Words That Bind
Ash Krafton
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: Oct. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62830-560-9
ISBN: 978-1-62830-561-6
Number of pages: 314
Word Count: 75000
Cover Artist: Debbie Taylor
Book Description:
Social worker Tam Kerish can’t keep her cool professionalism when steamy client Mr. Burns kindles a desire for more than a client-therapist relationship—so she drops him. However, they discover she’s the talisman to which Burns, an immortal djinn, has been bound since the days of King Solomon…and that makes it difficult.
Ethical guidelines are unequivocal when it comes to personal relationships with clients. However, the djinn has a thawing effect on the usually non-emotive Tam, who begins to feel true emotion whenever he is near. Tam has to make a difficult choice: to stay on the outside, forever looking in…or to turn her back on her entire world, just for the chance to finally experience what it means to fall in love.
Available at Amazon and Wild Rose Publishing
Excerpt
Chapter One
Damn, but this
was a miserable city.
A miserable
city, in a miserable season, with a miserable chilly dampness oppressive enough
to put out the hottest of fires. If he didn’t have to be here, he’d be
reclining on a low couch surrounded by silken-clad women and the open sands of
the high desert.
If he didn’t
have to be here, he wouldn’t be standing in a cramped parking lot in an East
Coast city (really. East Coast. The very thought made him curl his lips in
disdain) staring up at a balcony three floors up.
If he didn’t
have to be here, he wouldn’t. But it was here, and it was close, and he
wouldn’t have to put up with this permeating on-again off-again rain much
longer.
The thought of
it being so close made him dizzy enough to sway on his feet. Ah, well. Wearing
a human form had so many limitations. Take skin, for instance. And this
ridiculous human obsession with trousers.
A loud argument
erupted on the balcony above, catching his attention.
Women. Of
course. Emotional, volatile, dangerous, loud…sometimes, good qualities.
Especially where low couches could be found.
On balconies,
peppered with vulgar language…just annoying.
Still. It was
here, its presence burning like a dull itch in the back of his brain. That
particular sensation, too, was annoying, but after so many decades of not
feeling it all, it was a good kind of annoying. One that soon would be
quenched.
Forever.
Suddenly, the
sensation brightened, became sharper, clearer, like the full moon sliding free
of the clouds. The argument stopped.
Ah. Finally. He
turned up the collar of his overcoat against the nip of a sudden breeze and
tilted his head, scanning the balcony, watching. Waiting.
A young female
with tousled purple hair hunched over the railing, resting on her elbows, trying
to light a cigarette. Repulsive things, cigarettes. Lacked elegance. Why not a
hookah, or even a slender golden pipe? This modern age was all substance. No
style.
He unfocused his
gaze and looked through the girl. Nothing remarkable about that female whatsoever.
She had nothing to do with the object of his desire and so was of no
consequence to him. He disregarded her completely.
Another figure
appeared at the rail. Another female. This one seized his notice, snapping his
spine ram-rod straight.
Long chestnut
hair swept in waves over her shoulder, hiding her face. He zoomed in on her and
almost fell flat backwards, buckling under the smacking impact upon his heart.
Her. She had it.
Suddenly, the
low gray clouds burned off in a blaze of summer brilliance, so great was the
feeling in his chest. Hope. Hope eclipsed centuries of despair in that single
moment.
She had it!
He side-stepped
the BMW behind him, wanting a better angle, wishing to see her face. So intent
was he upon the other woman that he nearly missed the cigarette that sailed
past his cheek to land on the car. He curled his fists, an oath on his lips. He
should be used to the crude behaviors of mortals, but still, how it bristled
against his insides. Obviously, they’d been raised by very different mothers.
But then woman
turned, and his scowl melted from his face. Her dark eyes met his, a
split-second connection that felt like the bite of an electric current. His
heart tripped on a beat and he gaped.
Remarkable. This
noisy, chaotic city where all was a tangle of technology and confusion and
those odd diagonal streets—she stood out: a straight line, a calm constancy,
the eye within the storm. He was confounded by the impression of her psyche.
Unique was too commonplace a word.
A place to sit.
He rubbed his mouth, staring up at her. To sit would be good right now. He
didn’t want to end up on his knees, not here amidst the puddles and wet leaves.
The young girl
twisted around and hopped up on the rail. Odd. The railing didn’t look wide
enough to make a comfortable seat. Well. Considering her choice of hair color,
he wasn’t surprised by her action. Obviously, she was a little off.
He thumbed the
edge of the business card in his hand, one that bore the address and the name
of the counselling center to which the balcony belonged. Of course, she was.
Why else would she be visiting a therapist?
Apparently, the
bird reconsidered her perch, because she disappeared in the next moment. A
piercing shriek sounded, loud enough that he had to cover his ears. It only
lasted a few seconds, however, followed by a few more desperate shouts.
And then there
came no sound at all, except for the traffic and the sparrows making a racket
in the hedges bordering the parking lot. The women and the mental itch had
retreated back into the building.
He stood a few
moments longer, watching the balcony, hoping for another glimpse of her. But
the remarkable woman and that wonderful sensation did not return.
He brushed his
fingers together and tugged his suit jacket straight. No matter. She may have
that which he sought, but she did not need to come back out.
Because he was
going in after it.
And this time,
he was going to get it.
About the Author:
Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction author from northeastern Pennsylvania. Krafton’s first novel, Bleeding Hearts was published in 2012 as part of a three-book urban fantasy series The Books of the Demimonde (Pink Narcissus Press).
An urban fantasy novella, Strangers at the Hell Gate, was published by Wild Rose Press in 2013. Her latest project, Words That Bind, won first place in the HeRA RWA “Show Me the Spark” 2013 competition; it is also available through Wild Rose Press as an October 2014 release.
Krafton also writes New Adult speculative fiction novels under the pen name AJ Krafton. Upcoming titles include The Heartbeat Thief, Face of the Enemy, and the award-winning Takin’ It Back. She is part of a YA/NA collective known as the Infinite Ink Authors.
In addition to novel-length fiction, Krafton enjoys writing poetry and short prose, some of which earned distinctions in various writing competitions. One of her poems was also nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She’s a proud member of Pennwriters, Romance Writers of America, and Pikes Peak Writers. Krafton is also a staff blogger for the Query Tracker Blog.
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