Written Fireside - 'Changes' Part 5

Welcome to Part 5 of the latest Written Fireside story, Changes. If you've not read any of the previous parts, catch up with them here -

Part 1 – Lori Connelly

Part 2 – Teresa Morgan

Part 3 – Lynn Marie Hulsman

Part 4 - Sue Fortin

Part 5 ...

“You dare me?” She could feel the smile playing over her lips as she dared herself to do what she’d been wanting to do since he’d walked into that art class. Reach out and touch him. The sizzle of heat burned through his shirt, set her fingertips tingling.

Zach had always been able to set her all-a-tremble with the lightest touch, she’d let him do what he wanted, let him take control. But that had been then.

He nodded, his dark eyes alive and dancing with a mix of fun and confidence. “I dare you, Marie. Take a risk.” The unspoken ‘for once’ hung between them.

“Okay.” She drew the word out long as she let her fingers trace a path down his chest. If she had changed, this was the test. She’d faced the future, decided it was time to do things differently. And now she had to face the past. She finally had a chance to draw a line under what had happened between them, rather than bury it under the carpet. End it properly, with her eyes wide open rather than letting the fantasy man come between her and every other man she’d tried to date. She stood up on her tip toes, so that her lips were level with his. Resisted the temptation to kiss him. “I will if you will.”

Zach slammed the passenger car door shut a little harder than he’d meant to. He’d wanted Marie to accept his offer, but if he was honest he hadn’t thought she would. He didn’t really deserve even an acknowledgment from her, let alone the time of day. But there was still something between them, he could tell she was still as drawn to him as he was to her. Which was why he’d dared to stop and talk to her. Why he’d offered to help.

He got in the car, started the engine up and risked a glance in her direction. And although he had a thousand and one questions he wanted to ask, he was tongue tied. Which wasn’t something he was used to.

She grinned back, raised an eyebrow. She’d changed. He’d loved the old Marie, but he had a horrible feeling he’d love the new one even more. Except she would never forgive him. He’d blown his chance long ago, even if he’d had no choice.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Her tone was teasing, something else that was new.

He pushed the car into gear. “What did you mean, I will if you will?”

The sexy chuckle sent him straight back to that summer. Made it all worse. “Dare. Take a risk.”

“Risk, what risk?” He was confused now.

“Explain to me why you did it.”

Don't miss the rest of the story! 

Next up, on the 6th May, is part 6 by Jane Lark. While you're waiting why not discover a bit more about her, and her books
Contact - Website Facebook Twitter Blog History

Her books - I Found You Just You The Illicit Love of a Courtesan The Passionate Love of a Rake The Scandalous Love of a Duke

Part 7 by Mandy Baggot
Part 8 by Linn B Halton
Part 9 by Erin Lawless

Written Fireside - On Valentine's, Part 4

If you've missed any of the earlier parts of this story, you can catch up here -

Part 1 - by Lori Connelly

Part 2 - by Lynn Marie Hulsman

Part 3 - by Angela Campbell  

If you're up to date, read on!

On Valentine's - Part 4

"Well," he rocked back on his heels and studied her for a moment.  One large, capable looking hand just inches from her knee. "I guess I could be your knight in shining armour and dash off to summon help." He grinned, a fan of wrinkle lines spreading out from his eyes. "But, that could take a while, and I'm not so sure I want to leave you here on your own."

"I'm fine, honest. Or, I can come with you, I'm not a complete invalid. "Cat made a move to get up, and winced as a sharp pain shot from her shoulder down to her elbow. On second thoughts, maybe she just needed to sit for a while.

"I don't think balancing on my handlebars cross country would be a good idea to even if you hadn't done yourself an injury." The deep chuckle made Cat forget the pain for a moment, and drew a smile onto her own face. "There's just me and my mountain bike I'm afraid, on a get away from it all weekend. Which is why Danny dropped me off. "

Cat met his gaze, and for a moment those clear blue eyes made her forget why she was here. They took her back, in an unexpected rush, to a long, hot, summer, years ago. "I do know you, we've met before haven't we?"

He nodded, and she felt the heat rush to her cheeks, and hoped I didn't remember it quite like she did. Those carefree days spent here at the cabin, swimming in the lake, hiking in the hills, evenings sat by the fire eating, drinking, four kids having fun ... until she'd made a complete fool out of herself with her teenage crush on Danny . At the time she'd been devastated that he'd brushed her off and been more interested in having fun with his mate, Jed. Then, she'd just hoped with a passion that Makayla hadn't noticed, even though she'd known the quiet, watchful Jed had witnessed the whole humiliating incident.

But the summer had ended, and so had her obsession. Danny had gone back to just being her best friend's older brother. And the whole thing had been consigned to a distant memory, until now.

"It was a long time ago." Jed stood up abruptly, broke the spell. "How does it feel?"

For a moment Cat was confused, then remembered. Of course, the arm. He was talking about her arm. "Fine, I'm sure it will be fine."

"You sure?" She nodded. "It's getting a bit late for me to go out now, it'll be dark soon. How about we settle down for the night and I'll go first thing? Here, let me help you get those boots off. "And as he tugged gently at her laces Cat wasn't sure if it was embarrassment, or something quite different, that was sending a fluttering sensation deep down inside her.

Next week you can read Part 5 on Sue Fontin's  blog here, 

Written Fireside October: A Witch By Chance, Part 3

If you've not read the previous parts yet, catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 before reading on!

Part 3...

Ivy moved to touch her wrist, to grab the bangle that was tightening around it, but the strangers hand was there first. His palm covered the confining band, firm fingers brushed over her skin. Warm, a caress that seemed to drift through her body, seep into her bloodstream, make her forget. She drew in a sharp breath, glanced up, straight into that mesmerising amber gaze.

“Let me help.” And he had both her wrists and had eased her to her feet before she could object.

She shook her head, suddenly angry at herself. “Hey, how do you know my name? I don’t know you, do I?” She tried to pull free, but his hold, though gentle, seemed to have a strange force that she instinctively knew it was useless to resist. “Who the hell are you? And where did that damned cat disappear to?” Ivy glanced round, suddenly remembering Karma, and why she was there in the first place.

“I’m a friend, and Karma knows how to take care of himself.” A finger of dread traced down Ivy’s spine. He knew her name, he knew her cat. She knew she shouldn’t have come here. Being an investigative reporter came with one massive drawback, it meant she was so nosy that when an anonymous note was dropped on her desk she had to follow it up. And the fact that the house was practically at the end of her road had made it even more irresistible.

“Your time has come, Ivy.” She didn’t like the sound of that. But he didn’t look evil, or at least he was very sexy evil.

He looked upwards and she followed the line of his sight, up over the dark shadows of trees to the black ink of the sky, higher to the full moon that seemed to shimmer behind its misty veil.

“Accept the destiny you have chosen, don’t fight it. You have a job to do.”

He softened his hold on her wrists, lifted her hands and she glanced down. The bracelet shone with an eerie glow, reflecting the silvery moonlight which picked out the strange markings etched deep into its surface. But the one that stood out was a crescent, a small crescent that matched the one on the strangers arm.

And then she remembered where she had seen it.

To be continued Saturday October 12th by

Kari Lemor 

on her blog

While you are waiting, why not check out her SYTYCW 2013 entry?

Protecting His Son

If you want to see the full schedule for the story please see my previous post, here.

Written Fireside - A Witch by Chance

You might have seen tweets and links I shared in September about Written Fireside. I'm really excited that this month I've been invited to take part - thank you Lori Connelly! And as it's October, there's a touch of Halloween spookiness about it... witches and black cats anyone?

So if you've not heard of it before, this is what it's about....a variety of authors gather around the virtual fire for a month and pass a story along across their blogs. Lori started the story off, Aileen continues it today and then my part will be published on Tuesday. So if you'd like to catch up please follow the links for the first two parts (if you want to find out about the other authors taking part please click on the links - but their part of the story won't be up yet!). Don't forget to stop by here again on Tuesday for Part 3!

A Witch by Chance

A new part every Tuesday & Saturday

Part 1 by Lori Connelly on Tuesday October 1st

Part 2 by Aileen Harkwood on Saturday October 5

Part 3 by Zara Stoneley on Tuesday October 8

Part 4 by Kari Lemor on Saturday October 12

Part 5 by Sarah Lefebve on Tuesday October 15

Part 6 by Carmel Harrington on Saturday October 19

Part 7 by Teresa F Morgan on Tuesday October 22

Part 8 by Lynn Marie Hulsman on Saturday October 26

Part 9 by Jane Lark on Tuesday October 29