Vampire's Soul

Vampire's Soul

Vampire Queen Series, Book XIV

by  Joey W. Hill

Loss left them only rage...Until they found each other…
Cai doesn’t want to be with anyone. He doesn’t want a damn servant, he doesn’t want
to be associated with damn vampires. Rand just wants to forget his human side, stay
in his wolf form and find a satisfying and hopefully violent, bloody way to bring it all to
an end.
But when a young female vampire’s life is at stake, the Vampire Council drafts Cai to
enter a dark world he never wanted to visit again. Rand is too honorable to let him go
alone, and the only way that can work is if he’s Cai’s fully marked servant, bound to the
vampire for all eternity.
So fate decides these two lost souls need each other. Even if they have to tear each
other apart to figure it out.

Pre-Order Links

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2ffQxGD
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vampires-soul/id1274138306?ls=1&mt=11

Excerpt

Holy crap… It couldn’t be. A freaking shifter.
There were rumors of their existence, so unsubstantiated they could be called fairy tales. Yet being a vampire, and knowing that a lot of what humans called imaginary creatures could exist, Cai wasn’t in the habit of asserting something couldn’t, just because he hadn’t seen it. Even so, he’d never heard of anyone who’d seen a wolf shifter.
He was seeing one now.
The transformation energy cocooned the wolf like rope, tightening, pulling his body in multiple directions. If every shift was this brutal, Cai had no idea why any wolf shifter would do so voluntarily, and maybe they didn’t. But he had to wonder if the wolf’s obvious ferocious struggle against the transition was making it even more excruciating.
Maybe he thought he was more vulnerable to Cai in that form. He probably was, but…
Cai drew closer. The wolf seemed almost insensible to him now, so he dropped to his heels next to him and laid a hand on his fur. The covering felt much thinner, like a silk scarf instead of a thick pelt. That scarf was about to tear.
The magic coiled around the shifter snapped away, striking Cai with stinging heat before it dis-apparated the wolf. The shift had seemed gradual, torturous, but then, in a final blink, there he was. Cai was staring at a man lying against the corpse of another, their blood mixed together and soaking the earth beneath them.
Hellfire.
Cai’s gaze traveled over the shifter. As a wolf, he’d been as big as a black bear. As a human, he kept the same impressive build. Snarled, long brown hair tangled over broad shoulders, his wide chest covered with a temptingly thick mat of gleaming chestnut hair that arrowed down to genitals and tree trunk thighs. In the naked male’s position, sprawled on one hip, Cai had a good view of his ass.
An ass worth saving.
Would you like to read ALL of Chapter One? Find it here on the author website: http://storywitch.com/book-vqs-vs

About the Author

Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has
published almost fifty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including
six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires,
mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple
housemaids. With her books, she hopes readers won’t “look past the sex,” but instead
will “look within it,” and find a story that can touch not just the body, but also the heart
and soul.
Website & Social Media Links:
Website: storywitch.com
Twitter: @JoeyWHill
Facebook: JoeyWHillAuthor
Facebook Fan site: JWHMembersOnly
GoodReads: author/show/103359.Joey_W_Hill
Pinterest: jwhill23
Free novellas revisiting my characters: storywitch.com/series-cantrips

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

and two ebooks from author’s existing titles (reader’s choice)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vampire's Soul

Vampire's Soul

Vampire Queen Series, Book XIV

by  Joey W. Hill

Loss left them only rage...Until they found each other…

Cai doesn’t want to be with anyone. He doesn’t want a damn servant, he doesn’t want
to be associated with damn vampires. Rand just wants to forget his human side, stay
in his wolf form and find a satisfying and hopefully violent, bloody way to bring it all to
an end.


But when a young female vampire’s life is at stake, the Vampire Council drafts Cai to
enter a dark world he never wanted to visit again. Rand is too honorable to let him go
alone, and the only way that can work is if he’s Cai’s fully marked servant, bound to the
vampire for all eternity.


So fate decides these two lost souls need each other. Even if they have to tear each
other apart to figure it out.

Pre-Order Links

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2ffQxGD
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vampires-soul/id1274138306?ls=1&mt=11

Excerpt

Holy crap… It couldn’t be. A freaking shifter.

There were rumors of their existence, so unsubstantiated they could be called fairy tales. Yet being a vampire, and knowing that a lot of what humans called imaginary creatures could exist, Cai wasn’t in the habit of asserting something couldn’t, just because he hadn’t seen it. Even so, he’d never heard of anyone who’d seen a wolf shifter.

He was seeing one now.

The transformation energy cocooned the wolf like rope, tightening, pulling his body in multiple directions. If every shift was this brutal, Cai had no idea why any wolf shifter would do so voluntarily, and maybe they didn’t. But he had to wonder if the wolf’s obvious ferocious struggle against the transition was making it even more excruciating.

Maybe he thought he was more vulnerable to Cai in that form. He probably was, but…

Cai drew closer. The wolf seemed almost insensible to him now, so he dropped to his heels next to him and laid a hand on his fur. The covering felt much thinner, like a silk scarf instead of a thick pelt.

That scarf was about to tear.

The magic coiled around the shifter snapped away, striking Cai with stinging heat before it dis-apparated the wolf. The shift had seemed gradual, torturous, but then, in a final blink, there he was.

Cai was staring at a man lying against the corpse of another, their blood mixed together and soaking the earth beneath them.

Hellfire.

Cai’s gaze traveled over the shifter. As a wolf, he’d been as big as a black bear. As a human, he kept the same impressive build. Snarled, long brown hair tangled over broad shoulders, his wide chest covered with a temptingly thick mat of gleaming chestnut hair that arrowed down to genitals and tree trunk thighs. In the naked male’s position, sprawled on one hip, Cai had a good view of his ass.
An ass worth saving.

Would you like to read ALL of Chapter One? Find it here on the author website: http://storywitch.com/book-vqs-vs

About the Author

Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has
published almost fifty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including
six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires,
mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple
housemaids. With her books, she hopes readers won’t “look past the sex,” but instead
will “look within it,” and find a story that can touch not just the body, but also the heart
and soul.

Website & Social Media Links:
Website: storywitch.com
Twitter: @JoeyWHill
Facebook: JoeyWHillAuthor
Facebook Fan site: JWHMembersOnly
GoodReads: author/show/103359.Joey_W_Hill
Pinterest: jwhill23
Free novellas revisiting my characters: storywitch.com/series-cantrips

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

and two ebooks from author’s existing titles (reader’s choice)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Daughters of Arianne

When a wounded angel falls out of the skies, a mermaid risks her life to save him…

A seawitch who hates the whole world is championed by the one angel who refuses to let her drive him away…

A merangel is trapped in a dark world with a vampire half-breed who doesn’t know the difference between good and evil; only between what he wants and what he can have…

The Daughters of Arianne trilogy: Paranormal romances that straddle the line between sensual and erotic, and explore the dark side of the Little Mermaid fairy tale. Now, these books are being re-released at self-published prices and, even better, they’re on sale during the pre-order period! Through July 31, get all three full-length novels for $8.97 on Amazon, Kobo or iBooks.

For full excerpts and blurbs to these three titles, visit http://storywitch.com/series-doa.

From the author: When I wrote these books, I expected them to be romances with lovely mermaids, really hot angels, and awesome good-versus-evil climactic battles. All that worked out just fine (wink), but the stories also became an emotional exploration into how we deal with love and loss, regrets, and how we try to live every moment of our life with a deep understanding of how precious it can be, no matter what challenges we face. I hope you give them a try!

* * * * *

Buy Links

A Mermaid's Kiss - Book 1

http://amzn.to/2h1hmhH
A Witch's Beauty - Book 2

http://amzn.to/2eMrwSG
A Mermaid's Ransom - Book 3

http://amzn.to/2eMrFpc

 

Author Bio

Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has published over forty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. With her books, she suggests “don’t look past the sex; look in it, and find a wonderful story to touch the heart and soul.”
Author Web & Social Media links:
Website: storywitch.com
Twitter: @JoeyWHill
Facebook: facebook.com/JoeyWHillAuthor
GoodReads: goodreads.com/author/show/103359.Joey_W_Hill
Fan sites/free material: storywitch.com/community
Presented by http://wlkmedia.com

Truly Helpless

Being truly helpless is the only thing that can save him. But it’s the one thing he’s not willing to do.

Marius has all the things a Mistress could want in a one-night-sub encounter. Hot body, loads of charm and a willingness to get her off in any way she pleases. That’s his reputation at The Zone. But Marius has a dark side. When a Mistress pushes him for something deeper, he’ll push back, mess with her head. When he takes it too far one night, The Zone management has had enough. He’s kicked out of the club and there’s only one way back in—Lady Regina.

Regina’s been studying Marius for a while. She enjoys her submissives in all flavors, and she likes them challenging, though not usually the “knight-in-distress” type, so screwed up she’d need a backhoe to dig him out of his dysfunctions. But on that pivotal night, she sees something in Marius. He doesn’t know what it means to be truly helpless to a Mistress, but he needs it, more than any sub she’s ever encountered. And that’s a challenge this Mistress can’t resist.

Excerpt

Background: Regina is tending Marius after he competes in an illegal fight…

She stepped back. “You’ll do. I suppose you know a hot shower when you get home is the best remedy, on top of the ibuprofen you just took. Though I’d highly recommend a tetanus update and having your head examined.”

He kept staring at her. He wanted to make her nervous with his silence. Tough luck with that, boy, she thought. You want to self-gag, it doesn’t bother me.

Answering in kind, she tossed one final wipe into the trash and headed for the door. Embracing her Mistress side meant understanding there was an energy flow between Dom and sub once a connection was made, even if the connection was the rope in a tug of war. She rode that energy how it was meant to be ridden, not forcing her own expectations on it. It worked better that way. She’d accomplished what mattered most to her here, which was confirming he’d finally released that surfeit of potent energy from his session at the club earlier in the night. He was leveling out. While he could likely use a lot more aftercare, they were quite a distance from him earning that kind of treatment from her.

“You don’t want to talk about what happened in Tyler’s office?” he said abruptly. “Or why you followed me here?”

“No.” She continued to move toward the opening that would lead back to the ring area and then the parking lot. She didn’t need or want to stay any longer. She didn’t anticipate that he would do or say anything to hold her there longer, so it was a pleasant surprise when he did.

“You didn’t say what you thought of the fight.”

She pivoted and met his gaze. “No, I didn’t. Would you like to know?”

He could look wary, like an animal being baited into a trap. He had thick, dark lashes. His gray eyes were like the mirror surface of a lake. “Yeah,” he said at last.

“Okay.” She returned to him. There was a pen sitting next to the tray of gauze. Picking it up, she extended her hand, looking pointedly at one of his. When he offered it, she clasped his wrist and wrote an address on the inside of his forearm, along with Friday, 6:30pm.

His fingers flexed above her grip and she was aware of his breath stirring tendrils of hair against her cheek. Her hip pressed against his knee. She imagined sliding between his spread thighs, tasting the metallic flavor lingering on his lips, feeling the flex of his shoulder muscles under her splayed fingers and firm palms. His hands would curve over her hips, his own fingers digging in, showing he wanted and needed her.

Careful, girl, she thought. Don’t screw with your own head. He’ll do enough of that without your help.

“Meet me there and I’ll tell you.” Setting the pen aside, she laid a hand on the side of his face. His gaze lifted to her. “Get some rest. Take care of yourself.”

When he started to lift his hand to clasp her arm, she drew back and shook her head, a denial. His lips set in a thin line. “That a command, Mistress?” he asked tonelessly.

“Take it however you want.”

He curled his fingers around the edge of the table, body leaning forward, eyes suddenly cold and hard. “It wouldn’t matter, anyway, since you don’t really like me.”

“No. I don’t,” she responded frankly. “But I care about you. That doesn’t require that I like you.”

Would you like to read Chapter One of Truly Helpless? Find it here - http://storywitch.com/book-nod-th (scroll down below blurb/buy links).

Author Bio

Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has published over forty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. With her books, she suggests “don’t look past the sex; look in it, and find a wonderful story to touch the heart and soul.”

Author Web & Social Media links:

Website: storywitch.com

Twitter: @JoeyWHill

Facebook: facebook.com/JoeyWHillAuthor

GoodReads: goodreads.com/author/show/103359.Joey_W_Hill

Fan sites/free material: storywitch.com/community

Giveaway

Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and two ebooks from author’s existing titles (reader’s choice).

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f72363ce155/

Medusa's Heart

John Pierce has been in covert operations all his adult life. He doesn’t know anything else but that and being a Dom, because that’s how he blows off steam and balances the nagging emptiness inside of him. Since he was a kid, he’s carried around an infatuation that’s grown into an embarrassing obsession. He’s in love with a myth—Medusa

“Mad Merlin” Maddock doesn’t think that’s crazy. He believes in powers deeper and stronger than men or gods, a connecting energy like the oceans. To those powers, healing a broken heart could create a ripple effect in the universe impacting all, even if that heart lives in the alternate dimension of folklore and myth. JP is the first one Maddock plans to send across those lines to bond with the woman he’s always wanted.

JP agrees to be his first guinea pig for two reasons. One, Maddock is so damn convincing, and two, the need for her has tripled since he met the guy. If Maddock can send JP into her world, JP will let nothing stop him from claiming her for his own and healing her heart, because he’s sure as hell she’s the missing piece of his.

He just has to make sure she doesn’t turn him into lawn ornamentation first.

Add To Goodreads

Buy Today

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Would you like to read Chapter One of the story?

Find it on the author’s web page here: http://storywitch.com/book-nst-mh along with buy links

About Joey W. Hill

An RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award recipient in Erotic Romance, Joey W. Hill has well over thirty titles available in contemporary and paranormal erotic romance. Her characters include everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. 

Free excerpts from all her works are available at www.storywitch.com, and additional vignettes, character interviews and graphics inspired by the work are at the fan forum site, accessible via www.storywitch.com/community. Subscribe to her newsletter from her home page and receive the latest info about appearances and releases. 

Though much of her work is BDSM, she has built her reputation on award-winning romances with absorbing characters who not only attract fans of the genre, but readers who would "never" read BDSM romance. "Whatever genre you're writing, if the characters are compelling and sympathetic, the readers are going to want to see what happens to them. It can be the coolest storyline ever, but if the reader could care less whether the hero or heroine survive (in fact, in some cases they may be rooting for their destruction just so they can be done with the darn thing), then it's not a story worth reading."

Medusa's Heart

John Pierce has been in covert operations all his adult life. He doesn’t know anything else but that and being a Dom, because that’s how he blows off steam and balances the nagging emptiness inside of him. Since he was a kid, he’s carried around an infatuation that’s grown into an embarrassing obsession. He’s in love with a myth—Medusa

“Mad Merlin” Maddock doesn’t think that’s crazy. He believes in powers deeper and stronger than men or gods, a connecting energy like the oceans. To those powers, healing a broken heart could create a ripple effect in the universe impacting all, even if that heart lives in the alternate dimension of folklore and myth. JP is the first one Maddock plans to send across those lines to bond with the woman he’s always wanted.

JP agrees to be his first guinea pig for two reasons. One, Maddock is so damn convincing, and two, the need for her has tripled since he met the guy. If Maddock can send JP into her world, JP will let nothing stop him from claiming her for his own and healing her heart, because he’s sure as hell she’s the missing piece of his.

He just has to make sure she doesn’t turn him into lawn ornamentation first.

Add To Goodreads

Buy Today

Amazon US

Amazon UK

EXCERPT from MEDUSA’S HEART by Joey W. Hill

In this scene, John is sleeping on the beach of Medusa’s island, when she decides to pay him a visit…
* * * * *
His propensity for light sleeping came in handy. He roused fully at her approach, nearly silent though it was. It took a few minutes of patient waiting, of keeping his breath the same steady rise and fall, before she drew even closer. He inhaled her earthy floral scent and nearly interrupted his smooth breathing routine, thanks to the slight give of his cushioned mat which told him she’d knelt and stretched out on her hip directly behind him.
He’d told her he wouldn’t lie to her. Not telling her he was awake wouldn’t fall in that category, would it?
For someone as wary as her, yes, it would.
“I’m glad you came back to see me,” he said without moving or opening his eyes. From the ripple of air along his back, he realized she’d been reaching out to touch him, and cursed his overdeveloped conscience as she drew her hand away.
“You don’t have to talk,” he said. “I’ll just keep dozing if you want me to.”
“Yes. I prefer that.”
He grunted, settling his body further. By some miracle, he did talk himself into dozing, probably because drifting back and forth into an awareness of her was a pleasant surprise every time. Then she touched him.
It brought him instantly awake, but this time, conscience be damned, he kept his breathing and body the same as if he’d been in the world of dreams. Because this was like a dream.
He felt the pads of her fingers and the claws together this time. The curved tips grazed his skin a couple inches above her fingertips. She moved her touch along his shoulder, his back.
“I prayed to Athena for strength. And she sent you. I don’t know what that means. I know what I want it to mean, but my wants… I stopped wanting things. I thought I’d stopped wanting things.”
We never stop wanting things, my lady. We just sometimes stop asking because it hurts too much to not have them. He’d felt that way plenty of times. But he stayed silent, because she wasn’t talking to the conscious him.
That smooth worn rope feeling heralded a snake sliding against his upper arm and down to his hip, then it retreated. The other snakes seemed to be keeping their distance and staying still, for he didn’t hear or feel any others. She slid her touch down to his waist and fingered the waistband, the back pocket of his jean shorts. She was obviously intrigued by the way they fit. When that talon slid along the inside of his waistband in back, inadvertently stroking over the crease between his buttocks, he bit back his natural desire to turn and take over.
Had she ever touched a man by choice? Without fear? He didn’t know, and didn’t want to stop her. He remembered her chiding him for thinking she didn’t know how to fix a wheelbarrow, or what a ribbon was. Reminders that he didn’t know much more of her life and world than she did of his.
“You are awake.”
“Yes, my lady. I didn’t want you to stop.” That was honest, for certain. “I thought if I spoke, you would.”
“You are wrong about your body. The scars only make it more interesting. Many women must have enjoyed looking at you.”
“How about you?”
She poked him with a talon, and he jumped, not expecting it. “You seek compliments.”
“I seek to know if I please you, my lady. You’re the only woman I want to pleasure. Stab me again with those claws, I’ll pinch you in a soft spot.”
He kept his tone mild, slightly teasing, but with the underlying threat still in place. He couldn’t see her face to determine her reaction, but he detected that coveted slight catch of breath, and savored it for the intrigued response he knew it was.
“You have no soft spots I can find to pinch back,” she mused, moving to his biceps. “I like this drawing, between your shoulders.”
The tattoo between his shoulder blades was a tangle of stylized snakes, artfully arranged around the words Medusa’s Heart. He’d first had it done when he was a teenager, a simpler, less expensive design. He’d had it re-inked by a top-rated tattoo artist within the past couple years, but even when the original design was faded, its message had never dimmed.
The heart that beat in his chest was all hers.
Medusa was strong and dangerous, with an underlying fragility that called to him. She was a well-shielded, high-powered and damaged submissive soul, the ultimate test for a Dom who craved that challenge. Who craved her. Go big or go home.
He wasn’t going home.

About Joey W. Hill

An RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award recipient in Erotic Romance, Joey W. Hill has well over thirty titles available in contemporary and paranormal erotic romance. Her characters include everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. 

Free excerpts from all her works are available at www.storywitch.com, and additional vignettes, character interviews and graphics inspired by the work are at the fan forum site, accessible via www.storywitch.com/community. Subscribe to her newsletter from her home page and receive the latest info about appearances and releases. 

Though much of her work is BDSM, she has built her reputation on award-winning romances with absorbing characters who not only attract fans of the genre, but readers who would "never" read BDSM romance. "Whatever genre you're writing, if the characters are compelling and sympathetic, the readers are going to want to see what happens to them. It can be the coolest storyline ever, but if the reader could care less whether the hero or heroine survive (in fact, in some cases they may be rooting for their destruction just so they can be done with the darn thing), then it's not a story worth reading."

Medusa's Heart

John Pierce has been in covert operations all his adult life. He doesn’t know anything else but that and being a Dom, because that’s how he blows off steam and balances the nagging emptiness inside of him. Since he was a kid, he’s carried around an infatuation that’s grown into an embarrassing obsession. He’s in love with a myth—Medusa

“Mad Merlin” Maddock doesn’t think that’s crazy. He believes in powers deeper and stronger than men or gods, a connecting energy like the oceans. To those powers, healing a broken heart could create a ripple effect in the universe impacting all, even if that heart lives in the alternate dimension of folklore and myth. JP is the first one Maddock plans to send across those lines to bond with the woman he’s always wanted.

JP agrees to be his first guinea pig for two reasons. One, Maddock is so damn convincing, and two, the need for her has tripled since he met the guy. If Maddock can send JP into her world, JP will let nothing stop him from claiming her for his own and healing her heart, because he’s sure as hell she’s the missing piece of his.

He just has to make sure she doesn’t turn him into lawn ornamentation first.

Add To Goodreads

PRE-ORDER Today

Amazon US

Amazon UK

EXCERPT from MEDUSA’S HEART by Joey W. Hill

In this scene, John is sleeping on the beach of Medusa’s island, when she decides to pay him a visit…
* * * * *
His propensity for light sleeping came in handy. He roused fully at her approach, nearly silent though it was. It took a few minutes of patient waiting, of keeping his breath the same steady rise and fall, before she drew even closer. He inhaled her earthy floral scent and nearly interrupted his smooth breathing routine, thanks to the slight give of his cushioned mat which told him she’d knelt and stretched out on her hip directly behind him.
He’d told her he wouldn’t lie to her. Not telling her he was awake wouldn’t fall in that category, would it?
For someone as wary as her, yes, it would.
“I’m glad you came back to see me,” he said without moving or opening his eyes. From the ripple of air along his back, he realized she’d been reaching out to touch him, and cursed his overdeveloped conscience as she drew her hand away.
“You don’t have to talk,” he said. “I’ll just keep dozing if you want me to.”
“Yes. I prefer that.”
He grunted, settling his body further. By some miracle, he did talk himself into dozing, probably because drifting back and forth into an awareness of her was a pleasant surprise every time. Then she touched him.
It brought him instantly awake, but this time, conscience be damned, he kept his breathing and body the same as if he’d been in the world of dreams. Because this was like a dream.
He felt the pads of her fingers and the claws together this time. The curved tips grazed his skin a couple inches above her fingertips. She moved her touch along his shoulder, his back.
“I prayed to Athena for strength. And she sent you. I don’t know what that means. I know what I want it to mean, but my wants… I stopped wanting things. I thought I’d stopped wanting things.”
We never stop wanting things, my lady. We just sometimes stop asking because it hurts too much to not have them. He’d felt that way plenty of times. But he stayed silent, because she wasn’t talking to the conscious him.
That smooth worn rope feeling heralded a snake sliding against his upper arm and down to his hip, then it retreated. The other snakes seemed to be keeping their distance and staying still, for he didn’t hear or feel any others. She slid her touch down to his waist and fingered the waistband, the back pocket of his jean shorts. She was obviously intrigued by the way they fit. When that talon slid along the inside of his waistband in back, inadvertently stroking over the crease between his buttocks, he bit back his natural desire to turn and take over.
Had she ever touched a man by choice? Without fear? He didn’t know, and didn’t want to stop her. He remembered her chiding him for thinking she didn’t know how to fix a wheelbarrow, or what a ribbon was. Reminders that he didn’t know much more of her life and world than she did of his.
“You are awake.”
“Yes, my lady. I didn’t want you to stop.” That was honest, for certain. “I thought if I spoke, you would.”
“You are wrong about your body. The scars only make it more interesting. Many women must have enjoyed looking at you.”
“How about you?”
She poked him with a talon, and he jumped, not expecting it. “You seek compliments.”
“I seek to know if I please you, my lady. You’re the only woman I want to pleasure. Stab me again with those claws, I’ll pinch you in a soft spot.”
He kept his tone mild, slightly teasing, but with the underlying threat still in place. He couldn’t see her face to determine her reaction, but he detected that coveted slight catch of breath, and savored it for the intrigued response he knew it was.
“You have no soft spots I can find to pinch back,” she mused, moving to his biceps. “I like this drawing, between your shoulders.”
The tattoo between his shoulder blades was a tangle of stylized snakes, artfully arranged around the words Medusa’s Heart. He’d first had it done when he was a teenager, a simpler, less expensive design. He’d had it re-inked by a top-rated tattoo artist within the past couple years, but even when the original design was faded, its message had never dimmed.
The heart that beat in his chest was all hers.
Medusa was strong and dangerous, with an underlying fragility that called to him. She was a well-shielded, high-powered and damaged submissive soul, the ultimate test for a Dom who craved that challenge. Who craved her. Go big or go home.
He wasn’t going home.

About Joey W. Hill

An RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award recipient in Erotic Romance, Joey W. Hill has well over thirty titles available in contemporary and paranormal erotic romance. Her characters include everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. 

Free excerpts from all her works are available at www.storywitch.com, and additional vignettes, character interviews and graphics inspired by the work are at the fan forum site, accessible via www.storywitch.com/community. Subscribe to her newsletter from her home page and receive the latest info about appearances and releases. 

Though much of her work is BDSM, she has built her reputation on award-winning romances with absorbing characters who not only attract fans of the genre, but readers who would "never" read BDSM romance. "Whatever genre you're writing, if the characters are compelling and sympathetic, the readers are going to want to see what happens to them. It can be the coolest storyline ever, but if the reader could care less whether the hero or heroine survive (in fact, in some cases they may be rooting for their destruction just so they can be done with the darn thing), then it's not a story worth reading."