Shelley Munro, Author of Paranormal Romance

If you’re like me, you’re probably scrambling to finish your Christmas shopping. Author Joan Reeves has some last minute suggestions for you to make things simple. Go forth and shop…

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Ocean’s Gift by Demelza Carlton

@DemelzaCarlton

Award-Winning and Int’l Bestselling Author

You’ll never look at mermaids the same way again.

Mermaids don’t fall in love with humans. For centuries it has been so…

But Sirena is different. She lost her first love to sharks and a storm, cursing the islands that stole him from her.

Times have changed and she must swim ashore once more, to the islands she once cursed. Gone are the boats powered by sail and steam – jet boats with GPS are now the order of the day.

Enter Joe, the deckhand on the Dolphin. A handy man to have around when the lights go out. He’ll fix your generator and have the lights back on in no time, no worries. But can he seduce a siren?

Or will she swim away before he can uncover her secret?

A book about lobsters, beer and boobs, on some cursed islands off the coast of Western Australia. At least, that’s how Joe tells it.

For Sirena, it’s a very different story.

Demelza Carlton

Featured Book: Ocean’s Gift

Hiya, and thanks for having me. I’m a little nervous, but I shall do my best not to stammer too much.

Welcome, Demelza! It always amazes me when writers say that; they have such a command of the English language and are such magic wordsmiths! How long have you been a writer and how did you come to writing? I’ve been writing for over 20 years, but I’ve only been published for four of them. Ah…come to writing or come to writing something I intended to publish? Because the first book I wrote was actually the third book I published, and there’s a reason for that. Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer…no, the whole Nightmares Trilogy, is very dark. Psychological thriller type dark. It was based on a series of recurring nightmares I had during the trial of two notorious serial killers in my home town. While I won’t go into the gory details, they kidnapped and tortured women before they killed them and disposed of the bodies. The only reason they were caught is because when they were about to kill one of the girls, she managed to escape and get help. That’s where the similarity ends, though, because my serial killers are subject to a much darker kind of justice than the Australian legal system. I thought the whole thing – which was just the one book then, not a trilogy at all – was too dark to publish or even show anyone, but I was talking to some other authors on the site Wattpad, who expressed a desire to read some of it. They’d tell me if it was too dark, they said. So…I posted the first few chapters. And within a matter of days, those chapters had over ten thousand reads. So I posted a few more…and a few more…until in the end I posted the whole book on Wattpad, and the website staff offered to feature it to their (then) ten million readers. I think it had more than two and a half million reads or something – a very popular book. So, I went from believing it was too dark to release, to publishing the first book…and two more in the trilogy as it stands now. But if you’re asking about why I published my first book…that’s Ocean’s Gift, a light comedy urban fantasy.

How did you come up with this storyline? Ah….that’s kind of a funny story, really. I did my Masters research on shipwrecks at several remote islands off the West Australian coast, and as I was writing up my dissertation, I came across one shipwreck that just didn’t make sense. During a cyclone in the 1920s, a fishing boat broke free of its moorings with the two-man crew still aboard. One man managed to swim ashore, but the other couldn’t swim, so he disappeared in the waves when the boat sank. Everyone thought he drowned, but his body wasn’t found…until more than three weeks later, when it washed up miles from where the boat went down, in the complete opposite direction to the ocean currents. Stranger still, the man was recognizable – which meant his corpse hadn’t been floating at sea for all those weeks – and he’d done some first aid to his broken leg. There was nowhere the man could have been all that time except in the ocean, because if he’d washed up on the island, someone would have seen him and helped him. So how could a man survive for three weeks at sea, do first aid on himself, and yet drown within sight of land? No matter how much research I did, I couldn’t solve the mystery, so I wrote "mermaids did it" in my report and left it at that. When I did the final proofread of my report, I burst out laughing when I saw that bit, because it was still there. I quickly deleted it, submitted my dissertation, and decided to celebrate with a glass of wine. Wine in hand, I decided to search mermaid myths on the internet. Was it actually possible? I was amazed to find heaps of mermaid stories from all over the Indian Ocean, and of course I also dug out my copy of Hans Christian Anderson’s tales to read the fairytale I remembered. Put the two together with my miracle man, and I had a story. What if the reason mermaids went ashore was a biological imperative – they needed human men in order to breed – but instead of saving the man like the prince in Anderson’s tale, what if my Indian Ocean mermaid accidentally lost him to the waves? She’d be heartbroken, not wanting to return to the place she lost the man for a very long time. And a very long time later, she did come ashore again, at the same islands, investigating an environmental issue. Right at the same time as a brand new deckhand starts work on a lobster fishing vessel at the islands – a deckhand who’s very interested in the woman who lives in the fishing shack next door to his. And he just happens to have the same first name as the man she lost to the waves…

What are the best and the worst aspects of writing? The best part is getting lost in the story. I love the research and working with new characters in amazing places and seeing just what they can come up with to make their story special. The worst bit…is when the characters are so real to me that they hijack my head, the story and anything else they can get their imaginary hands on. So when I was writing Joe Fisher, the deckhand who’s in love with the woman he doesn’t know is a mermaid, and I walked past a reflective window while I was wearing a low-cut top, the thought that popped into my head was a very clear, "Ooh, boobs!" I’ll never forget that moment, because it was like Joe Fisher was alive in my head…and perving on me.

What inspires you to write? Anything and everything, especially when my characters won’t shut up. I swear they’re either having a party in my head or starting World War III. At least, I think it’s war. It might be a particularly violent orgy, which is entirely possible, as Lucifer features in several of my books and he gets quite vocal. I honestly don’t know.

How did you conduct your research for Ocean’s Gift? Ah…well, I used my Masters research, but part of that included site visits to the islands where the book is set. I’ve stayed in those shacks, walked the jetty, been out on the fishing boats…and visited Giuseppe’s grave, and the site where his boat sank.

What are 3 of your favorite quotes from Ocean’s Gift? Oh hell…that’s a hard one. ~ When Joe Fisher has a few too many drinks and then tries to drive his dinghy back to the island in the dark: "I checked out of Hotel Consciousness. At least I got to dream of Vanessa naked."

~ Ah…this is an introduction to what Joe did for a living before he signed on as a deckhand, constructing remote mining camps with his offsider, Dean: "While we worked, we lived rough. We were the last people who actually camped there. We slept in swags and cooked outside, in the beam of the spotlights on the top of the car, which was a ute. There was one ute to two men, and I shared mine with Dean the plumber. Dean was full of shit, so it seemed natural that he was a plumber. Still, he was a better cook than me and a good mate, too."

~ Dean calls Joe while they’re both between assignments, asking for his help on his uncle’s fishing boat: “Look, he needs someone as soon as possible. How soon can you get up here?” Dean’s in Geraldton, then. “I could finish up at the end of the week and fly up on Sunday,” I told him reluctantly. “Cool, I’ll get my cousin to sort out your flights and he’ll meet you out on the islands. You can see how it goes the first week and if it works out you get paid to go fishing for the rest of your holidays. Seeya.” He hung up. Shit. What’ve I got myself into? Knowing Dean, this was going to be a disaster. Oh well, next trip I can always get back at him by putting huge spiders in his swag. He’s terrified of them, but he always forgets to zip his swag up properly. And he screams like a girl when he finds them, too. What’s the worst that can happen? A week on a free fishing charter and possibly getting paid to fish for weeks after it. And if it didn’t work out, the next three months of seeing Dean do a high-pitched jig every night when he found spiders in his swag. Hell, there wasn’t a downside that I could see. I started writing down a list of things to pack.

Are reader reviews important to you? Of course! Without reader reviews, nobody would ever know how good a book is. If you enjoyed it, leave a review!

What do you do when you don’t write? Honestly? Probably researching my next book. It might not have been my intention when I stepped onto the whale watching boat/jetty over a volcanic lake/the walkway into a million-year-old cave or waded into the water with my dive gear, always with my camera in hand, but by the time I get home, I usually have a new story idea in my head – or something I’d like to include in an existing book. I should tell you about the snorkelling trip where I spent around an hour chasing this shark around so I could get a picture of it. I never did get a good one. I’ll have to try again sometime.

Tell us about your other books? Are you sure? I have almost thirty of them now.

Ocean’s Gift has two other books in the series – Ocean’s Infiltrator, and a prequel about Belinda called Water and Fire. I realised after I wrote these that there’s ninety years missing in Vanessa’s tale, so I started writing what I thought was a single book called Turbulence and Triumph. Ha. Now, that’s the name of a series of seven books to date, all of which take place in the 1920s and 1930s, starting with Ocean’s Justice. My Mel Goes to Hell series is about an angel sent in as a temp to the office from Hell. Quite literally, as the CEO is the devil himself and Mel’s supposed to find out his plans while she’s working there. But the devil falls for the angel – and falls hard – which makes her job a lot more challenging. My Nightmares Trilogy I’ve already mentioned, but an odd spinoff from that is my Romance Island Resort series. You see, the girl was in a band, and because of what happened to her, she managed to garner some media attention, and once the lead singer’s interview went viral, the band just sort of took off. Five years later, that lead singer, Jay Felix, is one of the hottest rock stars in the world, with more money than he knows what to do with, and the band breaks up. He buys Romance Island Resort, a luxury celebrity resort off the West Australian coast, and proceeds to look for love…inspired by the resort’s library of romance books. But what works for most romance heroes always seems to go wrong for him, even if he does get the girl in the end. Just not the way he intended. Yes, I have other projects in the works…but that’s all I can talk about for now.

Thank you so much for joining us and sharing a little of yourself with our readers and fans. We’ll be looking for you on the ‘Bestseller Lists’! Thank you so much for having me – and letting me chew your ear off about my books.

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish. She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below. Sensationalist spin? No – Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all. Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world. The Ocean’s Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn’t leave her alone.

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Carissa Ann Lynch

Featured Book: Midnight Moss

Hi, guys! I’m Carissa Ann Lynch, author of the Flocksdale Files trilogy, Horror High series, 13: An Anthology of Horror and Dark Fiction, Grayson’s Ridge, and This Is Not About Love. I like to write what I like to read—which is a little bit of everything!

How long have you been a writer and how did you come to writing? I’ve always been obsessed with books, but I didn’t write my first complete novel until about five years ago. I couldn’t find a book to read, so I got this crazy idea—why not try to write my own story? It was harder than I thought, but I fell in love with the idea of being able to control the outcome of a story. It felt like reading, only I got to decide what happened next. I never expected to get a publishing contract, but once I did, there was no going back. I was hooked!

How did you come up with this storyline for Midnight Moss? This story combines several ideas that have been rolling around in my head for a while. As a child, there was this section of our neighborhood that was mysteriously fenced off, so that’s where the “mysterious fence” comes into play. I also love the idea of old houses and magic keys, so I was able to use that in the story as well. I usually write horror and dark fiction, but I have a serious love for fantasy and paranormal stories, so this book was so much fun to write.

What are the best and the worst aspects of writing? The best thing about writing is it’s like a drug for me. When I do it, I feel better. And as soon as I’m finished with one book, I’m ready to go looking for my next story idea, or “fix”. I can see that as being a good and bad thing. I get obsessed with a story while I’m writing, and I work on it compulsively. So, it can be a pretty exhausting process for me.

What inspires you to write? Everything! Most writers will tell you that everything we see/hear/feel gets stored away in our memory banks to use later for our books. I like to write about serious social issues, but I also enjoy the escape of a magical story and light fun.

What would your friends say is your best quality? I commit to things and do them all the way. I’m also loyal and I have a good memory, so I usually remember birthdays and old stories LOL.

Are reader reviews important to you? I love when someone tells me that one of my books affected them, or made their day a little brighter. But I try not to get upset over bad reviews, and I don’t change my stories based on what readers want. I just write what I want to write, and hope that people will like it. But if not, that’s their choice. As a book lover myself, I know that some books everyone claims to love aren’t my favorite. I know I can’t be everyone’s favorite all of the time, and I’m okay with that.

What do you do when you don’t write? I read A LOT. I prefer paperbacks and I always—ALWAYS—have a book with me everywhere I go. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t fall asleep with a book on my chest.

Tell us about your other books? The Flocksdale Files is a dark trilogy about a twisted town filled with the worst kind of monsters—the humankind. The Horror High series is a three-book series about a creepy school nicknamed “Horror High” where the cheerleaders are constantly being taunted by an unknown “sociopath.” My other books are women’s fiction, mystery, and paranormal.

If you could share one thing about yourself that you would like readers to know what would it be? I would just tell them thank you. The fact that they took the time to read my book makes my heart soar, and means more to me than I could put into words.

That’s it for me, guys! I sincerely hope that you enjoy Midnight Moss as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Carissa Ann Lynch is the bestselling and award winning author of the Flocksdale Files trilogy, Horror High series, 13: An Anthology of Horror and Dark Fiction, Grayson’s Ridge, and This Is Not About Love. She writes horror, thriller, mystery, paranormal and dark women’s fiction. She lives in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

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Check out my giveaway at www.pnrlover.com

Today only, you could win the Middlemarch Shifters ebook bundle or grab the first book in the series—My Scarlet Woman—for 99c.

Beyond the Shadows by Anna Hub

@AnnaHubBooks

Award-Winning and Int’l Bestselling Author

What if your shadow was the gateway to a sinister new world?

Selena Parker’s journey into the unknown begins in her dreams, but the consequences are carried back into her conscious life and she soon realizes paranormal forces are at work. Her shadow has become more than just an image; it is a gateway to a sinister new world where mysterious creatures roam and she is confronted by danger that challenges her will to survive. She finds the man whose fate is linked inexplicably to her own but she knows nothing of him and doubts his true nature. Her only option is to place her life in his hands while they search for a way to stop the shadows claiming them forever.

At first, I couldn’t breathe, and once again my skin stung as though an unseen force might rip it from my body. I clamped my eyes shut and waited until the stagnant feeling in my lungs dissipated.

Darkness surrounded me, and the sound of crickets clicking became louder, as though they had paused upon my arrival and were beginning to relax. The forest floor was soft and moist, sinking as I crouched. I checked the ground was stable before I stood up and found my balance. The crickets stopped again. No other threatening sounds reached me and yet instinct warned me danger was nearby. Something wet crawled over my foot. I struggled to withhold a scream as I jumped to the side. Another warm body collided with me and a hand curled over my lips before I could cry out.

“Shh.” Warm breath exhaled over my neck.

I struggled to break free, but the hand tightened.

“Who are you?” he whispered.

I couldn’t reply. He shuffled to the side dragging me with him as he moved. The trees rustled, and the light of the moon crept in to join us. We were surrounded by dense foliage, too conveniently wrapped around to have grown that way naturally. He released, and pushed me away in the same movement and finally I saw his face. Brayden. He looked completely different to the man unconscious in the hospital bed. His eyes were sharp—almost accusing.

“How did you get here?” he asked.

“Do you remember me?” He stared at me with fierce eyes, and I struggled to continue. “You spoke to me in the restaurant.”

“How did you land here?” his voice came out cold.

It didn’t matter where I’d landed, I needed to know why this was happening. “You warned me about this—about the shadows—”

“Tell me how you passed here.”

"I went to visit you in the hospital.”

“You shouldn’t be in the hospital. You shouldn’t be here.”

I edged further away. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Suddenly his back straightened, and he leaned outside to check our surroundings. Seconds past and he gradually turned back, his gaze resting by my feet. “If they find you they’ll kill you.”

He must have been talking about the men with the grey eyes. “What are they?”

“I don’t know.”

The crickets chirped again. “The other day I was chased by one—”

He nodded.

“You were there,” I prompted.

“It’s not just them, the ones with the grey eyes. There are animals too.”

Eventually, he leaned back against a tree; his demeanour flat. Shouldn’t he be eager to hear my story? Didn’t he want to share information so we could find a way to save ourselves? Instead, he closed his eyes, as though he had nothing else to say.

I stepped forward. “You grabbed me when I was being chased. Why did you do that?”

“Your shadow is the only way to escape,” his voice hollowed out—detached.

“Did you push me through it on purpose?”

“The more the shadows take you, the faster they come back for more. The only way to escape is to force yourself back through.”

In the darkness I could barely make out my own hand, there was no shadow. Did that mean there was no way to go back? My chest tightened as I realised I would be trapped with this stranger until morning hit. Back in the hospital, it had been late in the afternoon. Soon the sun would set there and perhaps that was when morning would break here.

I couldn’t help wondering if I’d made a mistake coming here. There was something about him that made me uneasy. Not just his silence but the impression that he was lost. Both physically and mentally. Although his posture had been tense under the moonlight, he didn’t actually seem afraid. Not the way I was—with wide eyes and shaking hands.

He turned, his eyes wandering blankly before they focused. “Soon it will be morning; that’s when they hunt. As soon as the sun hits, you need to force your way back through your shadow. Throw yourself at the ground, as hard as you can. The longer you spend here, the harder it is to go back.”

I blanched. I’d waited for the shadow to take me from the hospital. I’d almost come by choice but that only made things worse. “And then what?”

“Then you hide from them.”

My lungs swelled with air, but I couldn’t force myself to exhale. “But I can’t. It doesn’t work.”

“There’s no other way.” He took my hand abruptly. I wanted to pull back, but he held on too tight. “I’ll try to come back with you.”

“Where are we going?”

He pushed the ferns aside and held a finger to his lips for silence. “We can’t stay here.”

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Anna Hub

Featured Book: Beyond the Shadows

Hello readers! I’m a paranormal thriller author from Perth, Western Australia (yes, I have a funny accent) and I’m so excited to be involved in the Dark Legends boxed set. There are so many amazing authors in this project, I can’t wait to unleash it upon the world!

Welcome, Anna! How long have you been a writer and how did you come to writing? When I was a child I wanted to be an author, but as I grew up society somehow managed to convince me it wasn’t a good career choice. So when I left high-school, I studied nursing instead but as soon as I started working in that field, a deep sense of dissatisfaction stirred in me. Something was missing and that sense of being lost led me to my first novel. The more I wrote, the happier I became and I haven’t looked back since. Now my motto is: if you can’t do it with passion, don’t do it at all!

How did you come up with this story line? Shadows are constantly used to represent fear of the unknown in an audience, whether it be via movies, music or performance. I felt drawn to them because they can evoke such powerful emotions. I wanted to work on something dark and mysterious but not just to scare, rather to use as a contrast for the light. I thought, what if there was a good reason to fear your own shadow? What if it was the gateway to a sinister new world? The idea would leave my protagonist completely powerless, because no matter how fast she ran or how hard she tried to escape it, her shadow would always be one step behind her. I wanted to take her to the very edge of her survival ability, then give her the strength to overcome it. Because that’s what we all do in life, we fight to survive the bad things that happen to us.

What are the best and the worst aspects of writing? Writing a book is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and that never seems to change, whether it’s my first or my sixth novel. Because every book is different and they can’t be written the same way. Some days it really does feel as though every minute is just one tiny step in an impossible journey. But although it can be torturous, that is exactly the same thing that makes it so incredibly rewarding! It’s not worth winning if you don’t have to fight for it. All the frustration, long nights and aching neck muscles make the words ‘The End’ feel like such a victory. It’s within the struggle that there’s glory!

What inspires you to write? I’ve always been in love with dark concepts of ghosts, witches, magic and demons. I want to believe the supernatural exists in our world, even though we can’t see it. Writing books is the best way for me to find myself in their world. It truly is like living multiple lives at once. And I find the more I write, the more I learn about myself. It’s a way to digest the things that are happening in my life. Things that make me happy, things that break my heart and things that inspire me to be a better person.

How did you conduct your research for Beyond the Shadows? I had so much fun researching for Beyond the Shadows! I used a combination of Google searches and library books. My favourite was an SAS survival guide. So if the zombie apocalypse comes, you want to be with me. I know all about how to find food in the wilderness!

What is your favourite quote from Beyond the Shadows? “You spend so long fearing it,” his gaze lingered on his shadow, “but everything here is opposite. The very thing that brought you nightmares can be the thing you hope for.”

What would your friends say is your best quality? I’m a good listener and a loyal friend. Once you’ve got me, you’ve got me for life :)

Are reader reviews important to you? Reader reviews are so important to me. When you think about it, creative jobs are one of the few career choices where you don’t have a boss telling you how well you’re performing. I rely on readers to be honest in their feedback because it helps me learn and grow as a writer.

What do you do when you don’t write? I love picnics with my boyfriend, BBQs with friends and we have the most beautiful beaches in Western Australia so I love being there too. I also love love love yoga. It’s been a part of my life for many years now and I find it keeps me balanced both in mind and body. And of course, I love reading in the bath!

Tell us about your other books? Beyond the Shadows is the first book in a four part series, The Shadow Series. I also have a standalone paranormal thriller about ghosts, called The Ninth Hunter. And at the moment, I’m working on a YA novel about grim reapers.

One thing you’re sure to find in all my books is a unique take on mythology or a completely new concept all together. I love to explore uncharted ideas, although it can be torturous to edit, it’s totally worth it. Readers often comment on the depth of imagination that goes into my world building, and it’s so much fun to write!

If you could share one thing about yourself that you would like readers to know what would it be? I already mentioned this in one of my earlier answers but I love to preach passion. I live my life by this concept but I think we should all find something we can fall madly in love with. Whether it be cooking, sport, reading, painting, whatever! Find something that makes your heart sing and give time to it. The riches of happiness are far greater than anything else.

I absolutely love meeting new readers and fans of the fantasy/paranormal genres so we can share book recommendations. So don’t be shy, come and find me through the social media links!

Anna Hub is a paranormal/thriller author from Perth, Western Australia. She qualified as a nurse in her early twenties but in 2007, decided to chase her childhood dream of becoming an author instead. Since then, she has surrendered her heart and soul to writing. Although terrified of horror movies, Anna loves to write on the dark side and explore uncharted mythologies. She believes our imaginations are infinite and inside the pages of a book, there is no limit, no exact destination and our minds are free to exist in many worlds.

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Each day in December the PNR Lovers’ author group are holding a Festive Countdown. The giveaways are held at our website. You could score free books, bargain books plus other goodies.

I hope to see you there, especially on 12 December when I’ll be doing my giveaway.

Don’t forget – this is the place to visit: www.pnrlovers.com

Today, I have a fun surprise that I’d like to share with you.

To celebrate the end of fall, I’ve teamed up with more than 60 fantastic science fiction romance authors to give away a huge collection of novels, PLUS a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner!

You can win my novel CAPTURED & SEDUCED, plus books from authors like SE Smith, Vi Voxley and Patti O’Shea.

Enter the giveaway by clicking here.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Shelley

Violca’s Dragon by Leilani Love

@leilanilovebook

Award-Winning and Int’l Bestselling Author

Violca Grey knows life can change instantly. Two years after her parents’ sudden death, Violca is left raising her four younger sisters. She doesn’t realize that their lives are all in danger from something that may not be human.

Chase Reed knows the Grey sisters possibly hold the key to his fate. He is determined to get close, protect them and bring them to his Dragon King. Together, Chase and Violca not only have to protect their families—they also have to fight against their rising feelings for each other. But what Violca doesn’t know is that once a dragon decides he wants something, there is no stopping him from getting it.

Standing in front of her, he looked her over and when she finally looked up at him, he noticed that her violet eyes were darker as she looked at him angrily. “I didn’t ask you for your help,” she snapped.

Chase knew that smiling at her right now would not help him, nor would telling her she looked beautiful when she was angry. Watching her breasts rise and fall as she breathed, her violet eyes sparkle with anger, and the straight line of her lips, he fought the urge to kiss her. “You didn’t, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you hurt.”

She glared at him. “Why’re you here? What do you want with me?”

Chase stepped closer to her and reached up to touch her cheek, dropping his hand when she seemed to flinch before he could touch her. “I’m here because I wanted to make sure you’re safe.”

She snorted at him and he couldn’t help but smile at the unfeminine sound. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She pushed her hair back from her face and looked up at him, her voice lowering to almost a whisper, “Why did you kiss me? Was it just to get close to me?”

Chase saw a flash of hurt in her eyes and he stepped in front of her, cupping her cheek, making sure she looked at him when he answered, “I kissed you because there was no way I could be near you and not.”

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