Book Excerpt: Shades Of Gray w/Giveaway

Grief does a number of things, none of them pretty. At the best end of the spectrum you simply cry yourself dry. At the worst end, you do things that will either leave you full of regret once you swim up from your grief or you do things you’ll do your damnedest to forget. Sometimes you manage to run the entire spectrum, and nobody involved is the better for it.




**WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL**



“No one’s.” I shouted, tears pouring down my face. “I don’t want to worry about people dying because I’m a screw up, because I don’t know what to do.” I pressed my hands over my chest, like the pressure would help the aching and burning. “What am I supposed to do without Gillian? What am I supposed to do?”

I wasn’t aware Williams had crossed the room until suddenly his arms closed around me, pulling me close to him. I couldn’t keep the crying under control anymore and my knees buckled. Williams slid to the ground with me, whispering words in a language I couldn’t understand.

It seemed like forever and yet not nearly long enough before my sobs quieted down to whimpers. I became aware of Williams’ holding me very, very close. His hand moved slowly up and down my back. My face pressed close to his neck, and I took a deep breath, inhaling his mixture of expensive cologne and otherness. His hand slid under my shirt on its trip up my back and I tensed, muscles knotting faster than an expert seaman.

I should have pulled away. Instead, I drew him closer.

“Jude.” His breath ruffled my hair, sent shivers down my spine. “You’re drunk.” He started to draw back and I tightened my grip, dug my fingers into his hips. “Jude.”

“Don’t. Don’t go. I don’t want to be alone right now.” I laid my lips over where his pulse would have been and kissed softly. “Stay with me. Please.”

His hands slid over my back, came up to fist in my hair. He jerked my head back until I could see his face and he could see mine. “You would tempt a saint. And I am no saint, Jude Magdalyn.”

His mouth was as decadent as I remembered, more so, as if the events of the night had changed us both so much that every flavor, every touch was deeper, richer. My fingers shook as they gripped his shirt. My skin warmed where his hands touched my stomach and tangled with the button of my jeans.

He bit my lip. I jumped, moaning, my hands fisting in his hair. His tongue swept into my open mouth, swirling, coaxing. Thoughts of Theo slapped at me, quickly pushed away when Williams sucked on my tongue. I was vaguely aware when he opened my jeans, but not fully until his hand slid into them. Inside and down, teasing over the most sensitive part of me before pulling gently.

I came, instantly, powerfully, so intensely my head reeled for a moment and I could only gasp breath in and out. He didn’t give me time to recover. Moving his clever fingers down further Williams slid them into me, my hips arching to drive them deeper. His mouth moved down my neck, licking a path down my chest. I don’t know when he did it or how, but the front clasp on my bra opened and he shifted his head, sucking a nipple deep into his mouth.

I came again, harder this time, the tension in my muscles bringing tears to my eyes. I felt his fangs, just the slightest pressure, against my breast, and the implied danger had me pulling his head closer with one hand, even as my other struggled to push my jeans the rest of the way off. His fingers slid in and out, and mine clutched convulsively in his hair, the only reaction I could truly manage.

He pulled out, and I whimpered in protest, more so when he raised his head from my breast and pushed to his knees. Williams’ shirt was lifted off and tossed in much the same way mine had been. Unable to help myself, I pushed to a sitting position, leaning forward to run my mouth over the smooth muscle of his chest. He shuddered again, sliding my bra the rest of the way off before pushing me back to the carpet. His pants were off faster than I could see and I raised my hips when his hands tugged at the denim caught on the carpet.

When he settled between my legs, I felt him hard and ready. He leaned over me, bracing his weight on his hands, his mouth inches from mine.

He thrust into me, crushing his mouth to mine. Settling his hips firmly against mine, he did something I’d never expect someone with hundreds of years of experience to do. He fucked me.

There was nothing gentle or romantic or seductive in what we did. There was nothing but need and want and underneath everything grief trying to push out. I held on and let him use me, used him. I concentrated only on what I physically felt and let sensation wash over me, the emotional storm trying to push its way through.

The orgasm caught me surprise and I gasped, nicking my tongue on one of his fangs. The tiny taste of blood was too much for Williams. Between the blood on his tongue and the clenching of my muscles, his body let go. Pushing into me one final time, he held for a long moment before sliding down to lay his head between my breasts.

Reality began to creep back in. It took longer than I expected and yet not nearly long enough. I pushed on his shoulder and he obliged me by rolling off to lie next to me. I sat up, shook my hair back. “I’m sorry.”

“Jude—.”

“We shouldn’t have done this.” Theo’s face swam into my mind. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake. A stupid, drunk mistake that will never happen again.”

He lay there for a few minutes longer and then I felt him stand, heard him rustling around for his clothes. “I’ll leave you alone, then. Unless you require anything else of me?”

I pushed to my feet, keeping my back to him, and began pulling on my own clothes. “No. Just leave. Please.”
 

Author Info: L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. Titles written include New Moon Rising, Shades of Gray, the first novel in the Jude Magdalyn series, as well as Hole in the Wall, a Jude Magdalyn short. She is currently at work on Taken. She makes her home in Florida with one two cats—one smart, the other an idiot.


Connect with her at:

Personal Blog: www.lmpruitt.blogspot.com

Facebook: L.M. Pruitt

Twitter: lmpruitt

The next blog stop: Aug 28 – Supernatural Bookworm http://angelgonemad.blogspot.com/

Buy Shades Of Gray @ Amazon

One random commenter will receive an ebook copy of Shades Of Gray. Just make sure you leave your email in the comment so that you can be contacted.