Whew. It's been a
whirlwind week, getting ready for the upcoming holiday. I think I have almost
every task completed off my check list. Still doing some baking and I always
wait until the last moment to wrap presents. LOL Actually, if all goes well,
that will be finished up over the next three days. J
Looking forward to
some TV marathons over the next week or two, with a Xmas Eve X-Files event and Five Days of the
Doctor, too. I kind of wish more of my favorite shows created specific holiday
shows to air on Christmas Day. That's a trend I could definitely get behind.
Just got the word
that Bitten returns in February. I
cannot wait!! Banshee starts in a few
weeks, so that should keep me going during the brief lag time.
Tonight's post is from
Trip the Light Fantastic, a novella in the Chaos series, featuring more
of Ashton and Esme's adventures.
Here's the tagline:
Esme Von Staunton and Ashton Sylvester think they might be
going insane. Ashton's weird attunement with Esme draws her into his bizarre
nightmare of hallucinations and doing things neither remember. Esme's brother
Eric stumbles onto a plot by Baron Morbride and races to save his source and
his favorite couple, but Mobride has other plans and doesn't plan to let Eric
thwart him.
And a preview snippet…
Ash tossed and turned. He feared
falling asleep, but couldn't deny Esme when she insisted he try to at least
rest. She'd be up soon, after she got Eric and Del settled in the carriage
house. Smithers picked a fine time to high off to an old mate's rescue.
Good God, Ash needed to get his
head back on straight. He didn't begrudge the manservant's loyalty to his
oldest friend. Not at all… he respected the bone-deep sense of duty Smithers
possessed. Rolling over to his side, Ash tucked his palm under his cheek,
hoping Esme wouldn't be much longer.
His eyelids drooped and an
overwhelming sense of drowsiness sucked him into the ether of slumber.
Ash rode a raven black stallion,
Esme at his side on a silver gray, galloping across the estate, headed for
town. He turned, catching a glimpse of Esme's cape flowing behind her. She
glanced in his direction, a smile on her lips. She pulled ahead and Ash gazed
at the curve of her ass, her black jodhpurs stark against the light-colored
saddle. He blinked, a grin curving his lips then his eyes went wide when he
observed Esme's horse pull up short, rearing on its hind legs, throwing Esme
off to land a good distance away.
Ash halted his animal and slid
from the saddle, running toward Esme, keeping a careful watch on the stallions.
When he reached her side, he found her head twisted at a grotesque angle, her
eyes staring lifelessly. He cried out, burying his face in her hair, gasping
for breath.
A hand roughly shook him.
"Ash! Wake up. I'm fine. I'm fine."
Esme's voice cut through the fog
of his nightmare and Ash jolted awake, sitting upright with his eyes wide open.
Esme cupped his face with a cool palm, stroking his cheek with her thumb.
Ash blinked, clearing the
remnants of dream away before meeting her gaze. "Did I call out? Is that
how you knew?" He dragged in air, willing his heart rate to slow down.
Esme shook her head. "No,
you didn't call out, Ash." She glanced away, an odd look on her face.
Ash placed his hand over hers.
"What happened, Es? If I didn't say anything, how did you know about the
nightmare?" A slow churning began in his stomach, his every instinct on
alert.
Esme slowly met his gaze again.
"I know because I was there with you, Ash, in the dream." She turned
her hand, grasping his and lacing their fingers together before letting go.
"I saw everything, experienced it right along with you, all while being
fully awake."
I can't wait to
dive back into this series and get another book or two written. I love Ash and
Esme.
That's it for this
week.
Cheers!
Skye
No comments:
Post a Comment