Head Over Wheels (Steamy New Adult Romance) (38 page)
Read Head Over Wheels (Steamy New Adult Romance) Online
Authors: January Valentine
"I wonder how those rooms are." Indigo's prudent gaze led mine in the direction of the mansion turned bed and breakfast.
"I saw the bridal suite. It's beautiful." My hand tightened around his.
"I don't need frills. Just a nice soft bed."
"And a shower, the island in your kitchen, the front seat of the Wrangler."
He laughed. "I don't know about you, Jewel. Your mind is always in the ... Hey, did you bring your cuffs?" His eyes darted to mine.
"Yup. Did you bring your stethoscope?"
"I did."
"Clamps?" My hand flew to my mouth at the thought.
He nodded, his eyes clouding with what I knew was me.
"Did you remember to bring your scrubs, doc?" A chill ran down my spine.
"I memorized your list, Jewelia." He chuckled, pulling me to his side.
"Chocolate roses, flavored oils, everything the authorities ordered?" I giggled.
Smiling, he nodded, then checked his wristwatch. "We've got about a half hour until the start of the reception." He lifted a brow. "What do you think?"
My mind exploded with memories: the first time I set eyes on him, the bike ride in Central Park, velvety grass, cloudless sky, his hands, his lips, his eyes, his voice ...
"Jewel ..." My name was an airy rush. "I doubt we'd be able to hang together out there," he motioned to the wheels spinning past us, "but Bill and I usually stop at Kelly's after riding." Those deeply faceted eyes were vibrant as they caressed my face, slowly, seductively.
He didn't have to speak, or move. Just standing before me with that look on his face, the purse of his lips still molded with my name ... was enough to push me over the edge.
Lifting my long dress to my knees, I bundled the silk in my fingers, kicked off my heels. Squinting up at him, I grinned. "Race you back." I was breathless.
As we dashed to the mansion, our laughter left a musical trail.
No one knows why, but ... sometimes what seems impossible ...works out best.
B
EAUTIFUL EXPERIMENT
,
Paranormal / Fantasy / Romance, was released on June 21. 2013. Available on
Amazon
(Kindle) Paperback will be available in July.
SYNOPSIS
Six unruly teens are abducted on their way to a juvie home. Dumped onto an uncharted island. Could things get any worse? Hell, yeah. Hostility and envy run rampant. Throw in some alphas, divas and demons, and what do you have? Beautiful Experiment. Book One of the Island of Defiance Trilogy.
The teens are referred to as waywards, informed their parents have sent them to the island for rehabilitation. While they struggle with their predicament, and each other, they come to a shocking realization ... for once in their lives, they have to follow rules.
Brook has lived on the Island of Defiance his entire life, with no choice but to believe everything he has been taught. As he approaches eighteen, the secret of who he is, and the ultimate fate he must face, begins to unfold. To complicate matters even more, Brook grows to experience something he has never known ... love.
How do you convince a stranger a dreadful mistake has been made? Gabriella Winslow is an honors student who has always helped others, but now has to fight for herself. Something unimaginable wants her as much as the beautiful island boy with whom she is falling in love.
Beautiful Experiment is Book One of The Island Of Defiance Trilogy (paranormal - fantasy - romance - for teens and adults) Mature 17+ for adult language, drugs & alcohol, mild sexual situations & violence
.
EXCERPT
The sky has burst into flame. Red and gold, it's raging. The sun
is
the sky. Scorching. Shooting stars, like flaming spears, are dropping all around me. If I don't shut my eyes, I'll be blinded. If I do, I'll be nothing but a solid target. The wind wails like a mother who has lost her child.
"When the third moon falls, the beast will devour the sky."
As
suddenly as it started, it ends. I'm standing beside Father, totally disoriented.
Am I standing?
I look down at my feet, because I feel legless. I'm floating. Struggling to regain control of my mind, my body, the shock.
I
grip the clipboard and pen with my knees, so that I can draw my palms across my twitching eyelids, astonished that I'm actually still holding onto anything.
"Did
you see that flash? Did you hear that creepy voice?" I'm breathless, massaging my pounding temples with burning fingertips. "My head feels like it's about to split open." I rattle each eardrum with a pinky, then plug my ears to listen intently. Was the urgent whisper that turned me to stone inside my head? Phantom sounds? I've never experienced this kind of phenomenon before. "My eyes pain."
Father
regards me with a mix of surprise and concern. "You have a migraine?"
"Migraine?"
I scoff.
What the fuck
, loops through my head. I'm freaked out, left with a strange feeling this is not going to be like other days. I try to shake it off, like I shake him off.
The
sky is now clear and so perfectly blue, it looks as though it's been painted by deliberate strokes of an artist's brush. It is a seamless dome of beauty. If we were not receiving today, I might be lying on the pristine beach, permitting my thoughts to wander far beyond my own boundaries. Maybe I'd be lounging on my bluff, or climb my watchtower tree, burrow into its welcoming arms where I collect my years, watch over all that is mine.
"Feeling
better?" His voice is buffered, but coarse enough to jar me from thought.
Skimming
Father, my gaze snaps back to the waves, the skiff that is almost upon us. "I'm fine." I don’t mention how bad my body aches, and feels like it’s being torn apart. I stretch my arms, then my neck, trying to pin down what I did to cause these muscle spasms. The bomb that’s about to explode in my head.
When
the ocean is calm it's translucent, sparkling with sunlight as though it's coated with billions of precious gemstones. Today it's not much more than rolling waves and seaweed.
"I've
never seen it this rough." Between wind and thunderous surf, I have to face him or my voice will be useless.
"Storms."
His reply is blunt.
"You
wouldn't know it by the sky." I bring my gaze to a more pleasant sight.
"There's
one brewing out there. You'd feel it if you had my knees." Staring gravely at the ocean, his body is rigid.
"Are
you in pain?"
"Nothing
I can't handle."
"Let's
hope the weather holds off until we've settled them."
"Rain
or shine, we've got our work cut out for us, Brook."
"As
always." My stomach rises to my throat as I watch their approach. I wonder if I'll ever get used to this way of life. Do I want to? Of course not. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing right now, like hopping onto that boat, and for starters, checking out the other side of this island.
Beyond
the boat, a floating veil of mist rolls in like billows of steam from a tremendous boiling kettle. I am no longer able to see the large vessel from which the skiff was launched.
The
atmosphere of the island is as such, inviting one moment, rejecting the next. Father calls it a gentle beast, with characteristics and charm like the women he has known. My glance shifts, falling upon the shoreline curve where a jetty, composed of rocks chiseled and stacked by nature, projects like the nose of a dolphin and the forest begins. This is as far as my eyes pan.
"Thank
you for cutting your hair." For a moment his eyes wash over me, then his gaze refocuses on the others who are struggling against the relentless current. "I know it pains you."
"Don't
you mean
shearing
?" I huff. "I don't understand why I can't grow it long. I have awesome hair, or so I've been told." I smirk.
He shoots me a phony glare.
"You've been told, huh? No cozying up to any of these girls. I don't want another batch begging to stay."
"I'm not a womanizer. Just good company." I shrug.
"No nighttime jaunts to the lagoon, either. And I mean it this time." Now his glare is authentic.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Stay out of the lagoon. Out of the forest. Out of the lockers. Pretend to like my boring life."
He almost looks sympathetic. "One of these days you'll understand."
"What? Why I can't swim at night?"
"You're impossible sometimes, and the reason I ask you to cut your hair is to set a good example."
I let out a tired sigh.
My hand runs over my smooth scalp, the shadow of bristles so short and sun-bleached, my reflection in a mirror looks hairless. If not for my deeply tanned skin, I would look anemic. "Seems a waste. Six or more inches of attractive dark hair again and again swept into the trash." My jaw sets as our discussion continues. "I like my hair long. It makes me feel ..."
"Like a rock star?" He chuckles, scrubbing
my head playfully. "In so many ways you remain such a child, yet you desire to be worldly. Do you admire them?"
"
Not as you might be thinking." My eyes lower, landing upon my anxious toes digging through a mound of sand.
I
swing my gaze across the vast horizon which is now shaded with purples and blues, fantasizing about the places beyond. The order of the world not contained within this globe of existence called Defiance Island. I know the temperament of the waywards, but wonder what others are like. Are they beautiful? Intelligent? Kindhearted? Do they possess the nature that can make a man want to tear another to shreds?
J
anuary Valentine is the pen name of Victoria Valentine, New York writer, indie book publisher, and blogtalkradio.com show host.
Victoria uses January, her birth month, when writing romance and thrillers. Children’s books and poetry are written under the name Victoria Valentine.
Victoria hosts her radio show,
Away With Words
, every Wednesday @ 7pm EST on blogtalkradio.com, where she interviews writers and poets.
Her books include:
At the Stroke of Midnight: 24 tales of terror
The Cutest Little Duckie color storybook
Desert Noon romance poetry collection
Love Dreams contemporary romance
Sweet Dreams in the Mind of a Serial Killer
Head Over Wheels spicy young romance
Beautiful Experiment, Book One, Island of Defiance Trilogy (New Release)
Victoria is currently working on the third book in her “Dream” series,
Bad Dreams.
Find January Valentine & Victoria Valentine on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and Water Forest Press Books.
http://waterforestpress.miiduu.com
(B
ookstore)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aww1
(Away With Words)
http://januaryvalentine.blogspot.com/
(Blog)
When not writing, Victoria publishes anthologies: A Hudson View Poetry Digest, Skyline Review, Literary House Review
I’d love to hear from you!
Contact:
Connect with me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaValentineBooks
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/VictoriaSkyline
Linkedin:
U
ntil you actually sit down to compose an acknowledgment page, you don’t realize just how many people have been an incredible influence and monumental help before, during, and after the creation of a book.
Although I’ve been writing longer than they’ve been around, I have to thank my three kids:
Phaedra
for her valuable input and for pushing me to the verge of hysteria,
Tommy
for his “time” and “bugging out on me”, and other cool stuff, and
Cindy
for her sensitive ear and uplifting feedback, and to all three of my blessings who cheered me on when I suffered through bouts of inadequacy and OCD. My kids don't aspire to be writers, but with their talents, they really should be.
Thanks to Liz for her "blah ja blah" and other mumbo jumbo, Matt (our future pharmacist) for his "Apple" skills, and Nick for being so damn cute.
Thanks to Sil, my inspiration for hot and sensitive heroes, John for delectable meals, and Judy because she’s my sister. :D
And to Jill, my faithful reader and AWW co-pilot.
Thank you to my cousin, Mimi, (Maggie Schmidt) the fantastic artist who sketched the most
guapo
“Indigo”.
Thank you to Amanda R. Tucker for character tattoos, handcuffs and stethoscope.
I could never close without mentioning Istvan Szabo, Ifj, the most amazing Ebook creator;
http://www.crystalshadeangeni.com
(Official Website)
http://www.crystalshadeangeni.com/sapphireguardian
(Book Formatting Website)
A big thank you
http://digitalphoto-graphics.com/
for your awesome Photoshop work, and ceaseless patience :-)
