Fantasy lovers and fans of pining we're in for a treat today! Kasia Bacon takes over the clubhouse today with a visit and amazing giveaway!
Take it away Kasia!
Soooo…another year has passed and here we are again! Congratulations to the Unicorns at BMBR on their fifth anniversary! Keep on shining!
Let me join the celebration by bringing two offerings:
Firstly, a RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY. I’m offering a set of the Order Chibi Keyrings as the main prize.
I will send Ervyn & Lochan—from The Mutt & The Highlander—in their totally adorbs, glossy and acrylic form to one lucky reader (giveaway open internationally). Yay! Three other readers will receive an e-book copy of my last release, Twenty-One Arrow Salute.
And secondly, an EXCERPT from WHEN I FIRST SAW RED, raw and unedited (*inserts her editor’s heart attack here*) Funny thing—I wrote the beginning of this story for BMBR’s fete last year. It started as a flash fiction, inspired by a picture prompt below. Therefore, it’s only right that I treat you to a tiny bit more of the story this year. If you haven’t read the original first chapter or wish to refresh your memory, have a gander here.
Busy with other projects, I abandoned Red and Sergeant Jhagán’s story for a while, only to pick it up again this summer.
I’m planning to release When I First Saw Red at some point this year. The exact date is still a mystery (yes, I’m awful like that). However, I’m hoping to be back here with the cover reveal sooner rather than later. If the Unicorns have me. *winks*
The novella will be part of a new series, titled Soldiers & Mercenaries. I envisage it as a collection of standalone stories set in my Order Universe and featuring—you’ve guessed it—various army types and hired swords.
You can check out my other fantasy stories on my website, where free short excerpts are available to read. My books are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited and can be purchased on Amazon. If you wish to stay informed about the Order Universe updates, consider subscribing to my newsletter.
Now it’s time to put the celebrational goods on the table! Best of luck in the giveaway and enjoy the snippet below.
***
There he stood by the vast four-poster bed—the object of my lecherous thoughts. My tormentor, who’d inspired dozens of ferocious wanking sessions over the previous week.
He was barefoot again. I wondered if he had an aversion to footwear. His glossy, vibrant hair, fashioned into a tousled plait and tied with a dark ribbon, splayed down his chest on one side, reaching his waist. I couldn’t fault the manner in which his white unbuttoned shirt and a snug pair of breeches revealed more than they covered.
All at once, my heart fluttered in my chest, frantic like a trapped bird.
He eyed me in silence, his arms crossed over his chest and one hip propped against the pillar.
I wouldn’t call his demeanour friendly. For whatever reason, he’d agreed to the engagement, but his body language couldn’t scream fuck off any louder.
His puzzling attitude agitated me on the spot. Just as much as his looks enthralled me.
“Good evening,” I said rougher than I’d intended, addressing him in Common Elven. Not that I counted on dazzling him with my linguistic ability. Or proving myself less of an uncultured ignoramus than he’d likely taken me for. Nothing like that. At all. “I’m Sergeant Jhagán.”
After a small pause, which he devoted to giving me an appraising squint, he greeted me with a regal head tilt.
Gods Almighty.
The clench of my jaws brought on a feeling of fullness in my ears. Who the fuck did he think he was? The Emperor receiving homage? I couldn’t believe the snooty Elfling arse. And speaking of arse, didn’t it make me a bigger one since I financed this sorry venture with recent card winnings, a pawned family heirloom and an advance against my next three wages? Less than two minutes in, I’d already found myself spinning in the same cycle of intermittent fury and desire I’d experienced around him previously. Because yes, I wanted to kick him in the groin with my reinforced leather boot. And then kiss him senseless.
Not knowing what to do or say felt foreign to me. Irritated by my sudden diffidence, I stepped further inside—uninvited—and threw a pouch stuffed with coin on his dresser. It turned out a thousand-worth of silvers made one hell of a clinking noise upon landing in a pottery dish.
His eyes slitted. “How predictably vulgar,” he said in the most cut-glass accent I’d ever heard.
Out of nowhere, I appeared to have developed a severe teeth-grinding habit. Did he try and test my patience on purpose? I wasn’t savvy on brothel etiquette, but his behaviour hardly struck me as customer-centred. Why the hell were his services held in such high regard if he treated all his patrons like dirt? Or was it what kept them so keen? Either way, I shouldn’t have thought him adorable when he glared at me in distaste, his perfect, slightly upturned nose wrinkled and his lashes throwing long shadows over his cheekbones.
Desire zigzagged down my spine. Unable to speak for the next few moments, I focused on calming down my quickened breathing.
“What would you have of me, Sergeant?”
I didn’t like the way he emphasised my rank. Neither did I appreciate the blasé note to his tone. My nerves strummed with tension. Stupid disappointment knotted my stomach at the reminder that he saw me as just another patron. One who made his skin crawl more than others, at that. After rubbing shoulders—and more—with the nobles, being saddled with a grubby soldier like me must’ve felt like a demotion. And yet, my coin didn’t smell offensive to him.
“Let’s get right to it,” he said with a pointed look, indicating the evident hard-on that stretched the seam of my crotch rather obscenely. “You seem impatient to start.”
Heat rose to the nape of my neck, but my uneasiness hadn’t affected my nether regions. I didn’t go on wasting time fretting over my performance. Oh fuck, no. I couldn’t wait to lay my hands on the cheeky bastard. To dig my fingers into his hips. To force him down, face-first into the…
I sucked in a deep breath. Before we got to the meat of the matter, the situation required a slight redefinition.
It took two strides for me to face him up-close. A childish pissing contest or not, the way I towered over him pleased me. “What I’d have of you, Red,” I hissed, pronouncing the last word in Imperial Common instead of using his Elven name, “is to stay quiet. And wiggle out of those togs like a flash.”
An ironic smile tugged at his lips, and he nodded as if in agreement with his himself. “Naturally, you’re a savage. As befits a soldier.”
I tried to reign in my temper along with my arousal. My endeavours had yielded no success. Frustrated, I reinforced my earlier instructions with the quirk of an eyebrow and a jerky gesture that never failed to work back in the barracks. That got His Royal Arseness’s attention.
Without looking away, he proceeded to peel the shirt off his shoulders, every deliberate move uncovering more and more of his pale flesh to my hungry gaze.
***
When I First Saw Red is coming soon from Kasia Bacon!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A linguist and an avid reader with a particular fondness for fantasy and paranormal genres, KASIA BACON lives in London with her husband. When not tearing her hair out over a translating project, she writes stories about the shenanigans of emotionally constipated assassins and sexy Elves. Otherwise, she can be found shaking her loins at a Zumba class, binging on anime or admiring throwing knives on Pinterest. She has a mild coffee and lemon tart addiction. A lover of MMA and Muay Thai, she also enjoys nature and the great outdoors. She dreams of becoming independently wealthy, leaving the city and moving into her wooden mini-manor—located in the heart of stunning forests resembling those of the Elven Country depicted in her tales.
Find Kasia online:
Kasia hosts a mega giveaway- main prize - a set of the Order Chibi Keyrings & 3 other readers will win Kasia's latest, Twenty-One Arrow Salute!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (EST) 11/19/18. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner!
Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!
Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/18!
I need Red's story! Like... now!!!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! That's what I like to hear! I'm at 75% with it. It's coming soon. Promise.
ReplyDelete