Then she looked up, patted me awkwardly on the shoulder. “I reckon your Sergeant is better off,” she said. “I reckon he’s at rest, knowing his friend is seein’ to his widow, seein’ to his daughters. He won’t walk, boy. He won’t walk because he don’t have to.”
I looked away from her. The Sarge and Petey and a host of others—were they really watching, looking down on us from somewhere? Was another, warmer sun beaming down on them, making all they’d suffered under this one seem long ago and far away?
“I hope so,” I said, again.
Mama didn’t answer. She just nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. We waited together in the bright and warming sun while distant hammers fell and the blue jays sang and flew.
About the Author
To learn more about Frank Tuttle, please visit
www.franktuttle.com
(or visit various online police blotters available throughout Mississippi). To hire Frank for yard work, squirrel maintenance or intersolar spacecraft construction, send an email to Frank at
[email protected]
. And remember, Frank cries easily, so if you didn’t enjoy
Dead Man’s Rain
, please lie.
Look for these titles by Frank Tuttle
Coming Soon:
The Mister Trophy
He used her. She can’t trust him. But the fire burns between them hotter than ever
.
7% and Rising
© 2007 Kim Knox
For Level Seven Observer Cahn Dal, her mission is simple—on the surface. Travel 700 years into the past, alter a complicated equation that will assure the continuation of this timeline, and slip out unnoticed. Except someone else got there first, and he’s waiting for her. Alexander Roen. The man she has loved since she was a teenager, and, to her disgust, finds she still desires as hot and as hard as ever.
Roen, former Level One Observer, known traitor to the Foundation, and hampered by an old injury, needs Cahn’s help to find out who’s behind a massive conspiracy to alter the timeline. His body isn’t too broken, though, to forget his long-denied passion for Cahn.
Cahn reluctantly agrees to help find the one piece of evidence that will solve Roen’s puzzle. But when she finds it, barely escaping with her life, they find it isn’t the end.
It’s just the beginning of a deeper nightmare, one filled with monsters of unimaginable horror.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
7% and Rising:
A sharp rap at the door made her jump.
“Cahn?” The wooden door swung back. “Would you rather wait for food?”
Cahn crossed her arms in front of her breasts. Daily, she landed in time-frames covered in sludge and stark naked, but letting Roen see her in a white vest and tight shorts made her feel exposed. Uneasy. Heat burned in her cheeks. Damn him, she hadn’t blushed since she was a teenager. “Yes. Fine.” She nodded towards the bed, unwilling to move her arms. “I think I need to pass out.”
Roen smiled. His dark eyes sparked gold in the lamplight. “You’ve probably forgotten, but it’s called sleep, Cahn.”
Her chest tightened. He was being nice again. And that so wasn’t the Roen she knew. “Thank you for the reminder.”
“Here.” He lifted a mug she hadn’t noticed him holding. “This will help.”
“What is it?”
Roen limped towards her and the rising scent from the mug reached out to tantalise her. Cahn breathed it in and almost sighed. “Your special chocolate.”
“Very hot milk chocolate with fresh double cream and caramel syrup…”
“You’re evil.”
Roen smirked. “I know.”
Her hands closed around the mug and, for a long moment, she let herself breathe in the rich aroma of chocolate. Roen knew her weakness. It had been years since she’d last had it. Years. She sipped and the cool, light touch of the cream lingered on her lips, her tongue. She tilted the mug and the rich flow of sweet liquid chocolate made her sigh.
Memories rose unwanted. Roen’s bright apartment with its clean painted walls and expensive furniture. Her mother laughing at something Roen had said. Her father quiet and just showing his slow, cautious smile. Roen’s sisters holding up their cups, demanding more from the ancient chocolate pot that he’d pilfered on one of his missions.
Dead. They were all dead. Only she and Roen remained.
Her hand shook.
Hot tears burned her eyes and her throat tightened.
Roen grabbed the mug before she spilt it and dumped it on the table. “Cahn?”
She turned from him and scrubbed hard at her wet face. “It’s too rich for me,” she muttered. “I’m used to…” Her words faltered at his warm hand on her shoulder. His fingers squeezed, gentle, comforting. Damn the man. Damn him. Why couldn’t he just be himself? His real self? “Roen, stop it.”
“What?” His hand slid from the thin cotton of her vest to her bare skin in a slow caress. “This?”
Cahn couldn’t breathe. “What…what are you doing?”
He brushed away her wet-slicked hair and pressed a kiss below her ear. She shivered. Roen did it again. And again. Soft. Slow. Insane. “Do you still want me to stop?”
It was all her little private fantasies come true. Roen wanted her. Her?
“Cahn.” His breath stirred her damp skin. “Turn around.”
She closed her eyes and forced herself to face him. His thumb brushed her lips and she jumped. She stared at him, not quite believing the shine of want in his dark eyes.
“We have to grab what time we have,” he said.
He traced her jaw, fingers light. Cahn froze. He couldn’t mean it. Roen had never wanted her. Never. A smile touched his mouth, edged with regret. His gaze dropped away and he sighed. “But then again, perhaps not in this reality.”
He stepped back and his hand fell to his leg as it whirred. “Not as I am.”
No. Roen wasn’t getting away that easily.
“Yes,” Cahn said and covered his mouth with her own.
A Demon is on the loose. And it’s bad to the bone.
To Summon a Demon
© 2007 Kim Knox
Muscles and mind straining, Inaeus hurled the sword. Spell-thick steel buried itself deep into the monster’s spine. The Demon screamed down the night in its pain…
That should have been the end of it. It wasn’t.
The Demon is once again on the loose, and this time it possesses a powerful crystal that has it leaving even more death in its wake. With the approach of the full moon, Inaeus must kill the demon and destroy its crystal before it can call more of its brethren from hell.
Inaeus knows who summoned the Demon. Conde. His former colleague, his former friend. The one woman he can’t have. Conde has no loyalty to the League he serves, and broke his trust long ago. But now she is back and offering to help him defeat her creature.
Why?
Come hell or howling Harpies, Inaeus is determined to get the truth out of Conde. If they live long enough.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
To Summon a Demon:
Almost full moon.
The Demon would be waiting.
Inaeus stirred the steaming pot, pushing his mind away from thoughts of the confrontation. Conde settled beside him, staring off into the darkness of the forest.
Could he believe her?
Conde had no reason to lie to him. Never had. She was already an Outcast, shunned by the League. She couldn’t damn herself any further. And Conde was the one person he trusted implicitly.
“Inaeus, shut up. I’m trying to sleep.” Conde twisted over in her blankets. “I’d forgotten how annoying that habit of yours was.”
“The Witches were silent?”
“The Witches didn’t trust me either.”
“I trust you, Conde.”
“Yes,” her laugh was bitter, “of course you do.” She presented her back to him. Firelight burned over her red hair and he itched to stroke its smoothness. However, his fingers curled in his palm. “Still can’t do it, can you, Inaeus?” She pulled the furs and blankets tight around her body. “Night.”
“Our status has always stood between us. Even now.”
The fire cracked and spat in the silence. Inaeus closed his eyes. He was an idiot. They probably had only hours left to live and he still couldn’t break through the walls he had built around himself.
“Honouring the League comes first with you. I always knew that.” She paused. Inaeus thought he heard a sigh. “Accepted it.” She thumped the pile of furs and resettled her head. “Never understood it, though. Bunch of rancid old men never had my loyalty.”
“I’m sure they never noticed.”
Her spluttered laughter made him grin. She turned her head back to him. “D’you think I might have been too subtle?”
Light flickered over her sleek features, her golden eyes sparking with fire. How had he resisted this woman for so many years? “I’m an idiot,” he murmured.
“No argument from me.”
“Conde.” His finger pressed against her surprised mouth. “Shut up.” She grinned and her teeth snapped at his fingertip. Blood started to move south and he shoved her blankets to one side. “If that’s how you want to play it.”
Her grin was feral. “You have no idea, Inaeus.”
He pinned her arms above her head and felt her body arch in response. “I think I might.”
“Not so rough. My bones—”
He weakened his hold instinctively and the damned woman flipped him. She straddled his hips.
“—aren’t
that
fragile.”
Irritation burned…but then she pressed, took a slow, slow slide along his erection and nothing else mattered. He dug his fingers into her hips, letting her think she was in control. He grinned and his fingers moved, sliding over the flatness of her stomach, until his thumb rubbed up against the soft hide of her breeches, just there…
Conde gasped and returned his grin. “You’re not playing fair.”
“Oh I am. If I wasn’t, I’d do
this…
” In one fluid movement, she was flat on her back again. Inaeus pinned her to the furs with his body. “Now, Conde.” His face was only inches from hers, her warm breath brushing his face. Her darkly golden eyes blazed. “We play my way.” His smile was sharp and the slow shift of his hips made her bite at her lip. Oh, he liked besting her. “Or we don’t play at all.”
“You’re enjoying this.”
Inaeus smirked. “Isn’t that the point?”
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