Six Paragraphs from
A BATTLE LORD'S HEART
Book 3 of the Battle Lord Saga
A sensuous sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, futuristic romance novel
http://lindamooney.com/BattleLord.htm
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1. Yulen was out among the small group of men. His back was to her, so he wasn’t yet aware of them being there. It was clear he’d already had a turn. His shirt was off, and his upper body glistened with sweat, despite the near-freezing temperature. Atty eyed the expanse of his shoulders, the hard muscles knotted like burled wood beneath the skin. So much strength, she mused to herself, and so much gentleness. Corianne was right. He does have great looking buns.
2. As many soldiers would later retell of that day, no one knew the wounded Blood was lying in wait in the nest. Atty never felt its presence, never anticipated it, and they figured it was because her immense grief had blinded her to it being in hiding. All they remembered was the screeching shriek made by the leathery creature as it reared up behind her, grabbed Atty by her thick length of braided hair, and pulled the Battle Lady backwards, bending her over the wall of the lookout. Drawn over the narrow ledge, her feet flailed uselessly as Atty struggled to right herself. Unable to scream, she reached behind her head with one hand, hoping to pull her long hair out of the thing’s clutches, but she couldn’t reach it. Neither could she reach her Ballock.
3. Before anyone could comprehend her swiftness or her anger, Atty snatched up her longbow from where she kept it propped against the wall on her side of the bed. Two arrows were nocked on the string. Standing before them, and looking every bit like an avenging angel, the Battle Lady drew back and took deliberate aim at the small group of people in her bedroom. Her lips were drawn over her teeth. Her eyes glittered with the fire of her determination as she hissed, “I am going to Bearinger. I will find my husband, and I will bring him back to Alta Novis. Anyone who tells me no will find an arrow in them. Don’t try to stop me, because I swear on the life of my and Yulen’s son I will shoot every one of you if I must. Cole? I am the Battle Lady. Therefore I order you to prepare the small wagon and have however many men we can spare to leave within the hour.”
4. “Yulen is alive, but seriously injured.” She clasped her hands in front of her and hunched as far over as she could with her rounded belly. “The reason I couldn’t sense him before was because he was unconscious.” She hesitated, searching for her next words. “There had to have been nearly a thousand Bloods descending on Bearinger. It was hard to get a more exact number in the darkness, but the troops managed to decimate a goodly number of them. There’s barely a little over three hundred of them left, and most of them, if not all, have some sort of injury.”
5. "There is one Blood,” she told them. She held one hand tightly fisted in front of her, the knuckles starkly white against the redness of her face. “He has the muzzle of snake. It’s wide and flat, and perpetually smiling. He’s tall. Thin. Whip-like. And he’s wearing a vest of human skin. When you see him, leave him be.” Her face literally turned crimson with hate. “He’s mine!”
6. His hands moved from her arms to her face. His thumbs traced little semi-circles beneath her jaw as he lightly kissed her. “Then you became pregnant. Your skin took on this incredible sheen that you haven’t lost. Your hair became thicker, your eyes brighter. Even the pitch of your voice dropped a little, so now it’s a bit huskier. Definitely, definitely more alluring. Yes, you still have a little paunch around your tummy. A little more roundness to your hips. Your breasts were perfect before, but now they’re incredible. My God, Atrilan. You went from sexy to breathtaking, and then several notches above that. Do I desire you? Damn right, I do. That’s why, at this very moment, I’m wishing I was still needing a few more days’ recovery time, because when I was too sick to do anything but eat and sleep, and my body had nothing to do except worry about healing itself, sex was way at the bottom of my list of necessities.”
