Welcome to Snippet Saturday, where authors show snippets of their work.

Today is Secondary Characters, and oh is that ever a favorite of mine. I can’t write a book without secondary characters. Some play a very small part, some a larger part. And since I love writing series so much, there are often secondary characters in my books who end up playing a major role in the next book. In fact, my secondary characters often end up as the main hero or heroine in a subsequent book.

A couple of the secondary characters who readers loved and clamored for are AJ and Pax from my Wild Riders series. They’re featured in Riding On Instinct, and will have their own story next year in Riding The Night. (Yay!).

Here’s a snippet of AJ and Pax in Riding on Instinct, with Shadoe, the heroine in that book.

She saw Pax and A.J. sitting at one of the center tables—a great spot to do a little viewing of their own. Though she wasn’t sure if they were really on the job or just ogling the dancers.

She went up to their table and bent down to wrap her arms around them.

“How’s it going, guys?”

A.J. tilted his head up and graced her with the kind of smile that would turn any woman’s knees to jelly, his stormy gray eyes filled with trouble. “Hey baby. You looked hot tonight, as usual.”

“You sure did, honey. Hard for a guy to concentrate on anything but watching you,” Pax said, his lips tilted in a sexy smile. Between the two of these guys, a woman didn’t stand a chance. Pax’s face was model worthy, all chiseled cheek bones and strong jaw, and just perfect, kissable lips.

She laughed. “I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.”

“We usually do,” A.J. said with a wink.

“So, anything happening tonight?”

Pax shook his head. “Just a lot of pretty naked ladies and guys who want to get into their g-strings.”

“Guys like you?”

“Always,” A.J. said, tipping his beer her way. “But we’ve got an inside line we’re working.”

Shadoe arched a brow. “Do you? And what might that be?”

“Hey. Are you trying to pick up my guys?”

Shadoe straightened and saw Ariele coming to a stop at the table to rest a hip against A.J.’s chair. A.J. slid an arm around her waist.

“Me? Not at all. Just stopping to say hello. So, these two are yours, huh?”

Ariele laughed. “Well, they are a handful, but they sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

Both? At once? Oh, my. Shadoe’s gaze flitted between A.J. and Pax, who grinned back at her. “That sounds like fun.”

Ariele’s eyes sparkled with desire. “It is, Desi. You should try it sometime.”

She thought about Spence. One guy…or at least one particular guy…was more than enough for her. “I’ll give that some thought. Time for me to make the rounds. The three of you have fun.”

Pax pulled out the chair between A.J. and him and patted it for Ariele to sit. “We intend to.”

The threesome had already tuned her out before she even walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to check out these other authors participating in Snippet Saturday:

Vivian Arend
Moira Rogers
Ashley Ladd
Anya Bast
Kelly Maher
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Mandy Roth
McKenna Jeffries
Sasha White
Taige Crenshaw
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Eliza Gayle
Victoria Janssen
Jody Wallace
Juliana Stone
TJ Michaels

Welcome to Snippet Saturday, where authors share snippets of their work.

Today is Black Moment day. Ahh, that heartbreaking juicy moment where everything that was wonderful about the hero and heroine’s relationship utterly falls apart.

I’ve chosen a scene from Wild, Wicked & Wanton. I loved Callie and Jack, and this scene was heartbreaking. (But don’t worry, it all ends up great at the end :giggle: ).

Callie couldn’t help it. She smiled all day at work on Monday. Jack stopped by as usual, only this time it was different. They were different together. Oh, he wasn’t about to embarrass her at work so he ordered his coffee like any other customer, but it was still…different. He smiled different, acted different, and so did she. She giggled. Giggled! It was syrupy sweet. She was appalled at herself.

Her employees laughed at her, but they were also thrilled for her, and so in awe that she’d managed to land someone like Jack Fellows. She still couldn’t quite believe it was real. She felt like Cinderella.

They were supposed to see each other tonight, though Jack said he had to work late and would come over to her place around eight.

She closed up the shop at two like she always did, finishing up the bank deposit paperwork. As usual, she was the last person in the shop, but had already locked the doors. When someone knocked, she looked up and shook her head, pointing to the Closed sign.

“May I speak with you please, Miss Jameson?” An older gentlemen spoke through the glass door. “I’m with Jack Fellows’s law firm.”

Curious, Callie unlocked the door and motioned the man inside.

“Thank you.” He smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Bob Walters, one of the senior partners at the law firm where Jack works.”

Callie smiled and shook his hand. “Very nice to meet you, Mr. Walters. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you. And call me Bob.” He sat at the table and folded his hands.

“Would you like some coffee? I’ve already closed everything up but I’d be happy to make some.”

“No, that’s quite all right, but thank you.”

Okay, so why was someone from Jack’s firm here, and how did he know her name? Curiosity was killing her. She didn’t know whether to hope or dread what this man was about to say.

“Miss Jameson, you’re ruining Jack’s career.”

Her heart dropped to her feet. Well, there was her answer. “Excuse me?”

“Let me be perfectly honest. Jack is an up and comer with the firm. He has a very bright future. But he also works for a high profile company, one with prominent social stature in Silverwood. Society and its connections and influences is vital, especially to someone who is about to become a senior partner.”

“I’m confused Mr. Walters. I don’t understand why you’ve come here or what you’re trying to say.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I was in the movie theater with you and Jack last night. I know exactly what you two were doing in the back row.”

Oh, God. Oh, God. The senior partner of Jack’s firm was in the movie theater? Shit! What had she done? Flames of embarrassment licked up her neck. She looked down at the paperwork on the table, too ashamed to even look the man in the eye.

“As you can imagine, we cannot entertain that kind of depravity at Walters and Little. If word of what kind of sexual activities Jack is engaged in got out, his career would be ruined.”

Tears pooled in Callie’s eyes. She blinked hard, forcing them back. “I understand.” She would not do anything to hurt Jack’s career. She looked up at the man, trying to muster up whatever shreds of dignity remained. “What do you want me to do?”

“End your relationship with Jack. Let him find a…different kind of woman. One who won’t embarrass him.” Bob placed his hand over Callie’s. “If you care at all for him, you’ll do what’s best for him and for his career. He’s worked long and hard for his success and he’s almost reached the top. Don’t make the mistake of standing in his way now.”

She shook her head, forcing the nausea away. “I would never do that.”

Bob nodded. “Good girl. I knew you cared for him. I could see that.” He stood. “I’m sorry to do this, but I only want the best for Jack. He’s like a son to me.”

She walked to the door and unlocked it, her throat raw. She couldn’t even speak, she just let the man out, locked the door and pulled the night shade down. Then she fell into the chair and collapsed, letting the racking sobs overtake her.

Oh, God, what had she been thinking? She’d almost ruined Jack’s life with her sexual perversions. Swiping at the tears, she stood and grabbed a towel, cleaned her face, then grabbed the bank deposit, determined to do the right thing.

No way would she stand in the way of Jack and his career. What they had was fun, but fun was one thing, and a man’s career was another. She might love him, but she wasn’t the right woman for him.

Tonight, she’d tell him it was over. It was the right thing to do. Because she did love him, she’d let him go.
She should have known better than to think she and Jack could ever be together.

She should have stayed on her own side of town, and kept her sexual fantasies to herself.

~~~~~~~~

Be sure to visit these other authors participating in Snippet Saturday:

Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Savannah Foley
Elisabeth Naughton
Moira Rogers

Welcome to Snippet Saturday, where authors share snippets of their work.

Today is Weaponry! Wheee! There’s nothing I love more than writing about weapons and the characters who use them. It’s probably why I love writing action and suspense stories….my characters often get to play with weapons.

The most fun I ever had researching weapons was for my Demon Hunters series. Here’s a scene from SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND, the first book in the series. Hope you enjoy!

Then she saw it. A flicker of movement to her left. Like a flash of white lighting as it breezed by.

“They’re fast, Gina. Get ready to run. He’ll circle and pop up behind you before you know it, otherwise. Get your vision tracked and follow, but stay sharp. They like to gang up. And stay with me at all times.”

She nodded and drew her weapon up rib high, acknowledging that her hands were shaking, forcing a calm she didn’t feel.

It was just adrenaline. Not fear. She was ready for this fight. Prepared. Armed and strong. She could take these bastards.

“What scares you, little girl?”

For a split second, her eyes closed, and she was propelled back in time once again, becoming that frightened child all alone. Gasping back a sob, reality surged and she pivoted.

The sonofabitch was fucking with her mind, and that she would never, ever allow. She aimed and fired, the UV light surprising the demon. He threw his hands up, but it was too late. An unholy scream emanated from the creature as it boiled and bubbled, smoke pouring from its frying flesh before oozing to the ground in a gelatinous pile.

Gina walked over to it, watching the remains rise and fall as if it was still breathing.

“Don’t ever fuck with me like that again,” she whispered to the darkness around her. “You can’t scare me.”

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she turned. Derek was watching her.

“You okay?”

“Yes.”

He focused on her for a second, then nodded. “Nice shot. Now let’s move.”

It didn’t take long for another to dart by them. Like ghosts, they flew by, almost as if they were taunting them, playing a game of cat and mouse. Derek took off in a fast run, Gina right on his heels, digging down when she was nearly out of breath. When he increased his speed to nearly inhuman levels, Gina almost lost sight of him. For someone she’d easily kept up with just a few days ago, he’d sure stepped it up all of a sudden. She was wheezing, her lungs were on fire and if he didn’t slow down soon she was going to be left behind.

God, these things were fast, zooming around trees and through the bushes with lightning speed. Relentless, Derek refused to let go of his target, but finally halted so suddenly Gina almost ran up his back. She dug in her heels and stopped just in time to see him aim at one coming right at them. The gun whirred with a low humming sound, but she couldn’t see anything coming from the barrel.

Nevertheless, the microwaves had obviously hit their intended target. The demon flew in the air, shimmying and shaking as the waves hit it, its eyeballs protruding from their sockets, white and bulging. When it hit the ground it began to sizzle, bumps popped out on its skin like a bad case of hives, its skin turned bright red and began to bubble.

“Stand back, Gina,” Derek said.

She did, and he took several steps backward, too.

Gina watched in horror and fascination as the demon began to expand, its skin stretching like a balloon filling with air. Wider and wider it expanded, more than skin should be able to inflate.

“This is where it gets really messy,” Derek said.

Suddenly, the demon blew apart with a loud pop, parts of it flying all over the jungle.

Gina grimaced and looked at Derek. “Oh that’s so gross.”

Grinning, he said, “Yeah, isn’t it? Now let’s go get the last one.”

Strangely, it seemed that the last demon was hiding. Or maybe it was stalking them, ready to pounce from behind a tree or thicket of bushes.

Gina and Derek combed the area, communicating back and forth with Linc and Ryder, who were engaged with their own set of demons.

“See anything?” Derek asked as he looked left and she looked right.

“Not yet.”

But suddenly it was right there in front of them, appearing out of nowhere. Derek dropped his rifle as the Demon lunged for him, it’s clawed hands and dripping fangs reaching out, trying to bite, to scratch, to insert its paralyzing toxin.

Human looking in every way except for its hideous fangs and claws, it was just like the one she’d seen the night before. Nearly bald, with pale blue eyes, but emanating pure evil as its twisted, grimacing face glared at Derek.
Derek grabbed its wrists and held it back, struggling to keep it at bay.

Shocked for a second, Gina gaped at it, her mind scrambling for what to do.

Shoot it, dumbass!

Then instinct roared to life and she grabbed the handgun out of the holster at her hip, taking careful aim as the demon and Derek struggled in a fierce dance. She didn’t want to hit Derek in case they moved suddenly, but she knew Derek didn’t have much time. The muscles of Derek’s arms bulged with the effort it took to keep the demon from sinking its fangs into his arm.

She fired a shot, striking the demon in the throat. It let go of Derek and reached for its neck, blood pouring over its hands.

Derek pushed back, panting and fighting for breath as he leaned over and braced his hands on his knees. Gina rushed over to him.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Thanks.”

She looked at the demon, horrified to see its flesh melting off its bones, a strangled, bubbly cry tearing through the night as first its flesh disappeared, then muscle, then organs disintegrated, until nothing was left but skeletal remains that dropped to the ground.

“You have some seriously kickass weapons, Derek.”

~~~~~~~~

Please visit the following authors participating in Snippet Saturday:

Anya Bast
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Leah Braemel
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
Sasha White
Jody Wallace
TJ Michaels
Victoria Janssen
Elisabeth Naughton