Thursday, August 21, 2008

Excerpt - Hostage to Pleasure & Updates

As promised, here is an extra excerpt from Hostage to Pleasure. I chose a piece where you get to see Dorian and Ashaya together. It's not enormously long, so don't read it if you're made easily crazy ;-)

Also, I'm going to be kicking off a fun little contest next week, so make sure you swing by on Monday to read the details. And if you haven't dropped your name into the hat to go into the draw to win Susan Napier's Accidental Mistress, you've still got time.

Now, onto the excerpt. Enjoy!

~~~

Excerpt from HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE - Out September 2nd!

He sat back on his haunches and watched her get back up into a sitting position. Her eyes went to his handiwork. “You’ve had some training.”

He bit back the urge to snarl at her frigid tone. The ice of it was a fist around his cock, arousing him against all reason, all sense. “First aid.” He shrugged, stuffed everything back into her pack, then paused. “You need anything from here?”

“Everything.”

“Tough.” He did up the straps. “I have to carry you as it is—”

“I can—”

“Yeah, you can crawl,” he snapped, “but that isn’t going to get me home in time to catch a few z’s.” And nowhere near fast enough to contain the leopard’s enraged attempts at exploding from within his skin. He couldn’t shift, had never been able to. But the cat didn’t know it was trapped. Right now, it wasn’t even sure if it wanted to savage Ashaya or fuck her. “Since I can’t dump you here, I might as well get rid of you as fast as I can.”

It was a deliberate attempt to provoke, but her face, a face that had haunted his dreams for two months, remained expressionless. Two damn months, he thought again. Endless nights of waking in a sweat, frustrated and hard. And angry, so angry. The sole thing that had kept him from going out and hunting her down had been an enraged defiance against a sexual pull that had begun to turn into an obsession.

Now here she sat, looking up at him with those eyes that were the wrong color—and that blatant lie only stoked his fury.

“You have a lot of antipathy toward me.”

No, what he had was a bad case of lust. But he wasn’t an animal in rut. And his one stupid, drunken mistake in college aside, he didn’t sleep with women who might just freeze his balls off in the night. “I’m going to stash your pack up in the branches. The lynx won’t come near it now that it has my scent on it. Someone can grab it for you tomorrow.”

Ashaya didn’t argue, knowing she had nothing with which to bargain. “Another debt?” She’d recognized his voice at once as that of the sniper. After all, she’d been hearing it in her dreams for eight long weeks.

“Don’t worry. We’ll collect.” With those words, he shrugged into the pack and began climbing.

She couldn’t believe the way he moved. It was so smooth, it appeared effortless. He was ten times faster than she had been, a hundred times more graceful. If she’d had any doubts as to what he was, they would’ve been wiped away by that display. “Changeling,” she said as he jumped back down. “Cat.”

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes a pitiless blue so true—even in this darkness—that she wondered at its existence. “Meow.”

Something hidden sparked to life in her mind, and she found herself thinking that the sniper was beautiful. Darkness, she’d always cloaked him in darkness, but he was a golden god. “How did you know I was here?” Her breath came in pants as she managed to get to her feet, one hand braced against the tree trunk. Her palm landed on something sticky. Her own blood, she realized.

“I’m an F-Psy.” A mocking answer. “You’re going to have to ride on my back. Try not to stab me while you’re at it.” He came to her, turned.

The instant she put her hands on his shoulders, she froze. She hadn’t had this much close contact with another being for longer than she could remember. Even with Keenan, she’d kept her distance, aware that only Silent coldness would keep him safe. But there was no point of comparison between her weakness where Keenan was concerned and this changeling who seemed to despise her.

And yet who fascinated her on a level it was madness to even consider.

(c) Copyright 2008 by Nalini Singh

Links to some reader reviews!

"Hostage to Pleasure has met all my expectations and Nalini has a fan and supporter of her books for life." ~ Katiebabs

“Singh…brings it in #5 with no letup in sight. Her characters get better and better, and the world is evolving in layers that feel realistic…” ~ Nicola O.

"I was on that reading high by the end of Hostage to Pleasure, overjoyed that book five was indeed holding the series strong, perhaps rising to become the best of them yet." ~ Lurv A La Mode (KMont)

"KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!!!!" CindyS on Book Binge

25 comments :

Christine said...

Oh. My. Word.

"Meow."

Then he says, "I'm an F-Psy."

I love it!! I cannot wait to read Hostage to Pleasure! Will I survive until Tuesday!? The torture!

Thank you, Nalini! :)

limecello said...

I cannot wait for this book to come out! :D Almost!!!

Anonymous said...

Despite your disclaimer, I couldn't stop myself reading. And now it's torture! But the good kind. *g* I have a feeling this might become a huge favourite of mine. Something about aggression and emotional distance...oddly irresistible.

Anonymous said...

That was so good!!! Why are her eyes the wrong color? I can't wait for the 2nd!
-lili

Anonymous said...

Makes you want time to hurry up!!!

Christine said...

Oh no! I had it in my head that HtP comes out next Tuesday... on August 26th! It's really Tuesday... September 2, isn't it?

*cries*

*sobs*

bel_78 said...

Good kind of torture :)

Thanks, Nalini

Christina Phillips said...

Can't wait to read this one Nalini! (and my daughter has pinched the one I bought at conference - argh!!!)

Barbarita V said...

Love it.Thanks, only a few more days. Hmm!

Anonymous said...

I only discovered your books about 3 weeks ago and had the joy of glomming the first 4 back to back. Bliss.

Now comes the tortuous 3 week wait for book #5, arghhh! Lol!

Thanks for the excerpt - makes the wait a little more crazy in a happy way!

MrsRony said...

Im not going to make it!!
F psy...Have mercy on ME!!!

Prue said...

Thank you Nalini. I am glad I had something to keep me going.

Dee Tenorio said...

I'm pretty sure these are going to be some of the longest two weeks of my life, lol.

Man, Nalini.

Heather B. said...

Nalini,

this series is awesome. I have them all. You are definintely one of my keeper authors (I only have about 5) the rest I read and trade.

I can't wait to add this one to my collection.

Heather

Anonymous said...

Meow, he says. Meow?!?

*fanning self*
Oh my.

Please tell me BooksOnBoard is getting this one and it will be available on the 2nd!

I'm on pins and needles waiting for HtP and Noah by Jacquelyn Frank-
Tracy

azteclady said...

heh heh heh




:innocent look:

Jennifer K. said...

Nalini, you definitely made me crazy, OK, crazier, with that excerpt. I'm going to try to hold out til RAW to get my copy, but I just don't know if I can wait. And that excerpt didn't help. At all! Darn it.

I love Dorian. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Jennifer K.

Pam P said...

Meow - F-Psy - sooo can't wait to read it.

LesleyW said...

LOL - I shouldn't torture myself, but there's not that much longer to wait.

Anonymous said...

...I´ll definitely love it! "Meow". - Just great Nalini! (I nearly can see him do it*g*).

~Eva

Nalini Singh said...

So glad you all loved the excerpt! Not long to go till the release :)

Anonymous said...

*orannia pops her head up*

Apologies for being AWOL - I took 2 weeks off from...well..everything...to re-group (and to watch the Olympics). The Olympics has been AMAZING (yes I'm addicted :) - not so sure if I feel any better for the 2 weeks off but I have HTP to look forward too :)

Unforuntately, I have no willpower so I read the excerpt....thank you Nalini! All I have to say is: 'are we there yet'? I know logically 2 September isn't too far away but it seems like forever! And I can't wait to read the excerpt for Angel's Blood!

orannia

Anonymous said...

I won't survive until the 2nd. I don't know how I survived this long. I sympathize with Dorian I have waited 6 long months since I read MTP. Patience is not my strong suit. I am re-reading CBI mad MTP before the 2nd.

Harry Potter fried my brain. I keep thinking about Deathly Hallows. I have to refresh my para/romance memory.

In the immortal words of Celine: It's all coming back to me now.

Anonymous said...

So mean, Nalini! Now I can't wait! I laughed out loud when he said "Meow" ^_^

So excited about the upcoming release, so many questions from this excerpt-- what happened? why is he mad?

Can't wait!

Anonymous said...

I know it from the start that it is a fault to go on your page now. I know it. And I have done it therefor... Now I'm going totally crazy till Tuesday. *wines*
I hate it to wait. I hate it. I hate it.
But I'm sure I'll love Dorians story!