(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 18th 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.
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?
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!
