Yeah. And as karma proves, I am now one of those lazy people. Go figure. To be honest, I run for my blog when I have something new and exciting to share! I can’t wait to share news or bits of writing with everyone. The sad truth of the matter is that at the moment, I am just between news. I have nothing going on, and I am spectacularly unexciting to boot.

I do hope I can share finalized cover art for MY FAIR SUCCUBI pretty soon. You might have seen an early version floating around on the internet, but the final version looks slightly more jazzy and has some cute text on it, and just looks better all around. At least, I think so.

Also to note – any of the blurbs you might have seen online? Not the final back cover copy. Not sure if I can share that yet either, so you’ll have to be patient a wee bit longer. I did get a few panicked questions because the blurb on the web does not mention Zane. Please be assured that all Team Zane fans will be VERY HAPPY with book 3. I would not do that to you guys! Or Zane!

Someone did ask for a Zane snippet the other day and I thought I would provide the following. It’s not in Book 2. It’s not even in book 3. It is a mystery snippet for a freebie I am (tentatively) working on that might or might not show up on this website someday. Tell me what you think!

Some days, eternity was far too long.

Zane opened his eyes slowly, shaking off the day-slumber, and hating that he had to return to consciousness. Being awake meant another day living, breathing, feeding without her…and another day serving the queen.

As if she sensed his mutinous thoughts, the queen loomed over Zane’s body and grazed a hand over his chest, her sharp fingernails scratching a pattern onto his bare shoulder. She could do that to him – she owned him. And he hated it. A thousand years ago, he hadn’t minded. A hundred years ago, he was content. But everything had changed in this last year, and Zane found this his reasons for living had changed. And his future plans? Did not include the queen.

For now, though, he had to bide his time. So he gritted his teeth and gave her a mockery of a smile.

The queen’s red eyes gleamed with interest as she studied him, trying to interpret his thoughts. Like a thundercloud rolling through his senses, her mind pressured his own, nearly overwhelming him with the possessive murk of it. “I have decided you will feed me today.”

Punishment. Again. Careful to hide any emotion, Zane swung his legs over the side of the marble bier and extended an arm toward her with an almost bored expression. “Eat up.”

Instead, the queen smiled, revealing her razor-sharp teeth. She crooked a finger at him, slowly beckoning. “No. Not like that. Give me your neck today.”

Yes? More? No? Boring? Bueller?

Nope! Here’s a snippet of MY FAIR SUCCUBI instead. This one is for all you Noah fans. (You’re out there, right? Right.)

The concrete was cold and dusty against my bare feet, and I tiptoed quietly, peering at each door as I passed it. Every cell looked identical to the one I’d been held in – the window had been knocked out and replaced with bars, and each one was locked with a biometric key. I peered into one or two but I hadn’t seen Noah. It concerned me a little, but I forced myself to continue down, past each door, all the way to the end of the hall. And at the last door, I peered in and saw a faint shape bent over on the side of the cot, elbows resting on his knees. His head was down in a defeated pose, and his fists were clenched.

Poor sweet Noah. My heart fluttered at the sight of him, so defeated. It was probably killing him that he wasn’t able to protect me. I felt a surge of affection and swiped the badge against the reader quickly. Like clockwork, the red light flashed to green and the lock unbolted.

Noah didn’t get up.

“Noah?” I whispered. “Noah, are you all right?”

No response. His hand clenched, and then unclenched slowly, so I knew he was awake. Worry shot through me, momentarily overriding my lust. “Noah?”

“Leave me,” he said in a harsh voice.

What on earth was he talking about? I stared at him through the door, puzzled, then moved inside, crossing the cold floor on bare feet. The heavy door slid shut behind me, locking into place again, and I clutched the badge close. “Noah, are you all right? I’m here to get you out of here. We have to escape.”

He shook his head slowly, as if trying to deny my words.

This was getting ridiculous. I moved to his side and went to touch his shoulder. “Come on, Noah.”

Before I could touch it, his hand whipped out and trapped mine by the wrist. The word burned into my flesh hurt like a bitch. Before I could complain, he moved forward a fraction, and leaned in close to my hand. Sniffed it.

Exhaled sharply.

“I smell two other men on you,” he said, his voice a low growl.

What in the world? I tried to jerk my hand out of his. “Noah, I didn’t sleep with anyone. You’re jumping to conclusions.”

He tilted his head back and regarded me. The expression on his face was raw with need. His eyes were so deep a blue that they glowed in the dark, and the set of his jaw was firm, unyielding.

“Tell me who I smell.”

A command. Oh great, we were going to play this game? I tried to jerk my hand out of his even as I answered. “Ariel and Ethan, probably.”

His eyes darkened, his expression barely controlled.

“Don’t be an ass, Noah.” Oh lord, even him being completely batshit crazy was turning me on. I could feel my panties growing damp, felt my sex begin to heat. “Nothing happened. Listen to what I’m saying.”

“Your scent. You took two others for your need?” He slowly raised to his feet with slow, precise motions, not releasing my wrist from its death-grip in his. His eyes were blue, glowing slits of anger. “They brought me a woman and I refused her. Refused because I wished to stay loyal to you.” His voice was hoarse with anger, almost unhinged. It brimmed with barely restrained force. His eyes seemed to flash purple with hunger and need. He was beyond rational thought.

“Noah, don’t do this,” I began in a husky voice. Do it, do it, my body was screaming. My sex was slick with need, and my breath was coming in small, excited pants. We didn’t have time to stop and feed our needs. I couldn’t wait to get him alone in private, though. My libido was off the charts at the moment.

He stared at me with those insanely dark eyes, and leaned in and gently bit at the flesh of my palm, as if tasting me.

My knees went weak. “Noah–”

“Kneel.”

Good times, people. Good times.

So I talked with my editor a while back – I wanted to do a freebie for my series. Just a small something as a ‘thank you’ for everyone that’s read my books so far and was hoping for more. There will be more in book 3, right? But book 3 is still so far away (December!)…

I wrote a prologue for the Succubus Diaries — you might recall that book 1 starts with her waking up in a Dumpster after a crazy night and meeting two rather unique individuals. So…I wrote the prologue to show a little bit more about how that night went down.

I hope you enjoy it! It’s short and sweet and (I think) sets up some interesting teases for MY FAIR SUCCUBI, in which some questions are answered.

To download the short — entitled FOREPLAY, naturally — click on the banner above or go directly to the Simon & Schuster website. It’s available until June 18th, so ACT NOW QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED.

Let me know what you think, guys!

http://www.simonandschuster.com/giveaways/jill-myles-free-download

(And yes, you do have to put in your email address, but you want to be notified about free stuff anyhow, right? Right.)

So I’m still going to be blog light for a few days more while I try to get them out. In the meantime, there’s an evil snippet of Book 3 over at Odd Shots.

So – spoilers ahoy. Don’t read below the cut if you’re not interested in a tease about a certain character that returns.

#

“This is enough blood,” said Ethan, grabbing my still-dripping arm and tilting it upward to slow the blood loss. Succubi had rapid healing, but it’d still take me a few hours to rid myself of a cut that deep. Hours of burning, throbbing pain. Yippee.
Zane moved in closer, his arms crossed over his chest as he regarded me. “Are you going to be okay?”
“You should lick it,” Ethan said to Zane suddenly. “The wound.”
Heat flared in my sex, and I felt the Itch come to life, like some sick puppy dog that had heard its name being called. Down, boy, down. “Lick…me?” I repeated. Just because I liked saying it.
Zane’s brows furrowed and he moved to my side, as if he wanted to tug me away from Ethan. “What did you just say?”
Ethan held up my wrist, jerking my arm into the air. “You should lick her wound. It will heal her faster. She is in great pain.”
“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” I began, my voice husky and rich with desire. It sounded like an amazing idea.
“I will leave the two of you alone so that the vampire may assist you…” Ethan said, eyes flashing with that strange feeding light of his.  “…with your wound.” His voice became strangled at the end, as if it had finally occurred to him what he was saying. He gave us both a quick bow. “I will return shortly.”
Before I could protest, Ethan’s back was to us and he marched away. Zane took my arm in his hands, as if torn by his decision.
“You don’t have to,” I said softly. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
He glanced over at me from the corner of his eyes, his mouth curving into a smile that hovered just over my wrist. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“I am,” I said with a wobbly smile. “It hurts like a bitch. But I don’t want you to get hurt trying to help me out.”
He ignored my words, just licked his lips. Zane lifted my wrist close to his face. He leaned in and inhaled, scenting the blood. His eyes flared red. And after a long moment in which I did not breathe, he extended his tongue and licked my wrist, from the top of the cut to the bottom. Slow, sensual, erotic.

Damn.

#

<3

Release date is December 28, 2010. That means you get 3 books in one year (well, theoretically). Coolbeans!

(I am still ridiculously in love with this book, even weeks after finishing it.)

*headdesk*

I feel very boneless but happy. I like the book a lot more now that the revisions are in, and there’s one scene that I hold a little near and dear. The book is also 96k at the moment, though I expect my editor to trim it a little.  She’s very good at making me succinct (for which I am endlessly grateful!).

Whew!

I’m going to sit on it for a day or two, maybe, before turning it over to my editor. But…I’m done!

Keep in mind that this is not final draft, and is subject to all kinds of tweaky things, and is a little rough.

#

Clearly Ethan was not familiar with flying coach.  The Serim he hung out with must have normally chartered their own planes, because my companion scowled at every person that came down the aisle as I tried to read the in-flight magazine.

“I do not like this,” he murmured as a large man entered the plane and moved to the back. “This is not a defensible position in the slightest.”
“Of course it is,” I said, not looking up from the newest issue of National Geographic that I’d found crammed into the seat-back in front of me. “We’re in an exit row.”
“My knees are touching the seat in front of me,” he whispered with something akin to horror. “How am I to leap to your defense if I am pinned in my seat?”
“Um, you don’t?”
He looked affronted at the thought, and his hands flexed suspiciously. I would have bet money that he was wishing he had his wooden bō in hand. He looked as if he wanted to whack a man in a business suit with it.
“Calm down,” I said, flipping pages in the magazine restlessly. “It’s a long flight and it’ll go a lot faster if you sleep.”
“I do not sleep.”
Right, I kept forgetting that. I was usually the only one that usually didn’t sleep around here. “Because your mother was a succubus, right?” At his stiff nod, the plane began to roll forward on the tarmack. Ethan’s hands clutched the seat arms so tightly that I thought he was going to rip it off, and I smacked his hand with the magazine. “Why don’t you tell me more about Enforcers?”
Anything to distract him before he got an air marshal on our cases.
Ethan gave me another frustrated look, though his hand relaxed a little on the seat. “We serve the Serim council with our lives. What more could you wish to know?”
Obviously Ethan was still working on his social skills. “How old are you, for starters?” I would have bet money that he wasn’t thousands of years old like Noah and the other Serim. He didn’t have that weary cast to his eyes that the others did.
“I am twenty-eight.”
Well, that wasn’t too bad. “Huh. I would have pegged you younger.” Like, twelve, if it wasn’t for the six-foot-six body, broad shoulders and hands the size of clubs. “So what other cool stuff do Enforcers get? Did you get super strength?”
“I am stronger than a succubus, yes.” He frowned at me as if I were asking him what color his underpants were.
“Dur. Everything is stronger than a succubus.” I leaned in close as the plane roared and tilted back, and we took to the air. “Did you get the curse?” I yelled over the thrust of the engines. “You know, the two day sex thing?”
He flinched and gave me an offended look – so did the lady across the aisle from us. Oops. But Ethan looked twice as scandalized as the old woman. “You should not ask me such things, Jackie Brighton.”
“Why not? I’m curious. Your boss wanted me to carry a bun in the oven, the least you can do is tell me about your kind. I didn’t even know you existed.”
He ignored me, jaw clenched, until the plane leveled out in altitude and the flight attendants got up, rolling the heavy carts down the aisle.  Ethan seemed to compose himself after that, and gave me a quick, dismissive glance. “We require good deeds.”
I had already pulled out my magazine and was flipping through it again. I glanced up as he spoke under his breath. “I’m sorry, did you say good deeds?”
He gave me another stiff nod. “Good deeds.”
“Like…a boy scout?”
He looked at me, chagrined and puzzled. “What is a boy scout?”
Good lord, where had they kept him for the past thirty years? “Never mind. So…good deeds, huh? Interesting. How big of a deed?”
He shrugged, still ill at ease with discussing the topic. “As big as it needs to be. Small deeds fuel me for a small time, larger deeds for a longer time.”
Interesting. “So…that’s why you’re helping me, right? This is a really big good deed?”
He gave me a warning look. “I am helping you because Noah Gideon asked me to assist you and I owed him a favor of his choosing. Just because I require good deeds to survive does not mean I am immune to the plight of others.”
Touché. I gave him a chagrined half-smile. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you sound like a junkie.  Or a douchebag. So you owe Noah a favor, huh? What for?”
Ethan’s eyes were carefully blank. “That is a private matter between Noah Gideon and myself.”

Obviously I’d steered the conversation off the tracks. Ethan had shut down – I wouldn’t get any more out of him. “Well, whatever your reason, I appreciate the gesture.” I patted his hand. When he flinched, I pulled back. “You okay?”

He nodded, his eyes still wide as he stared at the flight attendant as she rolled the cart down the aisle a few inches, then halted again. “I am not used to so many people so close.”
Yeah, about that… “Where did you say you grew up again?”
“In a sanctuary. Many of the Serim have hidden from the outside world, choosing to spurn its evil, licentious ways. I am a guard there. Or I was until Ariel called me to duty.” He did not seem pleased by it, either.
So Ethan had grown up in some sort of monastary. I wondered if that was where he’d met – and worked with – my boyfriend Noah. “So did a lot of people live in this sanctuary?”
“Just the Serim.”
“Just the Serim?” I raised an eyebrow. “You must have had a few chicks there at least once a month, right? To serve the curse?”
He gave me another stiff look. “The others went to town on regular excursions. I did not. My needs were served at home.”
Boy. Not all his needs, if I was missing my guess. Great. Just what I needed to rescue my ass. The forty-year old virgin.

#

Hope you enjoyed it!  (ETA – sorry about the formatting! It might look better over at my Livejournal.)

This one was definitely the toughest to draft out of all 3 books. Right now it stands at 91,992. I expect it to grow in the next few weeks (especially if I add the sappy epilogue that I’m debating adding, because I love them – but still debating).

Hip hip hooray!

Hope everyone else had a good weekend. All I did was type.
(And I’m STILL NOT DONE. AAAAH.)