Grab A Free Copy Of Bad Girl! By JD Faver

Please welcome JD Faver is back to the blog. This time JD has come loaded with goodies. That’s right! Her romantic thriller BAD GIRL! is free for two days only. Check out her excerpt below then follow the link below to get your free copy. I’m definitely downloading my copy – right now!

Hi Laurie and thanks for inviting me back to Black Velvet Seductions. Today, I want to share an excerpt from my Romantic Thriller, BAD GIRL!

Welcome JD. It’s my pleasure to have you on the blog again. Wow! What a great excerpt. It definitely makes me want to read this book. I love the chemistry between Nick and Kris.

BAD GIRL! is offered on June 19^th & 20^th as a FREE download.  

Both the heroine and the hero of this mystery are deeply flawed. It is indeed a mystery/suspense, but it is also a romance…between two damaged characters.

The heroine, Kris, is a dominatrix. After being kidnapped and repeatedly assaulted at knife point, she has survived, but is damaged and emotionally vulnerable. She avoids personal relationships with everyone except Marla, her therapist and Felix, her martial arts instructor. But when, one-by-one, someone starts killing off her clients in a manner befitting their particular kink, she is forced to interact with Nick, an alpha-male homicide detective who also happens to be her newest client. Nick and Kris are like fire and gasoline. Every time they are thrown together, the collision impacts both of them. Kris likes everything to be ordered and under control and she has developed a little OCD along the way. In the excerpt below, it is the morning after she has had a horrible nightmare reliving the violence of her assault. She is more than a little grumpy at having her privacy violated.

Blurb

When her clients start dying, Kris Delaney, a beautiful dominatrix is forced to rely on controlling detective Nick Price, who wants her more than he wants his shield.
She fights to maintain her privacy, while struggling to resist Nick, who is everything she fears in a man. Having been a victim in the past, Kris is determined to control her life, but in the face of terrifying murders, she is powerless to control her fate. One-by-one, her clients are being dispatched by some grisly means related to their particular kink. As the bodies pile up, Nick tries to keep Kris out of danger and breach her thorny defenses to prove he is worthy of her trust.

 

~*~

The cell phone kept ringing. Kris refused to answer it, burrowing under her down comforter as the phone went to message. Tinker jumped off the bed just as the phone rang again.

“Damn!” Kris threw the covers back and slid out of bed. Her silk pajamas made a swishing sound against the sheets. She grabbed the phone and growled, “What?”

“Not a morning person, are you?” Nick’s voice was obnoxiously cheery.

“No, I’m fucking not!” Slamming the receiver against the nightstand repeatedly gave her some small measure of satisfaction. “What do you want?”

“Geez! I need to see you now. It’s important.”

“Get over that. I’m turning off the phone and I’m going back to bed.”

As soon as she turned off the ring-tone, the doorbell chimed. “What now?” Kris growled.

Tinker ran to the door and delivered a volley of throaty barks.

Kris looked out the peephole to see Nick waving at her. An explosion of rage went off inside her chest. He was stalking her. Throwing open the door, she grabbed him by his jacket and rolled back onto the floor, carrying him with her. Lifting both feet as she rolled propelled him over her and onto his back. He landed hard, his heels thudding on the floor. Leaping to her feet, she squatted astride him, clenching her fingers around his throat.

“You know,” she said, “if I crush your trachea not even God can save you.”

His chest rumbled with deep laughter. Heaving her off, Nick rolled her onto her back, restraining her hands over her head. “Yeah, but I’ve got a good seventy pounds on you and that trumps your crushed trachea.”

Enraged, she glared up at his grinning insufferable face.

Nick straightened, releasing her wrists, but remained kneeling astride her hips, a smirk on his face.

Kris clapped both of her cupped palms against his ears, enjoying his howl of pain. She punched his throat with her fist, propelling him backwards. Springing to her feet, she kicked him in the face as he struggled to get up.

He fell back, striking his head on the corner of her kitchen counter. He gazed at her in disbelief, his mouth open. “Do you realize that you just assaulted a police officer?”

“Duh! You are one totally obnoxious cop. Arrest me if you want to. I am officially resisting.” She stood over him, dancing a little on her toes.

Nick exploded with laughter. “If you were as big as you think you are, you’d be dangerous.” He grinned as he pulled himself to his feet. “Am I being punished?”

“Shut up!”

A thin line of blood trickled from his lip. “Let me take off my clothes and you can spank me.”

“Don’t mock me.” She pointed to the door. “Get out.”

His expression changed as his brows drew together in a frown. He jabbed a finger at her. “You opened the door and you dragged me in here. I’m not leaving until you calm down and talk to me.”

Kris blinked to keep the tears at bay. “You can’t keep doing this. I am not available to you.”

Nick shrugged and headed for the door, but swerved suddenly. Grabbing her from behind, he lifted her off her feet, gripping her wrists.

She growled in protest, butting her head against his chest and kicking her heels against him.

“I didn’t want to have to do this but…” He handcuffed her wrist and fastened it to its mate behind her back.

Terror seized her in its cold grasp. A sense of helplessness mingled with the rage building in her gut.

He eased her down onto the sofa and stepped away, pointing a finger at her again. “Don’t kick me any more.” He wiped at the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Tinker barked and jumped furiously.

“I hope your dog doesn’t bite.” Nick rested his hand lightly on the holstered gun on his belt. “I’d hate to have to shoot him.” He rubbed his chin with his fingertips, massaging the spot where she’d kicked him.

“No!” Panic rose in her throat and her heart pounded. “Don’t you dare even think about shooting my dog!”

He quirked his head to one side, raising his brows. “I was kidding. You don’t have any sense of humor in the morning, do you?” His grin was only slightly more loathsome than the twinkle in his green eyes.

“I haven’t encountered anything funny yet,” she snarled through clenched teeth. Glowering at him as he looked around the room, Kris felt vulnerable and exposed.

Nick gave a little snort. “Well, you’re not standing where I am. This whole thing is pretty funny.” His eyes flicked over her body, the pastel silk pajamas clinging to her flesh. “I came to question you, but you attacked me. I was forced to subdue you, so just chill out.”

He made a circle, touching the bare cream colored marble mantle and running his hand along the back of the pale micro suede sofa. He squatted down to scratch Tinker’s head. “You’re not so ferocious, are you, boy?”

He was in her place, touching her things, violating her sanctuary.

“Take these cuffs off me,” she demanded.

“I think I’ll just wait until you’ve cooled down a while. I kind of like this.” He sat down heavily on the sofa, his weight jostling her. “Have you been a bad girl? Do you need to be punished?” He pulled her across his lap and put his hand on her buttocks, gently caressing her.

Kris screamed, angry with Nick and angry with herself for getting into this position.

Nick swatted her twice. “I can see why you like this so much.” He turned her around to face him, holding her on his lap. His hand rested casually on her thigh. “What a firm body you have, Kristen, and so limber. Is that what you like to be called?”

She gritted her teeth together. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “Kris,” she hissed. She gave him a cold glare. “How did you find me?”

“I told you, I’m a cop. I have access to all kinds of cop information. I followed you from the time you left the diner Thursday afternoon. I went every place you went. I know the names of every man you were with, except the big guy you picked up in your car. What’s the deal with him?”

“He’s my martial arts instructor,” she said.

Nick grinned and shook his head. “You need to practice. Are you going to be a good girl now?”

Kris took a breath and nodded curtly.

He removed the cuffs.

Kris rubbed her wrists and moved to a chair across from him. They regarded each other silently for some minutes.

“You know,” he said, “You are beautiful, but you’re the worst tempered woman I’ve ever met.”

He moved the cream and lime green hand blown glass bowl Marla had given her for Christmas. Kris kept it precisely in the middle of her square coffee table.

“There’s a solution for that. Just stay the hell away from me.” Kris spoke to Nick but her gaze was riveted on the glass bowl, now displaced from its perfect symmetry.

“Can’t do that,” he said. “There’s been another homicide and the victim was wearing one of those cute little doggie collars of yours. His appointment calendar had your number in it. So you’re sitting right in the middle of my investigation. This is an official inquiry.”

His casually spoken words twisted her guts. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. “Are you going to make me ask his name?”

“Yes.” He was grinning openly.

“Just tell me his name,” she snapped, “and don’t be an ass.”

“Eddleman. Melvin Eddleman,” he said. “You don’t deny knowing him, do you?”

She was silent for a moment, struggling with her gag reflex. “No. He was a client.”

Nick regarded her solemnly. “I have to ask you if you killed Mister Eddleman. I wouldn’t have thought so until your earlier demonstration of strength and agility.”

She glared daggers at him. “I did not. When was Melvin killed?”

“Sometime between midnight and four Thursday morning. He didn’t go in to work or answer his phone so someone from the bank went to his place around noon to see if he was okay. He wasn’t.”

Kris tried to speak without emotion. “What happened to him?”

“Someone choked him to death and wrapped him up like a mummy in his pissy sheets.”

A strangled whimper escaped her throat. “That’s horrible! I can’t believe it.” A wave of nausea washed over her. “Melvin was a pathetic man. He wouldn’t harm anyone.”

“Shows what you know,” Nick leaned forward. “His employees made a long list of people who’d like to see him dead. Seems like your friend Melvin was a real son-of-a-bitch.”

“He wasn’t my friend.” Unable to restrain herself any longer, she nudged the glass bowl back to the center of the table.

Nick followed her movements intently. He lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “That’s right. You don’t have any friends, do you, Miss ‘I don’t need anybody’?”

“I have friends.”

“Who? I’ve tailed you for days and you haven’t had contact with anyone personally. No lunch with the girls. No date with someone special.”

“I like my life this way. I’m the one in control.”

Nick leaned back against the sofa, regarding her stonily. “From where I sit, it looks like you’ve controlled yourself into a big old box of empty.”

“And what do you have that’s better?” she countered.

Nick spread his hands. “Nothing. Not a damned thing, but at least I’m willing to put myself out there and be available in case something good comes along.” He stood up and took a few steps toward the door. “If you decide you can be available, come to my place Tuesday night. I won’t pay you. I’ll rent a movie and order pizza. I’ll hold your hand and you can get to know enough about me to decide if you want me as your friend.”

Kris followed behind Nick, anxious for him to be gone. “Just get out!”

Nick turned and cupped her chin in his hand. “You don’t have to wear spandex and you don’t have to bring your bag of tricks. I’ll take you just the way you are.”

He lowered his head slowly and kissed her like he was taking a bite out of her, capturing her mouth with his. His tongue invaded, stroking hers and eliciting a spontaneous reaction. He kissed her hard and deep before he turned and slammed the door behind himself.

Kris swayed slightly, rocked by the sensual impact of Nick’s mouth. Securing both locks, she slid down to the floor with Tinker. She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting Nick’s rough kiss. Closing her eyes, she laughed as an angry tear rolled down her cheek.

What a total ass!

Except that she had kissed him in return.

Kris sobered, remembering Nick’s reason for calling on her. She thought about Melvin Eddleman and she thought about Chester Heaton. Who would have the strength to overpower two good-sized men and kill them? What do they have in common? An icy shiver ran down the length of her spine. Besides me?

Kris curled back up in her bed with Tinker and stared at the ceiling. She felt like she was floating, her brain pounding with thoughts about the two dead men.

She’d lost other clients, but not to death. They’d moved away or gotten married and sometimes she’d cut them loose. But she presumed they were all alive.

She remained in bed, hugging Tinker, until time to go to work.

~*~

Nick walked away from Kris’s apartment and jabbed the elevator down button with his thumb. His pulses pounded in his ears.

Stifling the urge to ram his fist through the wall, he paced.

Damn! He could still taste her. Feel her soft lips. Smell the fragrance she wore like an aura.

The fury pulsing his body yawned into an aching void. Nick slammed his fist into his open palm, felt the satisfying sting of impact. A muscle in his jaw twitched.

How could he need her so much? Need her.

His back teeth ground together. He had compromised everything about this investigation. He’d compromised himself and all that he stood for. And it was all for her.

He felt his gag reflex working at the back of his throat. Recalling the stench of urine in Eddleman’s bedroom was disgusting enough. To think that Kris had been involved with this man in his pitiful little fantasy made Nick want to take a scalding hot shower. A degenerate man strangled with his own rank-smelling sheets was a somewhat fitting demise.

The elevator doors opened silently. He glanced down the hall toward her flat once more, expelling a deep breath as he turned away. He strode inside as the doors whispered closed behind him.

Nick selected the ground floor and slumped against the back wall as the elevator started its slow descent. He rubbed his face with both hands. What was it about Kris that made him act so uncharacteristically biased?

He’d gone to her place, fully intending to question her. He’d planned to stay in command of the situation, but when she’d launched herself at him in her little temper tantrum, he’d lost his tenuous grasp on control and found himself reacting to her actions instead of directing the interview.

She was involved. The murders revolved around her. She was the key to the whole thing. Anyone else would have been interrogated at the precinct house right off the bat.

But not Kris.

Now Nick was complicit. He’d only wanted to protect her. He wanted to take her away from her ugly, sordid world. He’d wanted to keep her safe; keep her clean.

He didn’t want to fight with her. He was fighting for her. Fighting to protect her.

The doors opened in the parking garage. Nick gazed out, unseeing. He hoped she would show up Tuesday night.

~*~

 Thanks again, Laurie. I really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with your readers. Please visit my website at http://www.jdfaver.com

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You’re very welcome JD. It is my pleasure. I hope our readers grab copies of BAD GIRL! It sounds like a really great read.