The Missing…Random Snippets

The Missing releases in mass market on July 6th…

Now it’s already out in trade, still available in a few places, although if you wait until it releases in paperback on 7/6/10, it would mean lots and lots to me.

I’m going to be posting some excerpts between now and the end of the month. If you haven’t read it yet, maybe you’ll decide to check it out when the book hits the shelves in July.

And…if you haven’t seen it, do you know about the contest?

LOVE LOST

As a teenager, Taige Branch was able to do things with her psychic gift that others couldn’t understand—except for Cullen Morgan, the boy her stole her heart. He did his best to accept her abilities, until his mother was brutally murdered—and he couldn’t forgive Taige for not preventing her death.

PASSION FOUND

Now a widowed father, Cullen Morgan has never forgotten Taige. But what brings her back into his life is another tragic event. His beloved little girl has been kidnapped, and Taige is his only hope of finding her.

A LOVE THAT NEVER DIED
Working together against the clock, Cullen and Taige can’t help but wonder whether—if they find his daughter in time—it isn’t too late for the overpowering love that still burns between them…

“If you could give it up, would you?”

Startled, she looked back at Cullen. All the distance she had put between them just moments ago was gone, and he stood so close, she could see blue and green striations in his eyes. She could smell the warm, musky scent of his skin, and she could almost feel his mouth on hers.

His lips moved, and Taige had to bite back a moan as she fought the urge to cover that mouth with hers. “Would you?” he asked persistently.

Dazed, she tried to remember what he’d asked. Would she give it up? “Give up the ability to see things?” She averted her eyes. She couldn’t think when she looked at him. “No. No, I wouldn’t give it up.”

Self-preservation kept her from looking at him, but it also left her unprepared for his touch when he reached out, curved a hand over her neck. He drew her close. The feel of his hand on her flesh weakened her to the point that she couldn’t resist–that she didn’t want to. “Always so strong, aren’t you, Taige?” he murmured, his thumb rubbing back and forth over her neck.

No. She didn’t feel strong at all, staring in his blue green eyes and wishing he was actually here with her, not in some dream, even if they were both sharing the dreams, and that was something she still didn’t want to think about. “It doesn’t have anything to do with being strong, Cullen. It just has to do with being me. I can’t change what I am any more than you can change who you are.”

“Hmmm.” His gaze dropped down, lingering on her mouth. “I don’t know that I’d want to change you.” His thumb stroked over her lower lip, and she felt an answering throb deep inside. “But I’d do damn near anything to change how much you’ve been hurt. From me, from this job of yours, from life.”

Turning her head aside, Taige said in a flat, unhappy voice, “Life hurts, Cullen. That’s just a fact. Nobody can change it.”