First Kiss Friday – An Excerpt from “Dark Love Rising” by Danita Minnis

Today on First Kiss Friday, we welcome romance author, Danita Minnis, and an excerpt from her Paranormal Romance novel, “Dark Love Rising.”

Former MI6 agent Xavier Quinn would say that you're daft if you think he will stop killing for a living. But that is exactly what is about to happen. Very soon now, Quinn will start killing to stay alive. On the run after taking out the wrong man, Quinn would die a happy man if he could just live long enough to ruin the Parliament member who set him up.

Layla, a 2,000 year old vampire with a moral code, has other plans for the contract killer. When she awakens to the sound of a dark rising, she enlists Quinn to join her on a mission to save humanity from her twin sister Tamara.

First Kiss Excerpt

He had to get out of here before Carlisle found out that his men had not completed their assignment. What was he going to do with Layla? Or, was the question; what was she going to do with him?

“Why are you here?”

She looked at the men on the floor. “There is something wrong. I thought it was this, but my head still aches.”

When he continued to stare at her, she went on. “I went to sleep, but the pounding woke me. It is like a heartbeat in my head.”

He turned away, breaking eye contact. Those glowing orbs were pulling him in and he couldn’t afford the distraction. “Listen, we have to get out of here. You should leave now.”

When she didn’t answer, Quinn turned back to find her gaze traveling over his chest and abdomen. He wondered if she’d had enough to drink. It was best not to ask; she might mistake his words for invitation and turn to his neck.

Her gaze moved lower, and he felt himself jerk to attention.

He backed away and strode into the bedroom. Dropping his towel, he put on a pair of briefs. “I can’t take you with me. I don’t know where I’m going and I’ll be traveling day and night. You’ll need to find some place to sleep during the day.”

He shook his head. He said all this as if he were some authority on vampirism and this was not the first creature he had ever encountered.

Her husky laughter wafted over from where she stood in the doorway, sending another jolt of heat through his loins. “The sun does not burn one as old as I.”

“And how old is that?” He turned to feel her hardened nipples brushing his chest, and sucked in an involuntary breath. Her swift, soundless movements were unnerving.

With fear and arousal warring in him, he stood completely still, eyeing her lips, which parted in a knowing smile. She’d meant to startle him.

Glimpsing perfect, white teeth and, thankfully, no fangs on display, he tried to relax and convince himself that she wouldn’t bite. She was just curious about him and he was now aroused beyond good sense, due to the luminous globes of a young but ripe female pushing against him.

“Quinn,” It was a solemn promise on her lips. That is a good, strong name. I like saying your name.

“I heard you, but your lips didn’t move! You said you like saying my name!” If she could do this, he had no idea what else she could do, make him think, or feel. “And I did hear those castanets…”

The seductress’s eyes crinkled playfully as she held his gaze and inhaled his scent. He couldn’t stop his arm from wrapping around her during this slow exploration.

Like a cat playing with her prey, she stood on tiptoe and nudged his neck with her nose, another sniff, and only then did she answer his forgotten question.

“I took my rest in the city of Thebes, this place you now call Luxor. The voice said this is the twenty-first century.”

“The television.” He dropped the arm that had snaked around her waist and felt her soft, guttural disapproval in that part of him that wanted to be inside of her.

She wrapped arms around his neck. “Hmm-mm, I have lived two millennia…” She drew out the ‘aah’ in the last word in that caressing style that was quickly becoming her signature. The teasing sound that came from the back of her throat might have accompanied a languorous stretch. But Layla never moved, was actually nipping his neck ever so gently.

“Stop this,” He grabbed her arms with both hands and lifted her up. Her feet dangled in the air as he crushed her against him. When his lips came down over hers, she closed her eyes.

Those lips…ripe, delicious, warm and wet. But he couldn’t stop there. His tongue foraged in her mouth, sweet fruit from the vine. Closing his eyes, he savored the taste of her. As he wrapped one hand around her, the other hand roamed over her tight, rounded derriere.

He groaned when she wrapped both legs around him and pressed her heat into him where he needed it the most. She had a dancer’s legs, muscular yet soft and feminine. When her legs flexed around him, bringing her closer, his groin pulsed.

“Ah. Layla,” He looked into her eyes, her impossibly golden eyes.

She is a vampire…

“Stop this, Layla.” Struggling in the grip of dangerous lust, he was still holding her, nipping her lips, her neck, anywhere he could reach. “We have to get out of here.”

“Dark Love Rising” is available through:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo