HEAT WAVE: An unpublished extra

(Inspired by Bunny’s recent interview with HEAT WAVE’s Bhyrne Raines)

Epilogue

   Boom. Thunk. Boom. Thunk.

   Zena covered her ears and stared out the sliding glass doors of the townhouse terrace. Across the broad expanse of Hudson, Nyack was ablaze in autumnal crimson and gold. An amazing view—if not for the derricks and pile drivers arrayed like monstrous steel aliens on the north side of the Tappan Zee Bridge linking Tarrytown and Rockland County. Machinery raising so hella din her eyes crossed. Worse even than the churning bowels of Duyvil Tand, the demon stronghold hidden beneath the Catskills.

She raised her arm to throw an electric charge to jam up the mechanisms, then thought about the possibility of knocking out power on both sides of the river. Her sister, Lily, had inadvertently done that once…during a particularly enthusiastic and frisky amorous session with her honey, Campbell.

   She couldn’t risk an outage. Not in her delicate condition. And especially not when her mate, a fine demon male in his prime, was doing whatever he was doing on the computer. A thought that nearly sent her into an uncharacteristic fit of giggles. For all Bhyrne resembled a mortal man when out and about among the humans in Sleepy Hollow—albeit an extremely large, hunky and hot-as-sin version—his acceptance of modern devices remained, well, so 18^th century. But he better not be doing another interview with that creature Bunny, who spattered snark all over the Decadent Publishing and 1Night Stand blogs.

   Turning her back on the mid-river racket, she pattered on bare feet across thick carpet, footfalls silent as she made her way into Bhyrne’s den to surprise him. He remained so engrossed by the images on the screen he failed to note her advance. Allowing her to creep up behind him. Slide her hands over his broad shoulders, up the column of his neck. To nibble breathily on his ear lobe.

   In an instant, he’d snatched her around her growing middle and settled her on his lap, nuzzling her in turn. “What’s up, princess?”

   She sighed. “The noise level. It’s killing me. Can’t be good for junior.”

   He rubbed a hand possessively over her belly and offered her a sinful smile, worthy of a fire-sex demon. “Something to be said for breedspawn, huh?”

   “Oh. Yeah. Something.” She returned his grin. “Like a hot male and off-the-charts sex. When do you think you’ll go into heat again?”

   “How about we get our first little demon settled in the world?”

   Zena nodded. “But not here.”

   “I thought you liked Sleepy Hollow? You’re near your sisters. People are used to odd things going bump in the night.”

   “Yes, but not the pile drivers in the river going boom in the day. They’re driving me mad, Bhyrne. We’ve gotta get out of this townhouse, babe. Spacious as it is, it’s gonna get too cramped, anyway.”

   “Agreed. We need a house. As soon as I get the security agency set up.”

   “Is that what you’ve been doing?”

   “Was. But then I got a freaky email from Max.” He tilted the monitor screen toward her and she craned to scan the pixels.  

   Her jaw dropped. Except for Bhyrne’s cousin, the erotic artist Max Raines, the fire-sex demon mated to her sister, Dagney, Bhyrne had no family. Or so they’d thought. He’d lived on the streets, clawing his way up through the ranks of the Succubus Queen’s guard, until he’d become Velda’s most elite enforcer. He’d discovered the connection to Max only relatively recently. And did not otherwise know much about his distant past.

   He’d been such a loner before Madame Eve had hooked them up. The last thing in the world she wanted was Bhyrne to be hurt. She vowed payback against anyone who tried.

   “You have me, Bhyrne,” she murmured, stroking the back of his neck.    “And our little blazelet. We’re your family. Would be great if someone’s out there somewhere. But…don’t get your hopes up. There’s a lot we don’t know.”

   “I know, Z. My first thought was, some guy sees one of Max’s sexy paintings in a magazine, has the same last name, maybe wants to cash in on Max’s fame. Or infamy.  Whatever. Maybe he’s after a payday.”

   “But?”

   “But Max doesn’t think so. And there’s no one more reclusive and suspicious than Max. And the way the guy describes himself…he’s some kind of spook. Clandestine services. Writing from overseas. Doesn’t seem to understand the powers he has. No family. Lost. Like I was. Until I found you.”

   He clicked on an attachment. A photo filled the screen. Zena sucked in her breath.

   “Oh, my freakin’ goddess.” The resemblance to her love—and to Max for that matter—shattered any doubt.

   “What if…what if I have a brother?”

So what do you think? Should we give Bhyrne a long lost brother? Let me know in a comment (and be sure to include your email address) and I’ll send one random commenter a copy of LIGHTNING, the first book in my SLEEPY HOLLOW series of 1Night Stand stories.

BLURB:

   Sent into the human realm to retrieve prodigal princess, Zena Night, Bhyrne Raines is shocked and unprepared for his carnal reaction to the sexy succubus. In service to the succubus queen, the rugged enforcer must stifle the instant passion exploding within him. Fulfilling his royal duty doesn’t allow for quickie dalliances. His biological clock is ticking, and he begins to enter breedspawn, an intense and unstoppable frenzy of mating all fire-demon males must endure. But the more he wants to avoid Zena, the more he’s drawn to her.

   Reluctant to give up her carefree life of partying among the mortals when the hot-as-sin Bhyrne comes to fetch her for the queen, Zena uses her succubus wiles to entice him, or at least delay the inevitable trip to the royal court. Once in the demon stronghold, hidden deep within the Catskill mountains, she learns the reason for the summons: she must choose a consort within two days.

    Zena needs a mate. Bhyrne needs to mate. With time running out for both of them, they each turn to 1Night Stand. With time running out, can Madame Eve come to the rescue?

HEAT WAVE available at Decadent Publishing | Amazon:US | UK | Canada | ARe | CTR | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Or in the SLEEPY HOLLOW anthology.

Welcome to steamy Sleepy Hollow, where lightning strikes, the temperatures are HOT, and the erotic sparks fly!

 You wouldn't think three sultry succubi sisters, two sexy fire-demons, a reluctant witch and a couple of mega hunky mortals would need hook-ups courtesy of Madame Eve's ultra-exclusive 1Night Stand agency…but hey, the dating scene can be rough, even if you've got extraordinary paranormal powers and live in a mystical village populated by supernaturals… where things tend to go bump in the night.

Taryn Kincaid's erotic 1Night Stand stories, LIGHTNING,THUNDER, FROST and HEAT WAVE are a little snarky, a lot smokin' and will melt your heart! And then BLIZZARD will set you aflame!

Available at  Decadent Publishing  Amazon  US | UK | Canada |  DE |

 ARe | Barnes and Noble | CTR