he gave it to me to use. She put the key in the lock, opened the door, and stepped into the small, sparsely furnished living room.
She froze.
Todd and her best friend, Meg, were on the small shag rug on the living room floor, grunting and going at it with wild abandon.
Todd must have felt a draft on his bare butt, for he suddenly turned, saw her, and started scrambling to his feet. “Rave … Rave … no … this … this is nothing … Rave!” he shouted as he threw his clothing on hastily.
Too late—so few letters, such small words, such large meaning. Too late.
Ravena backed up clumsily until she hit the closed door at her back. She turned then, opened the door, and with shock and hurt flooding through her veins, she ran.
About Claudy Conn
Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.
She loves horses and riding and raised her ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!
To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website: http://www.claudyconn.com
To see pictures of Cherokee—and her shepherd-wolf son!—have a look at her Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Claudy-Conn-Paranormal-Romance-Author/135826686471445
Read more about Claudy Conn’s books
Through Time Series
Through Time-Pursuit
Revenge is the driver. Will love be the equalizer in Through Time-Pursuit? Chance LeBlanc and Princess Royce are about to find out in this contemporary fantasy romance, picking up where Catch & Hold—Legend left off.
Through Time-Whiplash
Four Dark Royals are about to march out of the Dark Realm with an army of monsters at their back. The Queen of the Seelie Fae is in jeopardy with the Council because of her love for Morgan LeBlanc, a Milesian. Enter, unexpectedly, Jazmine Decker, a Fios (Fae seer) who finds herself unwittingly thrown into the past with Trevor. Chaos lies ahead.
Legend Series
Prince Prelude—Legend
In this stand-alone tale and the backstory for the Legend series, we find ourselves in 1814. Gais and the prince come head to head over a woman. We will see Lamia DuLaine when she first sees Julian Talbot, and we will meet the first Maxie Reigate. Come along and see their world unfold …
Spellbound—Legend
Maxie is a reluctant heroine who travels to Scotland to find and save herself. Julian is a Druid priest in a modern age, and he is full of guilt—Can Maxie turn to him? Or will she turn to Prince Breslyn, a Royal Fae hunk offering her everything?
Aaibhe—Shee Queen (Novelette)
This is a love story but it is fringed with envy, jealousy, and bitterness—oh and more. It is laced with the havoc those devastating emotions can bring. It is about the seeds of hate born of love, and what havoc that hate can wantonly roar over even immortals. This is a story of Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, because she deserves that it be told.
Shee Willow—Legend
Half-human, half-Fae Willow Lang has never felt she truly fit in either world, but she’s doing her best to ignore her Fae nature. But when she finds herself in the middle of a conflict between the Seelie Fae and the evil Dark Fae, she must embrace her Fae powers in order to protect the Human world.
Prince in the Mist (Novella)
Fact one: By tradition and treaty, Fae do not interfere with the human world—it is against the rules. Fact two: For a Royal Fae prince who suffers from the ennui of immortality, watching and interacting with humans—especially lovely, spirited human females—can be entertaining. Fact three: When entertainment changes to affection, and affection becomes love, rules will be broken.
Trapped—Legend
Magical powers, a castle, and a charming prince sound like the ingredients for a fairy-tale life, but for BJ Mulroy, reality turns out to be a whole lot more complicated. The war between the Seelie and the Unseelie is heating up, BJ has been drawn into the fray … and there’s the matter of the seventeenth-century hunk in the painting.
Free Falling—Legend
They call her Z, and she is a handful ready to explode. She has entered the war against Gais and the Dark Fae and means to take him on all by herself. She is driven. Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, has other plans, and she sends in Prince Danté to execute and preserve her wishes. When Z and the prince meet, hackles go up on both sides.
Catch & Hold—Legend
Half-human/half-Daoine Fae Radzia MacDaun—Z to her friends—finds herself in the Dark Realm, where she’ll have to fight Gaiscioch on his own turf. Danté, Prince of the Tuatha Dé and Z’s lover, is not about to let her face this danger alone, however, and the two of them are thrust on a ride that takes them to the edge of life as we know it …
Shadow Series
ShadowLove—Stalkers
Shawna Rawley has no choice but to run when Pentim Rawley, one of the most evil vampires who has ever lived, discovers she is his daughter. Chad MacFare has an offer for Shawna he thinks she can’t afford to refuse: he’ll protect her from Pentim and his minions. But Shawna doesn’t trust the sexy immortal. She knows he has his own agenda—he wants to kill her father, and he wants to set her up as bait …
ShadowHeart—Slayer
Damon Drummond and Nikki Walker are on opposite sides. He is a potent vampire—she is a skilled and powerful vampire slayer. Problem right there … but when they look at each other, sparks of all kinds fly. Too much stands between them: He will live forever, she will not, and yet …
ShadowLife—Hybrid
WB and his clan have moved in, and section by section Dublin is going dark. When the team needs help, they turn to a shapeshifter, Roxie MacBran.
Hungry Moon Series
Hungry Moon: Quicksilver
Seeking a haven in which to recover from heartache and betrayal, Ravena MacAllister returns to the Scottish Highlands she loves. But instead of peaceful solitude, Rave discovers a passion she had never dreamt possible and an adventure that will change her life—if she survives. Oh, and she’s also going to have to face a truth she has long tried to deny: she is not exactly human.
Risqué Regencies
Myriah Fire
Myriah Whitney wants thunder and lightning, not a proper courtship and a sensible marriage. Then circumstances lead to an encounter with the mysterious Lord Kit Wimborne—in his bed, with both of them naked, no less!—and the meeting is an explosion of wills that finally sets Myriah on fire …
Oh, Cherry Ripe
Cheryl Elton has been in London for three seasons and refuses to be courted. When her mother takes matters into her own hands, Cherry runs!
Rogues, Rakes & Jewels
What happens when an eligible marquis pretends to be a rake and a gambler, and the woman he is supposed to be courting disguises herself as a masked French card dealer? Find out in this spicy, risqué Regency romance.
Taffeta and Hotspur
Hotspur wants Taffeta—how far will he go to make her his? Taffeta has a secret—will it land her in trouble?
Wildfire Kiss
Lady Babs is a rule-breaker, but has she met her match in Lord Wildfire?
Runaway Heart
Chelsea takes London by storm, but the only man she wants thinks she is no more than a child.
Netherby Halls
Circumstances have forced Sassy to take on a teaching position at Netherby Halls, a school for well-bred orphaned girls, but her developing powers as a white witch tell her something wrong, something evil, lurks there. And what about the dashing marquis who keeps appearing in her life?
; After the Storm
Jenny insisted she would never fall in love again, but she found herself drawn to the handsome Earl of Danfield. She also knew about his wild reputation, but it didn’t matter. His proposal would give her what she wanted. Peace.
