Meet Cale, Prince of the House of Terriot . . .

Cale Terriot. Le sigh . . . I confess. I always fall in love with my heroes. I figure if I don’t, how can my reader? But after spending weeks with Cale, my rowdy, tattooed, rock and roll prince, I was more than ready to run off with him for a lengthy affair (providing he’d agree to some fairly extensive therapy to deal with his family issues!). He was so much fun to develop on the pages of PRINCE OF SHADOWS with his strutty pride, designer suits and diamond stud earring (pitbulls with rhinestone collars is how Silas MacCreedy describes him and his brothers). But all that flash could be stripped away in an instant to lay bare a fiercely loyal and dangerous protective Shifter male in Back to Butt-kicking Business black whose only goal is to claim the heart of his childhood love. It’s no secret. I adore a thuggish, action-oriented underdog who fights for what he wants with driven intensity, a touch of unpredictable savagery, a spark of humor, and drop dead sexiness. That’s my prince in spades.

Don’t take my word for it. Here’s a little something to tempt you ...

* * * * *

She was right. He was a beast. He’d had to be, to win this chance to have her. He’d have to show her he could be other things, too. Good things, noble things, admirable things. Protector, mate, friend. And lover, not just the throw-her-down-to-sink-a-claim-and-carry-off-a-crown the rest of them were interested in. He was interested in that, but only as a secondary goal, far removed from the one that would have her looking at him as she had when they were young. Who needed to see the stars when that glimpse of heaven was in her eyes?

Tomorrow he’d have another chance to breach that gap between them . . . that yawning open grave filled with the bodies of her loved ones. Just how, he didn’t know, short of falling to his knees to proclaim the truth. I have loved you all my life and will never be any kind of man without you.

He stood in the shadowed doorway. Before him was everything he’d ever wanted, there for the taking, but for the first time in a long time, he was afraid to make a move.

A blush of moonlight filtered down from the skylight to bathe Kendra’s sleeping form in a tender halo. So beautiful that it hurt to look upon her while dark, urgent thoughts prowled. His gaze adored the relaxed innocence of her features, the way her fair hair rippled across the pillow like silk. No protective bulk of fleece tonight. Something silky and shimmering detailed the contours of her graceful shape.

His soft exhale of longing was tempered by the fisting of hands that still shook. He couldn’t keep himself away any longer. His need had intensified into an agony of desire and regret. Her scent drew him inexorably where he shouldn’t go, where he couldn’t trust himself to be. Close enough to be a threat to her. Because promises had yet to be sealed with a bond.

She stirred in her sleep, murmuring softly, rolling onto her back. That slippery gown whispered across her breasts and hips the way his hands yearned to. He watched her take unhurried breaths, unaware of how harsh and forceful his own had become.

Take her!It was the way his family did things. Swift, purposeful action, necessarily brutal, to take and hold what was theirs. His queen, beside him. His heirs, inside her.

That dizzying heat returned, scalding his brain, flaming through his body in a shuddering rush. An inferno of raw determination.

She’s yours by her own vow. Claim her!She shifted within that seductive wrap of silk, and all he could think of was tearing it off her, feeling the warmth of her body, exulting in the glorious relief of joining with her beautiful spirit.

Staining it. Bruising it. Crushing it along with her trust and any love she might ever have felt for him.

“Cale?”

The cool touch of her voice pierced through the pounding rage of his intentions. He faded

back into shadow, silently withholding his presence from her until she settled back to sleep.

* * * * *

Whew! Is it hot in here or is that just me? PRINCE OF SHADOWS hits the e-verse on 5-27-13 but you can preorder from Amazon or Barnes & Noble so it will be ready and waiting for you after that long weekend.Here’s what The Urban Book Thief, self-proclaimed home of kick-ass romance, urban fantasy and paranormal book news and reviews had to say about PRINCE OF SHADOWS in an early review: 

“He-ll-ooo sexy shifter romance—why haven’t I met you before?? Pure unadulterated romance with a sizzling Romeo and Juliet plotline. I mightily enjoyed this book. You don’t usually see the hot alpha stud as the more romantic one in a paranormal pair, so I liked that different perspective. What a smorgasbord of shifter hotness!”–The Urban Book Thief