When I wrote Make Me Believe, I had one of those annoying secondary characters that was actually supposed to be a bad guy show up in my head and say… Uh, ‘scuse me, but I ain’t a bad guy. And I want a book.

Well, it took me like three years to do it, but I finally gave the bossy uh…err… man his book. It comes out from EC today and once the new releases are posted, you can buy it here. (Sometime Wednesday morning…EST)

This is an ebook, and while it might come out in print, I don’t know when.

It’s probably tagged as fantasy, but it’s more paranormal or urban fantasy romance than fantasy, because it’s set in our world… our world just has elves, Santa Claus, magick, that sort of thing. An excerpt is below…

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He dreamed of her. It wasn’t the first time he’d dreamt of Holly since she had left, but this dream seemed different somehow. More real.

She sat curled up in a chair by a huge window. Though the window was closed, he could hear the strains of loud music as he walked to her–and through the thin walls, he heard other people. One couple in the throws of sex, another in the midst of an argument. Faintly, the wail of a baby.

Though his focus was on Holly, his mind ticked off the details of the room. It was second nature, cataloging every sight, every sound, every scent. There were roses in the room, their fragrance soft and delicate, almost overpowered by the stronger scents of food, people and the city. Loud music pounded and pulsed, mingling with loud, boisterous voices and laughter. As he passed by the window, he caught sight of a street that seemed vaguely familiar. It was near dawn, yet down in the streets, the party was still going strong. It seemed as though some were just coming out to start their day, while others had to yet to finish up their night.

And Holly slept on. Oblivious to him, to the noise, to the coming day–to him. Brooding, he stood over the ridiculously ugly chair and stared down at her, hardly able to believe that she could be oblivious to him, even in dreams, when she had consumed his every waking and sleeping moment for the past month–no… Longer.

Behind him there was a narrow, rather uncomfortable looking bed and he could smell the scent of her skin on the sheets, see bits and pieces of her all over the room, a sign that she was settling in. Stacks of books, most of them new, were scattered throughout the room and on the back of the chair where she slept were several pieces of clothing, the tags still attached. The small dresser had a jumble of change, loose bills, lipstick and brightly colored ropes of beads. Plastic, metallic-tinted beads–the sight of them tickled a memory at the back of his head.

Crouching by the chair, he reached out, half afraid to touch her for fear that the dream would shatter around him. Brushing her fingers down her cheek, he murmured, “Holly.”

“Hmmm.” She turned her face into his hand, rubbed her cheek against his palm. But her eyes remained closed, her breathing soft and steady.

Leaning in, he put his lips on level with her ear and whispered, “Holly.”

“Hmm?” Shifting around, her lips brushed against his. Rhys swore.

Her eyes flew wide as he wrapped his arms around her and jerked her out of the chair, pulling her in close against his body as he straightened. “Look at me, Holly,” he demanded, covering her mouth with his, forcing her to yield to him.

So very real…he thought, a little dazed as she squirmed and wiggled against him until she could hook her legs around his waist, crossing her ankles at the small of his back. She wore nothing more than a t-shirt and a pair of panties, not much of a barrier at all. Separated by her panties and his own clothes, he could feel the heated wet silk of her pussy and he groaned into her mouth.

Through the thin cotton of her t-shirt, he felt the soft weight of her breasts and the hard points of her nipples. Greedy for more, he tore his mouth away from hers and grabbed the neck of her shirt, splitting it down the middle. Holly blinked owlishly, staring at him with stunned, dark eyes. “Are you really here?”

“No,” he muttered. “But I will be. I’m coming for you, Holly.”