Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Hop

Welcome all you trick-or-treaters to the Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop!  Halloween is such a great time to celebrate, especially for someone who writes paranormal romance. Here at my blog, I'm giving away two prizes.  I promise, only treats. No tricks. ;) To enter, all you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment with your email so I can contact the winners. For extra entries, you can do the following:

Follow me on Twitter (+1 entry) http://twitter.com/#!/gabriellebisset

Friend me on Facebook (+1 entry) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002481284652&sk=info

Sign up for my monthly newsletter (+2 entries--comes out only once a month) See the pink box on the left.

Remember, the extra entries are optional.  You can do as many or as few as you like. :)  But help me out by adding up your entries in your comment, along with including your email address. And the giveaway is open internationally, so as long as you have an email address, you can enter!

First prize:  Ebook copies of Destiny Redeemed and Vampire Dreams (or another of my books if the winner has already read that one) plus book swag (bookmarks and cover flats)

Second prize:  Ebook copy of Destiny Redeemed and book swag (bookmarks and cover flats)

Here's the blurb and excerpt from Destiny Redeemed for a little taste:

Sentenced to spend the rest of his three remaining lifetimes in Nil, Amon Kalins is freed with the help of his Sidhe servant, Gethen, but now he must accept his life is never to be his again as the Council won't rest until he's safely back imprisoned within Nil's cold walls. Broken and nearly dead from his time in prison, Amon is saved by an Aeveren healer named Althea Forester. As a healer, Thea has served her people for forty-five lifetimes, never having a destined one and always knowing each lifetime would ultimately end with her alone. But destiny hasn't forgotten her.

Drawn to the seductive Amon, Thea quickly becomes a pawn the Council uses to trap him. Taken prisoner by the sadistic leader of the rebel group, the Soren, Thea must survive the vicious world of the people hellbent on taking her destined one away forever, and Amon must risk everything dear to him to free her from those who would sacrifice her to claim the bigger prize and return him to Nil.

Excerpt:

Thea watched the man in front of her with fear, but there was something else too, something she’d never experienced before as a healer. She didn’t just feel sympathetic for him, didn’t want to merely make his pain go away. She felt drawn to him, and not only on a physical level. She could understand that after resting her head on his hard body. He was more masculine than anyone she’d ever met. Even after what had obviously been repeated beatings, he seemed stronger than any man could be. So her physical attraction she understood.

But there was something else. After only a few hours near him, she realized with sadness that she’d miss him when he released her. But why? She knew little about him, and what she knew wasn’t good. He was Amon Kalins, the escaped prisoner from Nil. She’d been warned, as all other Aeveren healers had, not to help him in any way. She hadn’t had a choice, though. His wretched man had kidnapped her from her home and when she saw him suffering before her, nature had taken over. Healing him had never been a choice but a need.

“Thea, don’t be afraid. I told you I wouldn’t let any harm come to you, and I won’t. You’re safe as long as you’re with me.”

The tone of his deep voice was softer now, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She remained fearful, her fingers tightly gripping the drawer handle behind her.

“You’re Amon Kalins...” she squeaked out as her voice failed her.  The hard surface of the dresser pressed against her back when she attempted to take another step back away from him.

“Yes.”

“The escaped prisoner from Nil.”

“Yes.”

Thea’s body relaxed almost against her will. Each affirmation should have made her fear for her safety all the more, but it didn’t. Something in his voice soothed her.

“And you’re a tempuster?” This the Council hadn’t mentioned in its edict to healers.

“Yes.”

In all her lifetimes, she’d never met any Aeveren with the power of time travel. Amon Kalins must be a very powerful man, she realized.

“Is it my ability that frightens you?” he asked in a voice she was sure was intended to put her at ease.

Thea thought about this for a moment and answered in a small voice, “No.”

His being a tempuster was probably the least frightening aspect of him. The truth was she was most frightened of how much she already liked him. She shouldn’t. She knew this. But something about him called to her.

“Then my being a prisoner from Nil?”

Thea drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not supposed to help you.”

“Why? You’re a healer. It’s your gift. Why would you be banned from healing someone who needs your help?”

Thea was ashamed to admit that she’d never considered this question, not when she was ordered not to heal him nor all the other times those who dictated her power ordered her not to help another in need. How many times had she followed edicts and watched half-breeds or full blooded Aeveren suffer needlessly for breaking one of the many rules of their world?

The thought of her blind heartlessness made her shoulders droop and the regret she suddenly felt overwhelmed her. Sadly, she explained, “The Council ordered all healers to not help you. Under no circumstances were any of us to heal you.” As she spoke the words of the edict, she felt guilty not because she had helped him, but because for the first time in her forty-five lifetimes she’d truly lived up to her nature.

“But you did. Not that we gave you a chance to follow your orders.”

“Now I don’t know what will happen to me. When they find out what I did...”

Thea’s voice trailed off as she thought of how the Council would punish her for healing Amon. As she winced at the thought of her reprimand, Amon clenched his fists at his side. Thea saw the anger in his expression and wasn’t sure how to react. She was reasonably sure his anger wasn’t because of her, but something in him had changed.

“Are you in pain?”

Amon relaxed his hands. “No.” Slowly, his face returned to the handsome, albeit bruised, expression he seemed to usually have. Thea stepped forward toward him and carefully placed her hands on both sides of his face. She didn’t know why as he’d said he wasn’t in pain, but something in her pushed her toward his bruised face.

The swollen left eye had returned to normal, and she felt the gaze of his ocean blue eyes on her as she coaxed the pain out of his features. Gradually, the slash under his eye closed until all that was left was a faint pink line. The light purple bruises that marked near his jaw and above his eyes, remnants from a prior assault than the one on his last night in Nil, faded under her light touch as the pads of her fingertips softly glided over his skin.

Amon sat stunned by her unsolicited help. As she focused on healing him, she saw him study her, his breathing turning to shallow pants and sensed his desire when she saw him lick his lips.  As a healer, she wasn’t gifted with the ability to read minds, but her power came with the complementary ability of being able to read others’ reactions better than other Aeveren.  

That something inside her that had pushed her toward him now told her to kiss him, and she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to one of the pale black and purple marks on his forehead. When she finally pulled away, she saw his eyes were closed and his face was calmer than at any time since she’d met him the night before.

Her mind raced. Should she apologize for kissing him, even if it was just on his skin? She’d never wanted to do anything like that ever before with anyone else she’d been charged to heal. But nothing about being near this man was like anything she’d ever experienced before.

Unsure of how to act, she found it difficult to know what to do next, and words began to tumble out of her mouth. “I’m sorry...I didn’t mean...I don’t know why...”

Amon opened his eyes as Thea felt the color rising in her cheeks. She may have been saying she was sorry and claiming she didn’t know why she’d kissed him, but she was still positioned right next to his face.

“No need to apologize. In fact, there’s no need to stop.”

A sound of surprise escaped her lips and her eyes grew wide at the idea that there was more to come. Her heart pounded in her chest as his deep blue eyes stared into hers. Would he kiss her now? All at once, she realized she wanted so much to feel his lips on hers.

© 2011 Gabrielle Bisset

The hop runs from October 28-31, and I'll have random.org pick the winner on November 1.  Be sure to visit all the other blogs participating by clicking on the link below. Good luck, and happy hopping!  

http://dreabecraft.com/events-2/