The Naughty List came out over two years ago.
Two years!
I know, how crazy is that? Honestly, it breaks my brain a little bit to think about it, in fact I triple-checked to make sure that I was right.
Wow.
Anyway, ’tis the season so over the next few days I’m going to share some excerpts from the stories in The Naughty List with you. I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Winter’s Daughter
Doug Blakeslee
A child of the Fae, seeking a mate in the world of mortals is bound to winter and a promise given to her chosen. She must claim him before time runs out and all she loves falls to ruin. A child of mortals, torn from his desire and seeking to return. His love of winter could be his salvation. Or his doom. Can their fairy tale be happily ever after?
Excerpt:
Peals of thunder shook the mountainside, shaking snow from the trees and shattering icicles. The clouds scuttled away to the far edges of the realm to reveal the pale winter moon. Glamour swirled around her in a stream of blue and white, flowing into the arch.
Her sister tore away from her grasp and fled into the trees with a shriek, vanishing in flurry of white. Vergla sulked back into the trees, eyes a glitter with malice and hate.
Etina ignored them, stepping toward the arch. Hope blossomed in her chest as sparks of blue luminescence raced along the carved vines, jumping across the gaps, filling the center. Faster and faster they came to merge into a single disc of energy. She took a step back as a roaring wind burst forth from the arch, then leaped through.
Wind, snow, and ice howled through the portal, as it spit her onto the deserted mountainside. Stars twinkled in a clear sky and the moon glittered off a layer of snow covering the grounds and trees.
Etina danced across the snow, twirling and laughing, her feet leaving no tracks. She was free to run and frolic and chase; clad in nothing more than a belt with a cloth pouch on her hip. Her heart fluttered and mind exploded at the myriad of possibilities before her. Not just the freedom, but the desire and want that burned from the core of her body. An urge, long overdue for satiation, screamed at her to act, that there would be time for levity later on.
Lights blazed at the bottom of the valley, as she glided toward the nearest and pressed against the wood and stone side of the building, soaking in the passion of its occupants.
The couple lay upon the bed, the woman astride her partner, hips rocking back and forth. His hands were bound to the headboard with ties of silk, lust written large on his face. Groans and yelps of desire filtered through the wall and she drank in the heady brew of emotions that accompanied them. They brought back memories of Byron and long ago that reinvigorated her and set her resolve.
Come to me, Byron. Let fate bring us together once more. She cast out the threads of magic to the wind, hoping one would find its way to her love.
The author lives in the Pacific Northwest and spends his time writing, cooking, gaming, and watching hockey. His interest in books and reading started early thanks to his parents, though his serious attempts at writing only started a few years ago. From time to time he blogs about writing and other related topics at The Simms Project at http://thesimmsproject.blogspot.com/.
To date, he’s published almost 20 short stories in such anthologies as: Someone Wicked, Astrologica: Stories of the Zodiac, Fossil Lake 1 & II, and A Chimerical World: Tales of the Unseelie Court. His current project is an urban fantasy novel about a war between the Fae. He can be reached on Facebook or simms.doug@gmail.com.
