Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Double the Teasing, Double the Fun...

Thanks again for all your comments last week. I'm still not sure which of the two bright and shiny new ideas of mine to focus on. Last week's poll came out to a three way tie. Just as many people said HUNTED as said LOVE as said 'do what you want'. So I'm still undecided :(

Anywho...I thought that since I'm still so undecided, you all can get two teasers again this week! yay for Two for Teaser Tuesday!


LOVE IN A TIME OF POPULARITY (YA contemp romance)

The basket filled with all sorts of welcome goodies Mom had all but thrown at me this morning easily weighed more than both me and Cindy combined. It was all I could do to make it the short distance across the street and four houses down to greet our new neighbors. Cindy skipped up ahead, her blond curls bouncing in the mid-morning sunlight as I trudged behind her.

“C’mon, slow poke.” She sang out, tapping her foot and glancing at her watch in fake impatience all the while fighting to hold back giggles.

I tried to melt her with my glare, but it didn’t work. Instead, I hiked the basket higher in my hands and forced myself forward. It was nice of Mom to think of the new people, but how come I was the one who had to be the ‘welcome wagon’?

Cindy was already leaning on the doorbell when I finally made it up to her side. We stood and waited, listening to muffled clanging sounds from deep within the house. Another few minutes and she jabbed at the doorbell again. The slight chiming that echoed back at us was drowned out by the raucous sounds of people moving furniture and unpacking. She rolled her eyes and pressed longer and harder on the bell. A twelve year old girl—especially one as curious as my sister—lacks any kind of patience or tact.

She was about to hit the bell again, but I stopped her. Shifting the basket so as to free one hand, I knocked loudly, rapping my knuckles against the hard wood. Waited…waited…waited. Groaning—even I was beginning to get a little miffed—I balled my hand into a tight fist, pulled it back, and slammed it forward as hard as I could. They’d definitely hear that.

But, as my fist was just about to connect with solid wood, the door swung inward, and my knuckles met with soft flesh stretched over sharp bone.

“Ow!” He cried, his hands automatically flying up to cover his face.

“Oh!” I gasped, dropping the basket and stepping forward, hand outstretched to help. “I am so sorry. I didn’t—“

“Don’t!” He cut in, one hand clapped over his nose while the other palm slapped out between us, warding me off.

Beside me, Cindy’s mouth was hanging open, her eyes darting from me to the boy and back to me again. Then, nervous giggles erupted from her. “Well, isn’t that a nice way to welcome our new neighbors?”


and...


HUNTED (YA paranormal romance)

He fell in as I yanked the door open, a bloody sack of broken bones and shredded muscle collapsing heavily into my surprised arms. Another shriek made its way back up to the tip of my tongue before my senses came back to me enough to stop it cold. My eyes rounded in shock, disbelief, and over-whelming relief.

“Tanner!” I choked out, my arms locking around him as I stepped back to pull him into the shelter of our home. “Tanner, you’re alive! I’d begun to think that—“

“No time for thinking.” He cut in with a low, pained growl. “We’ve got to bounce before they unleash the hounds.”

Ice slithered through my veins at the mention of the hounds. They were close if the hounds were coming into play. Very close. I kicked myself mentally and focused all my attention on my brother.

“You’re bleeding.” I said, stating the obvious.

He rolled his shoulders, more to pop the bones back into place than to shrug. “Doesn’t matter now. Come on.”

He grabbed my arm and pulled, dragging me along close behind him as he staggered toward the back of the house. I followed him mutely, all the while worrying about the blood dripping down his arm and sliding into the folds of our entwined hands. How bad were his wounds? He’d made it back to me from who knows where, and I was certain that he wouldn’t last the night, not with so much blood oozing out of him. What would I do without him? How would I survive? Did I even want to?

There was no time to entertain such morbid thoughts. Tanner led me back to the tiny bedroom and shoved the window open. His breathing was already labored, and his movements were jerky, but they weren’t slow. In times like this, speed was key. Being wounded did not allow for any mistakes. If anything, it meant you had to fight that much harder to survive.

He motioned toward the window and yanked me forward. “Go.” He ordered as he pushed me through.

I landed on the cold hard ground just outside the window with a sharp thud that resounded painfully, slicing through the still night. Palms to earth to push myself upright, but I only made it to my knees before the heavy backpack slammed me back to the ground. I threw a quick glare over my shoulder at Tanner and then shook it off. Grabbing up the bag, I just barely had it on my back when he stumbled out the opening behind me.

He waved off my nervous hands, offers of help, and frantic questions of whether he was okay. Of course, he wasn’t not okay. He looked like he’d been tied to the back of a Buick and dragged for miles. Maybe he had, but I really didn’t want to know, nor was there any time to ask.

A flash of an instant and we were up and running. No time to stop. No time to think. We ran on pure instinct. Cut across the tiny back yard, sliced through the line of hedges that bordered the property, and then we were in the dense forest behind the house. We stopped once we were just inside the thick stand of trees. Hands on his knees, Tanner heaved out a long stream of labored gasps.

“We. Have. To. Keep. Going.” He wheezed.

I nodded mutely, not wanting to push him too hard but knowing that if we didn’t move soon, it would be our end. My ears perked up. There was something…The hair on my arms raised in warning, and cold panic speared through me. My hand shot out to clutch at Tanner’s arm, my fingers curling into the bloodied flesh. “Do you hear that?” I whispered loudly.

He gave a quick nod—just one small jerk of his head—as his eyes darted back and forth, calculating where the sound was coming from, which escape route was the best, and most importantly, whether we had a snowball’s chance in Hell of getting out alive.

Our chances of survival melted more and more the longer we stood still, and we both knew it.

Quiet reigned as we waited, frozen in place by the notion that the hunters were closer than we’d originally thought. Long minutes passed. Nothing…not even crickets chirping their midnight songs. Something about the stillness felt wrong. I tossed a glance Tanner’s way and found his face held the exact same expression as mine no doubt did. It was just too quiet, and that kind of silence only meant one thing.

9 comments:

  1. Another great teaser...can't wait for more.

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  2. I want more of your contemp ya pleaseeeeee. send it over soon :) I'm in love with the voice already.

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  3. I liked both, but I got more into the first one... loved the set up.

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  4. I liked both, but got a little lost with the running in the second one. A lot more going on in that one. I suppose all these "I liked both" isn't helping you decide which one to put more energy into, is it? ;)

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  5. I'm still rooting for the contemp. :D But the second one definitely had me curious about the hunters.

    P.S. - Thanks for the kind words on my blog. <33

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  6. Great voices in both! I'm a little biased toward the paranormal one just because of the subject matter, but they both are really interesting :D

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  7. Both are very well-written but I have to go with Love In The Time Of Popularity.
    Love the title, the voice, the situation..awesome!

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  8. How are you so continuously awesome?! These teasers are the highlight of my morning, if not day!

    My (biased) vote lies with Hunted, because I'm a sucker for paranormal. Keep up the awesomeness! :D

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  9. My vote goes to the first one :) Loved the voice in it!

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