Spotlight & #Giveaway: In The Dark by Jen Colly
In
the Dark
The Cities Below # 1
The Cities Below # 1
By: Jen Colly
Releasing November 3, 2014
Lyrical Press / Kensington
Blurb
Demons have returned, a vengeful
enemy waiting to strike. Soren and Faith must find a way to survive the evil
and darkness. Faith's spur of the moment vacation, meant to free her and boost
her spirits, has left her lost on the streets of Paris. And apparently, Paris
is populated with something more than just humans. Vampires, suave, seductive
and oh so sexy, and one such warrior vampire has set his sights on her.
When Soren hears Faith’s terrified
screams, he rushes in and saves her life without considering the consequences.
Two problems: one, she’s a human and clearly aware of his vampire qualities,
and two, the men who attacked her were not men at all, but demons. Their
target, his beloved underground city of Balinese. He can never let Faith go
home again, but can she learn to love his people...love him?
Excerpt:
Dark tonight. The steady rain mottled the persistent light
from the streetlamps. Darkness was a good thing. He wasn’t comfortable here.
This wasn’t home, and a part of him hated Paris. For all the city’s beauty and
sophistication, it was a very dangerous place.
Stepping over a deep puddle, Soren moved as quickly as he
could, keeping to the shadows as he scanned the quiet street, straining to hear
any movement beyond the rain.
Though he usually didn’t watch his back or worry about what
waited around the next corner, here in this city, it made the difference
between getting what he needed to survive and the eradication of his people. If
humans were to discover him, their fear would take over, and every last one of
his kind would be hunted down and butchered. It had happened before.
Men’s voices broke through the peaceful silence of night,
and he ignored them, just as he did the rain dripping from his hair and off the
tip of his nose. They were too far away to cause him any trouble. He was here
for another, more urgent purpose. He’d ignored the signs, and now his body
required sustenance.
Then a woman’s whimpering plea fell into the mix of voices.
He changed his path, searching for her, and found her in a
dead end alleyway. Two men pinned the helpless and frightened woman to the
brick wall. He pulled the men from her, threw them hard against the building.
Their heads hit on the bricks with a sickening thud, and the men fell to the
ground, limp, lifeless.
The woman had been pitched back against the far building,
taking a bump to her head. He spun around to see how she had fared. She still
stood.
Hunger hit him hard.
He strode toward her, chest heaving from excitement,
anticipation. The woman before him was water to a man dying of thirst.
She was so refreshingly ordinary, from her wet and clinging
black hair, to her flushed cheeks. Even the cut of her shirt, low enough to
show a mere hint of her bosom and all her lovely neck, was simple.
She leaned against the building for support as she tested
the back of her head for any serious injury. “Thank you. I don’t know what I
would have done.”
Her trembling voice set him in motion, but her tentative
smile sealed her fate. He moved a step closer, then another, crowding her.
She stumbled as she tried to step back, looking for an
escape. The wall of the building was already pressing against her back. Still
he advanced.
Standing inches from her, he grazed her cheek with his
fingers then plunged them into her hair and swept the sopping mess back. She
gasped softly, a nervous intake of breath.
“Please, don’t.” Her voice quavered.
“Say it again,” he demanded roughly, though his touch was
gentle.
“Please,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, and he
dropped his head and nuzzled her neck. Her voice enthralled him so, had drawn
him closer.
She whimpered, the vibrations touching his lips, and he
tightened his grasp on her, trying to somehow remain focused. He needed to go
slowly, but it had been too long. The sensation of her lush form against him
was too right, the soft scent of her flesh too potent.
Control fled, and he bit her. Her body jerked once, then
went rigid against him. Happily drowning in the sweet and tempting scent that
had driven him over the edge, he barely noticed. Rose? Lavender? He didn’t know
flowers, and didn’t care to learn them, but he would never again breathe that
scent without thinking of her.
Nourishing, sweet and hot, her lifeblood sent blissful
shivers coursing through his body. Feeding was always a delicious experience,
though he’d never experienced anything like this.
The rain continued to fall on them, the cool drops sliding
down her neck to the very spot where they were joined. Soren drank in the
water, the taste of her skin infused in every raindrop. So intoxicating, so
sensual. He couldn’t help but wrap his other arm around her waist and bring her
closer. He was no longer holding her still, but simply holding her.
His heartbeat raced. The simple act of feeding was enough
to send him out of his mind with satisfaction, but the soul wrenching pleasure
of her clutching his shoulders had him gasping for breath.
The world faded away. No rain or alley, no feeding existed.
He only wanted to bask in the way her fingers moved, tightening then releasing,
like she needed him. Wanted him. But too soon her fingers slipped from his
shirt, fell slowly down his arms, and hung at her sides.
She went limp in his arms. Something was wrong. Sealing the
bite on her neck with a kiss of thanks, he pulled back. She’d passed out.
That wasn’t supposed to happen. Losing consciousness
occurred after a person had been either wounded or frightened. Any injury she
had wasn’t serious. If he’d frightened her, that posed a far more complicated
problem. Adrenaline sharpened the mind.
She shouldn’t be here. The hour was too late, the streets
deserted. Shops had closed hours ago. Her purse lay on the ground, discarded,
unwanted. The two men hadn’t meant to rob her.
He needed to get her out of here, and shifted her higher
against him. If she woke to find two dead bodies, she would likely become
hysterical, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with that human emotion. Maybe
the beauty’s purse contained useful information. He scanned the ground for it.
Something moved in the shadows. One of the attackers, his
fingers curling.
Tightening his grasp on the unconscious woman, he stepped
closer to the man, and with eyes used to the night, caught movement behind the
man’s eyelids.
He was awake.
Soren pulled his gun and sent the man back into blackness
with a single shot.
He had to find out who or what these men were. Nothing
should have come back that fast after tangling with him. Nothing ever had. He
didn’t like this, not at all, and cursing under his breath, pulled his phone
from his pocket and dialed an all too familiar number. Only Gustav could sort
out this mess and provide answers.
Author Info
Jen Colly is the rare case of an author who rebelled against
reading assignments throughout her school years. Now she prefers reading books
in a series, which has led her to writing her first paranormal romance series
The Cities Below. She will write about anything that catches her fancy, though
truth be told, her weaknesses are pirates and vampires. She lives in Ohio with her
supportive husband, two kids, one big fluffy dog, and four rescued cats.
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