Category: Painted Promise

First Chapter ~ Painted Promise

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Painted Promise

Ellora’s Cave has put three of the Art of Love stories into print as ART OF AMOUR. To celebrate my contribution, here’s the first chapter of PAINTED PROMISE

Chapter One

The gears of the lift clanked over. They marked the cyclical rhythm of light dropping from the top of the metal box to bathe my body in light before it hit my feet. I drew in a slow breath and straightened my shoulders. The air tasted dry, bitter, with a hint of something that burned against the back of my throat. It was familiar. I didn’t push at my memory. I didn’t want to. Hell, they weren’t my memories anyway.

Beside me, the senior manager of the project coughed.

I glanced at him. Linus Vrome, retained by my family to preserve their most prized asset…which wasn’t me. The moving band of white light dropped down over his sharp face. Sweat glistened on his forehead and a nervous tick jumped at his temple. He was nervous? He wasn’t the one who would have to walk out of the metal coffin when it finally stopped its long drop into the bedrock of the planet. He’d get to ride back up again.

“Are you aware of the full history of our connection to the Tashen-Dar?” His voice rang against the metallic walls, fighting with the clunks and clanks of the lift’s mechanisms. “Of how your progenitor captured the one known as Zaid?”

“No,” I lied.

Continue reading “First Chapter ~ Painted Promise” →

New releases: Painted Promise and Touch of a Dragon

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, New Release, Painted Promise, Touch of a Dragon, Writing1 Comment

Painted Promise

Releases 18 August from Ellora’s Cave

You can read an excerpt here

Thirza Girard is a clone.  Her mirror image founded a thousand year dynasty that spans the quadrant.  The Girard family power is no accident.  The original Thirza did a deal with an alien, a Tashen-Dar, who could manipulate probability.  He changed reality so that Thirza and her descendants are favoured with opportunity, the chance, if they grab it, of achieving great wealth and power. However, it comes at a cost.
Paint – an organic technology – binds the alien, Zaid, in the bowels of the planet. Paint has captured him as an image for a thousand years.  The time of binding is almost at an end and Thirza Girard’s clone must pay the price for the power her family has enjoyed.  She must rebind him, capture him again in paint, or pay another, more carnal price.

Touch of a Dragon

Releases 24 August 2010 from Loose Id

You can read an excerpt here

Half dead under a heap of rubble, Leona Munro isn’t going to turn down that offer.  Yet accepting, spins her life out of control.  She is the Chosen and what that means no one will say
Thrown into the world of the magic she secretly craves, Leona must find the strength to survive.  Too many people want to use what she is to their own advantage in the war between technology and magic.  She can trust no one…least of all the sinfully attractive Samuel Blake.

Summer Reading Trail: Painted Promise

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Painted Promise, Writing3 Comments

Summer Reading Trail 2010

Here’s a snippet from my next release, due out 18 August, Painted Promise

Thirza Girard is a clone. Her mirror image founded a thousand year dynasty that spans the quadrant. The Girard family power is no accident. The original Thirza did a deal with an alien, a Tashen-Dar, who could manipulate probability. He changed reality so that Thirza and her descendants are favored with opportunity, the chance, if they grab it, of achieving great wealth and power. However, it comes at a cost.

Paint—an organic technology—binds the alien, Zaid, in the bowels of the planet. Paint has captured him as an image for a thousand years. The time of binding is almost at an end and Thirza Girard’s clone must pay the price for the power her family has enjoyed. She must rebind him, capture him again in paint, or pay another, more carnal price.

Excerpt
(c)2010 Kim Knox

“I should warn you, I’m Tashen-Dar, with the power and strength of my primary caste.”

A wry smile tugged at my mouth. “I don’t need that reminder.”

Zaid shrugged himself free of the top half of his suit. The shirt he wore was short sleeved and I tried not to stare at his sleek muscles…and failed. I forced my gaze up and found amusement in him. “Need or want?”

“So this,” I waved a hand over his body, biting at the inside of my cheek as he dropped the rest of his suit to the floor and stepped out of it, “is deliberate?” He wore shorts, the material wrapped tight around his muscled thighs. I couldn’t stop the rise of heat in my cheeks. Hell, this wasn’t me. I didn’t get hot from staring at a hardly naked man. I pulled in a calming breath and stopped. His scent. Warm male skin, but unlike any man I had tasted or kissed. And the idea of pressing my mouth to his neck, licking him, sinking my teeth—I took another step back. “What are you?”

Zaid wet his lips. “Ah, you’ve realized the difference.” He pressed his palm to his chest and eased it down over his abdomen. I watched him, my heart beating too hard, as his thumb teased along the band of his shorts. “This particular human race spread out across the galaxy taking everything that had a pulse.” He paused, but I only saw the slow stroke of his thumb. “They left every pleasure in their wake.” The easy, hypnotic movement exposed hard muscle and the tease of skin. “Unsurprisingly, they rule with ease.”

My heart was in my throat, the ache for him to bare more skin tightening my flesh. Bastard was making me look, but I was not staring at his cock. I was not staring at his cock.

“Thirza, you’re staring at my cock.”

My head whipped up, heat flaring in my face and I met his golden gaze. The hunger I found there caught me in a wave of shock. He’d chosen this form deliberately. An irresistible human. Done a deal a thousand years before to fuck whoever tried to restrain him again. “Why do you want this?”

“It’s what I’m due. You’re what I’m due.” He closed the short distance between us. “The woman they grew you from made a deal. Her family would have chance worked in their favor. In return, she’d return to me and submit to my will.”

I lifted my chin and my mouth thinned. “And what do I get from this?”

A spark danced in Zaid’s eyes. “You weren’t listening.” His finger stroked my jaw and I jumped. He focused on my mouth and I ignored the urge to lick my lips. Already his scent sank into my flesh, bringing with it the need to taste him, kiss him, tease his skin with my tongue. I swallowed as his fingertip traced along my bottom lip. “Nature selected this body for pleasure.”

“I’m here to secure another thousand years of prosperity.”

Zaid’s wicked laughter heated my blood. “No.” His mouth dipped, his warm breath mixing with mine, his lips almost, almost touching and the sweet ache of it was a pained pleasure in my flesh. “I have you now. You’re mine to do with as I please.” His soft sigh rippled a shiver over my skin. “I’ve waited centuries for you. The reign of the Girards is over.” His lips brushed mine, brief, tantalizing. “My pleasure, on the other hand, is about to begin.”

Thanks for reading. 🙂 Now go read some more…

A. J. O’Donovan UK Trailhead
http://ajodonovan.co.uk/?p=450

Voirey Linger US Trailhead
http://www.voireylinger.com/index.php?p=1_12_Trail-Head

Cover Love: Painted Promise

On By Kim KnoxIn Covers, Ellora's Cave, Painted Promise, Writing

My email has been evil this past week and so I didn’t get this in my inbox until EC’s art dept sent it again asking if I’d seen it…but I have it now *grin*

Painted Promise is a part of the Alluring Arts theme.  Here’s the unofficial blurb:

Thirza Girard is a clone.  Her mirror image founded a thousand year dynasty that spans the quadrant.  The Girard family power is no accident.  The original Thirza did a deal with an alien, a Tashen-Dar, who could manipulate probability.  He changed reality so that Thirza and her descendants are favoured with opportunity, the chance, if they grab it, of achieving great wealth and power. However, it comes at a cost.

Paint – an organic technology – binds the alien, Zaid, in the bowels of the planet. Paint has captured him as an image for a thousand years.  The time of binding is almost at an end and Thirza Girard’s clone must pay the price for the power her family has enjoyed.  She must rebind him, capture him again in paint, or pay another, more carnal price.

A sale to Ellora’s Cave! Painted Promise

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Painted Promise, sale!, Writing2 Comments

EC contracted Painted Promise, an SF erotic romance.  It was the first sub to a new editor, so I was knuckle-gnawing at this one, lol  Here’s the unofficial blurb:

Thirza Girard is a clone.  Her mirror image founded a thousand year dynasty that spans the quadrant.  The Girard family power is no accident.  The original Thirza did a deal with an alien, a Tashen-Dar, who could manipulate probability.  He changed reality so that Thirza and her descendants are favoured with opportunity, the chance, if they grab it, of achieving great wealth and power. However, it comes at a cost.

Paint – an organic technology – binds the alien, Zaid, in the bowels of the planet. Paint has captured him as an image for a thousand years.  The time of binding is almost at an end and Thirza Girard’s clone must pay the price for the power her family has enjoyed.  She must rebind him, capture him again in paint, or pay another, more carnal price.