Lissa Matthews

Tempting You On Tuesday – Wind & Fire by T.J. Michaels

by Mlissa | Aug 2, 2016 | Temptation Tuesday

T.J. Michaels is an awesome lady. She’s a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal interracial romance. If you haven’t read one of her books, you’re truly missing out. Her voice is real, her descriptions beautiful, her books worth it.

Her latest release, Wind & Fire, Volume 1, is a unique and epic post-apocalyptic romance. With her permission, I’ve added an excerpt below…

Damned woman. He couldn’t believe how badly this was going. But this was, after all, Rhia Greysomne, and if she was anything like the hellion of her youth, it was about to get worse. Made him wonder what it would be like to hold all that fire in his arms. To be the one to bring that heat flowing out of her as she lay beneath him. Or on top of him. Or up against a wall. Or on the floor…

“Care to say what’s on your mind, newbie?” she snarled quietly, her lips drawn tight around her teeth.

Yes, this woman he definitely knew. One side of his mouth lifted. Wrong move. She’d been somewhat aggravated before, but his pleased expression obviously wasn’t appreciated. Temper pricked, she took a step closer.

The nick in his skin stung and he thanked the Ancestors that Rhia had such incredible control of that blade. He was grateful he’d chosen dark clothing this morning. At least it wouldn’t show the blood.

Whether she knew it or not, she’d already drawn first blood, severely limiting his options of how to get out of this mess with his honor intact. He didn’t like humiliating a commander in front of her men but…

Nothing to be done for it, he sighed to himself. The Grandfather always said, “Once you’ve stepped in a pile of shit, you’re going to smell whether you keep the other foot clean or not.”

May as well sink both feet.

“I believed you were Blademaster here, yet you’ve blooded me for no reason. Perhaps I was mistaken of your station given your manners.” RuArk looked down at her, crossed him arms over his chest and awaited her response.

Joan’s mouth dropped so wide open she could have caught several fish if she’d dunked her head through the melting ice on the river. Perhaps that would wake her up. The woman also backed up a couple of paces and must have known what was coming. RuArk had to admit he had a pretty good idea himself.

“You know who I am.” Definitely not a question. “How dare you speak to me like that.” Rhia’s words sounded much too calm and did not match the fire flashing in those amber cat eyes of hers. The sword point sank a little deeper into RuArk’s left pectoral. The little nick was a thing of the past. It was now a wide but controlled cut, oozing blood down the front of his tunic. Most men would be squirming by now from the pain or the sight of the blood. RuArk was hardly bothered at all, and it only seemed to annoy her more.

Rather than answering her question, he simply arched a brow in challenge. The result—sudden silence. No movement. No sound. RuArk wondered if anyone still breathed.

Rhia withdrew her blade from his chest with a snap then stepped so close he could feel the heat radiating from her body. She tried to stand toe to toe with him, but even at her unusual height, her head only reached his chin. Realizing she couldn’t stare him down, she rose up on her toes.

Each breath he took was filled with her to the point he almost moaned at the natural scent of her body. He wondered what soap she’d used that morning. His gaze dropped to the path that a bead of sweat made as it snaked down her neck and disappeared between her breasts. That stubborn chin of hers was set just below a pair of lush lips made for kissing. And she was just close enough that if he dipped his head, he could seal her lips with his.

Even pissed off she was a lovely sight. Gods, he was a goner. In danger of losing his balls, but a goner, just the same.

But this staring contest wasn’t going anywhere.

So he said, “Rhia, I do think your father was remiss in not spanking your ass when you were a child.”

“Pffft! Step into my circle, sir,” she hissed through clenched teeth. She turned her back on him, walked away, then paused to bend over and stick out her backside. RuArk’s mask of indifference slipped—the woman wiggled her butt at him! An obvious gesture of how she felt about his thoughts on her lack of discipline. Stiff with anger, she stalked to the middle of the circle where she waited. Her belly button peeked out at him from under that cropped top. Blasted woman.

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To find out more about T.J. Michaels, please visit her website and follow her on social media:

New Release – Ink To Bear

by Mlissa | Aug 11, 2015 | Kindle Worlds, New Releases, Shifters

READ AN EXCERPT

“What’s wrong, pretty girl?” His gruff voice matched his appearance and Bex was mesmerized at the endearment as well as his ability to discern that there was anything wrong at all.

“N-nothing.”

He shook his head. “You’ve been crying. Why?” He lifted a hand, but dropped it quickly without touching her. “Who hurt you?” he asked softly, but with a marginal edge to his tone. How she could tell anything about him was beyond her. She didn’t know him and he didn’t know her. And yet…

“No one hurt me. Thank you for… Caring, I guess. I’m fine.”

He grunted, but said nothing more about it. “What’s in your package?”

“My… Oh. It’s an o-old key.” She stumbled and started to stutter as emotion threatened to clog her throat again, but she managed to swallow it down.

“It makes you sad. Why?”

Bex tilted her head to the side and looked up, up, and up until she could see that he’d removed his sunglasses. His eyes were varying shades of brown, from bright gold to dark chocolate. They were beautiful, hypnotic and if she didn’t focus her gaze somewhere else, she was going to fall under his spell.

She chose the envelope and its content. “It was the key to my mother’s bed and breakfast. She passed away recently and the house has been sold. This is original key.”

“What will the new owners do?”

“They’re putting in a new lock and don’t need this key anymore. They thought I would like to have it.”

“And do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Like to have it?”

Did she? Every time she looked at it, she was going to tear up. How long would it take for that not to happen at all? She didn’t know and she didn’t really want to find out.

“Fair enough. I’m Gus, by the way.”

“I’m Rebecca, but people have always called me Bex.”

“Cute. I like it.”

“Well, I… I’ve got to head out and return my rental.”

“You don’t live here anymore?”

“No.”

“And you’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“To go where?”

Their conversation had been rapid fire, back and forth until he asked her where she was going. It at least told her she still had her head screwed on straight. Telling a complete stranger, even one as delicious as he was, was tantamount to disaster. So, when the next words popped out of her mouth, she was so surprised she immediately clamped a hand over her lips. “Tennessee. My bus leaves later tonight.” He smiled at her revelation and she wanted to kick herself. She knew better than to give out information like that.

“Let me take you.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised by his offer, but she was. That didn’t make any sense, either. “You don’t know me and you don’t where I’m going. More importantly, I don’t know you.”

“Hmm.” He scrubbed the beard on his chin and she suddenly wanted to know what it felt like. Was it course? Silky? It looked like a combination of both, and she had an urge to feel it against her skin, against her cheek, on the inside of her thighs. “Why is it more important?”

Shocked at the direction of her thoughts, she didn’t catch his question. “What?”

“Why is you not knowing me more important than me not knowing you?”“Just look at you.” She gestured toward his body for emphasis.

“Size aside, you could still knife me in my sleep.”

He had a point, even if he didn’t know how well she could wield a knife, a bow and arrow, and a hunting rifle. “And you could knife me in mine.”

“You’re too pretty for that.”

She grinned. Open and honest and big, she grinned. It felt wonderful. “Nice to know my looks are worth something,” she said with a chuckle. “Thank you, Gus. Really. But I can’t.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll be around until midnight doing tattoos. Come find me when you change your mind.”

“When I…” But he was already walking away. For such a big man, he moved with ease, an animal grace. He didn’t lumber or stomp or even seem to notice his size and how much space he took up. He was comfortable in his own skin in a way most people she knew never were.

Bex shook herself of the effect the man had on her. He’d disappeared inside the tattoo shop at the end of the row of shops. The whole shopping area was newly renovated and blended with their mountain surroundings.

The tattoo parlor was the newest business, open for a year or so, according to Mr. Garnet.She stared for a little longer in the direction the bear of a man had gone, then slid into her rental car. It was time to move on, time to start a new life.

And she pretended not to notice the tear that slipped down her cheek.

Available as an ebook:

Big, and built, Gus is one werebear most other shifters, and hybrids steer clear of; unless he’s got the ink out. Then, they line up for the chance to see him work and maybe, just maybe, get a little ink of their own. He’s made a name for himself as a traveling tattoo artist, but he’s a loner and his only rule is to never stay any place long enough to learn names.

But then, he sees her…

Bex is alone now. No family since her mother passed. Few people she would call friend. And she’s just sold the last remaining link to her childhood. None of it seems real and yet, it’s all too much reality for her. She wants to start her new life and she wants out of her small hometown.

Her way out comes in the form of a broad shouldered, tattooed biker, offering take her anywhere she wants to go, even if it means going over the infamous Tail of the Dragon mountain pass and through territory that isn’t always friendly to his kind.

She’s never been on a motorcycle. She’s never been this close to a shifter. She’s never done anything reckless. Can she trust him to keep her safe? More importantly, can she trust herself and her feelings when she climbs on and wraps herself around him?

Sunday Speeds

by Mlissa | Mar 8, 2015 | Sunday Speeds

The race is about to start, and I’m about to sit down and relax. It’s been a long week and after the time change this morning, I’m still not functioning as awesomely as I should be.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, I had a new release earlier this week. Book Two in my Bad Boys of Racing Series…Grinding Gears. I hope you’ll give Alli and Jason a chance. (more…)

Wordy Wednesday – Mental Matter

by Mlissa | Mar 4, 2015 | Wordy Wednesday

Yesterday was release day. YAY!!!!!!! (Yes, all the exclamation points are necessary) Grinding Gears is doing all right. Not spectacular. Not fantastic. But, it’s doing all right. And I’m happy that it is. I’m okay that it is. Would I like it to be doing better? Selling more? Definitely. Am I doing stuff to help that? Here and there. Most would say I should be doing it everywhere. Some would say I should be spending 10+ hours a day marketing, telling everyone about it, posting it everywhere on Facebook. (more…)