Time to talk books! What are you reading and loving this week? :-)
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Psy-Changeling Giveaway
The wonderful blog, The Rock Stars of Romance is currently holding a spotlight and giveaway featuring the Psy-Changeling series. The prizes are two personalized starter packs (first three books in the series, plus the Wild Invitation anthology), and a personalized copy of Heart of Obsidian.
And yes, it's international. :) Follow the link to enter!
And yes, it's international. :) Follow the link to enter!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Archangel's Shadows
"Such a conscientious landlord. Would you fix the plumbing too?"
"If you let me put my pipe in your sprocket." Pure wickedness in his smile at her groan.
- From ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS - Ash & Janvier's story (October 2014)
Working on the copy edited manuscript at the moment! :-)
"If you let me put my pipe in your sprocket." Pure wickedness in his smile at her groan.
- From ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS - Ash & Janvier's story (October 2014)
Working on the copy edited manuscript at the moment! :-)
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Pre-Order Price Drop: Archangel's Shadows & Night Shift
It looks like Amazon (USA) has dropped the pre-order price on both ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS and the NIGHT SHIFT anthology to $5.99 for Kindle, with a discount for paperback, too.
I don't know how long this'll last, as this is a retailer price drop rather than a sale by my publisher, so grab it quick while it lasts. :-)
I don't know how long this'll last, as this is a retailer price drop rather than a sale by my publisher, so grab it quick while it lasts. :-)
Monday, June 23, 2014
Newsletter
A quick reminder - I have a fantabulous monthly newsletter that often includes exclusive free short stories or deleted scenes, as well as a roundup of news. If you aren't yet a member, it's super easy to sign up.
Just fill in your name and email in the little box on the top right of my website, then click the confirm link you get in your email. Soon afterward, you'll get sent the Welcome newsletter that lets you access multiple back-issue short stories that aren't yet on the website. :-)
ANY problems at all, email Ashwini (naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom - just replace the DOT and AT with . and @).
Just fill in your name and email in the little box on the top right of my website, then click the confirm link you get in your email. Soon afterward, you'll get sent the Welcome newsletter that lets you access multiple back-issue short stories that aren't yet on the website. :-)
ANY problems at all, email Ashwini (naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom - just replace the DOT and AT with . and @).
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Archangel's Shadows
Ilium's laughter lit up his eyes and sent a woman on the sidewalk into a swoon broken by the thick arms of a nearby cop. "Ellie has threatened to shoot anyone who even suggests such a travesty.""Thank God," Ashwini said with a shudder. "I thought for a second that she'd lost her mind and we'd have to stage an intervention."
~ from ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS by Nalini Singh (October 28th)
Friday, June 20, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
What's Next for the Psy-Changeling Series
The short answer is: Many, many awesome things!
More detailed answers below - there will be some general spoilerage, so if you haven't yet read Shield of Winter, then save this post to read afterward. I'll add a link to it from the front page of the website, so you can easily find it when you're ready.
Also, I'd appreciate it if you could link back to this post if other fans have questions, so everyone has the same info. Thank you!
Onto the questions that need answers! Warning, long post below.
Who is Book 14 about?
Updated 31st October 2014: Cover and blurb for book 14 now available! Follow the link to see.
Book 14 will feature Aden as the hero. I'm not ready to talk more in depth about this book yet because I've just started writing it, and I always like to get deep into a book before I share details. I feel each book has an essence, a heart that needs to be nurtured until it's ready to be held up to the light.
Also, characters have been known to surprise me. That may sound odd, since I'm the author, but my characters have very strong personalities of their own, and sometimes, they just fold their arms and say nope when I think I've got things all figured out.
So give me a little time. In the meanwhile....
Bastien's novella, Secrets At Midnight, is coming out November 25th in the NIGHT SHIFT Anthology
I know many of you have missed the cats - with this novella, we return to the DarkRiver changelings, and specifically to the wild and wonderful Smith family.
Mercy makes an appearance, as do her and Bastien's other brothers. The infamous "kitten-defurring" incident is recalled. We also see Lucas and Naya.
So there's lots of stuff for Psy-Changeling readers, but it's also written to stand alone, so don't worry if you're new to the series. You can use this novella as your introduction to the Psy-Changeling world without problem.
I haven't posted an excerpt yet as the release is several months away, but here's a fun snippet of Bastien being grilled by a pack elder.
"Why aren't you mated or with a long-term lover?" She poked him in the arm. "We both know you have no trouble attracting women."
The question grated against his insides. "Does no one respect my private life?"
"You're in a pack. Of course not," was the rapid response. "Now, answer me. I'm a hundred and twenty-five--I don't have time to dilly-dally."
"No one can pass Mercy's tests," he said, wanting Vera off the painful and currently maddening subject of mating.
"Overprotective, is she?"
"If it's the right girl," he said, his leopard flexing its claws inside him, "it won't matter." Bastien might not know her name or what she looked like, nothing but her scent, but he knew his mate wouldn't be scared off. Smith mates had a way of surprising everyone.
- From Secrets At Midnight by Nalini Singh (this is from a pre-edit version of the manuscript, so it may change slightly in the final published novella).
Also, check out the awesome cover!
What happens after Book 14?
A number of readers have contacted me asking if book 14 is the end of the series. It isn't!
I think the rumor began because I've spoken about the "end of this story arc" in interviews. So what do I mean by that?
When I began the Psy-Changeling series, it was really important to me to have a coherent story arc, with a start and a satisfying end. I still deeply believe that. The only thing that has changed is that I realized as I wrote that this storyline wouldn't only have a single arc, but that the ending of the first arc would naturally be the beginning of the second. To end the series at the conclusion of this arc would leave too many avenues unexplored, too many characters with their stories untold. It would feel unfinished.
For me, a coherent story arc means a story that is moving forward with every book, heading for a critical climax. It's not standing in place. We're going on a journey, and that journey has a goal. With each arc, we have to reach that goal, have that sense of satisfaction.
In my head, this arc is called the Silence arc. That has been the defining element of the series to date. Some people have said to me that for them, the Silence arc ended with Heart of Obsidian. I can totally see their point. So many things came to a conclusion in that book. It was a massive climax.
However, I feel that for a true conclusion to the arc, we need the "direct aftermath" books as well. The books that ask, what comes next? Shield of Winter was the first book. Aden's book will be the second, but having said that, I won't know until I finish writing it whether I can tie up all the loose ends that need to be tied up, in this book. So some storylines may be picked up in Book 15, making it the final book in the Silence arc.
Post Book 14 or 15 - or the Post-Silence story arc
I love the richness of the Psy-Changeling world, love that there are so many possibilities to explore, so many questions to answer, so many layers to peel back, and that it's peopled by so many amazing characters.
Those characters are interconnected on a deep level by myriad bonds, so even once we move away from the Silence arc, we won't be moving away from the characters we know and love.
Yes, there will be new players in the next arc, as is natural as we further explore the world, but some of those new players will end up with characters we already know, while others will link through in other ways.
For example, if I do a book on the WindHaven falcons, they're allied with DarkRiver and SnowDancer, so we'd see the cats and the wolves.
And Silence remains a major player - it may have fallen, but it casts a long shadow that will impact countless characters for years to come.
I've consistently been using "tangent" books to describe these future stories, but I've decided it still sounds too much like "spin-off" and that's not what I'm thinking. The books, characters, and storylines are too interlinked for that, with the second arc being as coherent and as connected as the first one. I think it's better and clearer to simply say we'll be opening up a new story arc, going on a new journey in this world.
Think of it like seasons of television, where a series has a strong background story/plot. We're coming to the conclusion of season one, but watch out - because something in that conclusion will lead directly into season two.
I hope that makes sense, and I hope you'll come with me into this new journey.
Who will get a story in the future?
I have so many people I want to write about! I can't list them all, because this post would be even longer than it already is, but here are just some characters I think will get either a book or a novella at some point:
The single SnowDancer lieutenants, Desiree from DarkRiver, Adam - the leader of WindHaven, one or more of the sea changelings, certain Psy characters it'd be too spoilerish to name here, Kit when he's a bit more grown up, Rina, Bowen from the Human Alliance... (and more!)
I'd also like to go back and write about some characters who appeared early on and who really need to have their stories told, like Zara, the wildcat who is a designer for DarkRiver, Finn, the poor healer who got manhandled by Nathan in Beat of Temptation, Tag and Tiara from Blaze of Memory, D'Arn and Sing-Liu - that's just the tip of my list. I don't know if they'd all get full novellas, or long short stories, but I haven't forgotten them.
Please don't worry if I didn't list your favorite character as a future story - I only mentioned a few names. There are more and some of them already have files opened for them on my computer, with notes entered. :-)
Which leads me to my Secret Anthology...now no longer so secret. ;-)
Updated 12 December, 2015: Anthology has been scheduled for release in North America on August 23rd, 2016. International date still to come. Title: WILD EMBRACE.
--
Because I have so many characters who either need novellas or longer short stories, I've been thinking of doing another Psy-Changeling anthology. Similar to Wild Invitation, but with all-new stories.
However, since I do these shorter works around my full-length books, I can't promise you a release date right now. I don't want to schedule it and then disappoint you if I can't finish in time. I'd rather make it a nice surprise one day!
But, the good news is that I already have one novella in rough draft (it features Stefan, who was mentioned in Shield of Winter), and a couple of other things in middle stages, so I'm *hoping* I'll have it done by the end of this year.
I'll post as to how it's going soon as I have more news, or have finished another piece. I'll update this post, so you can just save this as a bookmark and come back in a couple of months to see what's happening.
Updated 12 December, 2015:
#1 (Novella) - Stefan (Psy/Tk stationed on the deep sea station Alaris). Complete.
#2 (Novelette) - Dorian's story (exploring his growing up years, how being latent affected him, and how he became a sentinel). Complete.
#3 (Novella) - I've never before written the story of a submissive male changeling paired with a dominant female changeling, but this couple came out of nowhere and hit me hard. Complete.
#4. (Novella) - Kenji and Garnet (Jem). Complete.
When will the series end forever?
When I feel there are no more stories to be told in this world. I know everyone has their favorites, books/novellas that worked better for them than others, but as a writer, I am deeply happy with all of the entries in the series to date.
I feel each was needed, was necessary to tell part of the story, to give us a new insight into the world and its characters. I want to feel the same way about future entries, so when I come to a place where I feel the story is complete, and all the characters are in a good place, that's when I'll say good-bye.
I am nowhere close to that point, and I hope neither are you. Here's to many more journeys together into the Psy-Changeling world!
This is the end of a very, very, very long post. I hope that answers most of the burning questions. :-)
More detailed answers below - there will be some general spoilerage, so if you haven't yet read Shield of Winter, then save this post to read afterward. I'll add a link to it from the front page of the website, so you can easily find it when you're ready.
Also, I'd appreciate it if you could link back to this post if other fans have questions, so everyone has the same info. Thank you!
Onto the questions that need answers! Warning, long post below.
Who is Book 14 about?
Updated 31st October 2014: Cover and blurb for book 14 now available! Follow the link to see.
Book 14 will feature Aden as the hero. I'm not ready to talk more in depth about this book yet because I've just started writing it, and I always like to get deep into a book before I share details. I feel each book has an essence, a heart that needs to be nurtured until it's ready to be held up to the light.
Also, characters have been known to surprise me. That may sound odd, since I'm the author, but my characters have very strong personalities of their own, and sometimes, they just fold their arms and say nope when I think I've got things all figured out.
So give me a little time. In the meanwhile....
Bastien's novella, Secrets At Midnight, is coming out November 25th in the NIGHT SHIFT Anthology
I know many of you have missed the cats - with this novella, we return to the DarkRiver changelings, and specifically to the wild and wonderful Smith family. Mercy makes an appearance, as do her and Bastien's other brothers. The infamous "kitten-defurring" incident is recalled. We also see Lucas and Naya.
So there's lots of stuff for Psy-Changeling readers, but it's also written to stand alone, so don't worry if you're new to the series. You can use this novella as your introduction to the Psy-Changeling world without problem.
I haven't posted an excerpt yet as the release is several months away, but here's a fun snippet of Bastien being grilled by a pack elder.
"Why aren't you mated or with a long-term lover?" She poked him in the arm. "We both know you have no trouble attracting women."
The question grated against his insides. "Does no one respect my private life?"
"You're in a pack. Of course not," was the rapid response. "Now, answer me. I'm a hundred and twenty-five--I don't have time to dilly-dally."
"No one can pass Mercy's tests," he said, wanting Vera off the painful and currently maddening subject of mating.
"Overprotective, is she?"
"If it's the right girl," he said, his leopard flexing its claws inside him, "it won't matter." Bastien might not know her name or what she looked like, nothing but her scent, but he knew his mate wouldn't be scared off. Smith mates had a way of surprising everyone.
- From Secrets At Midnight by Nalini Singh (this is from a pre-edit version of the manuscript, so it may change slightly in the final published novella).
Also, check out the awesome cover!
What happens after Book 14?
A number of readers have contacted me asking if book 14 is the end of the series. It isn't!
I think the rumor began because I've spoken about the "end of this story arc" in interviews. So what do I mean by that?
When I began the Psy-Changeling series, it was really important to me to have a coherent story arc, with a start and a satisfying end. I still deeply believe that. The only thing that has changed is that I realized as I wrote that this storyline wouldn't only have a single arc, but that the ending of the first arc would naturally be the beginning of the second. To end the series at the conclusion of this arc would leave too many avenues unexplored, too many characters with their stories untold. It would feel unfinished.
For me, a coherent story arc means a story that is moving forward with every book, heading for a critical climax. It's not standing in place. We're going on a journey, and that journey has a goal. With each arc, we have to reach that goal, have that sense of satisfaction.
In my head, this arc is called the Silence arc. That has been the defining element of the series to date. Some people have said to me that for them, the Silence arc ended with Heart of Obsidian. I can totally see their point. So many things came to a conclusion in that book. It was a massive climax.
However, I feel that for a true conclusion to the arc, we need the "direct aftermath" books as well. The books that ask, what comes next? Shield of Winter was the first book. Aden's book will be the second, but having said that, I won't know until I finish writing it whether I can tie up all the loose ends that need to be tied up, in this book. So some storylines may be picked up in Book 15, making it the final book in the Silence arc.
Post Book 14 or 15 - or the Post-Silence story arc
I love the richness of the Psy-Changeling world, love that there are so many possibilities to explore, so many questions to answer, so many layers to peel back, and that it's peopled by so many amazing characters.
Those characters are interconnected on a deep level by myriad bonds, so even once we move away from the Silence arc, we won't be moving away from the characters we know and love.
Yes, there will be new players in the next arc, as is natural as we further explore the world, but some of those new players will end up with characters we already know, while others will link through in other ways.
For example, if I do a book on the WindHaven falcons, they're allied with DarkRiver and SnowDancer, so we'd see the cats and the wolves.
And Silence remains a major player - it may have fallen, but it casts a long shadow that will impact countless characters for years to come.
I've consistently been using "tangent" books to describe these future stories, but I've decided it still sounds too much like "spin-off" and that's not what I'm thinking. The books, characters, and storylines are too interlinked for that, with the second arc being as coherent and as connected as the first one. I think it's better and clearer to simply say we'll be opening up a new story arc, going on a new journey in this world.
Think of it like seasons of television, where a series has a strong background story/plot. We're coming to the conclusion of season one, but watch out - because something in that conclusion will lead directly into season two.
I hope that makes sense, and I hope you'll come with me into this new journey.
Who will get a story in the future?
I have so many people I want to write about! I can't list them all, because this post would be even longer than it already is, but here are just some characters I think will get either a book or a novella at some point:
The single SnowDancer lieutenants, Desiree from DarkRiver, Adam - the leader of WindHaven, one or more of the sea changelings, certain Psy characters it'd be too spoilerish to name here, Kit when he's a bit more grown up, Rina, Bowen from the Human Alliance... (and more!)
I'd also like to go back and write about some characters who appeared early on and who really need to have their stories told, like Zara, the wildcat who is a designer for DarkRiver, Finn, the poor healer who got manhandled by Nathan in Beat of Temptation, Tag and Tiara from Blaze of Memory, D'Arn and Sing-Liu - that's just the tip of my list. I don't know if they'd all get full novellas, or long short stories, but I haven't forgotten them.
Please don't worry if I didn't list your favorite character as a future story - I only mentioned a few names. There are more and some of them already have files opened for them on my computer, with notes entered. :-)
Which leads me to my Secret Anthology...now no longer so secret. ;-)
Updated 12 December, 2015: Anthology has been scheduled for release in North America on August 23rd, 2016. International date still to come. Title: WILD EMBRACE.
--
Because I have so many characters who either need novellas or longer short stories, I've been thinking of doing another Psy-Changeling anthology. Similar to Wild Invitation, but with all-new stories.
However, since I do these shorter works around my full-length books, I can't promise you a release date right now. I don't want to schedule it and then disappoint you if I can't finish in time. I'd rather make it a nice surprise one day!
But, the good news is that I already have one novella in rough draft (it features Stefan, who was mentioned in Shield of Winter), and a couple of other things in middle stages, so I'm *hoping* I'll have it done by the end of this year.
I'll post as to how it's going soon as I have more news, or have finished another piece. I'll update this post, so you can just save this as a bookmark and come back in a couple of months to see what's happening.
Updated 12 December, 2015:
#1 (Novella) - Stefan (Psy/Tk stationed on the deep sea station Alaris). Complete.
#2 (Novelette) - Dorian's story (exploring his growing up years, how being latent affected him, and how he became a sentinel). Complete.
#3 (Novella) - I've never before written the story of a submissive male changeling paired with a dominant female changeling, but this couple came out of nowhere and hit me hard. Complete.
#4. (Novella) - Kenji and Garnet (Jem). Complete.
When will the series end forever?
When I feel there are no more stories to be told in this world. I know everyone has their favorites, books/novellas that worked better for them than others, but as a writer, I am deeply happy with all of the entries in the series to date.
I feel each was needed, was necessary to tell part of the story, to give us a new insight into the world and its characters. I want to feel the same way about future entries, so when I come to a place where I feel the story is complete, and all the characters are in a good place, that's when I'll say good-bye.
I am nowhere close to that point, and I hope neither are you. Here's to many more journeys together into the Psy-Changeling world!
This is the end of a very, very, very long post. I hope that answers most of the burning questions. :-)
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Quick Update
Hello my lovely readers. I'm back home but jet lag keeps whacking me sideaways (I fell asleep in the living room armchair yesterday - twice!), so it's going to take me a little while to catch up on everything, but I will be doing a detailed post mid-next week about the Psy-Changeling series and what's coming up next.
But two things quickly - book 14 is not the end of the series (writing this till I'm ninety-five, remember?! :D), and book 14 is Aden's book. More to come!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Friday Book Club
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Almost There :-)
Leaving Hong Kong tonight. Had such a great trip, loved meeting so many of you, but am ready to get back home and at work on Psy/Changeling #14 plus the copy edits for ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS!! :-)
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Hong Kong & Thank You!
While I haven't been able to respond to all your messages and comments during my travels, I am reading each and every one. Thank you all for the lovely words about SHIELD OF WINTER and the Psy/Changeling series. You are amazing. xoxo
Monday, June 09, 2014
Good News, Interviews, and Guest Posts
Also, Nalini's had a number of interviews and guest posts go live this month. Here's a brief round-up:
Steamy guys after dark: Writing a Series - Connections and Growth
Shelf Pleasure: Ending and Beginnings and Everything In Between
SFX Magazine: A guest blog on world building
Smexy Books: Talking Arrows
Destiny Romance: A Podcast discussing Shield of Winter and what's in store for the Psy-Changeling world following the next book in the series
SciFiNow: A guest post on travel and inspiration
Night Owl Reviews: Nalini talks about both the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter Series
Harlequin Junkies: An insight into virgin heroes
Last but not least, The Bookish Babe is hosting a new excerpt for those of you still waiting to get your hands on Shield of Winter!
Saturday, June 07, 2014
Friday, June 06, 2014
Shield of Winter Spoiler Thread
This is where you can discuss SHIELD OF WINTER freely. Spoilers allowed so look away if you haven't read the book!! (Note that there is also a second spoiler thread here.)
As always, be friendly to your fellow commentors and have a great duscussion. :-)
Kobo - New Zealand
I know some of you in NZ had issues downloading your pre-ordered copies of SHIELD OF WINTER from Kobo. You should now be able to do so without problems.
If you have any trouble at all, drop Kobo an email at
help@kobobooks.com and they will be more than happy to manually add the book to your bookshelf.
I'm sorry about the delay, but I hope you enjoy the story!!
Link to SHIELD OF WINTER on Kobo NZ:
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/shield-of-winter
Thursday, June 05, 2014
SHIELD OF WINTER
SHIELD OF WINTER is now out in English worldwide!! Woohoo!!
Thanks for all the comments, emails and reviews so far. You are all amazing!
(Spoiler thread to come soon.)
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Shield of Winter now out!! Plus, Newsletter
The June newsletter has also gone out, complete with a free Psy-Changeling short story. Normally, the shorts are exclusive to newsletter subscribers for several months, but this is one I promised all of you during the DABWAHA competition - so here it is. Have fun! (And if you'd like to join my newsletter list, the signup form is on the front page of the website. The Welcome newsletter includes links to back issues that included short stories. :-))
HIDE and SEEK
Nalini Singh
Kaleb telepathed Sahara when she wasn’t by the old tree stump in her father’s backyard where he’d said he’d pick her up. Sahara.
I’m here. Come find me.
It had been a long time since he’d played this game with her, but he knew it well. The most important rule was that he couldn’t cheat by using her face as a lock to teleport directly to her location—as he’d done the first time she’d invited him to play hide and seek, back when they’d both been children.
He could still remember her exasperated face as she told him that wasn’t the point. Hands on her hips and leaves in her hair from where she’d been hiding under a bush, she’d said, “You have to hunt, Kaleb. That’s why it’s fun!”
Today, more than fifteen years later, he first entered her father’s home to check she wasn’t inside. Thankfully, it appeared Leon Kyriakus had gone off to his medical practice already so Kaleb didn’t have to interact with him. It wasn’t as if Leon had anything against Kaleb. It was more that Kaleb didn’t understand how to act with a man who was quickly developing a tendency to call him, “son”.
Paternal-type contact was a complete mystery to Kaleb. At times, when Kaleb accompanied Sahara here at her insistence, it appeared that Leon forgot who it was he was talking to. Those times, the older man treated Kaleb as Sahara’s and therefore a member of the family—since Kaleb was Sahara’s in every way, he had no issue with Leon’s behavior. He just didn’t understand it.
Why doesn’t your father view me as a threat? he asked after checking the house. I assumed he’d tolerate me because of you, but he is actively welcoming. Very few people in the world trusted Kaleb enough to turn their backs on him, but Leon treated him with a kind of absentminded affection.
It was...strange.
Sahara’s telepathic voice entered his mind. You brought me home. He knows you’d die before causing me harm, and so of course you’d never hurt him. You know that.
Kaleb did...and yet he still didn’t understand Leon Kyriakus, perhaps never would. The single adult male he’d truly known as a child had been a monster, pain and fear the only things Kaleb had experienced at his hands. Kaleb wasn’t sure he could ever overcome that scarring, the part of him that lived in the void—a void forged in blood and torture—capable of trusting only one being on the planet on that level.
However, he would continue to be cordial to Leon Kyriakus, because unlike the male who had given Kaleb half his genetic material, the other man was a true father. One who had never given up on his child...and who had never tried to separate Sahara from Kaleb. That, Kaleb would’ve never forgiven.
Leaving the house after checking all the rooms aside from Leon’s because he knew Sahara wouldn’t use that as a hiding place, he went directly to the biggest tree in the NightStar compound. It was much larger than when they’d clambered over it as children, its branches even thicker, but one thing remained the same. Sahara had managed to climb up to perch on the highest possible branch that would bear her weight. Hands on the branch and jeans-clad legs kicking out, she waved. “I’ve been waiting for you!” She patted the branch. “It’ll hold you!”
Kaleb looked at the solid trunk, the wide branches, thought about the fact he hadn’t climbed a tree for well over a decade, and took the first grip. The roughness of the bark was familiar, as was the lingering warmth the tree seemed to retain on sunny days. Even the chill of winter hadn’t stolen that. As a Tk, Kaleb was more physically adept than most people, but he tried not to use his ability here. Some of it was impossible to block—telekinesis was part of his blood, as reflexive by now as breathing. However, he made the climb as relentlessly physical as he could.
Hauling himself up onto the branch beside the woman who had first taught him to play, then taught him to enjoy it, he said, “Do I receive an award this time?”
“Here.” Sahara gave him a cookie from the small bag she held in her hands.
He took a small bite of the colored cookie spotted with nuts, then fed the rest to her. “I decline this award.”
“More cookies for me,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him.
It was instinctive to steady her with his arm around her waist, to throw a telekinetic shield around her body. He would allow nothing and no one to ever again harm Sahara.
“Kaleb.” A husky whisper before she kissed him again, sweet and hot and his. Always she had been his. Always she had chosen to be his. It was a gift beyond price.
“Did you have a good visit with your father?” he asked afterward, every part of him humming in quiet, intense awareness.
“Yes.” Sahara’s smile sparked in the dark blue of her eyes. “He’s terrible—works himself to the bone. But I took him for a stroll, made him sit in the sun while I read to him from an old printed book I found in our library. It was all about medical science in the time of the Territorial Wars. He was fascinated, but I told him he can’t have the book because he’ll inhale it in one go and forget about relaxing. I’ll read more to him the next time I visit.”
“Are you ready to go home?”
“No.” She put one hand on his thigh. “I just want to sit here with you. Ever since the fall of Silence, life’s been so busy. I miss you.”
“You never have to miss me,” he said, holding her eyes. “If you need me, just call.” He’d abandon the world for her.
She stroked his jaw, her skin glowing from within. “I know—and that’s why I can’t give in to the urge. I’m wildly possessive where you’re concerned, but you carry the fate of an entire race on your shoulders.”
“Sahara, that race is only alive because you told me I couldn’t destroy them.” Kaleb knew himself, knew he wasn’t good, knew he did good things only so as not to lose the way she looked at him. He would never forgive or forget that it was the leaders of the Psy race who had once taken her from him. “Were it up to me,” he said, “I’d abandon them all to swim or drown and teleport us to an isolated island where no one would bother us for eternity.”
“No you wouldn’t.” Sahara laughed, turning to brace her bent arm on his shoulder. “You like being hooked into the world too much. I bet you know exactly what the temperature is in outer Mongolia right now.”
“No, but I can find out for you in a second.”
That only caused her laughter to deepen, her delight making the creature in the void sit up in unreserved attention. Even now, with the two of them bonded on the most intimate psychic level, that part of him found astonished joy in belonging to her, in having the right to her laughter, her touch. “I love you,” she said, running one hand through his hair. “I’ve never been to a tropical island. I don’t suppose you have one in your mental database?”
A thought and they were on the white sand beach of an isolated atoll in the Indian Ocean, the heavy moon shining down from a midnight sky. Rising to her feet a heartbeat after they arrived, Sahara kicked off her shoes, pulled off her socks, and began to shrug off her coat. “It’s hot! No snow!” Having shucked her sweater while he watched in fascination, she said, “Will anyone see me? Can I strip?”
“No one will see you.” Not only was this island uninhibited, it was in a satellite shadow and invisible to spies in the sky. Kaleb knew that because he made it a point to know such things.
Dressed in khaki cargo pants and a black T-shirt himself, he took off his boots and socks, then just watched Sahara. When she’d said “strip” she’d meant to the skin, and since she wore the dark fall of her hair in a braid today, nothing hid his view.
He watched her run into the water, emerge wet and sleek as a seal. “Kaleb! Come in! It’s so warm!”
For the second time that day, he played with Sahara. Leaving his clothes beside hers, he dove in and stroked out to her. Telepathically touching base with his aide at the same time, he cancelled the meeting he was meant to be attending in thirty minutes and told her to reorganize it for tomorrow.
An hour later, he teleported in food and drink. She pulled on his T-shirt over damp skin, while he tugged on his cargo pants.
When she aligned herself against him while they lay on the sand and watched the moon, he held her as she stroked his chest, and he thought of how as a child, she’d patted helplessly at him with those same hands, her eyes wet and distress in her voice at his wounds.
In all his life, Sahara alone had touched him with gentleness, was the only one from whom he’d accept it. He didn’t know how to ask her to never stop doing that...and he didn’t need to. The bond between them pulsed bright as she pressed a kiss to his pectoral, his shoulder, his jaw.
Sahara knew his need.
She always knew.
“Kaleb?”
He turned to her to see a wicked smile on her face.
“Want to make an earthquake?” she said, running one foot up his shin.
“Yes,” Kaleb responded, his body already rock hard for her. “But not in this region. The atolls are too low and may flood.”
Sahara stared at him, and then she started laughing, falling over onto her back with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Leaning down on his elbow, he watched her, and he thought he might learn to laugh with her, too.
She snorted, slapped a hand over her mouth. Tears rolled down her face. “W-w-we’re almost naked,” she pointed out, “a-and you d-d-d—”
Seduced, he gripped her jaw and kissed that laughing mouth. Her laughter poured into him, her arms locking around his shoulders and her legs around his hips. Before her, he’d understood the mechanics of sex, but he hadn’t understood other things. Like the fact people laughed and smiled during the act—and that it was about far more than the physical. “I wouldn’t want you to drown,” he said, releasing her lips so she could suck in a breath. “I also don’t want to stop midway.”
She giggled again, her fingers caressing his nape. “Excellent point.” Nipping at his lower lip, she kissed her way along his jaw. “You’re all salty.” A lick, a nibble, before she suddenly went still. “Kaleb,” she whispered. “Remember that thing we always wanted to do?”
He knew exactly what she was talking about. “Come with me,” he said, rising to his feet.
When she went to grab her pants, he said, “You won’t need them.”
Not arguing, she slipped her hand into his and he led her up the sugar-fine sand of the beach and to a narrow pier about five minutes away. Dropping his hand the instant she saw the rowboat anchored by it, she ran over to it and hopped inside the small vessel—where she knelt on the boards and looked over the side. “You even named her the Gypsy Queen!”
“It’s what you wanted.” To row away to parts unknown under the moonlight, the dream one of the final ones she’d shared with him before the monsters had stolen her away and hurt her.
Cold rage threatened to bloom in him, until he wanted to go to the hole in the earth where he’d imprisoned one of those responsible, mete out the same kind of torture. But he didn’t, because to do so would be to give too much of himself to the darkness, going against Sahara’s express wishes.
Kaleb had never broken a promise he’d made to her and he wasn’t about to start now.
Stepping into the boat, he released the rope that anchored it, then taking a seat, picked up the paddles and began to row them out. Sahara lay back on the cushions and watched him with eyes that had always seen everything. “You own this atoll, don’t you?”
“I usually keep the boat stored elsewhere. Out of the elements.”
She touched his knee with her toes. “What else have you kept safe for me, Kaleb?” A quiet murmur. “What other dream?”
“It was my sanity.”
This boat, the house, all the other small pieces of her he’d held safe, they had kept him from annihilating the world in his search for her. “Why did you want to do this?” It was something he hadn’t asked when she’d told him her dream the month before she turned sixteen...and then, there’d been no chance to ask.
Rising to a sitting position, Sahara shifted to put her hands on his, stilling his strokes through the water. “I was trying to drop hints that you should take me away and kiss me.” It had been the most intimate thing Sahara had been able to think to do at that age, the cage of Silence a powerful one. “Since you were always half-naked in my fantasies, this is perfect.”
Kaleb closed his eyes as she leaned forward to caress his shoulders, the boy she’d adored having grown up into a powerful man who held her heart in lethal, protective hands. Changing her center of gravity, she took him down to the cushions of this boat he’d kept for her, this silly girlish wish that he’d protected for her.
The boat rocked.
And her lips curved. “I never figured that into my fantasies.”
“What?”
“Your Tk.” It kept slipping the leash during intimacy, though he usually managed to direct it deep underground, where it couldn’t do much damage. “Kaleb?”
“Yes?”
She raised her head to look into his eyes, saw the cardinal starlight had been erased by the obsidian of emotion and passion. “We made it,” she said, the quiet words a fury. “We’re here under the moonlight and the monsters aren’t. They didn’t beat us.” All the pain, all the horror, she and Kaleb hadn’t only survived it, they’d fought their way to the light. “They didn’t steal our love.”
The boat rocked even more but she wasn’t afraid. Kaleb would never allow her to fall.
“Nothing and no one,” he said quietly, “will ever steal who you are to me.”
One hand on the side of his face, she kissed him, and for that instant, the world didn’t matter. The fall of Silence didn’t matter. The fact that Kaleb was holding the PsyNet together through sheer strength of will and violent power didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were here, in the middle of a dream that belonged to the girl she’d once been—a dream held safe by the boy become a man who was her heartbeat and her forever.
This was their time.
Copyright © 2014 by Nalini Singh
If you enjoyed this short story and haven’t yet read Kaleb and Sahara’s story, their book is Heart of Obsidian. While it takes place later on in the Psy-Changeling series, readers new to the series have reported back that it stands very well alone. You can check out a two chapter excerpt on the website.
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
SHIELD OF WINTER Countdown & Audiobook Sale
Shield of Winter is almost here! Only one more sleep to go! :-)
Plus - June is Audiobook month and the lovely people at Tantor Audio have let me know that as part of the celebration, all of my audio books are 50% off at their website, so check it out!
Plus - June is Audiobook month and the lovely people at Tantor Audio have let me know that as part of the celebration, all of my audio books are 50% off at their website, so check it out!
Monday, June 02, 2014
The Shield of Winter Countdown continues!
The SHIELD OF WINTER countdown continues with a new quote, featuring two of your favorite Arrows! Roll on Tuesday! And if you missed it in the newsletter, the chapter featuring Ivy and Vasic's first meeting is now on the website.
