Terms of Surrender (45 page)

She brushed her hand across his chest, acquainting herself with his smooth pecs, then drifted further down to his abdomen….lower, lower until she made contact with the hair around his cock. She froze.

Montana's eyes shot open when she realized what she was doing.

Shit, she was horny! How else could she explain this instant hot attraction? Why did she have a sudden uncontrollable urge to molest an unconscious man as he lay injured?

Montana stopped gaping long enough to scold herself for her unconscionable act as she berated her foolishness in not heeding Jason's warnings about riding around the ranch in the dim light. She could just hear the I-told-you-so's now, which gave her some pause.

She needed to get her injured stranger some help, but how to do that without going back to the ranch and submitting to an interrogation or righteous censure?

She certainly couldn't lift him herself. True, she was made of sturdy stock at five-nine, one-fifty, and was in pretty good physical condition having worked hard all her life on the ranch and at various positions with the Forestry Service, but this man had to be six-four and two-hundred pounds of solid muscle. Dead-weight muscle at that. Not to mention he was naked.

Montana realized she had more qualms about the latter than the idea of actually trying to lift and carry an unconscious and injured man to the house by her lonesome.

She pivoted and marched back to Sunspot to retrieve the heavy blanket from beneath her saddle, returned, and crouched beside the stranger before gently covering him with the coarse material.

The stranger.

Her
stranger, she thought, feeling connected to him and oddly possessive, as if he belonged to her and she to him.

Montana pulled the cell phone from her belt, flipped it open without much hope of getting a signal. She had to walk several yards away toward the ranch until she was out of a dead zone and able to get an open line. She dialed 911, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Sunspot and her stranger were okay. He’d disappeared.

ADULT EXCERPT

SPELLS CAST IN SHADOWS

By Gracie C. McKeever

Copyright © 2006

He pulled back to peer at her for a long moment before he bent his head to tease her slightly parted lips. Montana opened her mouth to him on a long moan and flung her arms around him, almost throwing him off-balance.

Seth planted one palm against the wall adjacent them and lowered her to the carpeted steps with his free arm. He pushed her legs apart with his knee as she wantonly sprawled across the several bottom steps, then he cupped her moist pussy with a palm. “Shall I please you before you take your leave?”

“Yes, Seth. Please…” She grasped his soft ‘locks with both hands and held on as he lifted her T-shirt up past her breasts. She writhed beneath him anticipating the feel of his lips on her a second before he wrapped his hot mouth around one nipple. “More, Seth. I want more of you…”

His hair was like cotton balls in her hands, and she reveled in the soft feel against her palms, reveled in the musky clean scent that wafted up to her from his skin and hair as she inhaled deep and held him tight.

Seth slid a hand into her panties, slowly eased two fingers into her wet pussy, and Montana immediately clamped down on the two digits with her inner muscles, desperate for more.

He laved, nipped, and sucked both nipples until they stood at attention, then found her engorged clit with his thumb and flicked it. He scissored his fingers inside her, working them in concert with his thumb and making Montana shudder.

She gripped his hair so tight her knuckles hurt, and still he tortured her. “If you want me to beg, Seth…” She gasped as he hit a particularly sensitive area deep inside her. “I will.

Please…”

“I only want you to feel.” Seth slowly licked his way down from her breasts, to her stomach until his mouth was poised over her hot center.

Montana felt his heated breath against her even through the satin of her panties. She pumped her hips in rhythm to his manipulations right before he ripped her panties off and buried his face between her legs.

“Oh, God…” She didn’t know whether it was the sound of her panties shredding beneath his hands or the insistent way he caressed her pussy with his tongue, but she almost came on the spot at his gentle brutality.

He covered her pussy with his mouth, teasing her sensitive nub with his tongue before pushing it deep inside her and stroking her wet folds.

REVIEWS for
Spells Cast in Shadows

"
Spells Cast in Shadows
is quite a befitting title. It really sets the mold for the theme of the story. Because of the magic that has occurred in the darkness of shadows, Montana and Seth are thrown obstacle after obstacle but their attraction to each other is strong. And they both are determined not to be without each other. Within this book, readers will see that the forces of evil will do anything to try and prevail over that which is good. But some times it takes a higher force to maintain the goodness. This is the second book that I’ve read by Gracie McKeever. She does wonderfully when describing scenes in her stories and those scenes make for incredible visuals. Gracie McKeever is a talented author and you will want to read her work! This book is a definite must read. So, what are you waiting for? Go and buy the book!
5 Stars
"
—Chantay,
Euro Reviews

"Gracie McKeever's imagination may well be unbounded, and once again she renders a richly tapestried contemporary fantasy, with vividly illustrated characters, a romance to-die-for, and sizzling sensual peaks. One story of Ms. McKeever's will readily convince any reader to keep reading her books, and
Spells Cast in Shadows
is certainly no exception.
4.5

Kisses
"
—Frost,
Two Lips Reviews

"
Spells Cast in Shadow
is a well-written book with captivating characters. This book includes the use of dark magic to manipulate lives, murder, intrigue and an amazing love story within a love story. The hero and heroine face many obstacles in discovering their love for one another. There are several plot lines developed within the story, some of which could have been expanded to add even more depth to this book. I hope Ms. McKeever will pick up the threads to tell the stories of Montana’s friend, Jason’s and that of Seth’s brother Endre to make this a series. The possibilities make my imagination soar! Seth and Montana struggle mightily to resist the lure of each other. Their resistance raises the heat level at every encounter until they surrender to the needs of their bodies, even if not acknowledging the desires of their hearts. Seeking to please themselves and each other physically, they please this reader with the passion they ignite. This book is one I’ll read again and again.
4

Stars/Hot
"
—Ginger,
Just Erotic Romance Reviews

"Gracie McKeever has written a marvelous modern-day fairy tale, complete with a classic good vs. evil struggle of epic proportions. Because of her clever use of foreshadowing, the relationship between a human and a centaur is immediately believable. Montana is as sympathetic a heroine as this reviewer has read about in recent memory, one who has overcome all of the obstacles life has placed in her path with strength and grace, and without becoming bitter and withdrawn. Seth possesses a great combination of arrogance, wisdom and vulnerability, and is a true alpha male hero figure. The sexual tension between Seth and Montana is so palpable that steam fairly rises from the computer screen. Ms.

McKeever’s language is somewhat graphic but not offensively so and is definitely part of the plot rather than gratuitous cursing and use of common slang for sexual terminology. Her excellent prose brings both her characters and her settings to life in the reader’s imagination. While billed as erotic in nature, the erotic elements occur naturally in the flow of the story and are not extreme or overly explicit. This reviewer enjoyed this tale and looks forward to more from Ms. McKeever. Highly recommended!
4 Hearts
"
—Leah,

LoveRomancesandMore.com

Between Darkness and Daylight

Over-achieving and skeptical securities and commodities sales agent, Nova Foxx, is dragged kicking and screaming into believing the supernatural when an almost-fatal mountain climbing accident results in a near-death experience that kick-starts her inherent psychic abilities into overdrive. Nova soon discovers with her newfound "gifts" comes great responsibility and is forced to relocate to another city in search of the subject of her clairvoyance with the hopes of ending her visions and saving a stranger's life. But first, she must convince him that his life is in jeopardy without revealing who she is and how she knows.

Zane Youngblood is a high school social worker who wants to save the world one child at a time. An impossible order to fill, but this doesn't stop him from trying, especially when he's raising a young troubled teen of his own looking for acceptance and a savior wherever he can find them.

Genre:
Contemporary Paranormal/Psychic/Interracial

SUPER EXCERPT

First Three Chapters

BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHT

By Gracie C. McKeever

Copyright © 2006

Los Angeles, California

Nova Foxx sighed as she folded her last piece of clothing and packed it in her carry-on.

She’d made enough errors in judgment in the past year to last her a lifetime. Time to rectify.

"I can't let you go like this."

She started; she hadn't heard him come into the room. Nova didn't turn as he neared but soon felt strong arms slide around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

No one could ever accuse Matthew Dalton of being a quitter.

"Please, Matt. Don't."

Rather than release her, he turned her to face him, pulled her closer, and she let him—

inhaling his warm tangy scent, snuggling in his firm embrace—for the moment too tired to fight anymore.

"We can work this out."

Silently, she shook her head.

"How can you walk away from us, Nove?"

"I have to do this."

"You realize this is total insanity, what you're planning."

"I have to do this," she repeated, frowning. "I can't explain it any more than I have."

Matt shook his head and released her. He took several steps away, staring at her from the other side of the room as he forked a hand through rich honey-blond waves. Disbelief and frustration etched his face. "What do you expect me to do while you're gallivanting across the States? This is the worst time in the world to be traveling anywhere by air, especially to New York."

She bit her tongue. Since when was he daunted by air travel to New York? He made business trips there almost monthly, despite the threat of terrorist attacks.

Besides, she had so many other fish to gut and scale, terrorism fell pretty low on her list of worries. The visions terrified her and had for a while, more every day and night. Maybe she was being a little self-centered, but she was only concerned with what she could do to stop them, to ease her own personal conflict.

Nova would have repeated all this to him, but didn't feel like wasting the effort on something more futile than trying to ride a stone camel. She settled for closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I don't expect you to do anything, Matt," she finally whispered.

He stalked back to her, caught her arms, leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth.

She felt his tongue briefly caress her lips and before she could object or withdraw, he pulled back to glare down at her as if he sensed that he had stepped over the line, felt her anger boiling and wanted to beat her to the finish line.

"You should expect everything and more from me because I love you."

"Matt—"

"I thought you loved me, too."

For the first time since getting up that morning, finally ready to do something about this problem—the proverbial elephant sitting in the middle of their living room for the last year—

Nova felt uncertain. She was abandoning her fiancé, a man she loved, who clearly loved her and with whom she had been sharing a pretty decent life until a year ago—before the accident and the resulting visions that had precipitated this urgent need to act. To leave.

What am I doing? Why?

When she stated her reasons out loud, she could well understand Matt's incredulity and concern. He feared for her sanity. Nova knew this, because she feared for it herself. It was surprising she had been able to relate her plans when he’d pressed her for a logical explanation of her departure. She was irrational, impetuous, impractical—she could go on down the line—all attributes not normally found in the makeup of a successful, levelheaded stockbroker.

But this was a battle she’d been waging since she was a girl—her undisciplined fey side facing off against her disciplined pragmatic side—a battle she’d seen played out time and time again between her spiritualist medium mother and Marine sergeant-major father. Although her mother accepted and fully embraced reincarnation and the continuous existence of the human soul, Nova didn't think even she would go this far. Traveling thousands of miles, transplanting to a strange city to look for a man who may or may not exist, who more than likely would think her a kook if she were lucky enough to find him—and all this based on a transcendental meeting in a rarefied tunnel with a woman who’d probably only been a figment of her imagination.