Excerptstravaganza! Day Four

...And this will likely be our next-to-last excerpt day! The book is due to be released in 5 days (eep) and has been printed, but I believe it will still be another week before it starts shipping from Amazon and makes it into the stores.

Remember the contest! I'm going to announce the winners on Monday, so hurry and get your entries in! Pre-order! Wish list! Tag! Wheeee!

And here is today's excerpt:

“Is she sleeping?”

Smack. “Whad’ya think? Is she sleeping, ’e says. Don’t she look like she’s sleeping?”

“Yeh.”

“That is a sleeping woman, if ever I saw a sleeping woman,” the second voice continued.

Megan opened her eyes.

The three men standing next to her bed jumped back, their expressions ranging from terror to curiosity.

“She’s awake!” said the one closest to her. She recognized his voice as the second speaker, the one with the strongest cockney accent.

“You just said she was sleepin’, Lif,” said the next one. He was the tallest, with a large nose and scarred, gin-blossomed skin.

They were all big, broad men with small eyes and stubbled chins. They were all dressed in hitman casual: black trousers, black turtlenecks, black rubber-soled shoes, black windbreakers, black knit caps. Gold rings and watches completed the look.

Megan caught only a glimpse of these things before she seized the lamp on her bedside table and held it over her head. The cord refused to come out of the wall. She yanked at it with her left hand, aware not only that she looked silly, but that the men in her room had ample time to attack her while she sorted out her weapon. Their restraint from doing so provided her some comfort, but her heart still pounded in her chest.

“Who are you?” she demanded. Her voice squeaked.

The men glanced at each other, chagrined. The tall one spoke. “M’lady, didn’t—”

“Good morning, gentlemen.” Greyson entered the room, clad in a black suit with creases so sharp Megan imagined he could cut himself on them if he wasn’t careful. He was freshly showered and shaved, and smelled like vanilla and smoke. “Good morning, Megan. Just barely. Doing a little redecorating?”

Megan glanced at the lamp in her hand, glared at him, then looked at the clock. It was 11:30. “Shit!” She set the lamp on the edge of the table and pushed the covers back, ready to leap out of bed.

“Sit down,” Greyson said, holding out his hand. “I called Brian already to make sure you didn’t have to be up for a while yet. The shoot’s not until two.”

“Who exactly are these men and what are they doing in my bedroom?”

“Ah.” Greyson looked at the three, who stood a little straighter under his gaze. “Megan Chase, may I present your bodyguards: Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud.”

“My what?”

“Your bodyguards. The one on the left is Malleus, the tall one is Maleficarum, and that one is Spud. I’ve assigned them to you.”

Megan glanced at the three men, still standing against the wall like they were in a police line-up. She got out of bed and grabbed Dante’s arm. “I need to talk to you.”

“Excuse us,” Greyson said, as she led him out into the living room and closed the bedroom door.

“Who are they? What the hell do you mean, scaring me like that? How do you think I felt waking up with strange men in my room after last night?”

“I told you who they are. They’re your bodyguards. You need someone with you at all times, and I can’t do it.” He leaned in a little closer. “They wouldn’t have been in there watching you sleep if you’d let me stay, you know. Care to change your mind for the future?”

“No.” Megan was suddenly aware that she only wore a T-shirt. He’d seen her in her bra last night, but somehow that was different. She grabbed the blanket from last night off the couch and wrapped it around her. It wasn’t great, but it was better. “Look, Greyson, don’t think I don’t appreciate your help. I do. And I—I’d like it if you’d keep helping me, because I don’t want to die. But those men... I can’t have those men follow me around. They look like they’re going to kill someone.”

“Only if that someone tries to get in their way,” Greyson said.


More fun stuff on the web:

The fantastic Jackie Kessler's delightful succubus character, Jezebel, managed to sneak an interview with Megan behind my back (the nerve of these characters, I swear) in which Megan said some very unflattering things about me. (I'll show her.) You can read the interview here.

GUD magazine (GoodReads.com) has reviewed Personal Demons and gave it 4 Stars:

"With exciting action scenes and hot, hot passion, this romance-with-a-plot is perfect for snuggling up with by the fire, or for wiping out the tedium of a train or plane journey."

You can read the whole review here, and comment before March 30 to win their PDF review copy.

I am guest blogging about vampires at Jaye Wells's place today--comment and enter to win free downloads of BOTH my EC vampire stories, Blood Will Tell and the Friday release Day of the Dead.

I think that's it.