Need a hot read after a busy day of making Christmas cookies? Please welcome romantic suspense author J. D. Faver!
Hi Suzan!
Thanks so much for inviting me to be your guest today. I wanted to share an excerpt from my latest release, Bad Girl!
Bad Girl! is my sixth novel to be published and is the forth romantic suspense, although this one is the darkest yet.
My heroine is a very damaged dominatrix and the hero is a detective. Needless to say, they both have control issues. The subject is kinky, but it’s a mystery/suspense with a bizarre romance twisted in. The episodes of CSI featuring Lady Heather were the best ever and drew the most viewers. The theme of my website is Bad Girls Need Love Too…so my dominatrix is just another of my bad girl heroines.
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Blurb
The cell phone kept ringing. Kris refused to answer it, burrowing under her down comforter as the phone went to message. Tinker jumped off the bed just as the phone rang again.
“Damn!” Kris threw the covers back and slid out of bed. Her silk pajamas made a swishing sound against the sheets. She grabbed the phone and growled, “What?”
“Not a morning person, are you?” Nick’s voice was obnoxiously cheery.
“No, I’m fucking not!” Slamming the receiver against the nightstand repeatedly gave her some small measure of satisfaction. “What do you want?”
“Geez! I need to see you now. It’s important.”
“Get over that. I’m turning off the phone and I’m going back to bed.”
As soon as she turned off the ring tone, the doorbell chimed. “What now?” Kris growled.
Tinker ran to the door and delivered a volley of throaty barks.
Kris looked out the peephole to see Nick waving at her. An explosion of rage went off inside her chest.
He’s stalking me. Throwing open the door, she grabbed him by his jacket and rolled back onto the floor, carrying him with her. Lifting both feet as she rolled propelled him over her and onto his back. He landed hard, his heels thudding on the floor. Leaping to her feet, she squatted astride him, clenching her fingers around his throat.
“You know,” she said, “if I crush your trachea not even God can save you.”
His chest rumbled with deep laughter. Heaving her off, Nick turned her onto her back, restraining her hands over her head. “Yeah, but I’ve got a good seventy pounds on you and that trumps your crushed trachea.”
Enraged, she glared up at his grinning insufferable face.
Nick straightened, releasing her wrists, but remained kneeling astride her hips, his smirk went viral.
Kris clapped both of her cupped palms against his ears, enjoying his howl of pain. She punched his throat with her fist, propelling him backwards. Springing to her feet, she kicked him in the face as he struggled to get up.
He fell back, striking his head on the corner of her kitchen counter. He gazed at her in disbelief, his mouth open. “Do you realize that you just assaulted a police officer?”
“Duh! You are one totally obnoxious cop. Arrest me if you want to. I am officially resisting.” She stood over him, dancing a little on her toes.
Nick exploded with laughter. “If you were as big as you think you are, you’d be dangerous.” He grinned as he pulled himself to his feet. “Am I being punished?”
“Shut up!”
A thin line of blood trickled from his lip. “Let me take off my clothes and you can spank me.”
“Don’t mock me.” She pointed to the door. “Get out.”
His expression changed as his brows drew together in a frown. He jabbed a finger at her. “You opened the door and you dragged me in here. I’m not leaving until you calm down and talk to me.”
Kris blinked to keep the tears at bay. “You can’t keep doing this. I am not available to you.”
He shrugged and headed for the door, but swerved suddenly. Grabbing her from behind, he lifted her off her feet, gripping her wrists.
She growled in protest, butting her head against his chest and kicking her heels against him.
“I didn’t want to have to do this but...” He handcuffed her wrist and fastened it to its mate behind her back.
Terror seized her in its cold grasp. A sense of helplessness mingled with the rage building in her gut.
He eased her down onto the sofa and stepped away, pointing a finger at her again. “Don’t kick me anymore.” He wiped at the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Tinker barked and jumped furiously.
“I hope your dog doesn’t bite.” Nick rested his hand lightly on the holstered gun on his belt. “I’d hate to have to shoot him.” He rubbed his chin with his fingertips, massaging the spot where she’d kicked him.
“No!” Panic rose in her throat and her heart pounded. “Don’t you dare even think about shooting my dog!”
He quirked his head to one side, raising his brows. “I was kidding. You don’t have any sense of humor in the morning, do you?” His grin was only slightly more loathsome than the twinkle in his green eyes.
“I haven’t encountered anything funny yet,” she snarled through clenched teeth. Glowering at him as he looked around the room, Kris felt vulnerable and exposed.
Nick gave a little snort. “Well, you’re not standing where I am. This whole thing is pretty funny.” His eyes flicked over her body, the pastel silk pajamas clinging to her flesh. “I came here to question you, but you attacked me. I was forced to subdue you, so just chill out.”
He made a circle, touching the bare cream colored marble mantle and running his hand along the back of the pale micro suede sofa. He squatted down to scratch Tinker’s head. “You’re not so ferocious, are you, boy?”
He was in her place, touching her things, violating her sanctuary.
“Take these cuffs off me,” she demanded.
“I think I’ll just wait until you’ve cooled down a while. I kind of like this.” He sat down heavily on the sofa, his weight jostling her. “Have you been a bad girl? Do you need to be punished?” He pulled her across his lap and put his hand on her buttocks, gently caressing her.
She screamed, angry with Nick and angry with herself for getting into this position.
He swatted her twice. “I can see why you like this so much.” He turned her around to face him, holding her on his lap. His hand rested casually on her thigh. “What a firm body you have, Kristen, and so limber. Is that what you like to be called?”
She gritted her teeth together. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “Kris,” she hissed. She gave him a cold glare. “How did you find me?”
“I told you, I’m a cop. I have access to all kinds of cop information. I followed you from the time you left the diner Thursday afternoon. I went every place you went. I know the names of every man you were with, except the big guy you picked up in your car. What’s the deal with him?”
“He’s my martial arts instructor,” she said.
Nick grinned and shook his head. “You need to practice. Are you going to be a good girl now?”
Kris took a breath and nodded curtly.
He removed the cuffs.
Kris rubbed her wrists and moved to a chair across from him. They regarded each other silently for some minutes.
“You know,” he said, “You are beautiful, but you’re the worst tempered woman I’ve ever met.”
He moved the cream and lime green hand blown glass bowl Marla had given her for Christmas. Kris kept it precisely in the middle of her square coffee table.
“There’s a solution for that. Just stay the hell away from me.” Kris spoke to Nick but her gaze was riveted on the glass bowl, now displaced from its perfect symmetry.
“Can’t do that,” he said. “There’s been another homicide and the victim was wearing one of those cute little doggie collars of yours. His appointment calendar had your number in it. So you’re sitting right in the middle of my investigation. This is an official inquiry.”
His casually spoken words twisted her guts. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. “Are you going to make me ask his name?”
“Yes.” He was grinning openly.
“Just tell me his name,” she snapped, “and don’t be an ass.”
“Eddleman. Melvin Eddleman,” he said. “You don’t deny knowing him, do you?”
She was silent for a moment, struggling with her gag reflex. “No. He was a client.”
Nick regarded her solemnly. “I have to ask you if you killed Mister Eddleman. I wouldn’t have thought so until your earlier demonstration of strength and agility.”
She glared daggers at him. “I did not. When was Melvin killed?”
“Sometime between midnight and four Thursday morning. He didn’t go in to work or answer his phone so someone from the bank went to his place around noon to see if he was okay. He wasn’t.”
She tried to speak without emotion. “What happened to him?”
“Someone choked him to death and wrapped him up like a mummy in his pissy sheets.”
A strangled whimper escaped her throat. “That’s horrible! I can’t believe it.” A wave of nausea washed over her. “Melvin was a pathetic man. He wouldn’t harm anyone.”
“Shows what you know,” Nick leaned forward. “His employees made a long list of people who’d like to see him dead. Seems like your friend Melvin was a real son-of-a-bitch.”
“He wasn’t my friend.” Unable to restrain herself any longer, she nudged the glass bowl back to the center of the table.
Nick followed her movements intently. He lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “That’s right. You don’t have any friends, do you, Miss ‘I don’t need anybody’?”
“I have friends.”
“Who? I’ve tailed you for days and you haven’t had contact with anyone personally. No lunch with the girls. No date with someone special.”
“I like my life this way. I’m the one in control.”
Nick leaned back against the sofa, regarding her stonily. “From where I sit, it looks like you’ve controlled yourself into a big old box of empty.”
“And what do you have that’s better?” she countered.
He spread his hands. “Nothing. Not a damned thing, but at least I’m willing to put myself out there and be available in case something good comes along.” He stood up and took a few steps toward the door. “If you decide you can be available, come to my place Tuesday night. I won’t pay you. I’ll rent a movie and order pizza. I’ll hold your hand and you can get to know enough about me to decide if you want me as your friend.”
Kris followed behind Nick, anxious for him to be gone. “Just get out!”
Nick turned and cupped her chin in his hand. “You don’t have to wear spandex and you don’t have to bring your bag of tricks. I’ll take you just the way you are.”
He lowered his head slowly and kissed her like he was taking a bite out of her, capturing her mouth with his. His tongue invaded, stroking hers and eliciting a spontaneous reaction. He kissed her hard and deep before he turned and slammed the door behind himself.
Kris swayed slightly, rocked by the sensual impact of Nick’s mouth. Securing both locks, she slid down to the floor with Tinker. She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting Nick’s rough kiss. Closing her eyes, she laughed as an angry tear rolled down her cheek.
What a total ass!
Except that she had kissed him back.
For more information on
Bad Girl! and my other books, please visit my author pages on
Barnes & Noble
and
Amazon.
