Congratulations and Happy Valentines!

First off, Happy Valentine’s Day, Congratulations to the CAPA Winners, and Good Luck to the remaining Nominees.

Well, there! I think that about covers everyone! Oh, wait! Also, Congratulations to the lucky prize winners, including the winner of my erotic historical romance, Inspiration.

On this Lovers’ Day, I wanted to share with you an excerpt from my erotic fantasy/romance, Woman of the Mountain which holds within it a few of my philosophies about love.

About Woman of the Mountain:

The fate of Corsinium depends upon Adita's passion.

Within her mountain temple, Adita, High Priestess of the goddess Zenthe, presides over orgiastic rites of love and desire...

Only the most brave suitors dare approach her, for failure to please the High Priestess can only end in tragedy. As land and people suffer from droughts, floods and war, Adita must find the a way to lift Zenthe's sorrow, even if it means sacrificing her own desires to serve her beloved goddess, and all Corsinium.

Casmin's destiny had always been to serve Zenthe. Now as Captain of the temple guard, Casmin must balance his forbidden love for Adita, the deadly allure of the First Priestess and the growing threat of the rival god Kahmudj.

When all the forces of deity and love converge, it takes all Adita's will, Casmin's strength, and an erotic rite powerful enough to shake creation itself to spare Corsinium a cataclysmic end…

EXCERPT

In this scene, Casmin is reminded by a friend that when he is with the woman he loves, the world will change, and that every moment should be cherished…

**

“You learned long ago that not all who serve the goddess wear the priestess’ robes. Every woman holds some of her magic.”

Casmin smiled as he saw Elena with new eyes. He saw much of Zenthe in this woman and, for a moment, he felt something almost like fear at the proximity of the goddess.

“I have never been with a man, Casmin, or with a woman. I would love for you to be my first lover, but I will remain untouched until Zenthe decrees otherwise. She does not demand chastity of her faithful. I do not hold myself pious. In my heart I have felt that Zenthe would let me know when my fated one was near, and I am waiting for him. He is near, I know, but not now.” She smiled again at him, the edgy huntress for an instant replaced by the perfect maiden. “Not today.”

The world hung in perfect stillness.

“Soon, Casmin, you will be with a woman who is your woman, and there will be no others for you then, nor any other man for her, forever.

“Desire and your woman will be one and the same. Together you will be whole.”

Elena stood then, ran the fingers of her right hand along the line of Casmin’s cheek, and she smiled as she said, “When you are with your lover, Casmin, you must remember this. Make love to her as though that day is the very last day of the world. Worship her and rejoice in the moment you have, that you are with her, before light and love are gone forever.”

Breathless, yet filled with a fierce strength, Casmin rose to his feet, awed at the dark perfection of this woman in the fading afternoon light, radiant and beautiful and untouchable, ready to ride behind her toward the temple, to the inferno itself if she asked it. He answered her the only way he could.

“Yes, my goddess. Yes.”