Valentine’s Day brings us a little suspense with a lot of romance.
Starts February 11 and runs through the 14th! Visit the Event Page and see the other 256 authors who are participating! YES I SAID 256.
I'll be giving away an Amazon gift card, and maybe a little something extra too...
You've got plenty of time to participate and win. There are 256 differnet opportunities. So stop by and see what amazing gifts they have to give away.
http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/
Valentine’s Day has always intrigued me. We associate the day with attributes of our affection, flowers, candy, cards and even engagement rings. But that’s not how it started.
There are legends out there on what he actually did. One stated that Valentine refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. He secretly performed marriages for them and when found out Claudius had him arrested. Others attest Valentine was killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. Either way he was executed. But the night before he was killed he wrote the first “valentine” card himself, addressed to a young girl whom he befriended and healed.
The note read “From your Valentine.”
Which is what we write on our valentine’s today. With that history lesson behind us, what do you look for in a valentine?
Although those were legends, they still emphasize the appeal, sympathetic, heroic and most important, romantic. Hence, our hero, which is what every good, Romantic Suspense story, is based on. Whether it’s male or female we are drawn to these characters in our lives and in our stories.
Valentine’s Day today is a day of surprises, and fun. The intrigue is there as the day passes, wondering what’s going to happen. The suspense of the wait, will they remember, do they really love me? Then the Romance hid in the special gift, a dozen red roses, chocolate, an emotional card, or the crush velvet box. Just remembering that special someone who sees you as their hero in life makes the wait worthwhile.
Rescued from the Dark is a story of a heroic man who battles all odds to save the woman he loves.
Blurb:
Undercover FBI agent Jason Michaels infiltrates the terrorist cell and risks everything, even his life, to save the FBI intern who stole his heart then walked away. Once Mercy wakes from her coma she has no memory of what happened and Jason realizes the terrorists vow to get her back for their secrets locked in her memory, no matter what the cost. In a race against time, Jason and Mercy struggle to fight their attraction and put their differences aside as they launch a manhunt to save their country and each other.
Excerpt:
Mercy opened her eyes and was met by his hypnotic stare. She had to look away to break his hold. She could not afford to have any distractions, not now.
“Jason, I can do this. I’ve been on the top floors before and no one has suspected anything. I have a method to being in an elevator and you have to let me do it my way. I panicked earlier because I was caught off guard, go ahead and take the boxes up. I’m going to need a few minutes. I’m better at this alone.” Mercy knew she was rambling to hide her fears. The memories of that night returned every time the door closed. Damn him, damn them. She had to get control of these panic attacks before it was too late.“Mercy, this is ridiculous, I’m not going to leave you here. We’ll stop at every floor if we need to. Now get in before we both miss our meetings,” said Jason.
His tone had a hint of compassion but filled with sarcasm which pissed her off. She took a few deep breaths. Focus, you can do this. She inched her way through the door and slid across the wall. Her eyes scanned the cage around her and the open area above her then blew out the breath she was holding as the tension slowly released from her shoulders.
“Wow, why can’t all the elevators be like this one?” She leaned against the cold cage trying to calm her racing heart.
“We use it to move our gear, crates, and some of Conner’s toys. They can get pretty big.” Jason’s laughter lightened the tension between them and she started to relax.
As he got the elevator set Mercy fiddled with her purse as a distraction. The silence grew heavy between them, but she couldn’t make small talk, distance is what she needed.
“Hey, are you still with me? Your eyes were glazing over and I don’t want to lose you before we get started,” said Jason.
“I’m fine, go ahead and close the door.”
Her tone was harsh but she didn’t care. As the door closed, Mercy kept her eyes focused on the open area above them. She felt calmer now, the open area helped to keep the demons at bay. Flashbacks of that dark room and the pain from clawing at the door kept resurfacing when the walls closed in on her.
So Mercy, are you and Mitch going to work things out? Not that I ever liked the guy,” said Jason.
Subtle Jason, Mercy chuckled to herself. She knew he didn’t mean for her to hear the last part but she liked the distraction. He hated Mitch, and so did the other guys. They saw what a snake he was before she did. Mercy just wanted to make her parents happy and Mitch seemed to do that. “No, he’s still showing up trying to guilt me back into the wedding. I hate lying to my parents and now that my application to the Academy is in I’m going to have to tell them this weekend.” Mercy gripped the edge of the metal sides and tapped her foot rapidly as the sound of the elevator echoed in her ears.
“They think Mitch and I are separated, but working through our problems. I can’t hide the fact I broke up with him any longer. I hope the anger they have for Mitch is greater than the pain they feel from my deception.”
She heard her voice crack and felt the first tear spill down her cheek. It was cool across her hot skin. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the cold steel as her day went from bad to worse. Her brown curls hair tangled to the mesh wire so she pulled her head back up and opened her eyes to find Jason inches from her face.
His gaze pulled her closer and set off an inferno inside of her. His hand lightly cupped her cheek and the heat sent her head spinning. To close, her heart warned, much to close. Mercy took a jagged breath in, as he expelled a deep sigh. She couldn’t look away as he hesitated, his breath warming her lips. She knew better but couldn’t stop herself as she leaned in, closing the gap between them, touching his lips with hers. The kiss exploded into a heated embrace and she gasped when he pulled away. They both stood there, trying to catch their breath when she noticed they weren’t moving.
“The elevator stopped Mercy. We’re here.”
His voice was breathless and his warm tone flamed the fire inside her. She needed to say something, anything, but her voice escaped her. This was wrong, the kiss was wrong. She wanted to be an agent and there were rules. She opened her mouth to find her voice, when he placed his fingers against her lips.
“I know Mercy, I know the rules. I understand what you want. I always have, but I also know what I want. I’m sorry about the timing, not about the kiss.”
He spoke just above a whisper and her heart melted. This can’t happen, not now. Her lips turned cold the minute he pulled his hand away. She watched him turn around and draw in his shoulders as he took a deep breath. He stood there clenching his fists and she waited, wanting him to turn around, to come back, but he moved towards the door. He had his back to her when he spoke in a whisper, so soft she had to strain to hear the words, but she did.
“Rules can be bent, but I understand. You don’t want to be part of my future, not since you know about my past.”
Her heart squeezed in anguish as she realized his true meaning. She wanted to tell him she heard, it didn’t matter, just not now. But her voice wrapped around the lump that formed in her throat.
He stood motionless and Mercy waited for him to turn back, but he opened the door and grabbed the boxes off the floor. Mercy struggled to find something to say, but nothing right came to mind.
“Jason, I…I know about…” She held her breath as the pain radiated through her chest. She had to do it. So she squared her shoulders and cleared her throat.
“I want to be an agent. We both know the rules and I’ll lose everything. I’m sorry.” Mercy felt her heart breaking in two as the anguish engulfed her. She had to stay strong.
She watched as Jason broad shoulders tightened under the weight of the boxes. He slowly turned and when their eyes met, his expressive face become almost somber.
“Mercy, no explanation needed, we’re headed in different directions anyway, so no worries. I’ll take these boxes to the conference room.”
She felt the ice run through her veins from his cold, emotionless tone. What did he mean by different directions? She watched him scuff his feet along the elevator floor as he walked towards her. Her heart refused to believe what her mind was telling her. She stared into his ocean blue eyes as he bent over and kissed her cheek. She gripped the edge of her jacket to keep from reaching for him as her knees grew weak.
“My distraction has to be better than your clenched fists and focus techniques. Don’t you agree?”
She heard a faint chuckle from him as he moved back.
“I’ll see you later. Call me if you need help getting back down.”
Mercy froze against the elevator wall. Her mind was still whirling from his kiss, while the irritation burned inside of her from his calloused tone. She was glued to his movements as he turned on his heels and strode out the door. What in the hell just happened? Damn him! She stomped her foot so hard it sent a pain shooting up her leg, causing her to drop her purse. She threw her purse back up on her shoulder as she stood up straight. Call him, hell no!
The vibration from Mercy’s phone snapped her back to reality. She jammed her hand into her pocket and pulled it out so fast it slipped out and crashed on to the elevator floor. She bent over, grabbed the phone glared at it, shit, her father. The disappointment that engulfed her was short lived when she read the message. Meet me in Ron’s office, ASAP.’ The hair stood up on the back of her neck as the eerie feeling crept through her veins. Something was wrong.
For the other 256 participating authors and prizes, visit the main event page below.