Two Weeks Until

Eternal Embrace

Coming June 9th

CONTEST: I'll be posting excerpts for the rest of the week in celebration of Eternal Embrace's upcoming release on June 9th. Please stop by each day to read a new excerpt and make sure to leave at least one post one day this week. Along with your post please leave your email address so you can be entered for a chance to win. I'll be drawing 2 winners.

That's right...I said 2 winners!

Each winner will get a free download of Eternal Embrace and 1 of those winners will get an added bonus of a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card.

Also, if you'd like to read chapter one of Eternal Embrace and get in on other contests, updates, free reads, etc. please sign up for my newsletter by sending me an email at AnnLory@gmail.com.

Excerpt Day 1:

Time went slowly, each hour inching by, days turning to weeks without any sign of Dimitri. Cassie thought about him all the time and had made the decision to not go into the museum this morning, but to come directly to Dimitri’s house. She was anxious to complete her work so she could leave and never return to this place. If she could just get away from here, then she would be able to forget all about him.

Cassie looked up from her work in the study and saw Dimitri watching her. His black gaze seemed filled with such tenderness and yearning that she wanted to run to him, but she knew she must be imagining things because he had kept away all this time.

“Good evening, Cassandra.” He stepped into the room, filling it with his strong presence.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, suddenly nervous and resenting that fact immensely.

He arched one dark eyebrow. “I live here.” The amused smile made him look even more handsome and her heart ached.

“Sorry, guess that was a silly question.” She looked down at the papers on the desk. “Well, I was about ready to call it a night.” Quickly putting her items away, she stood and grabbed her things. “Have a good night.” Moving past him, she strode briskly down the hall and down the main staircase. “Cassandra, wait. Please.” She heard and felt him follow quickly on her heels. Stopping, she whirled around, willing herself not to show any emotion.

“Cassandra, I…” He laid his hands on her shoulders, frowning as if he were trying to find the right words, before he finally spoke again. “Please, will you take a walk with me?”

“If this is because you feel you owe me any explanations, don’t worry about it.”

“I only wish to speak with you. Please, come with me.”

She wanted to yell at him, but found herself nodding instead. He took her belongings and set them aside. Tucking her hand under his arm, he lead her outside and around to the back of the house. They came to the cliffs and steps that led to the beach below.

The night was clear and cool. Fall was finally here, and the stars twinkled like a thousand diamonds in the sky. As she and Dimitri moved along the shore, the surf from the ocean waves rushed up to meet them causing her to shiver.

“Are you cold?” His voice was low.

“A little.”

Slipping from his jacket, he placed it around her shoulders. The material enveloped her small frame, his heat radiated from it, seeping into her body. His scent filled her senses, making her almost dizzy with the emotions it evoked. Desire. Need. Lust.

He grasped her hand again as they continued their walk. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved the last time I saw you and for not being here the last several weeks.”

“What did I do?”

He spun around, grabbing her by the shoulders. “No. You did nothing. It was I in the wrong. Forgive me, but I’m not used to being around people. I have always been a very solitary man.”

She could see the pain in his eyes. “You may be used to being alone, but I don’t think you like it.”

Cassie pulled at his arm and brought him down to the sand. She sank to her knees beside him and did what she had wanted to do from the moment she first saw him. She opened her arms in invitation.

He went into her embrace and she held him for a long time. Her hands ran through his long, dark hair, over his wide shoulders. She placed a light kiss against his jaw, and whispered softly to him.

“You don’t have to be alone.” He looked down at her and struggled for balance as she fell into the black depths of his eyes.

His lips were mere inches from hers, his voice a husky whisper. “Cassandra…I’m not like other men. I’m not used to this…this intimacy.”

She shook her head, not understanding, her heart clenching in sudden dread. “You’re not…gay, are you?”

He actually laughed, the mood lifting slightly. “No, there is no fear of that. I’ve been straight for a very long time.”

Relived, Cassie smiled up at him. “I won’t leave you alone, Dimitri, I’ll be here for as long as you need me.”

The smile slipped from his lips and his breath was a mere sigh against her lips. His eyes darkened further if possible, desire flaring to new life there. “I will always need you.”

Then he kissed her, holding her tightly as if he would never let her go. His mouth was cool and searching, robbing her of her senses, and his touch a gentle caress that made her heart ache. She knew she belonged with him, that he was the man she had been waiting for her entire life. This big strong man who cradled her against him like she was a delicate flower, his hands gently stroking the column of her neck and the curve of her cheekbones.

***Remember: Please stop by each day to read a new excerpt and make sure to leave at least one post one day this week. Along with your post please leave your email address so you can be entered for a chance to win.