Shattered Promises- Trailer & Teasers!

The Fallen Star Series is a great series by Jessica Sorensen. If you haven't read it, check out the first book, The Fallen Star HERE. Anyhow, Shattered Promises, according to Ms. Sorensen is this:

"Hmmm... you're probably wonder what this is? Another series maybe? Nope. This is the Fallen Star Series all grown, a re-imagining told at a New Adult Level. It's just for fun for those who want to read it, but you don't have to. It won't cause confusion with the Fallen Star Series. It will, however have a warning on it."

"I decided a little bit ago to do a New Adult version of The Fallen Star (Fallen Star Series, Book 1). It has the same characters, only I had to tweak their personalities a little and make them more grown up. It’s a similar storyline, however, it’s not the same story with scenes added in it. I’ve rewrote it to fit my current writing style and added more grown up situations, but it’s still the same concept and has a similar flow. Also, you don’t need to read

The Fallen Star to understand what’s going on. It’s its own book :)
It’s all for fun, for either someone wanting to see what would have happened if Gemma and Alex where older when they met, or for anyone wanting to read a New Adult Fantasy.
So keep an eye out for Shattered Promises, a New Adult Fantasy."

Sounds pretty awesome, right?! :) Well check out this cover, synopsis, trailer and teasers, which can also be found on Jessica Sorensen's website:

 

(Click cover for Goodreads page)

 

Synopsis

 

**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content.
(A re-imagining of The Fallen Star told as a New Adult Fantasy)

For twenty-one year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. She knows nothing about her past and has been haunted by the same monsters in her nightmares for the last three years. Unemotional and numb to life, she feels disconnected from everyone. Until the very first day she cries. After that, nothing in her life is the same.
Her emotions slowly surface and she starts experiencing love, happiness, and anger, feelings she never knew existed. But they leave her confused and she doesn’t know whether to embrace them or run away from them.
Her life only gets more complicated when she meets Alex. Sexy, arrogant, and secretive, Alex can get under Gemma’s skin like no one can. Yet she’s drawn to him by an invisible connection she has no control over. She’s also seen him before. In her nightmares.
Every part of Gemma’s mind is screaming at her to stay away from Alex, but every other part of her is begging to get close to him. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes Alex knows more about her than he originally let on.
As secrets about her past unravel, Gemma’s life becomes threatened. She needs to figure out what’s going on, before she winds up dead. But the only person she can turn to for answers is the one person she isn’t sure she can trust.

 

 

Trailer

 

**NEW- PROLOGUE & CHAPTER 1 OF SHATTERED PROMISES!**

Prologue:

Why do people laugh? Cry? What makes them cry? Smile? What allows them to love? These were the questions I’d asked myself for nearly the last twenty-one years.

What makes people feel?

I didn’t know the answers. I didn’t understand what produced emotions. And I was supposed to be writing a paper on human emotion for my Sociology class. I’d been camped out on a bench in the center of the campus quad at the University of Wyoming studying the interaction between nearly the entire student body as they passed by, and I still didn’t understand. What was it? Why did they hold hands? Kiss? Laugh? What the hell was making them look like they saw rainbows and sunshine everywhere?

It was a warm fall day and leaves were fluttering across the dry grass. The branches were bare and the air was laced with the sent of rain. My jacket was balled up on the bench beside me, and ear buds were stuffed into my ears. “Wonderwall” by Oasis played through the speakers, the lyrics trying to surface an emotion buried deep inside me, but like usual, it was just a spark that quickly faded.

I jotted some notes about a couple making out near the front entrance of the main office. Their hands were all over each other, feeling every inch of skin. They seemed to be enjoying it, but I didn’t get it. I never had. For as long as I could remember, I’d never been able to feel any emotion. Sadness, happiness, love, they were all just words to me and had no more meaning or importance than the shoes on my feet. When I was younger, I’d never thought much about it. I moved through my life, like a robot, and I was fine. But lately, at least for the last few days, questions were beginning to surface. Maybe it was because Professor Fremont, my Sociology professor, had been on a human emotion kick lately. Most of his lectures related to the drive behind emotion. Perhaps his words had finally stuck the pin into my thoughts. Why had I never felt anything? Was I broken? Crazy? Or were there just some people who went through life like how I did—peacefully disconnected?

I wrote that thought down in my notes, shut my notebook, and got to my feet, deciding to call it quits for the day. I gathered my things into my bag and headed across the campus toward my where my car was parked. I used to live in the dorm, but this year was the start of my Senior year and I made the decision to move out on my own, which I’m sure was a huge favor to the person who was in line to share a dorm with me. I tended to frighten people with my internal impassiveness. I’d been the same way in high school. Most of my life I was the outcast weirdo with no friends. It made sense. I mean, how could I make friends when I couldn’t smile, laugh, or even relate to people?

As I pulled my keys out from my pocket, a strange sensation overcame me, like I’d forgotten something on the bench. I glanced over my shoulder, squinting against the faint stream of sunlight flowing, and scanned the bench, but all I could see were people. My eyes swept through the crowd and I had the strangest feeling someone was watching me, but it was just a feeling and everyone seemed to be engulfed in their own business.

I turned around and was overcome by the sensation of heat hitting me, like a kick to the stomach. Hunching over, my keys fell to the ground. It hurt, like fire was melting my skin and scorching my hands. But my skin looked as pale and smooth as it always did. I tried to straighten back up, force my shoulders upward, but something stabbed into the back of my neck. When I reached around, I could feel the warmth of my skin pressing against my trembling fingers. There was something else there though—something invisible, possessing my body, as if hot liquid spilled through my veins and pooled inside my heart. I couldn’t breathe—couldn’t stand. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the ground, the rocks digging through my jeans into my skin, and my palms spilt open as I pressed them to the ground to hold my weight up. Every hurtful word, every sad moment, every lonely second I’d ever experienced poured through me like a raging river and flooded my body, drowning me in my own tears. It felt like every bone in my body cracked open from the pressure of emotions. My fingers shook as I touched my wet cheeks. I was stunned. Shocked. Terrified. A million different things. Because for the first time in my life, I was crying.

_____________________________________________________________

Chapter 1:

Three months later…

I felt alive as I followed him down the slender hallway, lined with red walls and lanterns. The way he moved, with slow, confident strides, was hypnotic. My heart knocked inside my chest with excitement and nervousness and my heart rate sped up when he glanced over his shoulder at me. He was gorgeous; dark brown tousled hair, broad shoulders, bright green eyes. I was helpless over my body as my legs carried me toward him, even though I didn’t know who he was. It felt like I did, though. Somehow. I just couldn’t place from where.

Music played from within the building and vibrated against the walls. There was heat in the air and it made my skin damp beneath the short leather dress I was wearing. It was strange because I never wore dresses. But I never walked down empty hallways with strangers either.

He turned to face me, walking backwards, his tongue slipping out of his mouth and wetting his deep red lips. I swear to God I almost died as the urge to lean forward and bite his lip rushed through my body. I’d never felt this way before. I’d never felt much of anything before, until now.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, pausing at the door at the very end of the hallway.

I nodded eagerly, even though I had no idea what he wanted me to do. “Yes.”

A unhurried smile curved across his lips and the muscles of his arms flexed as he shoved open the door. Inside was a small room, with maroon walls and floors the color of ash. There was a dresser in the corner, a room divider against the back wall, along with a metal-framed bed.

I pressed my lips together and crossed my arms over my chest, wondering if I was getting in over my head.

He motioned for me to step in as he held the door open. “Ladies first.”

Tentatively I entered, fiddling with the bottom of my dress, struggling to keep my balance in my high-heeled boots. “Are you sure they won’t find us here?” I asked, turning in a circle to examine the room.

He shut the door and turned around to face me with his hands behind his back. He watched me in silence for a while and his penetrating gaze made me squirm. “You know, you’re not like I thought you’d be,” he said, taking a step forward. “Yet, at the same time you are.”

“That makes no sense.” I took a step back, trying to blink away from his gaze, but I was trapped by feelings I couldn’t control.

“It makes perfect sense.” He took another step and then another and I matched his moves until my back brushed the wall. He placed a hand on each side of my head, pinning me between his arms and leaned forward until his lips were a sliver of space away from mine. “You just don’t know it yet.”

I could smell the faint scent of his cologne and feel the heat emitting from his body. “Are you sure we shouldn’t be running? They won’t stop until they find me."

He shook his head, eyes focused on me. Up close, I could see the little specks of blue inside the green and the largeness of his pupils. “We’ll be fine. I promise I won’t let anything happened to you.”

Conflicted with whether or not I believed him, I swallowed hard. “Are you sure, because…”

He placed a finger across my lips and shook his head. “Shh….When I promise something, I mean it.”

I nodded my head, struggling to keep my eyelids open from the feel of his skin on my mouth.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” His finger trailed down the front of my neck to my chest and I shivered as he leaned in, closing his eyes.

The first touch of his lips brought a sensation of heat to my skin that flowed down my neck, my chest, hitting me straight in the stomach, and coiling downward, causing me to let out an embarrassing moan. I started to recoil, but he only seemed more eager to kiss me as his tongue slipped deep inside my mouth.

The taste of him was familiar and comforting, yet full of danger, want, and need. I felt the back of my neck grow hot and a fire ripped through my body as a hunger possessed me. My head raced a million miles a minute with thoughts of getting closer to him.

I clutched onto his arms, digging my nails into his skin and I pressed my body against his. What the hell was happening to me? I’d never felt this way before. I needed to breathe—I needed to run… God, but I wanted to stay.

His hands wandered down my body, across my breast, to the bottom of my dress. As his fingers grazed my bare thigh, he sucked on my tongue and pulled me closer. Gripping my legs, he scooped me up, and urged them around his waist. The feel of him pressed up against me made the fire burn hotter. I was burning up. I swear I was literally on fire.

He groaned against my mouth, biting at my bottom lip as his hands roamed upward beneath my dress and cupped my ass. My legs constricted in response and tightened around his hips. His tongue kept exploring my mouth, entangling with my tongue, tasting me, turning me on in ways I didn’t understand. God, I wanted to understand, though. So badly.

“Gemma,” he breathed as his lips kissed a path down my jawline, to my neck where he sucked on my skin, nearly driving me crazy.

“How do you know my name?” I asked as my fingers tangled through his soft hair and my head fell back.

He shook his head, pulling away for just a second, and his eyes were glazed over. “I don’t.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but as his fingers moved between my legs, I forgot about everything. The spark of heat his touch brought on caused me to suck in a sharp breath. My chest heaved as I shut my eyes and dug my fingernails into his shoulder blades as more intense emotions emerged. I slid my hands underneath his shirt, feeling the lines of his muscles and the smoothness of his skin.

He laughed against my lips and then his tongue slipped back inside my mouth, but it felt different. His lips… they didn’t feel the same. And there was something on them that felt like cold metal.

I opened my eyes and my breath caught in my throat. He’d changed into someone else. His brown hair was now blond with blue tips and a silver ring looped through his bottom lip. His eyes were bright blue, like the sky, and his skin as pale as snow.

“Who are you…” I breathed, but I think I knew.

The stranger stayed silent and inclined forward to kiss me. I wondered if there was something wrong with me as his tongue encouraged my lips apart and I only clutched onto his lean arms, instead of pulling away. He tasted different and exciting, and my body felt like it was going to explode from the torridness. His hands gripped my waist , his nails digging into my skin as he drew me closer, crushing my body against his, and my skin beaded with sweat. He muttered my name, threading his fingers through my hair and tugging at the roots until my head was tipped back. Then his mouth moved for my neck. His teeth gently nicked at my skin and it stung a little, but felt amazingly good at the same time.

As his hands searched my body, the warmth of his touch gradual decreased. Instead of heat, I felt cold. His hands wandered up the front of my dress, his palms gliding against the leather until he was cupping my breast. I let out a moan, but numbness consumed me. And the cold. Why was I so cold?

My eyes snapped open. Towering behind him was a figure wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled over its head. The eyes were yellow and flashed fiercely as it stepped forward with its bony hand stretched outward.

I jerked away from the guys arms and lowered my feet to the ground. “Oh my God,” I stuttered with my eyes locked on the monster.

His eyebrows knit. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Before I could respond the monster unhitched its jaw and opened its mouth. My scream echoed through the room as its ice-cold breath suffocated both of us and we fell to the floor—

The lyrics of “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails filled by head. I rubbed my eyes and blinked the tiredness away. The cold and the heat still lingered in my body, just like it did ever damn morning because I couldn’t shake the dream. I wrapped my blanket around myself, with the prickle gnawing at the back of my neck, pumping fear through my body that I couldn’t shake. My emotions were still so new and I had a hard time controlling them, especially when my dreams got me so riled up I had no idea how to cope.

Ever since my crying incident a couple of months ago, my life had shifted. Every day there was a new experience, whether it was a simple as finding something amusing or crying for hours over the loss of my childhood and adolescents—the regret of endless lonely days.

It was early in the morning and the pale pink glow of the sunrise was lifting over the mountains. I climbed out of bed, got dressed in a pair of black jeans and a red tee, and fastened my long brown hair into a ponytail. I took a good look in the mirror at my violet eyes, pale skin, and long legs. Whenever I looked at my reflection I could see something hidden in my eyes, like a secret, but it could have been the alarming shade of violet just throwing me off.

After I laced up my black boots, I grabbed my keys and headed for the front door. I had to pick up a few things from my grandparent’s house. I’d moved in with them when I was one after my parents died in a car accident and lived with them up until I graduated. They were threatening to throw some of my things away, so I figured I’d head over and get them before my classes started. Besides, the sooner I got it done, the sooner I’d never have to talk to my grandparents again, which would make us all happy.

***

It was ridiculously cold in Laramie. The roads were frozen and sprinkled with salt and icicles hung from the trees. There were snowmen decorating the yard, ice glazing the rain gutters and branches, and the roofs of the house were piled with snow.

When I arrived at my grandparent’s two-story redbrick house, my insides immediately wound into knots as every single memory connected to the place surfaced. My grandparents were the coldest people I knew and had always been dead set on ignoring me as much as possible. It didn’t really bother me back when I was younger, since I couldn’t experience things like pain and anguish, but now I fucking despised them. It was an overpowering feeling, which is why I hated coming here. Because it owned me, made me say things I normally wouldn’t, and turned me into a different person—a bitter person.

I climb out of the car, zipping my coat up as I walk toward the side door. In the kitchen, Sophia, my grandmother, was standing over the stove, the pans were hissing as the smell of bacon filled the air. My grandfather, Marco, was reading a newspaper at the table.

I shut the door and Marco peered over the newspaper at me, his black oval glasses sliding down the brim of his slightly crooked nose. He was a reserved man, who liked to avoid confrontation at all cost. “Good morning, Gemma,” he mumbled with a subtle nod.

It was the same exact conversation we’d been having since I was eight. A polite hello and eager good-bye, as if we were nothing more than mere acquaintances. It took a lot, but I managed to strain a smile. “Good morning, Marco.”

“Your stuff’s boxed up in the room upstairs.” The bacon sizzled as Sophia tapped her high heel on the tile floor. She was dressed in a floral dress with a white apron tied over it, and her auburn hair was twisted in a bun. She was a very proper person, always neatly dressed, the house always clean.

“Okay.” I stared at the both of them and then shaking my head, walk across the kitchen toward my room. “I guess I’ll go get it and be out of your hair then.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said curtly and returned back to her cooking.

Rolling my eyes, I disappeared into the foyer and hurried up the stairs to my old room. The once tan walls had been painted a bright red, the shelf in the corner was stripped of my music collection, and the dresser drawers were open and empty. I walked over to the stack off boxes near the foot of the bed and I ran my finger along the label. Memories stabbed at my brain like sharp nails.

Empty.

Lonely.

Hopeless.

I’m broken inside.

“Gemma’s junk,” I read the label out loud. “I guess it’s probably true… none of this stuff ever really meant anything to me.” I wish they did though. I wish I had a connection to something—anything.

Sighing, I backtracked to the door and peered out into the hallway, making sure no one was there, before shutting the door. Kneeling down beside my bed, I reached underneath it and ran my fingers along the bottom of the mattress until I found the papers. Fumbling with the tape, I peeled off the photo.

I stared down at the torn picture of the woman. It was ripped in half, faded, and frayed, but from what I could tell, the she had long, brown hair, blue irises, and a fair complexion. I’d once found it while cleaning under the stairway and kept it because I believed it was my mother. I’d hid it under my bed because if Sophia found it, she would have taken it away. She hated it when I brought up my parents.

I hadn’t looked at the photo since I’d been able to feel. It was strange, the idea that it could be her, and it made my chest pressurize and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. As tears threaten to spill out, I quickly got to my feet and tucked the picture into my back pocket. Sucking in a deep breath and forcing back the tears, I picked up a box and carried it down the stairs.

Marco was no longer in the kitchen and Sophia was taking off her apron. “Are you alright carrying those out by yourself? Marco’s back has been bothering him again.”

I nodded as I observed a photo of Marco and Sophia hanging on the wall next to the kitchen table. They were standing on the shore of a lake. Marco had his hand in front of his face, shielding his eyes from the sunlight and Sophia was to the side of him, smiling. On her collarbone was a tattoo of a circle trimmed with golden flames. The picture always confused me because Sophia didn’t seem like someone who had a tattoo. She also didn’t seem like someone who would have children of her own either, yet she was the mother to my mom.

“I was wondering if we could talk about that thing I mentioned last week.” I asked, shifting the box onto my hip, hoping she didn’t notice that I was lying. “It’s for a history paper I’m working on. I kind of need to know a thing or two about my parents.”

Sophia turned away from the stove. “I thought I told you not to talk about that—that I didn’t want to talk about them.”

“Well, I kind of need you to.” I set the box down on the table. I actually I didn’t. I just want to know for myself. “Otherwise I might fail and I’m so close to being finished, the last thing I want to do is fall behind schedule for graduation.”

She turned off the stove and narrowed her eyes at me. “It doesn’t matter. We are not going to talk about your parents. At all.”

“Why not?” I asked, battling my anger. “What scares you so much about the idea?”

With her hands on her hips, Sophia stormed toward me, her high heels clicking forcefully against the tile. “Do you think it’s easy for me to talk about my daughter’s death? Do you like to make me hurt?”

I held my chin high, refusing to cower back. “No, but it feels like I should know something about her. About both my parents. In fact you should have told me about them a long time ago.”

Her skin turned a ghostly white and lines formed around her eyes as she gave me a harsh look. “We will not talk about this ever again. Do you understand?” She hurried out of the kitchen and seconds later, I heard her bedroom door shut.

Tears stung at my eyes, but I forced them back. I would not let the sadness win. I was tougher than that. I’d lived without it for twenty-one years for hell sakes.

Opening the back door, I stepped outside. Even though a blizzard had blew in, it felt warmer than in the house.

***

By the time I pulled up to the campus, I was late for Calculus and there was a test today. My grade was already nearing the seventy percent mark, so I couldn’t miss it. Swinging the car door open, I hopped out into the snowfall. Deciding to leave the boxes in the trunk, I rushed across the campus yard, the snow crunching under my sneakers. I kept my eyes on my watch, watching the minutes tick down. I sped up to a run, but then paused when I approached the salted sidewalk as the prickling sensation stabbed at my neck.

Dammit.

I waited for an emotion to rise and take me over, wondering how complex it would be. But a few seconds went by and I felt nothing, so I forced my feet to move and stepped up onto the curb. As my shoe touched the ground my skin heated and my gaze zeroed in on a guy walking across the parking lot.

I was almost certain I’d seen him before. “Wait is that… no it couldn’t be…”

My neck tingled again, like the day my tears unleashed, and I was flooded with a desire to chase him down, rip off his clothes, bite on his neck, do all the dirty things I’d been dreaming about this morning. I might have acted on the impulse too, but a snowball smacked me in the face and diverted my gaze off him.

Wiping the cold snow from my cheek, I glared at the thrower. “Didn’t you see me standing here?”

A heavyset guy with a beanie on surrendered his hands in front of him as he backed toward the entrance of the campus. “Sorry, I was aiming for him.” He nodded his head to my right at a lanky guy with a hoodie pulled over his head.

I plucked chunks of snow out of my hair as I rushed toward the entrance doors and caught up with the guy I’d been having dirty thoughts about right as he swung the door open. He stepped to the side and held it open for me, like a true gentleman. I bit my bottom lip to keep my irrational, lust-filled emotions contained, and walked in, my heart hitting the inside of my chest. Keeping moving forward. Don’t stop. My thoughts were weaker than my feet and I halted, peering up at him.

My heart stopped as recognition took me over. I knew him. Well too, like a faint spark was flickering deep inside my memories. But I didn’t understand how. All I knew is that I couldn’t breathe. Or maybe I was breathing for the very first time. Maybe this was what it was like to feel alive.

Then it hit me. He was the guy from my dream. He was even more gorgeous in person; tousled dark brown hair and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. He long limbs where carved with muscles and confidence radiated off him, from the way he stood, to the look in his eyes. He wore a black hoodie and dark jeans that hung low on his hips. I couldn’t seem to take my gaze of the patch of skin that showed when he raised his hand to run his fingers through his hair and his shirt road up a little.

When our gazes collided, I was shocked by a zap of electricity that fired through my body. My eyes amplified as the feeling expanded, coiling into my stomach and burning between my thighs. A gasp escaped my lips as my body quivered from the rush. I’d felt this before many times in my dreams, but God dammit it felt so much better in real-life.

A look of intrigue and fascination masked his face as he watched me, like he was waiting for something momentous to happen. Did he know me? Did he dream about me like I dreamt about him? How could this be possible?

I extended my hand toward his chest and slid my palm up the front of his shirt, needing to touch him, be close to him. His heart thudded from underneath my palm, matching the erratic beat of mine, and his eyes widened, his gaze flickering to my lips and for a brief but earth-shattering moment he looked like he might kiss me.

“Do I know you?” I asked as my fingers brushed the top of his collar and electricity ripped from my fingertips to my toes.

Suddenly, like a light switch, his expression slipped into a scowl. “I’m sorry, but did I give you permission to put your hands on me?” He sidestepped around me and let the heavy metal door slam into my elbow.

“Ow.” I rubbed at the pain on my arm as every ounce of my elation cracked and shattered, falling to the floor. “What the hell was that for?”

He shot me a harsh look and my mouth dropped open. “Next time, hold the damn door open for yourself.”

Fucking asshole. It was amazing how one second I’d felt like I was in an eternal state of ecstasy and the next I was boiling in a pot full of rage all because the sexy stranger opened that delicious looking mouth of his.

He turned his back to me and strolled down the hall without a glance back, leaving me angry, irritated, and totally turned on.

Yep, there was definitely something wrong with my head.

 

 

Teaser 1

**Mature Content Warning! 17+ For Language & Sexual Content**

 

 I felt alive for the first time in my life as I followed him down the slender hallway, lined with red walls and lanterns. The way he moved, with slow but confident strides, was hypnotic and my heart knocked inside my chest with excitement and nervousness. My heart rate only sped up when he glanced over his shoulder at me. He was gorgeous; dark brown tousled hair, broad shoulders, bright green eyes. I was helpless over my body as my legs carried me toward him, even though I didn’t know who he was. It felt like I did, though. Somehow. I just couldn’t place from where.

 

Music played from within the building and vibrated against the walls. There was heat in the air and it made my skin damp beneath the short leather dress I was wearing. It was strange because I never wore dresses. But I never walked down empty hallways with strangers either.

 

He turned to face me, walking backwards, his tongue slipping out of his mouth and wetting his deep red lips. I swear to God I almost died as the urge to lean forward and bite his lip rushed through my body. I’d never felt this way before. I’d never felt much of anything before, until now.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, pausing at the door at the very end of the hallway.

I nodded eagerly, even though I had no idea what he wanted me to do. “Yes.”

A slow smile curved across his lips and the muscles of his arms flexed as he shoved open the door. Inside was a small room, with maroon walls and floors the color of ash. There was a dresser in the corner, a room divider against the back wall, along with a metal-framed bed.

I pressed my lips together and crossed my arms over my chest, wondering if I was getting in over my head.

He motioned for me to step in as he held the door open. “Ladies first.”

Tentatively I entered, fiddling with the bottom of my dress, struggling to keep my balance in my high-heeled boots. “Are you sure they won’t find us here?” I asked, turning in a circle to examine the room.

He shut the door and turned around to face me with his hands behind his back. He watched me in silence for a while and his penetrating gaze made me squirm. “You know, you’re not like I thought you’d be,” he said, taking a step forward. “Yet, at the same time you are.”

That makes no sense.” I took a step back, trying to blink away from his gaze, but I was trapped by feelings I couldn’t control.

“It makes perfect sense.” He took another step and then another and I matched his moves until my back brushed the wall. He placed a hand on each side of my head, pinning me between his arms and leaned forward until his lips were a sliver of space away from mine. “You just don’t know it yet.”

I could smell the faint scent of his cologne and feel the heat emitting from his body. “Are you sure we shouldn’t be running? They won’t stop until they find me.”

He shook his head, eyes focused on me. Up close, I could see the little specks of blue inside the green and the largeness of his pupils. “We’ll be fine. I promise I won’t let anything happened to you.”

Conflicted with whether or not I believed him, I swallowed hard. “Are you sure, because…”

He placed a finger across my lips and shook his head. “Shh….When I promise something, I mean it.”

I nodded my head, struggling to keep my eyelids open from the feel of his skin on my mouth.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” His finger trailed down the front of my neck to my chest and I shivered as he leaned in, closing his eyes.

The first touch of his lips brought a sensation of heat to my skin that flowed down my neck, my chest, hitting me straight in the stomach, and coiling downward, causing me to let out an embarrassing moan. I started to recoil, but he only seemed more eager to kiss me as his tongue slipped deep inside my mouth.

The taste of him was familiar and comforting, yet full of danger, want, and need. I felt the back of my neck grow hot and a fire ripped through my body as a hunger possessed me. My head raced a million miles a minute with thoughts of getting closer to him.

I clutched onto his arms, digging my nails into his skin and I pressed my body against his. What the hell was happening to me? I’d never felt this way before. I needed to breathe—I needed to run… God, but I wanted to stay.

His hands wander down my body, across my breast and to the bottom of my dress. As his fingers grazed my bare thigh, he sucked on my tongue and pulled me closer. Gripping my legs, he scooped me up, and urged them around his waist. The feel of him pressed up against me made the fire burn hotter. I was burning up. I swear I was literally on fire.

He groaned against my mouth, biting at my bottom lip as his hands roamed upward beneath my dress and cupped my ass. My legs constricted in response and tightened around his hips. His tongue kept searching my mouth, entangling with my tongue, tasting me, turning me on in ways I didn’t understand. God, I wanted to understand, though. So badly.

“Gemma,” he breathed as his lips kissed a path down my jawline, to my neck where he sucked on my skin, nearly driving me crazy.

“How do you know my name?” I asked as my fingers tangled through his soft hair and my head fell back.

He shook his head, pulling away for just a second, and his eyes were glazed over. “I don’t.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but as his fingers moved between my legs, I forgot about everything. The spark of heat his touch brought on caused me to suck in a sharp breath. My chest heaved as I shut my eyes and dug my fingernails into his shoulder blades as more intense emotions surfaced inside me. I slid my hands underneath his shirt, feeling the lines of his stomach muscles and the smoothness of his skin.

He laughed softly against my lips and then his tongue slipped back inside my mouth, but something felt different. His lips… they didn’t feel the same. And there was something on them that felt like cold metal.

I opened my eyes and my breath caught in my throat. He’d changed into someone else. His brown hair was now blond with blue tips that swept across his forehead and a silver ring looped through his bottom lip. His eyes were bright blue, like the sky, and his skin as pale as snow.

“Who are you…” I breathed, but I think I knew.

The stranger stayed silent and inclined forward to kiss me. I wondered if there was something wrong with me as his tongue urged my lips apart and I only clutched onto his lean arms, instead of pulling away. He tasted different and exciting, and my whole body felt like it was going to explode from the heat. His hands gripped my waist and drew me closer, crushing my body against his, and my skin began to bead with sweat. He muttered my name, before threading his fingers through my hair and tugged at the roots until my head was tipped back and then his mouth moved for my neck. His teeth gently nicked at my skin and it stung a little, but felt amazingly good at the same time.

As his hands felt across my body, the warmth slowly shifted and instead of heat, I felt cold. His hands searched up the front of my dress, his palms gliding against the leather until he was cupping my breast. I let out a moan, but I felt numb. Cold. Why was I so cold?

My eyes snapped open. Towering behind him was a tall figure wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled over its head. The eyes were yellow and flashing fiercely as it stepped forward with its hand out.

I jerked away from the guys arms and lowered my feet to the ground. “Oh my God,” I stuttered with my eyes locked on the monster.

His eyebrows knit. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Before I could respond the monster unhitched its jaw and opened its mouth. My scream echoed through the room as its ice-cold breath suffocated both of us and we fell to the floor—

The lyrics of “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails filled by head. I rubbed my eyes and blinked the tiredness away. The cold and the heat still lingered in my body, just like it did ever damn morning because I couldn’t shake the dream.

 

Teaser 2

**Mature Content Warning! 17+ for Language & Sexual Content**

 

My heart stopped as recognition took me over. I knew him. Well too, like a faint spark was flickering deep inside my memories. But I didn’t understand how. All I knew is that I couldn’t breathe. Or maybe I was breathing for the very first time. Maybe this was what it was like to feel alive.

Then it hit me. He was the guy from my dream. He was even more gorgeous in person; tousled dark brown hair and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. He long limbs where carved with muscles and confidence radiated off him from the way he stood to the look in his eyes. He wore a black hoodie and dark jeans that hung low on his hips. I couldn’t seem to take my gaze of the patch of skin that showed when he raised his hand to run his fingers through his hair and his shirt road up a little.

When our gazes collided, I was shocked by a zap of electricity that fired through my body. My eyes amplified as the feeling expanded, coiling into my stomach and burning between my thighs. A gasp escaped my lips as my body quivered from the rush. I’d felt this before many times in my dreams, but God dammit it felt so much better in real-life.

A look of intrigue and fascination masked his face as he watched me, like he was waiting for something momentous to happen. Did he know me? Did he dream about me like I dreamt about him? How could this be possible?

Without even thinking, I extended my hand toward his chest and slid my palm up the front of his shirt, needing to touch him, be close to him. His heart thudded from underneath my palm, matching the erratic beat of mine, and his eyes widen, his gaze flickering to my lips and for a brief but earth-shattering moment he looked like he might kiss me.

“Do I know you?” I asked as my fingers brushed the top of his collar and electricity ripped from my fingertips to my toes.

Suddenly, like a light switch, his expression slipped into a scowl. “I’m sorry, but did I give you permission to put your hands on me?” He sidestepped around me and let the heavy metal door slam into my elbow.

“Ow.” I rubbed at the pain on my arm as every ounce of my elation cracked and shattered, falling to the floor. “What the hell was that for?”

He shot me a harsh look and my mouth dropped open. “Next time, hold the damn door open for yourself.”

Fucking asshole. It was amazing how one second I’d felt like I was in an eternal state of ecstasy and the next I was boiling in a pot full of rage all because the sexy stranger opened that delicious looking mouth of his.

He turned his back to me and strolled down the hall without a glance back, leaving me angry, irritated, and totally turned on.

Yep, there was definitely something wrong with my head.

 

Teaser 3

**Mature Content Warning! 17+ for Language & Sexual Content**

 

“Get off me!” I needed help, but I was shit out of luck. The music was loud and muffled the noise even in the room. “Please!”

He forced my arms together and held them in one of his very large hands. “Not until you tell me why you’re flipping out.”

“Because physical contact freaks me out,” I lied, arching my body into his in a lame attempt to force him off me.

He moved his body upward slightly, but still kept a hand on my arms. “I can tell when you’re lying, by the way your biting you lip.” He let his weight descend back toward me. “Just like I can tell when you’re pissed off by the way your jaw tenses.” His body was back on me and I lay immobile beneath him as he continued, his voice growing softer. “Just like I can tell when I’m embarrassing you because your cheeks turn pink.” His face lowered toward mine and I noticed for the first time that he had a faint scar just below his eye. His breath was hot against my ear and neck and my eyes uncontrollably shut as he whispered, “Or how I can tell when you’re getting turned on by the way you get distracted and how your body shudders.”

The insinuation of his words enclosed around me and my body shuddered, just liked he’d accused. Something snapped inside me. I raised my head and surprised him as I touched my lips against his. I pushed past the forceful amount of electricity ripping through me and instead of kissing him, I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth.

Then I bit down hard.
I wasn’t even sure what the point was. Whether I was pissed off or so turned I that I’d lost the capability to rationalize my actions. I moved my face away, rested my head back on the mattress, and waited for him to hop off and call me a freak.

Instead, he stared at me as his tongue slipped out from his mouth and wetted his lips. "Fuck, you drew blood."

Before I could even begin to be embarrassed, he let out a deep growl and seconds later his lips came down on mine. Holy fucking hell. I’d never felt anything like it. It was all gone; the worry, sadness, the emptiness. I could barely breathe as his tongue slipped inside my mouth and entangled with mine. I had no idea what I was doing, but I went with it, allowing his tongue to search my mouth. My skin felt like it was melting, but in a good way. As I lifted my hips up, pressing our bodies together, the heat spiraled out of control. I wanted to be closer—needed to be closer—but it didn’t seem possible, since he was lying on top of me.

His hand was still holding my arms and he tightened his grip as his other hand slid down my body to my hip. He dug his fingers into my skin as he moved his legs so that mine were free. Seconds later I had them fastened in a vice-grip around his waist. His body tensed and his breath caught in his throat.
Drawing away, he looked into my eyes and I thought he was going to say something insulting. But then he let out another low growl that sent vibrations all over my skin and he crushed his lips into mine. The innocent kiss suddenly turned reckless as his hand slipped underneath my shirt and he cupped my breast. I’d never felt this kind of ecstasy before. It was intoxicating. Overwhelming. Finally I understood what the big deal was.

I writhed my hips up against him, feeling his hardness between my legs. With each movement, my head became foggier as he kissed and felt me all over.

Suddenly, I wanted to rip his shirt off, feel his skin, feel the passion, the spark, the connection. As every ounce of my self-control withered, I wiggled my hands out of his. Maneuvering them between us, I began to fumble with the buttons of his shirt. When I reached the last one, he caught my hand and stopped me.

He removed his lips from mine, propped up on his arm, and peered down at me. His lips were swollen and his eyes were glazed over like he barely understood what was going on. "We should slow down," he panted, looking conflicted.

I instantly frowned. "Why?"
Looking torn, he glanced down at my hand trapped in his and then back at me. "Because we should." He loosened his grip and freed my hand. Like a magnet, my fingers moved for the last button and I flicked it undone.

As my fingers grazed his stomach, his lips sealed against mine. His tongue urged my mouth apart and when it entered mine, the warmth nearly swallowed me. Pressing my hands flat onto his stomach, I felt the rhythm of his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, the warmth of his skin.
I began writhing my hips against his, letting go as he moved his lips away from my mouth and started trailing kissing down my neck. Each one was soft, but full of desire. I wanted more—needed more.

I was confused by my thoughts and what my body wanted. It was like I’d been starving for years, nearly dying of hunger, and his kisses were finally satisfying the ever-growing starvation.
As he reached my collarbone and took a nip at my skin, my fingers dug into his shoulder blades. With one last buck of my hips, something exploded inside me and for a second I was free from the world I’d never felt I belonged.

Apparently the light bulb above our heads had the same idea. It flickered and then glass was flying everywhere. I winced as sharp, hot fragments of glass landed on my skin.

 

Release date for this TBA! But It should be out very soon!