Category: Writing

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
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Sold Perfecting Naia to Ellora’s Cave!

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Perfecting Naia, sale!, Writing1 Comment

It feels like forever since I actually finished a story, so this sale is doubly sweet!

I wanted to play with my love of mythology – I’ve been reading a lot of Greek and Roman reference books lately – but making it SF too.  What my imagination produced surprised even me, and I’m used to the interesting turns my brain can take, lol

Here’s the unoffical blurb:

Life for Naia Vincenza is about to change.  A mysterious alien, Dasyra, whisks her away with the promise of a life of pampered luxury.  For a price.


Naia must undertake the mysterious and carnal rite of the reinya.  She has to prove that she should be chosen, that she is worthy of the role.  And to do that she must enter the maze and find the creature at its heart.  But nothing is ever simple and the price Naia must pay pushes her mind and her body to the very edge of pleasure…and beyond.

New Release: Emergence

On By Kim KnoxIn Emergence, New Release, Samhain Publishing, Writing2 Comments

Life as Jaime Dalton knows it is almost over. Come morning, she—the forbidden offspring of a human and a gryphon—will be owned body and soul by the First Dragon, ruler of the mythoi. He will control everything. What she wears, what she eats, when she sleeps. And with whom.

Determined to have a final fling, she seeks out the comfort of a stranger’s arms. Except he turns out to be “stranger” than he first appears.

Kaden Rhodes knows what it’s like to be owned. Before he follows his orders to escort Jaime to the same fate, he can’t resist joining her in one last act of defiance. Before the night is over, though, he finds she has inched her way under his skin.
Their connection is hot, fast, completely irresistible…and they’re playing with fire. Discovery will render them useless to the First Dragon. And those marked useless end up dead.

Warning: This title contains wild sex, dark violence and irascible dragons who shift into brooding men. Oh, and the utter perversion of mythology.

You can buy and read an excerpt here.

It’s also available on Amazon Kindle

Great first review for Shapes in the Blood!

On By Kim KnoxIn Loose ID, Reviews, Shapes in the Blood, Writing

Dee Dailey at The Romance Studio gave Shapes in the Blood, my paranormal futuristic fantasy from Loose Id, 5 Hearts!

Aila Parry feels like she should have known Nathan Ahern was too good to be true. Four hours late, he shows up for their date and manages to convince her to go out with him. Things get out of hand when he literally begins to change before her eyes and she has to run for her life. Is Matt Kinnon her rescuer or just another version of Nathan?

Kim Knox keeps us guessing in this fast paced thriller. From great eroticism to edge of our seat suspense, she makes the pages fly by. Nathan is pure nastiness wrapped in a good looking man. Matt isn’t quite as easy to figure out. If he good or just another version of evil? Aila proves to be more than either of them bargained for. The girl’s introspection often brings a smile. One normal human being mixed up with some very unusual men. Or is she? Ms. Knox keeps us glued to the pages as the action unfolds in and out of the bedroom.

Monday Blast: Her Dark Soul

On By Kim KnoxIn Ellora's Cave, Her Dark Soul, Monday Blast, Writing

I thought I’d dig out an excerpt from an old book…so here’s a short excerpt from Her Dark Soul, my EC menage.

Excerpt

(c)2010 Kim Knox

They’d sold her.

When the sun broke the horizon, a stranger—a custodian—would come and take her from the temple. Ash stared at the quiet colonnades surrounding the small courtyard. The central fountain splashed water into the pre-dawn darkness and the light breeze swept cool air across the marble floor, bringing with it the familiar scents of chamomile and wild jasmine. She’d taken her first steps between the great ceramic pots lining the courtyard. The memory of the cool marble beneath her bare toes, bright sunlight, the laughter and joy as she toddled to Rani tightened her throat. This was her home.

Ash sank onto a cold stone bench, her thin shift little protection against the chill of the dawn air. She’d grown up in the Temple of Fausta, worshipped the goddess for the good fortune that had taken her from the Street of Cries. Without Rani plucking her from the clutch of abandoned newborns, she would have died like so many other unwanted and exposed babies. Chance had been with her that day.

She ran her hand over her tightly braided hair and the knot in her stomach twisted tight. She should’ve remembered that her goddess was a fickle creature. The priests had read the signs and she was no longer needed to serve Fausta. She bit her lip, denying the tears that burned in her eyes.

“Ash.” Rani’s soft voice carried on the dark air. A wry smile lifted her mouth. Yes, he could never sleep. He lifted an oil lamp, its yellow light washing over the stone steps leading down from Ash’s room. “You have to come inside.” He tugged the wool cloak tight around his narrow shoulders and shivered. “It’s too cold to be sitting out here on all this stone.”

He swung the lamp around the courtyard, stretching its light to the shadow-heavy corners. “And it’s not safe. Those thieves…” His soft voice took on a hard edge, one she’d never heard him use before. Rani was the essence of calm, but the desecration a few days before had all the priests rattled.

“Breaking into the sanctuary. Almost killing a ward.” He pulled in a shaking breath. “May the dark half of the goddess’s heart find them.” Rani’s curse hung on the chill air. He pressed a long hand to his smooth jaw and closed his eyes. His lips moved, silent, quick and she knew he whispered a counter-prayer over his own fortune.

He was the one who found little Kia in the sanctuary, her veins cut. Why she’d been out of her room, no one knew, but she was new to sleeping alone in her cell. She had wandered in the night, looking for the safety of her old shared room, and discovered the thieves instead. Only Rani’s inability to sleep had saved her, the goddess’s whim taking him to the sanctuary on his night walks.

The goddess had added a further kindness. Kia had no memory of the night. Still, anger tightened Ash’s body. Why would the thieves attack a child? The Temple of Fausta didn’t hold anything precious enough to warrant it.

Ash pushed herself to her feet and her leather sandals slapped against the marble as she crossed the courtyard. She curled her fingers into her palms, the pain of her nails in her flesh denying the twisting emotions gripping her. Anger, fear had her thoughts spinning.

Her gaze darted over Rani’s wrinkled face, the lamplight casting heavy shadows over his beardless jaw. He was the only parent she had ever had. And when the sun rose, she would never see him again. Her chest hurt and she wanted nothing more than to bury her face against his shoulder, but she couldn’t. She had to accept the whim of her goddess. They all did. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Rani took her curled fist, his long, smooth fingers easing hers free. “I was there for the reading, Ash. The fall of the pattern…” He squeezed her hand. “I would not see you go from here. Never.” He pulled in a heavy breath and his lips pressed together. “But the thieves—and what they did—forced us to consult the goddess.”

“And I have to go.”

“The marked ward, yes.” He twitched her a smile, but a heavy shadow darkened his blue eyes. “Kia…” He let out a long sigh. “She’s recovering…but the nurse doesn’t know whether she’ll remember. It will be a blessing if she doesn’t. And then tomorrow I must go to the Street of Cries and bring another to the temple.”

The duty of choosing always hung heavy on him, Ash knew that and she wanted to ease his pain. She’d been the first baby he’d saved. The marked ward, as she was known in the temple. The ward with the strange birthmark chasing down her spine. Others had stains marring their flesh, but they were nothing compared to the swirl of pattern covering her skin. “Then something good comes from this, from my leaving.” She turned back to the wide steps and Rani’s lamp lit the way. The dark archway led into a short corridor and the door to her cell.

The first prayer bell rang in the still air and her stomach turned over. Her need to follow the other wards into the great hall, to prostrate herself and begin the first prayer itched under her skin. Since she was four years old, it had been the start of her day. Doors creaked and Yeva and Tamina stepped out of their cells, tying back their hair and stifling yawns.

Yeva blinked, her dark gaze darting from Ash to Rani. “Ash…?”

Rani hushed her and stepped aside. “Find your way to the great hall.” He waved them past him.

Both women gave a brief nod and trotted down the steps to disappear into the shadows. The chatter of younger girls, their quickly hushed giggles and the soft murmurs of the priests filled the quiet air. Ash ached to follow, to find renewed comfort in the long days of prayer, of chanting and singing to ensure the good fortune of the emperor and the city of Bukhara. And not to think about the stranger, the man who would take her away from her safe world.

Available from Amazon and Ellora’s Cave

Six Sentence Sunday: Captain’s Privilege

On By Kim KnoxIn Writing4 Comments

This is a snippet from my latest wip, Captain’s Privilege:

“And even then.”  His finger stroked over her jaw, his touch slow, but it seemed to draw something from her and her body ached.  “That’s not pain, is it?”  His hand cupped her neck and the heavy pull of whatever it was inside of him, the bio-enhancements, his strength, tightened the flesh between her thighs.  His slow grin only deepened the traitorous throb to her flesh.  “That’s lust.”

Excerpt Monday: Gambit

On By Kim KnoxIn Carina Press, Excerpt Monday, Gambit, sale!, Writing4 Comments

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or site! or click on the banner above.

Carina Press have bought GAMBIT *bounce*  To celebrate here’s a sneak peek at an unedited excerpt 😀

Living gold.  It’s a girl’s best friend…

Captain Haf Beyon has a craving for flesh.  Beautiful male flesh-pets grown in a vat, brought to life with alien tech and designed for one purpose: her pleasure.  She works as a runner, ferrying cargo for whoever stumps up the credit.  She also has no qualms about fleecing the unsuspecting rich who slum it on the streets of Ulan Bator.  It all feeds her addiction.

So it’s just another normal day on Arkhengai when one of her contacts points her in the direction of a man and his flesh-pet.  Another mark for her to hustle.  However, neither man is who he appears to be.  She’s kidnapped and offered a deal.  Three crates of black crystal to act as a decoy.  Her mercenary heart can’t resist the thought of such wealth.  What she doesn’t realise is how dangerous the mission will be.  From the outset, hired killers target her and she has only her newly unwrapped flesh-pet—the near-naked Daned Traern—as her protection.

Haf is dragged into a world of insane princes, mercenaries, hidebound tradition and sentient stones.  A world her mother had done everything in her power to protect her from.  A world made so much more dangerous by the man at her side.

Excerpt

Unedited (c) 2010 Kim Knox

“Captain?”

His voice, low and too close made her bite her bottom lip.  What was wrong with her?  Shit, had it been that long since she’d had a man not grown in a vat?  “I definitely couldn’t afford you.”

“And that’s a part of the decoy.  People will wonder where you got me?”

Haf willed her eyes to open and fixed her gaze on his collarbone.  Her hand dipped lower, skirting over his hip.  She’d wanted this, time alone and him buck naked, but hell, she was nervous.  Living gold bound deep, brought unimaginable bliss.  She swallowed and skimmed gold over his abdomen.

Daned’s chest hitched and he sucked in a quick breath.  “Captain…”

The title was almost a growl.  Her head snapped up and she held his fierce, dark gaze.  Her blood pounded in her ears and she ached to close the space between them, press herself up against his body and find out whether the rumours of bound gold were true.

“We’re living an illusion,” he murmured.  His head tilted.  “Remember this is just a job.”

“You’re bound to me.”  Need and nerves fired through her and she forced the tremor from her hand to guide the gold over the length of his erection.  A muscle jumped in his jaw.  He could say it was a job, but the tech woven into the gold had other plans for him.  “Living gold insists that your pleasure is my pleasure.”

A smile tugged at his mouth.  “Igasho metal can’t compare to the Ladaian coding in my blood.”

“Is that a dare?” she asked.  His smile curved into a wicked grin, one that had her moving closer, his bare skin so near the need to taste it burned on her tongue.  “Because you shouldn’t throw a dare in the face of a runner.”

Daned traced his index finger along her jaw, a feather light touch that forced the air from her lungs.  “Believe me, you’d know if a Traern found you of interest.”

“And this?”  She teased the blunt head of his cock with the thumb tip.  Gold flowed over him.  “What’s this if not interest?”

His gaze narrowed on her.  “A biological reaction.  My duty to the sunder-seld comes first.”

Haf smirked at him.  “Before you do?  That has to be inconvenient.”

“Finish this.”  His mouth pulled upwards into a bleak smile, but it didn’t soften his order.  “Please.”

“You’re no fun, Daned.”

“I know.”

Haf eased her hand away from his cock and pressed the gold over his other hip.  She ducked under his arm to stroke the warm gold across his buttocks and up over the lean strength of his back.  Haf closed her eyes against the feel of him under her palm, warm, satin-smooth, his skin taunting her, demanding that she trail hot, open-mouth kisses up his spine.  She held back a groan.  Damn it, this was not fair.

The length of gold met the first thread clinging to his shoulder.  Her palm held it there, its molten heat stinging her skin.  Daned didn’t flinch, even as Haf knew that the heat tore through the living gold to seal it to his flesh.

The gold cooled under her hand.  It was over.  Well, almost.  And the almost had her heart beating hard.  She wanted to sag against him, let her forehead fall against his shoulder, needing the reality of him to sink into her flesh, her soul.  Shit, she would come to hate living gold.  The upside was that when it was time to break the bond, her interest would die too.  Her gaze raked his back, enjoying the smooth play of muscles under cider brown skin far too much.  Yeah.  Right.  All interest would just…evaporate.  Not a chance.

Haf willed herself to take a step back.  “Done,” she said.

Daned turned to face her.  Wry humour shone in his eyes and, hell, he had to know how attractive it made him.  “Not quite.  The Igasho have their incantation, the activating phrase.”  He closed the space between them and his voice dropped, softened.  “I believe it’s ‘make me yours’.”

The words spiralled through her blood and beat heat into her face. Bastard.  Was he having fun at her expensive?  Haf lifted her chin and held his dark gaze.  “Living gold needs more to activate it.”

“Yes, I know.”  His finger traced a path along her jaw, the same lightness of touch that flicked fire under her skin.  “Is this enough?”

His mouth hovered over hers, his breath brushing warm over her lips.  Her heart beat loud in her ears and her fingers slid over the hard muscles in his forearms, gripping him, needing the contact to break her desire to take his mouth.  His skin burned under her palms.  “I don’t know.”  Her gaze focused on his lips.  They had to seal the bond with a kiss…and they both knew it.  “Is my pleasure your pleasure yet?”

His mouth quirked upwards.  “No.”

“How about now?”  The first slow brush of her lips over his hollowed her belly and sparked desire in her flesh.  He tasted warm, soft and the hint of strange spices urged her to change the kiss, to tease and play and the first chaste kiss melted into another and another.

Her tongue tip touched his and her fingers bit hard into the firm muscles in his forearms.  Damn it, since when did a simple kiss practically have her shaking? It was the gold.  The bloody stuff twisted her thoughts, her reactions, but didn’t stop her from deepening the contact, of stroking her tongue over his, savouring him.  She thought she moaned, a low, needy sound that seemed to fill her chest.  Somehow, it brought Daned closer, his soft, subtle mouth making her heart pound and curse the fact that too much clothing separated her from him.

Her fingers pushed up his arms, pressing herself against the hardness of his body.  “This is not enough.”  She groaned the words against his lips and drove him back into the edge of the table.  “Not nearly enough.”

For a timeless second she held his gaze, found heat and an unending darkness, just before his mouth and hands found her.  Her world span and her backside hit the table.  Daned was ruthless, demanding, everything she wanted, needed.  Haf clung to him, her fingers digging into the hard muscle of his arms.  The living gold seared through the thick fabric of her tunic, branding her skin, binding her to this man.  Heat coiled low in her belly.  The rub of his erection against her flesh danced sparks behind her eyes.  Almost.  She could almost taste the fire of her release—

Daned ripped his mouth from hers and stepped back.  He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and his eyes narrowed on her.  “More than enough,” he muttered.

—————————————-

Thanks for reading!

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Sale! Gambit to Carina Press

On By Kim KnoxIn Carina Press, Gambit, sale!, Writing1 Comment

Sometimes sitting and watching films can twist your thoughts.  Especially when you’ve seen it so many times you can almost quote the dialogue.

I was sitting watching Return of the Jedi for the 9 millionth time at the request of my two boys.  They of course lasted about three seconds past the opening credits before they ran off to do something else.  I carried on watching, waiting for Han Solo… *cough*

I was half paying attention when Leia turned up in her spangly gold bikini…and my mind did a twist.  What if Han had to wear that?  What if he was Jabba’s pet instead of Leia?  I liked the wicked thought, wrote it down and left my brain to mull it over.

That was the ‘what if’ that started my idea for my SFR novel, Gambit.  Daned Trearn is not Han and he’s not Leia – no doughnut style hair for him, thankyou! – but he does wear living gold very, very well…

I’m very happy that Carina Press have decided to buy this story.  Some characters and stories are closer to your heart than others and this is one of mine 🙂

You can read the unofficial blurb at my  website here.  And tomorrow as a part of Excerpt Monday, I’ll post an unedited excerpt from Gambit. 🙂

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.

New Release: Shapes in the Blood

On By Kim KnoxIn Loose ID, New Release, Shapes in the Blood, Writing

Aila Parry is a disaster waiting to happen.

Bad luck dogs her, has followed her all her life, ever since her grandmother’s heated warning when she was only three years old. Food spoils, metal stresses and breaks, equipment fails…and people are wary of her, forming strange hatreds, or worse shunning her completely. Men run scared. Which is why her colleague, Nathan Ahern’s, interest stuns—and delights—her. But Nathan is not all that he appears to be. And the only need he has for Aila is the desire to spill her blood. Matt Kinnon, a tempting stranger, a man compelled to guard the human race from creatures like Nathan, offers her protection.

But can she trust a man who is as much a demon as the one who wants her dead?

Buy link here at  Loose Id