TRUTH OR DARE
By Selena Kitt
www.excessica.com
Length: Novel (78,608)
Category: Romance, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Heat Level: eXcess 2
Price: $5.99
Dare has always been the hothead in the pair – her twin, Nick, he was the calm, cool and collected one. But now Nick is dead, found murdered in their local cemetery, and Dare, on forced leave from her job as a Chicago police officer, goes back to her childhood home to attend the funeral.
It becomes quickly apparent to Dare that the local authorities aren’t being straight with her, or anyone else, about what’s been going on in the little Midwestern town she grew up in. The detective in her kicks in and she decides to find out what—or who—has killed her brother, so she moves in temporarily with her father and stepmother, takes a job in a local bar, and starts asking questions.
Her focus soon fixes on Shane, her brother’s best friend—the town bad boy and bad seed. The tension between the two of them has always been palpable, and nothing has changed. Sparks fly as they collide, and while Dare finds herself sinking in deeper with Shane, the mystery of what happened to her brother—and an ever growing list of victims—grows even stranger.
Dare finds her past haunting her everywhere she goes as she continues to dig deeper into the circumstances of her brother’s death, and her future looms large as her fate as a police officer is about to be determined back in Chicago. With everything coming to a head, she focuses on one thing: What happened the night her brother was killed in the cemetery? She’s sure Shane knows… something… and she’s determined to find out what it is, one way or another.
EXCERPT:
Chris leaned against the wall, away from Shane, while he lined up a shot. Dare watched for a moment, unnoticed. The muscles in Shane’s arms showed, hard and sinewy, beneath the sleeves of his black t-shirt. He was concentrating, the cue stick steady as he leaned over the table, carefully calculating, although it was obviously an easy shot.
Dare grinned mischievously. “Hey guys!”
She clapped Shane, hard, on the back. The motion sent him forward, making the cue stick hit the ball. It rolled about four inches-and stopped.
“Aww.” Dare blinked innocently. “You would have made that, too.”
Shane turned to face her, smiling, but his eyes were cold and dark. She took a step back. Chris did as well, wide-eyed.
“I’m gonna kill you,” he told her in a low voice.
In that moment, as he advanced, she thought he was serious. He grabbed her arm roughly, jerking her toward him.
“Shane,” she gasped. “I was only-”
He pulled her tightly up against him and she tensed, waiting for him to do something, anything-and then he kissed her, his mouth slanting harshly across hers. She opened her eyes wide and gasped in surprise-it was all the opening he needed and his tongue touched hers.
His hold tightened, his hands moving down her uniform and then up the backs of her thighs. She relaxed against him for a moment, stunned, and his mouth grew soft and more gentle but still insistent, his hands wandering upwards. She gave into his hands, responding with a soft moan, letting herself melt against his hardness. She pushed him away only to stop herself, but she still couldn’t break free from the tight circle of his arms.
“Let me go,” she said, unable to keep her voice steady, her eyes narrowing. Surprisingly, he did.
“You’re a goddamned tease,” he gasped, and his eyes looked pained.
“No, I’m not.” She felt herself trembling and hoped he couldn’t see it.
He laughed softly, never taking his eyes from her. Chris watched them open-mouthed, but he wasn’t their only audience. Lee watched them, too, standing near the juke, and Sam’s eyes were glued to the scene as he leaned on his broom.
“Prove it, then.” The dark look in his eyes caught her breath and held it. He stepped in front of her, tilting her slightly quivering chin up with one finger. “Meet me at the path tomorrow at nine.”
She hesitated, looking at him, hating him, hating herself. She regained her voice by swallowing past something lodged in her throat and narrowed her eyes at him, jerking away. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I meet you anywhere.”
His soft laughter followed her as she turned and walked away.