Loving
Red
Book
One
Alisha
Costanzo
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Transmundane Press
Date of Publication: 09/09/15
Number of pages: 183
Word Count: ~49,000 words
Cover Artist: Karri Klawiter
Book Description:
For Sergeant Severins Bouvier, silence
means tactical planning and a large death toll, and he can’t shake how danger
threatens him on the beaches of Miami, especially after seeing one of his
associates in a local sandwich shop. Worse, the enemy seems fascinated with the
woman he can’t stop thinking about—a woman determined not to trust him.
Everything about Sev crashes
through Kaia’s carefully placed boundaries, traps, and avoidances. Regardless
of her lack of interest in the majority of men, the ones that did catch her off
guard left a lot of collateral damage. Who better than a soldier to understand
that?
The problem is that she trusts
him. Just not with her heart.
Excerpt
From Chapter Twenty-Four
“Something feels
different about this place,” she said, voice soft but spreading across the
grounds like an earthquake.
“It’s protected.
That’s what you feel.”
A short,
frail-looking male swung open his front door and appeared on the square wooden
porch. His skin marbled like the bark of an old oak with tints of green. Long
and wide eyes assessed Severins and Kaia before his gaze slashed to Kaia’s
vampire friend, Kalib. The performance was rather dramatic.
“You said one—a
single, human female. Human. That is not human.” The dryad’s twig-finger
pointed to Severins with further flair.
“We were lacking
in our information. The wolf is no harm to you.”
“No harm. No
harm!” His hair sprouted green and miniature ivy fell around his ears. “At
best, he’ll piss on my plants. At worst.” The small man’s voice squabbled high
and fluttered through the leaves above. “At worst!”
Kalib rolled his
eyes, and Severins shook his head. Kaia, however, seem entranced with the
dryad’s tirade.“Eilon. Fucking
wood nymphs. Eilon.”
“Oh no, sir. You
can stay in your pretty little metal box for that.” Eilon slammed his door
again in a giant huff.
Kaia jerked and
came back to the small clearing. Her eyes took on a darker green in these
woods. “He did not like either of you very much.”
“Tree-folk
aren’t group friendly unless there’s a ceremony or an orgy, although they’re
practically the same thing to them.” Kalib pulled two long swords from behind
his seat—long enough they shouldn’t have fit back there. He strapped them into
holsters hidden beneath his loose cotton shirt. “I’ll take first watch.”
“Dryad’s don’t
like wolves too much—territorial and all that. Piss in the wrong part of the
woods once, and it’s like you killed their elder.”
“Did you tinkle
on one of his plants?”
Severins snorted
in delight at hearing the word tinkle come out of her mouth. “No, I’m house-trained,
beautiful.”
Her giggle
lightened up the small dark place, dancing along the trees as though they
responded to her presence. She certainly possessed some tie to the magickal
world. It explained why she attracted so much paranormal attention—his included.
Kalib hollered
through the door at the little man, and Severins leaned Kaia against the side
of the sports car.
“Before we go in
there with that dry, old lump, give me a kiss.” He leaned into her, moving in
at seventy-percent and leaving her the other thirty to come to him, but her
hands dipped across his chest and stomach as she examined his different
tattoos. Her touch stirred his raw need for her.
After a few
seconds, she lifted and closed the gap between them.
Opening to him,
her responses changed, shifting since their kiss in Wayne’s truck. He took
advantage, pressing her closer and stealing her breath.
She drew back
with a smile. “I think I’m beginning to like this lifestyle.”
Her nails
scraped down his flanks, and he fought his own arousal. Severins pressed into
her before backing away, slinging a shirt on to cover himself before following
her inside.
The dryad jumped
into the room from the kitchen, waving at them. “No, no, no. Shoes off!” Eilon
skidded to a stop with his hands out.
“You. Before you
enter here, you will make my pledge.”
The ends of
Eilon’s knobby fingers grew sharp, and Severins surrendered. “What kind of
pledge are we talking about?”
“You repeat
after me. I pledge
not to piss on any of Eilon Broaddock’s indoor plants.” The
little man paused and snapped at him. “Repeat it.”
“I pledge not to
piss on any of Eilon Broaddock’s indoor plants.”
“I pledge not to
scratch, bite, or chew on any of Elion Broaddock’s precious house items.”
“I promise not
to destroy your home. I may be a wolf, but I am also a gentleman.”
“Repeat as I
said.” Eilon’s sharp fingers extended further.
Severins sighed.
Threatening a wolf with wood wasn’t the fae’s smartest move, but he repeated
the pledge instead of provoking his host further. The restraint took enormous
effort because the little drama queen was asking for it.
Eilon stepped
back and nodded, handing him a towel and returning to his kitchen. “And wolf
will not sully Miss Red.”
“You’re
venturing outside your jurisdiction, there, Oak Broad Oak.”
The vines of his
hair tangled and retreated to a brilliant golden brown. “My stuffed radish. You have your own red, and you’re not to touch Miss Red if yours turns you down.
She’s my bed guest, and I will not have her sullied.”
Eilon
disappeared into the kitchen, and Severins’ spine whipped straight. Kaia’s face
reddened, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “I like him.”
About
the Author:
Alisha Costanzo is from a
Syracuse suburb. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of
Central Oklahoma, where she currently teaches English. She's the author of
BLOOD PHOENIX: REBIRTH and BLOOD PHOENIX: CLAIMED, and co-editor of DISTORTED.
LOVING RED, a Broken World novel, is almost ready for its 2015 release. In the
meantime, she will continue to corrupt young minds, rant about the government,
and daydream about her all around nasty creatures.
