Hey Everyone! I’m popping really quick to share this FB fan page created by Summer Daniels. It’s called “What to read after Fifty (50) Shades of Gray.” I’m sure many of you are already on FaceBook (I’m still not *gasp*) so please check it out and like it if you do.

I also hope you’ll find some cool, new books to read that maybe you haven’t come across yet. You’ll also see something familiar there since Summer was kind enough to post “Yes, Mr. Collins” for me. Yay Summer!

So please visit and find new books!

Hey Everyone! It’s taken some time for me to start writing again after my Mother-In-Law’s passing away. I was afraid I might not be able to do it for months (if ever) but the desire came back little by little until I finished this short erotic romance piece.

This takes place in the world set in Dark Desires: Sold. I found I enjoyed the assassin Marcus and the borderline-nihilist Marguerite so much that I needed to explore their relationship further. Thus came a series of vignettes exploring how we came from the beginning of their romance to the end. I hope you all enjoy it.

Also, thanks so much for all of your kindness and patience during this rough time. I really appreciate it.

SUMMARY

Five months ago Marguerite Grey left an empty life behind to become the paid companion to a charming assassin named Marcus White. Their arrangement has worked marvelously, although it’s meant leaving Marguerite alone much of the time.

Worried Marguerite is lonely, Marcus arranges for her to see him in Paris. Between the ballet and a passionate night filled with intense lovemaking, Marcus and Marguerite are reminded of why they fit one another perfectly despite their unconventional situation…

WARNING: This 5,400 word short story is intended for open-minded adults. Crude language and explicit descriptions of sexual acts are contained within.

EXCERPT

Marcus’s pure gaze incinerated. Marguerite’s speech slipped back into her natural minimalist cadence. “I like you. I’m fine.”

“Fine, huh?” Marcus let go of her face to feather the back of his fingers across her neck.  His full lips quirked into a secret smile. “I know you’re fine. You’re always fine. That’s why I’m asking.”

“If you know that then don’t ask.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Marguerite.” His limpid eyes hardened into those of an efficient stranger, crystalline and eerie in its singular purpose of stripping away everything but truth from the object of its attention. “I won’t always be able to take you out of the country to see the ballet or opera. After tomorrow you won’t see me again for three months.”

“That long?” Disappointment singed the edge of her lust. Immediately Marguerite was irritated she cared. Getting too attached to Marcus White was not part of her plan. “This is getting repetitive. I’ll be fine.”

His lips parted, incisors shining sharply in the dim light. When he smiled in this way, Marguerite felt like she was staring at the smooth edge of a knife. She wondered how much longer it would be before she welcomed its cutting bite.

“I’m sure you will be fine. Even though you’re so independent, which is great by the way, I always take care of my responsibilities, baby. That’s why I need to know if this is still your happy ending.”

“Otherwise what?”

Marcus sighed heavily. “Otherwise I’ll have to fix it.” He played with the ends of her hair. “And I would really rather not have to do that.”

His honeyed words of regret took on a different cast. Marguerite’s limbs buzzed with adrenaline, her body’s natural response in being the presence of a predator. She wondered if he knew his effect on people—on her.

Marguerite was sure he did.

BOOK INFO

• Don’t Look Away (Marcus & Marguerite #1) by D. Cristiana
• Word Count: 5,400 (Approximate)
• Categories: Erotic Romance, Dark Love, Short Stories
• DRM-Free
• $2.99

BUY

Amazon-US: Buy now!

Amazon-UK: Buy now!

Amazon-DE: Buy now!

Amazon-IT: Buy now!

Amazon-ES: Buy now!

Amazon-FR: Buy now!

Smashwords: Buy now! (Great for international readers. There’s no surcharge added to the price.)

All Romance eBooks: Buy now!

Barnes & Noble: Buy now!

Credit: Andrew Watla

It will be a week tomorrow since my mother-in-law died.

Writing those words sets a crack inside my heart and my mind. My eyes reflexively fill with tears while my mind struggles to remember and understand what the last two years have been all about.

I spent almost 17 years with her. Nearly as long as I spent with my own mother.

She was there when I gave birth to both of my boys. She loved my sons as much as I did. She loved them and they loved her.

Now she’s gone from here.

It’s been almost two years since she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. It had already spread into her bones by the time it was discovered. They never did find the primary.

I’d spent the last two years being with her, immersed in this polite and sterile world of liquid hope against death. I wrote when I could and my pieces became shorter as that was all I could focus on.

It’s been two weeks since I wrote anything.

Going through her things, dividing a life’s worth of possessions into neat piles has made me feel that strange state of not-feeling-for-long. I swing between mad joy for still being alive, greedy for all the possibilities to come, and a quiet despair of knowing everything is impermanent. Nothing lasts.

Ten years ago she read the rough draft prologue of “Vicious Bliss: fallen.” She whispered to my husband, “She’s really good.”

I sit here and wonder how I can ever write another word again when all I feel is this disturbing grief and guilt for falling prey to my insecurities all these years.

I never let her read anything else I wrote. I had a long list as to why. I never thought it was good enough. I was afraid an avid reader like herself couldn’t truly enjoy anything that came out of my twisted mind. I thought once I achieved a certain level of sales, reviews, and/or financial success then maybe I could share.

Now she never will get a chance to read anything.

I think back to how I thought I had forever. I had forever to fix me. I had forever to get through my shit. I had forever to become the woman I always knew I could be once upon a time.

Forever isn’t here anymore.

So what do I do?

I grieve. I grieve and I grieve and I grieve.

Then I kick my own ass and stop living this half-life that I’ve accepted for myself. I have tons of things I have shelved but the main focus for this segment of my life is writing.

All work has pretty much come to a stop since December. Any deadline I had before has died. That’s okay. I’ll get to it one word at a time. I’ll get to it and think of her, knowing now she really did think I was good. She didn’t need a sales figure or a rank or a certain number of favorable reviews to believe and appreciate my work.

And now I have to do the work of believing that too. I’m sure she’ll be able to help me now in a way she couldn’t before.

So please know that while I am grieving I do plan on coming back. Devil’s Descent III, Of Course Mr. Collins, Paramour, plus a couple of shorts are my top priority.

Thanks for reading and let me end on this note: if you have a goal, dream, or idea hovering and aren’t sure if you should go for it–go for it. This all ends far more quickly then we think it will. Don’t leave anything on the table to regret.

Hello Everyone! As I mentioned in the “Sneak Peek for Upcoming Dark Fiction” I am releasing another D. Cristiana piece: Dark Desires: Traded. We’ve got a little bit of a maid fetish, spanking, corner-time, and an angelic-looking hero with the temperment of a demon. Yum!

SUMMARY

Cecilia is in a lot of debt and needs a bright and shiny hero to rescue her from shockingly high APRs.

Victor is an introverted venture capitalist darling in need of a devoted (and kinky) maid.

During a chance encounter Cecilia and Victor come to a mutually beneficial understanding involving spankings, corner-time, and an outlet for their lusty cravings while finding love along the way…

Warning: This short story is intended for open-minded adults. Crude language and explicit descriptions of sexual acts, to include oral, spankings, and hints of D/S themes, are contained within.

EXCERPT

“He is such an asshole! Why should I have to rearrange his closet all over again! There’s nothing wrong with the work I already did!” Cecilia ranted under her breath while yanking several shirts and their hangers off the rack. “I can’t believe I ever agreed to do something so stupid like this! I could’ve paid off my bills a much easier way. . .working three jobs never killed anybody. . .but noooo! I had to think with my—” She snapped to attention when a large hand landed on her shoulder.

“Sweetheart, you really should learn to badmouth your employer when he isn’t within hearing range.”

The menacing whisper reminded Cecilia exactly why she agreed to live full-time under the “employment” of Mr. Victor Andrews—her former neighbor-turned-venture-capitalist-darling-turned-multi-millionaire-turned-master-of-all-things-Cecilia.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Put down the hangers, sweetheart.” He waited until she complied. “Good girl. Now go stand in the corner until I decide what to do with you.”

A craven shiver snaked its way up her spine. Careful to avoid the wicked stare on his angelic face, Cecilia walked past the open closet door and found her customary corner. The flocked wallpaper should’ve had a small circle rubbed off from the amount of times her nose made contact.

Bully. He snuck up on me on purpose! He knew I didn’t want to rearrange his closet just after I spent a whole afternoon doing it. There’s no point other than to show he’s in charge. Ugh! Why does he do that?

Time made its slow mark as Mr. Andrews regarded her from his leather armchair. Cecilia counted to a thousand before shifting her feet.

“Stand still!”

She jumped at the sharp command and locked her legs. Cecilia glared until the damask print until it became an ivory blur.

Why did I think this was a good idea again?

BOOK INFO

• Dark Desires: Traded by D. Cristiana
• Word Count: 7,000 (Approximate)
• Categories: Dark Erotica, BDSM, Short Stories
• DRM-Free
• $2.99

BUY

Amazon-US: Buy now!

Amazon-UK: Buy now!

Amazon-DE: Buy now!

Amazon-IT: Buy now!

Smashwords: Buy now! (Great for international readers. There’s no surcharge added to the price.)

All Romance eBooks: Buy now!

Barnes & Noble: Buy now!

Hey Everyone! I’m sooo excited to have finally pulled the trigger on getting Devil’s Descent I: purgatory out in print. Doesn’t it look so pretty? *sighs happily* I gotta show you my pics:

DD I VS. VBF

Okay, so even though I’ve been self-published since 2004, this is the first print project I did completely solo. I’m still fond of the special edition cover for Vicious Bliss: fallen (middle one) especially because it was my first cover attempt. (I will soon pull VBF from the current POD company and redo it under my own banner. Expect that later this year.)

DD I and Julian

I love seeing Julian’s face. (I have to admit I kissed his lips a few times. Strange, me? No way! ) Unlike the ebook cover, I added some distressed layers over his face and some blood for the print. I’m thinking I might add a bit more grit to it but I’m not too sure.

 DD I Back Cover

I like how grungy and distressed the back cover colors came out. You can see the much more of the blood on this side versus the front.

DD I Title Page

You can’t have a dark vampire romance without blood, right?

DD I Chapter Headings

I’m very pleased with how this turned out. Yummylicious graphics and easy to read font. Yay!

DD I and Mr. Vash #1

Mr. Vash had to check Julian out.

DD I and Mr. Vash #2

Mr. Vash approves!

I’m going to tweak a few things and do one more final read through to make sure everything is as it’s supposed to be. Once that’s done, DD I goes live! I’ll let you all know when that is ASAP.

Writing takes up almost all of my free time. Lately, when I’m not writing I like to look at decorating blogs. (I guess I can’t be dark and dreary and dreadful all of the time. ) I love seeing what budget-conscious chicks are able to do with their homes. I wind down by clicking away at all the projects, photos, and recipes. All too often I’m left drooling and inspired. It’s my guilty pleasure, I guess? Hmm…

Anyways, I came across this post “February photo a day kicks off tomorrow” by FatMumSlim via The House of Smiths. I think it’s a super-fun way of breaking up my routine of writing, cleaning, and writing some more. I’m going to tweet my pic everyday under the hashtag of #FEBPHOTOADAY and sticky this post until the end of the month. If any of you lovely readers are/end up participating, please let me know in the comments so I can link to you.

So without further ado and a day late:

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

My View Today

 February 2, 2012

Words

 February 3, 2012

Hands

February 4, 2012

A Stranger

February 5, 2012

10:00 am

February 6, 2012

Dinner

February 7, 2012

Button

Hey Everyone!

I’m sharing another sneak peek because Krissy asked so nicely. Hopefully this will tide you over until I can get elbows-deep into Julian and Lily’s dreadful romance. Again, this is a rough-draft so please excuse any unnecessary messiness.

EXCERPT

“I can’t help but want to bite you, Lily,” Julian drawled while nuzzling her neck. “You’re so shameless in your desires.”

“And you’re such a flirt. If I didn’t hate you so much I’d be enchanted.”

Julian brushed his mouth against hers. “I say you’re enchanted anyways.”

“Over-confident ass.”

“With good reason.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” He smiled and smoothed her hair back. “I can’t wait until I break you completely. It would please me so much to see you in pieces, darling.”

The mood melted, bringing dark, dangerous things into play. “You don’t scare me.” Lily’s eyes made her a terrible liar.

“Really?” His smile slid into a cruel smirk. Seeing the ugly truth tattooed into her haunted stare, Julian promised, “I’ll make it a priority to see I do.”

“I’m sure you’ll try. Now what about you?” Lily’s recklessness kicked in to save her from herself. She traced the curve of his mouth with her tongue. Once. Twice.

“What about me?” Julian’s hands settled on her hips and squeezed.

“Aren’t you going to change your clothes?”

“Whatever for?”

“Don’t you want to keep your suit clean? Otherwise, my mama will think you were rolling around in the mud just for fun.” Lily flicked his nose once for emphasis. “You would just have to take it because you’d never tell her the truth.”

“And what would that truth be?”

“That I kicked your ass.”

“One—it would never happen. Two—if it did I wouldn’t have to tell your mother a blessed thing. She knows you a bit more than you give her credit for, darling. Besides, my suit will be just fine. I only need to take off the jacket and tie to take care of you.” Julian pulled away but not before leaving Lily an ephemeral taste. His stare challenged hers as he removed both items and laid them down on the ground carefully.

Lily needed audaciousness to make her words create a lurid divide between them. She slipped off her shoes and lifted the hem of her dress. “It’s a good thing you’re wearing a black shirt.”

“Really? Let me guess…so your bloodstains won’t show?” Julian strolled back to Lily. His hand snaked beneath her gown and unsnapped her garters with appalling ease.

“Ha! You’re so amusing.” Lily obeyed the pressure of his fingers and placed her foot on his thigh. She shivered as he rolled down one stocking before repeating the sensuous process. Baiting Julian suddenly became much harder. “My blood’s not going to get spilled tonight. Too bad the same can’t be said for you, Douglas.”

“I’ve already warned you about my name, Lily. Need I remind you again?”

Cool fingers curled over the tender flesh of her inner thigh. She chose her taunts deliberately. “Douglas.Douglas.Douglas.”

“Bad bitch.”

The smell of blood decayed the air. Lily waited for the animal to step through the pretty, human wrapper.

Hey, Everyone! As promised in the “Sneak Peek for Upcoming Dark Fiction” I am releasing another D. Cristiana piece: Dark Desires: Kept.

SUMMARY

Leah and Kiyoshi have been inseparable since they were children. As best friends they turned into lovers and eventually soul mates. Life was beautifully simple until Kiyoshi had to go back to Japan and become heir to the same aristocratic family that disowned his mother over 20 years before for marrying his American father.

Even though Kiyoshi brings Leah to Japan with him, the distance between them is growing ever wider. Confused, lonely, and abandoned, Leah runs away from her beloved, only to have Kiyoshi catch her and force her back into her pretty cage. Soon familiar arguments turn into blazing passion as they seek to find their way back home in one another’s arms. . .

EXCERPT

He had caught her at the airport.

Leah had just gotten out of her chair to line up for departure when she saw him standing there, flanked by her bodyguards and three more underlings. Shock painted her face white while perverse relief pounded blood thick in her chest.

He came for me.

Furious with her weakness, Leah jutted her chin and pretended to ignore his presence. When she took a step towards the line, Kiyoshi stalked forward and grabbed her arm.

“We’re going. Don’t fight me and just be a good girl. I’ll deal with you when we get home.”

Leah kept her head up as he walked them out. Part of her raged at his high-handedness while the other part of her purred. Something strange responded to his commands and always had. It had been their way, paving the way from childhood bossiness to sexual domination. Unfortunately, his aggressiveness towards her took on a different color once arriving in this very airport.

All the thoughts she had of them being together, united against the world, disappeared when she realized Kiyoshi—despite his towering height, broad physique, dark brown hair, and exotic eyes—was more like them and less like her. Isolated, stranded in a world full of contradictory customs, Leah quickly viewed her existence as extraneous.

So she wanted to leave.

Now with her back against the wall, legs wrapped around his lean hips, and arms fused to his shoulders, Leah found leaving him to be impossible.

BOOK INFO

• Dark Desires: Kept by D. Cristiana
• Word Count: 8,000 (approximate)
• Categories: Dark Erotica, Contemporary, Inter-racial, Short Stories
• DRM-Free
• $2.99

BUY

Amazon-US: Buy now!

Amazon-UK: Buy now!

Amazon-DE: Buy now!

Smashwords: Buy now! (Great for international readers. There’s no surcharge added to the price.)

All Romance eBooks: Buy now!

BookStrand: Buy now!

Barnes & Noble: Buy now!

Hey Everyone!

I’m popping in (as always) to share a snippet of Devil’s Descent III: divided. I definitely have so many balls in the air right now when it comes to juggling Claudia D. Christian, Charlotte DeCorte, and D. Cristiana so it’s great knowing Devil’s Descent is still just as fun to write as it always is.

Hope you all look forward to it’s release later this year as much as I am!

PS. It is a rough draft so…just sayin’.

EXCERPT

“Where have you been?”

Lily had just turned off the engine when she found herself snatched out of the car. She pulled away but Julian’s well-manicured hand only squeezed harder until she submitted. Lily remained trapped and entirely too close to him. His cologne intoxicated. She swayed forward before remembering who he really was.

Nice doesn’t mean anything when it comes to Julian. He’s just waiting around until he gets to kill me.

“I asked you a question. Kindly answer it.”

“Out. Now let go.”

“Is that any way to speak to the man who’s courting you?” Mesmerizing eyes flashed red.

“I’ll speak to you any way I want to.”

“Will you?”

“Yes.”

His fanged smile promised retribution. “You are a slow learner, Lily.”

“And you’re an asshole.”

Julian pinched the back of her arm. “No dirty words out of you, darling. You’re in enough trouble with me as it is. Now where were you?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Hmm, you might be correct.” He smoothed Lily’s bare arm in a mocking attempt to alleviate the nasty sting caused by his punishment. “However, I don’t think so.”

“Of course not. That would make you reasonable.”

“Answer my question.”

“No.”

“Have it your way, darling, but know you will tell me.”

“I don’t owe you any explanations, Julian.”

“Hush.” Julian dragged Lily up the porch. “Behave.” His devilish grin couldn’t disguise the fury electrifying his crystalline gaze. He knocked on the door once before entering with Lily in tow. “Mrs. Walker, your daughter and I will be strolling about the grounds if that is acceptable to you.”

Hey Everyone! I just wanted to pop in and give you a sneak peek for what’s coming up in the next couple of months. I am concerned that I’m about to jinx myself by sharing but screw it! After all, how can I not share how freakin’ hot Constantine is?

Please enjoy and I hope you are looking forward to the upcoming titles as much as I am!

Claudia D. Christian

Paramour (Book 2 of the Beloved Series)

Charlotte DeCorte

Of Course, Mr. Collins (Book 2 of Natasha and Mr. Collins)

D. Cristiana

Dark Desires: Traded

Dark Desires: Found

Dark Desires: Kept