Dialogue

When I learned this weeks theme for snippet Saturday was dialogue, I immediately thought of this scene form Devil’s Jewel in the SEXY DEVIL anthology. Not so much because it’s rapid fire or intense, even particularly witty. I thought of it because when I was trying to write this conversation between Gina and Devil (brother and sister) Caleb (Gina’s new fiancee) kept interupting, and everyone kept ignoring him. Including me.

Some background, the first story in SEXY DEVIL is Gina and Caleb’s story. Caleb is a no nonsense guy who ends up on blind date with Gina, a wild child free spirit psychic. Their main issue is his refusal to believe in magic or psychic abilities. Obviously he starts to believe because in the second story, he and Gina are engaged. However, he is still coming to grips with the reality that there is more to this world than the eye can see-as you’ll see in this excerpt.

No one can resist the spell of a …SEXY DEVIL

“The Devil Inside”
Workaholic Caleb Mann used to think blind dates were a waste of time, but when his ex-girlfriend calls him boring in bed, Caleb becomes bent on changing his image fast. And fast is what he gets when he barely knows his date’s name, but he can’t stop fantasizing about replacing the sleek motorcycle between her firm thighs and letting her ride him all night long…

“Devil’s Jewel”
Ex-soldier and psychic hunter Angelo Devlin has seen evil first-hand. He knows how perilous his assignments can be, and he doesn’t welcome outside help, which makes his run-in with Jewel Kattalis all the more infuriating. But instead of sending her away, he wants to grab her, take her, and tease every inch of her beautiful body. This woman may be more dangerous than any mission he’s ever been on before…
* * * * *

Angelo looked at Drake helplessly. There was no way to avoid telling them everything now. Frustration – and a touch of panic – fought to find a hold inside him.
He didn’t want Gina to know about all the bad things in the world. She was so young when their mother died, just a toddler, and their father had raised them both as fighters. They’d always moved around, always struggled to fit in. If she learned too much, she’d never truly fit into the world around her again. He didn’t want her life to end up like his.
She was the reason he did what he did, why he was so tough, why he’d killed so many. To keep the world safe for people like her.
He looked at her, begging her to let it go. “Gina, can’t you just leave it alone? Trust us to keep you, and your man, safe?”
“No, Angel, I can’t.” She reached out, her hand grabbing his and holding it tight. “I do trust you to keep me and Caleb safe. But who’s going to keep you and Drake safe?”
“We’ve got each other’s back.”
“Don’t be stubborn, big brother. I’m not letting it go any longer. I know in my gut that you need me to get through this. And you know my gut is always right.”
The shit thing was, he did know that. Gina’s instincts and premonitions had saved his life more than once, without her even knowing exactly how. With a step back, he glanced at Drake and nodded. “Go ahead.”
“You already know the man in your visions isn’t just any man, right, Gina? He’s a demon who’s been searching out psychic hotspots around the world and building gateways to alternate dimensions.” Calm and confident as ever, Drake stood, speaking quietly as he walked to the center of the room.
“HPG has been tracking his activities for almost a year, and we’ve always managed to destroy the gateway before he could find a key to unlock it, but we’ve never been able to get close enough to him to put him out of commission permanently. Two weeks ago we tracked him to South America, but when we got there, he was gone. Our Intel is that he heard about a key here in Pearson and came to get it. We destroyed the gateway he’d built there – that was a piece of it we gave you to try and find him with by the way – and followed him. Now, thanks to you’re vision, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to getting him. We have a name and a face, to go with the location. And from what you saw tonight, it’s clear he’s building another gateway, this time under his house.”
The room was silent, everyone staring at Drake.
Devil had been gauging their reactions as his partner spoke, and was a bit thrown by the lack of surprise on the two women’s faces. They seemed to be taking the whole “˜demon’s do exist’ thing completely in stride.
Caleb however, was visibly struggling with the information.
Slumped against the chair Gina had previously been sitting in, he looked at Devil’s sister with wide eyes. “I thought you said there was no such thing as witches and demons and vampires?”
“What do you mean a name and a face?” Jewel said. “You’ve been following him around the world for a year, but you never knew his name or what he looked like?”
He answered Jewel first, noting how Gina had settled back into the chair, her hand on Caleb’s thigh, their heads bent together. “He is Vetis, the demon of corruption, but his human identity has been more … difficult to discover than we’d expected. Our information on him is all about the mystical aspect of things, and mostly based on legend. Rumors of demons have always been around, and like most people, HPG didn’t think they existed on earth. Not until one of our teams ran into him, completely by accident, when in Rio last year.”
Jewel’s eyes narrowed. “If you didn’t know they existed, how did they know what he was when they ran into him?”
“All of the hunters at HPG are psychic in some way. One of the men who first found Vetis was a die hard Christian who fully believed in demons, as well as angels. He’s the one who told us it was Vetis. We believe him.”
She quirked an eyebrow and looked down her nose at him. “And in a year, all he’s been able to tell you is a name. A demon name?”
Devil clenched his jaw. “Tracking his human side has been a lot harder since he killed the only team that’s actually seen him. All we’ve had to go on was a garbled radio transmission of their murders.”
Pink colored her cheeks and she backed up a step. “Okay. So, what do you know about him?”
Drake stepped up, putting a hand on Devil’s shoulder, taking away some of the anger swelling inside him. “We know he’s become bored with corrupting individuals on earth and has decided to corrupt the entire planet as a whole by opening up the portal to a hell dimension, and inviting some friends to join him here. And now we know he’s Hooper Radisson.”
“Hooper Radisson?” Caleb’s head came up. “I know him. He’s not a demon. Demons aren’t real.”
“How well do you know him?” Drake asked.
Devil had watched the interaction between his sister and her lover out of the corner of his eye as he told his story. He’d heard her whispered assurances to Caleb, and Caleb’s halfhearted arguments, and seen the small touches they shared. They were there for each other — all the way.
“Not real well. My company built his house when he moved here a couple of years ago.” Caleb shifted his gaze to Angelo. “Really? He’s a demon?”
“Yes, he’s a demon,” Jewel snapped before facing Angelo head on. “And he’s got my sister, so no matter what you say, I’m not staying away from that house. I am going to get her back.”
Any calm that had started to settle over Devil at seeing his sister taking the whole thing so well went up in flames at Jewel’s words. “Witch or not, you’ll only get in our way. You need to back off and give us a couple of days. I’ll get Nadya back for you, I promise.”
“I’m a Gypsy, not a witch!” She was mad. Her eyes shot sparks and her body was so strung tight that she was vibrating as she faced off with him. “And you can’t tell me what to do.”
“A gypsy?”
Devil ignored Caleb’s query as heat that had nothing to do with Jewel’s words, and everything to do with the way her skin flushed and her breasts jiggled shot through him. “I can, and I am.”
“Keep on dreaming, stud.” She stepped closer and shoved a stiff finger against his chest. “You’re the klutz that set off the alarm tonight, not me. You need me to get you into that house.”
“I didn’t set off the —”
“Guys, stop for a minute, would you?” Gina snapped. “There’s more.”
“Are vampires real too?” Caleb’s voice was soft, as if he might be talking to himself.
“I don’t know, babe,” Gina said patting him on the thigh, her eyes on Angelo. “But I do know that Jewel’s sister is more than just a hostage to Hooper.”
“Oh, shit.”
Drake’s soft curse echoed through the room at the same time Devil became aware of the tingle in his bicep. Right where the birthmark that matched the one on Gina’s wrist was, and a shiver of anxiety ripped down his spine.
“What is it? Why her?”
Gina’s gaze met his. “While I was with them in the basement, he told her that on the next full moon she becomes the key that can open any gateway.”

“SEXY DEVIL is hot as hell, with heroes to die for and heroines who are more than their match. For blazingly erotic romance marked by strong, sexy characterization, Sasha White never disappoints!”
— Meljean Brook, author of Demon Moon

“SEXY DEVIL … This book flows along smoothly from one story to another with well written characters that are easy to like with their charismatic ways. The touch of paranormal adds a little more intrigue that goes perfectly with the sizzling hot love scenes that will give you visions of your own!”
— Recommended Read From Fallen Angel Reviews.

“SEXY DEVIL is smart, sassy, and oh so sexy. It’s fast-paced and has intriguing paranormal elements, interwoven with spine-tingling suspense. If you like erotic paranormal romances, you’ll love SEXY DEVIL. Sasha White writes with amazing energy and a “joie de vivre” that engages the reader, and makes it impossible to put her books down. A talented, entertaining author!”-Catherine Spangler, National Bestselling Author of Touched by Fire

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