Christmas Paws

I have a beautiful blond male companion in my life, and his name is Kahluah 😛 He’s a mixed breed with a playful attitude and a friendly, if mischievous, disposition. He likes children and toys and chasing after rabbits. He’s been a great friend of the family.

When he was about four months old, he jumped up on the counter and stole half of a Dominos pizza and chomped most of it down while I chased him around the hotel room. When he was a year old he killed a giant rat and left it on the front porch — which absolutely horrified me. And last week, he managed to lock himself in the laundry room when he knocked the door closed. *headshake* Still, he’s grown up to be a truly great dog and I am happy to share him with all of you.

This is Kahluah. Feel free to comment on how pretty he is 🙂

And if you include a book you’d like from my backlist, one lucky commenter will receive a Smashwords coupon. Winner will be chosen using Random.org.

Click HERE to read an EXCERPT of “True Love’s Kiss.”

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True Love’s Kiss

He woke sluggishly to the sensation of someone kissing him. He blinked open heavy-lidded eyes to find a stranger’s face close in front of his, kissing his lips with fervent passion and a lick of tongue.

Weakly, Philip brought his hands up on her shoulders and pushed her away. She squeaked and sat back on his thighs, looking down at him with all the delight of a new car owner.

“It worked,” she breathed, a smile spreading across her wide mouth. She had a tumble of golden curls framing her oval face and he recognized that she was pretty. A pretty kissing stranger that was straddling him on a bed that wasn’t his own.

Something is very wrong here, he thought.

He opened his mouth, but only a dry rasp escaped. It hurt his throat.

“Sh.” She pressed a finger against his lower lip. “You’re not well enough yet. I’ll go get you some water. My prince,” she added with a giggle.

She climbed off of him nimbly, flashing her bare legs and the bright blue of her panties. She ran to the bedroom door and he saw she wore a black sleep shirt decorated with a trail of purple and blue stars, like a galaxy spun out across her hips and over her breasts.

“I’ll be right back.” She flashed him a grin as she opened the door just enough for her to slip out.

Philip lay on a pretty pink bed in the bedroom of a woman he didn’t know and wondered what was going on. He felt tired and weak and more than anything he wanted to go home.

He tried to sit up, but it was too much.

Exhausted, he drifted into sleep.

He was roaring down the highway in the muscle car his dad had bought him for graduation. He couldn’t help the wide grin he wore as the wind whipped through his dark hair, snatching at the music pumping loudly from the stereo and carrying it off into the night.

He saw his exit up ahead and took it, slowing down just before the stop sign. The music bumped through the whole car and his heart beat excited and alive.

He felt like he could drive forever. Like he could do anything because he was young, he was done with high school, and there was a whole wide world out there just waiting for him to explore it.

But first, he needed to pick up his younger brother from a party.

Philip turned the radio down as he entered the residential area of Palm Crest. Everyone knew his family, and the last thing he needed was a lecture from his mother. She could make him feel three inches tall.

He didn’t need Andy’s directions to find the house. He just followed the line of parked cars and the music. Then, at the bend of the cul-de-sac, he saw the house lit up with Christmas lights and strung with different colored tissue streamers. The front door was open wide and party-goers tumbled out across the once pristine lawn. There was a scatter of red plastic cups lining the walkway.

Philip double parked next to a red sport coupe and took his phone out of the glovebox. He sent a text to Andy letting him know he was waiting.

He listened to one song all the way through and half of the next before he spotted Andy coming out of the house, his arm around the waist of a red haired girl and an unhappy look on his face.

Philip perked up, wondering what was going on.

Andy stalked down the sidewalk, pulling the girl along with him. She kept looking over her shoulder and was shouting back at someone still in the house.

Sensing something was about to happen, Philip beeped the horn and Andy waved at him and changed direction, walking across the grass.

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A tall blond girl burst out of the house, screaming so loud that Philip could hear her even over the music and the party. “You asshole! I fucking hate your face.”

Andy didn’t pause as he broke into a jog toward the car. The girl with him was having trouble in her strappy high-heeled shoes, but she was in as much of a rush to get away.

It looked like Andy had broken another girl’s heart. He seemed to think he was some kind of smooth talking Lothario, and girls always fell for his charms. He’d already gotten himself into several fights, and he took a twisted delight in watching two girls bite and claw each other over him.

Philip got out of the car and hurried around. He didn’t know what was going on or what Andy had done this time, but the air felt heavy with dread.

“What are you doing? Get back in the car!” Andy yelled. He was nearly to the sidewalk and the blond girl was closing in, a furious scowl on her face and a frightening glitter in her eyes.

“What is going on?” Philip demanded.

The blond girl was still screeching as she chased Andy down, but it had become an incoherent mash of profanity and “How could yous.” Tears of fury made her mascara run and she looked frightening with the backdrop of light.

A crowd was gathering, trickling out of the house to watch. There were shouted inquiries and drunken laughter. The situation was winding up to become something serious.

Philip hustled his brother past him toward the car and raised his hand at the girl. “Hold on. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I think everyone needs a chance to calm down.”

He’d never met someone violently crazy before, but a look at the girl’s face let him know that’s what he was dealing with now. It made his skin creep.

“Calm down? I’m not going to calm down!” she screeched. She lunged past him and caught the red haired girl by the hair and gave a hard jerk, ripping out a bloody clump.

Andy’s friend screamed and clutched at her scalp. “Ah, you psycho bitch! No wonder he didn’t want you!”

The blond howled in fury, a miniature whirlwind tearing up the lawn around her and making her clothes ripple loudly. She pointed her finger at Andy and her voice reverberated like thunder in a jar as she shouted out something in a faintly Aramaic language.

There was the crack of lightning and the heavy scent of ozone.

Philip hadn’t even felt himself move before he’d leapt forward and shoved Andy behind him. Then he was screaming as it felt as if every nerve was set on fire.

Dimly he heard Andy’s shouts and the horrified cries of the scattered crowd.

Then Philip was being jerked off his feet and he had the disturbing sensation of his skin peeling inside out. His throat ripped and tore, silencing his cries.

He could feel himself being unmade.

Philip awoke with a full body jerk, a gasp catching in his throat. Tears and sweat coated his face and he shamefully used a corner of the sheet to wipe it dry. He was still too weak to even think about getting out of bed.

He stared up at the ceiling. He felt disconnected, as though he’d gone through some profound change. He didn’t remember what had happened to him, but he was never going to be the same ever again.

He floated in his thoughts and he focused on all the parts of him he could reach. From his skin to his hair, from memories of his childhood to all of the important people in his life. He assured himself that he was real.

The opening of the bedroom door interrupted his thoughts. It was the woman and she was carrying a breakfast tray with a bowl and a plate of sliced fruit.

“Ah, you’re awake. That’s good. I’ve brought you some of my homemade soup.” She had dimples. They changed her whole face and had probably gotten her many things in her life.

Philip sat up, pulling the sheet around his waist. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you. My name is Philip, if you didn’t know.” He smiled uncomfortably.

She paused a heartbeat, then went back to positioning the tray across his lap, the legs low enough that he worried about dumping the tray if he moved wrong. The soup smelled good, hearty and full of herbs. There were lots of vegetables and strips of chicken and he was a little embarrassed when his stomach gurgled.

“Sounds like someone’s tummy wants some filling. My name is Avelice, and of course we’ve never met.” She laughed and sat on the edge of the bed to watch him.

Philip was glad she was letting him feed himself, though he wished she didn’t gaze at him like that. It made him feel pressured to somehow impress her.

“What happened? Where am I?” He tasted the soup and it was delicious. He was a bit worried about how weak his hand felt on the spoon. He focused on the soup and forced himself not to spill a drop.

“You’re in my house,” Avelice said. “You were transformed into a goat statue for several years and I broke the curse. I turned you back human.”

“Wait, I was a goat?” Philip dropped the spoon back in the bowl, and under the edge of the tray he clenched his two hands around each other to stop their tremble.

Avelice shook her head with a tinkling laugh. “No, not a living goat. A cool knicknack thing carved out of cherry wood and lacquered. You cost a pretty penny.”

Philip felt like he was floating, the contents of his stomach turning and turning. “She transformed me. Andy pissed off a witch and she transformed me.”

He’d known stuff like that happened, but he’d never thought it would happen to him. It left him terrified.

“How long was I changed for?” he asked.

Avelice shrugged. “I wasn’t one hundred percent sure who you were, but now that I know you’re Philip Ducard I can tell you that you’ve been cursed for fourteen years.

Philip blinked hard. A strangled sound escaped his throat before he could stop it. “Fourteen years. Fourteen. What am I going to do? Where are my parents?”

Avelice tried to calm him with waves of her hands. “I wasn’t sure who you were. I knew there was a man trapped in the goat, but I had to wait until I freed you before finding out who you are. But now we can contact whoever.”

Philip blinked. He wanted to scream and throw a fit, but he couldn’t find a reason for one. She’d saved him and she said they could call his parents. He could wait until he was with his family before having a total meltdown.

He picked up his spoon and fished out a carrot to eat. “This soup is delicious. Did you really make it?”

“I certainly did,” Avelice said.

Philip ate and tried to ignore the feel of her eyes on him. He’d never liked being mooned over, it had always made him uncomfortable. Andy was the one that much preferred being worshiped and admired.

The pineapple chunks were juicy and fresh. The strawberries were tiny and sweet. Fruit and soup seemed like a strange combination, but the pineapple was very refreshing.

Once he was done eating, he asked Avelice if he could call his parents. But while she left to get her phone, he fell asleep.

/EXCERPT