I've seriously been slacking, but it seems like this is a good a time as any to update about the boys and the YA Crush Tourney.
Aiden (Sweet 16) & Daemon (Elite 8) both lost to that darn vampire, Dimitri, but JLA fans did her proud and they were both very close races. Kayleigh & Valerie did amazing jobs as advocates & it was all in all very fun! Don't worry fans, we'll get 'em next year!
Now, for those juicy teasers that Jen loves to tease us with!
Deity Teasers
“Alex,” he warned softly.
He pressed down, and when he breathed
in, his chest rose against mine. In the utter darkness of the sensory
deprivation room, his breath was warm against my lips.
I didn’t dare
move.
Not even a fraction of an inch.
In a far corner of my mind, I knew that this blade wasn’t an ordinary dagger. It was dipped in something—most likely Titan blood.
Onyx Teasers
Daemon’s gaze dipped again, and I shivered under his intense
scrutiny.
Why, oh why, did Blake need to bail early, leaving me behind
with Daemon?
“Where did you get this dress?” he asked.
“Your sister,” I told him blandly.
He frowned, looking half disgusted.
“I don’t even know what to say
about that.”
"Library Scene"
“Whatever, Kitten.” Daemon gripped my hips, lifting me onto the edge of the desk with an ease that was disturbing. “I know better.”
My breath was coming in short gasps. “You don’t know anything.”
“Uh huh. You know, I was worried about you,” he admitted, moving forward, easing my legs apart. “You kept calling out my name, and I kept answering, but it was like you couldn’t hear me.”
What were we talking about? My hands were on his lower stomach. His muscles were hard underneath the sweater. I slid my hands to his sides, totally meaning to push him away. Instead, I gripped
and pulled him forward. “Wow, I must’ve been really out of it.”
“It…scared me.”
Before I could respond or even give thought to the fact that my sickness actually scared him, our lips met. My brain clicked off as my fingers dug through his sweater, and…and oh, God, his kisses were deep, scorching my lips as his hands tightened on my waist, pulling me against him. Daemon kissed like he was a man starving for water, taking long, breathless drafts. His teeth caught my lower lip when he pulled away, only to come back for more. A heady mix of emotions warred inside me. I didn’t want this, because it was just the connection between us. I kept telling myself that, even as I slid my hands up his chest and circled them around his neck. When his hands inched under my shirt, it was as though he reached deep inside me, warming every cell, filling every dark space within me with the heat from his skin.
Touching him, kissing him, was like having a fever all over again. I was on fire. My body burned. The world burned. Sparks flew. Against his mouth, I moaned.
There was a POP! and CRACK!
The smell of burned plastic filled the cubicle. We pulled apart, breathing heavily. Over his shoulder I saw thin strips of smoke wafting from the top of the ancient monitor. Good God, was this going to happen every time we kissed?
"Kitchen Scene"
OMGee, Daemon is in the lead. Amazing! Now some of this scene is a tiny bit spoilery, so read at your own risk!
“Great. So I’m operating at the level of a toddler?”
Daemon’s lustrous eyes met mine. “Basically.” The dark graphic shirt strained against his chest when he laid the bloodied towel aside and leaned back. “Look, it’s stopped bleeding already. Not that bad.”
I glanced down and saw the fresh gash on my knee. Other than looking gross, it was salvageable. “Thank you for cleaning it up.”
“No problem. I don’t think you’ll need stitches.” He lightly brushed his ngertips around the cut.
I jerked at the contact. Little tingles shimmed up my leg. Daemon’s hand stilled as he lifted his head. His eyes went from a cool green to liquid fire within seconds.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
Sliding into his arms, kissing him and touching him—things I shouldn’t think about. I blinked.
“Nothing.”
Daemon rose slowly, holding my gaze. My whole body tensed as he neared and placed his hands on either side of me. Then he bent over the chair between us, resting his forehead against mine. He inhaled deeply and it came out in an unsteady rush. When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Do you know what
I’ve been thinking about all day?”
With him, it was anyone’s guess. “No.”
His lips brushed the skin of my cheek. “Finding out if you look as good in striped socks as you do in reindeer ones.”
“I do.”
His head slanted and his smile was lazy, arrogant. Predatory. “I knew it.”
I shouldn’t let this happen. There was a whole slew of complications: his attitude, the connection between us, and my new kindergarten-age abilities. Funny, the fact Daemon was an alien was the complication I considered the least important. And then there was Blake. That is, if Blake ever spoke to me
again, which was debatable. But due to Daemon’s interruption at dinner, I didn’t get to talk to Blake. Irony was a bitch. Knowing all of that, I still didn’t pull away. And neither did he. Oh no, he was moving closer. His pupils started to glow and his breath seemed to have stalled in his chest. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked gruffly.
“I’m not doing anything.”
Daemon shifted his head just enough that our lips brushed once…and then twice before he increased the pressure. This kiss…it was nothing like the other times, which seemed to be angry and challenging. As if we’d kissed to punish each other. But this was gentle and soft, feather light. In finitely tender.
Like the kiss we’d shared in the clearing the night he’d healed me. Light swept through me as we kissed, but soon the kisses, they weren’t enough. Not when a slow fire was burning under my skin—and under his.
Teasers from Daemon's POV
I was moving without realizing it, and the next thing I knew we were on the bed and she was right where I wanted her—in my lap.
I’d taken a step toward her house before I stopped myself. Kat hadn’t been feeling well earlier. Humans were so ridiculously fragile. They could die tripping over a damn chair leg. Car accidents could kill them. Colds turned into pneumonia and killed people.
Mental note: pick up Vitamin C before school tomorrow and force it down Kat’s throat.
Unchained Teaser
Her hand fluttered over a thin scar that sliced from the edge of her ribs to her belly button. Baal had given that to her along with the mark on her thigh. Julian pulled that hand to his lips. He first kissed the top of her hand, then the inside. Then he brought the palm of her hand against his chest, above where his heart rested. The simple and sweet gesture brought a rush of tears to her eyes. She swallowed, unable to say anything.
Opal Teaser
"in da club"
I smiled.
His arm tightened as the beat picked up and so did my movements. “I think I like this.”
All around us, bodies were slick and shiny with sweat, as if they’d been been dancing for years. That’s the thing about places like this—you get caught up and hours go by, but they feel like long minutes.
He spun me back to him and I was on the tips of my boots, facing him, his head lowered, forehead pressed against mine, lips brushing. A rush of power went through Daemon, transferring to my skin, and in the flashing lights, we were lost in this world. Our bodies undulated with the beat, fitting together fluidly while others seemed to thrash beside us, never able to find the right sync.
It felt like it was only us on the dance floor and when his lips pressed more firmly against mine, I opened up, not losing the rhythm even though he was stealing my breath. My—our—hearts were pounding, hands grabbing, clutching, slipping over the curve of my back, and behind my lids, I saw a pinprick of white light.
Sliding my hands across his cheek, I kissed him back. Static flowed, cascading off our bodies in streams of reddish-white light that was hidden under the flickering strobe lights, flowing over the floor like a wave of electricity. And all around us, people danced, either oblivious to the shocks or fueled by them, but I didn’t care. His hands were on my hips, tugging me closer and we were so gonna end up like one of those ambiguous couples in the hallway.
Cursed Teaser
“I know—I know how crazy it sounds, but it’s like I came to know you. I knew you sketched when you were upset. I saw how much you loved your sister. How brave you were to keep going to that damn school. And all those times I watched you, I grew to know every one of your fake smiles. I never even heard you laugh. All I’ve ever wanted to do is help you, because maybe then, you’d smile once and really mean it.”
