Naomi came slowly back to awareness, briefly wondering about the sense of total peace that she felt for the first time in as long as she could remember. It took a few moments for her addled senses to realize where she was and what had just happened. She lay cradled in Aidan's arms, with his firm chest pressed against her back and one large hand cupped around...
Chapter 1: Words To Skin The instant we were face-to-face only one thought entered my mind: devour. This would be done slowly. A process that would entail ripping off your clothes and kissing every inch of your body as it became exposed. The key word here was 'slow'. Or was it savour? Maybe torture? Oh hell, I'm sure it was all three and more! Seeing you no...
Traffic was light. Greg navigated the minivan out of downtown Toronto and headed north toward the Old Maples country club. The awkward silence grew uncomfortable. “Should we talk about last night? If you’re mad at me, tell me now. I don’t want to be surprised when you to split my head open with a sand wedge on the ninth hole.” “Sand wedge? I was thinking a...
When I was little I used to sit outside with my Grandmother on her wide front porch and we would dream about what we would do to the gardens one day. It was one of my favorite things to do with her when I was visiting. My parents died when I was in my early twenties and my Grandmother was all I had left. Eventually I moved to New York City and made my life...
Elise had the misfortune of being a "good girl" all her life. She was the one who easily did very well in school, attended church regularly, respected her parents and community, and was in many ways all-around decent, not ever a source of embarrassment. Her parents always proudly countered other parents' complaints of their children's problems with, "Oh, Eli...
After a few weeks of summer vacation, I went straight to the library where I could possibly see him. The conversation I had with my sister, Fiona, made sense. "You look like... a miserable old virgin who wasn't accepted in heaven," she teased when she saw me staring at nothing on the front porch. I looked behind me and saw her close the door behind. I had...
In the North West corner of Somerset, between the Quantock Hills and Exmoor you will find the tiny, busy port of Watchet from where the eponymous Ancient Mariner embarked. Go inland a few miles through rising, twisting lanes and undulating hills towards the Brendon Hills and you will come to the hamlet of Dordon: a cluster of houses nestling in a quiet, shel...
Burgeonie, spoke quietly with Silvonia. "Silvy, do you ever look at your Guard?" Her friend looked confused. The two noblewomen were having a light lunch together in the sanctity of Burgeonie's fortified mansion. Burgeonie, at least, was confined to the house for the entire day by necessity. Her Bodyguard, Baynor, had his day of leave. And Silvy's Guard h...
The sound of the explosion ripped through the golden, drowsy peacefulness of the warm fall afternoon, suddenly pitching my heart into my throat. I'd been wiping down a table with a wet rag and gazing out one of the front windows of the Shamrock Grille, admiring the contrast of the flaming reds and oranges and yellows of the foliage burning against the cloudl...
New York City, 1963 Stella approached the perfume counter with calculated nonchalance. It wasn't the same shop girl today, thank heavens. She could simply breeze past the trays of colognes and take her ritual sniff of Chanel Pour Monsieur, and no one would be the wiser. She consulted her watch. Her palms started to sweat a little. How ridiculous. Why did...