I thought I would regale you with an excerpt from my romantic suspense novel, THE B*E*A*S*T* WITHIN from Champagne Books. This is one of my best-selling books to date, and you can find it on Amazon, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, as well as directly from the Champagne Books store. This book is available in both eBook and print.
To learn more:
http://champagnebooks.com/bookstore/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=19
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/books/paranormal/beast.html
http://beastseries.blogspot.com
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Noah couldn’t move. He twisted and turned, but, try as he might, his arms and legs were held down by thick leather straps. He could feel the cool metal of the table underneath him as a bright light shone in his eyes, making them water. He couldn’t even turn his head because it too was strapped to the table.Suddenly, he felt sharp needles pierce his skin everywhere. They seemed to be burrowing deeper and deeper into his muscles, and Noah screamed in agony. It echoed through his skull as he tried to break free. The pain was unbearable as the needles burned hot, scorching him from the inside out. His heart raced as he gasped for breath, straining once again to break free.
“Resisting will only make it hurt even more,” a voice whispered in his ear.With a yelp, Noah sat up, and his eyes darted around, taking in the darkened cave surrounding him. A sheen of sweat covered his body as he gulped in air, trying in vain to calm his pounding heart.
The dreams were getting worse.With trembling hands, he wiped his eyes that were damp with tears. “Christ,” he whispered. Swallowing hard, he tried to work moisture into his mouth. He glanced around for the canteen and remembered that Lanie had drank some water earlier. Looking over his shoulder to where she slept, every hair on his body suddenly stood on end.
She wasn’t there.The blanket was gone, but the canteen still lay on the ground where she’d left it.
“Lanie?” he called out.In one fluid movement, Noah grabbed his shirt from the ground and stood. He pulled the ratty brown tee over his head as he grabbed the canteen on his way out of the cave.
“Lanie?” he called out a little louder. He didn’t dare shout. If B.E.A.S.T. knew of the car accident, then it was a safe bet they were already roaming these woods looking for him. His breath puffed on the slight breeze as a crescent moon hung in the sky, illuminating the snow. He could see Lanie’s footprints in the white powder, but he didn’t need them. He could smell her as he jogged along her trail, suddenly feeling his heart in his throat. What was she doing, wandering these woods alone?Her trail didn’t go on for long before he found her standing near a small copse of trees with her back to him. He grabbed her shoulders roughly and turned her to face him, his eyes flashing. Lanie yelped loudly, making Noah clamp his hand over her mouth.
“What the hell are you doing?” he whispered furiously.Her eyes were large and round, and he could smell the fear radiating off of her in waves. With a sigh, he released her mouth but still held her shoulders.
“I--” she began, but Noah placed a finger over her lips.“Not so loud!” he hissed.
Now her scent was laced with anger as she tried to shove him off. But he wouldn’t be budged.“I had to… use the little girl’s room!”
Noah’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion before he finally understood and let her go. “Well, you should have woke me, woman! You have no idea who or what is roaming these woods.”“I’m not about to wake you just so you can watch me do my business!” Her voice shrilled through the woods, and Noah once again slapped his hand over her mouth.
“Be quiet!” he demanded. “I don’t want to watch, I would have simply protected you.” Once again, he lowered his hand, and she looked as if she were about to say something, but a scent and a sound wafted to him on the breeze at the same time. Something was out of place--something odd. He dropped to the ground, pulling her with him, and he motioned for her to stay silent as he gazed out through the brush.That scent--he’d smelled it before. Every nerve ending in his body screamed to shift and hunt, but he fought the urge for all he was worth. He couldn’t risk shifting into a tiger right in front of Lanie. His instincts were to kill, and he knew without a doubt that the men who hunted him were nearby, but he couldn’t risk Lanie’s life in his bid for revenge.
Glancing back at her, he grabbed her hand and whispered, “They’ve spotted the cave. We’ve got to go!”With that, he sprinted into the forest, pulling Lanie along behind him.~ * ~
Lanie’s lungs were on fire. The crisp mountain air burned them every time she took a breath, and her arm felt as if Noah were going to pull it from the socket. But she didn’t dare stop running. Noah’s urgency fueled her own, and all sorts of horrid, evil thoughts raced through her brain. Were they being chased?
Who had found the cave? What the hell was going on?
She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she stumbled in the snow. A cry escaped her lips as
Noah dragged her to her feet.
“Come on!” he demanded.The world was spinning, and Lanie fell once more. “I can’t… I can’t go… on!”
She panted, her head throbbing and threatening to explode at any moment. A sudden wave of nausea overcame her, and she turned to wretch on the ground.“Oh, God,” she moaned.
“Lanie! Are you all right?”She shook her head and suddenly regretted it. “No,” she managed to say.
Her eyes filled with tears as her stomach lurched once more and a baleful roar rose from the trees behind them, raising every hair on the back of Lanie’s neck.“What the hell was that?” she exclaimed, turning her large eyes into the darkness. “Was that your tiger?”
Noah’s body stiffened as he knelt over her. “No,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here. Now!”He scooped her up in his arms and dashed through the trees as if she weighed nothing. Too late, Lanie realized that she’d dropped the blanket she’d been carrying, but she wasn’t about to ask Noah to turn back and get it regardless of the chills racking her body. Not with that ungodly howl she’d just heard.
Terror overcame her as she clutched onto Noah’s neck, and she willed him to run faster. Lanie had to close her eyes as her head still spun. Was Noah growling? She couldn’t be sure with her pain. She hissed through her teeth at being jostled in his arms.After what seemed an eternity, Noah climbed a small embankment. She would have marveled at his strength if she hadn’t been trembling with fright. Before she knew it, they were standing on a roadway--perhaps the very same road she’d been traveling on before her accident.
Was it her imagination, or did she hear that shrill yowl again? And it seemed to be closer this time.“Noah!” she shrieked, clutching him even harder.
“I know, I know!”
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http://champagnebooks.com/bookstore/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=19
~~Becka
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~~Becka