Todays theme is secondary characters, so I chose an excerpt from BOUND, the novel that started it all with Berkley. By started it all I mean it’s the book where Karl came to be. If you’re a long time reader of my blog you’ll know I’m not a plotter, and I’ve never planned to write a series. My books all stand alone, but they all also became connected to each other through secondary characters…like Karl.
He shows up ion this scene in BOUND, (and again later) then he showed up in TROUBLE as the hero’s best friend, Halfway through writing TROUBLE I contacted my editor and asked if I could write Karl’s story next instead of the book we’d planned on. Luckily, my editor trusts me, and she said yes. So…this snippet is Karl’s first appearance… a secondary character got his own story in WICKED.
Moe’s was a small red brick building on the edge of town. The yellow neon sign simply stating “˜Moe’s Place’ could be seen from the highway.
Lillian made good time on the road, and we arrived just before nine o’clock. There were a lot of pick-up trucks, a few SUV’s, and almost a dozen motorbikes in the lot; big monster Harley’s and such with shiny chrome and metallic colors. Anticipation awakened my senses as the possibilities of the night ahead stretched before me.
We stepped into the bar as a threesome, and a few heads turned. Julie was wearing a short leather skirt and tight tank top similar to the one she had me put on. Only she had a lot more plump flesh spilling over the edge. Lillian’s red hair and exotic looks drew many eyes to her. The flowing camisole dress that skimmed her curves kept them there.
Julie had rolled up the waistband of my skirt when we’d stepped out of the van, and my legs got a bit of attention. My funky look didn’t stand out, but I wasn’t being ignored either.
“Look at him,” Julie said, eyeing the bartender.
He wore black jeans and black button up shirt, completely undone to show off the colorful artwork splashed across his hairless chest and belly. I was checking out the way a dragon’s tail disappeared into the waist of his jeans, pointing me the way to a decent size bulge when Julie nudged me in the ribs. I glanced up and saw one eyelid dip in a flirtatious wink.
“What can I get you ladies to drink?” he asked.
Hoping that the dark foundation I wore hid my blush, I ordered round of tequila shots, including one for him.
“Let’s get started, girls.”
The small shaker of salt was passed around, my gaze locking with the bartender’s just as my tongue darted out and swept across the inside of my wrist. I felt so . . . awake. Erotically charged. Every touch made my blood heat more. From the touch of Julie’s hand dressing me, to the rasp of my own tongue across my skin.
“A toast,” Julie said, holding up her shot glass. She flashed naughty grin at the group and spoke loud and clear. “To letting the inner bad girl out to play.”
“I’ll definitely drink to that!” The stud behind the bar said and tossed his shot back with the rest of us.
The tequila caused a sharp burn in my chest, which eased to a pleasant warmth when I bit into the lime slice and the juice squirted down my throat.
“So what’s your name, Darlin’?”
Julie and Lillian shifted down the bar a little, leaning against each other and making it obvious they were a couple. I smiled at the hot guy behind the bar. Making friends with the bartender was always a smart move, no matter what bar you went into.
“I’m Caitlyn.” The fake name came easily to my lips.
“Well Caitlyn. I think we need another drink. How about you?”
He set up two more shot glasses and filled them with amber liquid. I smiled, Ohhh, I was going to have fun. I could feel it in my bones. And every other part of my body.
“Sure. What’s your name, Mr. Bartender?” I leaned against the bar, using the edge of it to plump up my cleavage a bit more.
He of course noticed, and made no effort to hide the way his eyes lingered on my pushed up boobs when he spoke. “Rick. You need anything tonight, you come see me ok?”
We clicked our glasses together and another ounce of tequila slid down my throat.
The second shot went down much smoother than the first and the warmth in my chest was spreading fast. Julie grabbed my elbow and pulled me over to them. Leaning close she whispered in my ear. “Cute as he is, Caitlyn. You need to flirt with more than him to win this contest.”
“No problem,” I assured her, scanning the crowd.
“You have an hour before the contest. There’s a bunch of guys back at the pool tables, let’s start there.”
She waved at Rick and we headed to the back of the room where a group of college looking guys surrounded one table, and a few bikers surrounded the other.
Lillian put a coin on one table and Julie a coin on the other. Which ever came up first, we’d play on.
We leaned against the waist high rail that portioned off the pool tables from the rest of the bar. From there we let guys at both tables watch us, as we watched them play.
The human mating ritual had begun.
Soon a college boy approached Lillian and she stood regally while he tried to chat her up. If she gave Julie the signal Julie would chase him away, but one of the best things about going out with them was that they did their best not to exclude me by being too much of couple.
The waitress came over and handed us three more shots of tequila.
“From Rick,” she said.
I smiled and waved at him, Julie slipped her a five-dollar bill. “Thanks, but tell him no more for a while ok?”
The waitress smiled and eased away.
Lillian looked at the shot and shook her head, still talking to the clean-cut college boy. When she mimed her hands on the steering wheel Julie and I grinned at each other. Oh, boy. Trouble was brewing.
Sure enough, as soon as we’d downed those shots, two more appeared. This time in the hands of one of the biker guys.
“You girls look like you’re out to have a good time. I thought you might need a hand.”
I gave him a small smile and looked him over while he made eyes at Julie. He wasn’t bad looking. A bit older, maybe in his early thirties. Dark hair and a bit of a beard. The scar that cut across his eyebrow gave him a dangerous look, but the way he looked at Julie was actually sorta sweet.
Go figure.
“We are . . . and we always like a guy who knows how to party.”
He introduced himself as Mark and gestured to the shots he’d placed on the partition’s top rail. Jules reached for a shot, handed one to me, and we all tossed them back. I shifted away from them a bit and watched the pool game some more, while Julie flirted with him.
Normally I had a pretty strong resistance to alcohol, but tequila was the one thing that knocked me for a loop every time. I’ve heard people say it’s more of a high than a drunk, maybe that was why. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care, because right then I welcomed the floating feeling that was edging its way into my head.
As I watched, my eyes kept straying to one guy in particular. Tall, slim, with dirty blonde curls. He’d look almost angelic if it weren’t for the wicked tattoo on his neck. The mix of leather and denim he wore took a bit away from the saintly look too. But it did increase his sex appeal.
He threw back his head and laughed at something one of the others said, and I noticed that while he wasn’t gorgeous, there was something about him that was very attention grabbing. He must’ve sensed my staring, because he turned his head and our gazes locked. A fission of arousal zipped through me, straight to my sex.
He closed one eye in a slow lazy wink and my breath caught in my throat. An arm wrapped around my waist, distracting me, and I was pulled close to a warm soft body.
“We’re here because Caitlyn here is going to win the wet t-shirt contest,” Julie was telling Mark.
Mark’s eyes slid over me and I fought the urge to stick out my newly developed cleavage.
“I am. You’ll cheer for me, right?” Sticking out my bottom lip in an exaggerated pout, I placed a hand on his arm. The universal move of a woman flirting, the casual touch.
“We’ll all cheer for you, pretty girl.” He waved his hand at the group behind him.
“Cheer for you? What are we cheering for?” The sexy blond stepped up beside Mark, his lips lifted in a lazy smile.
“Girls, this is my buddy Karl.”
Karl’s chocolate colored eyes roamed my body. My nipples puckered in reaction, and I forgot about the contest. He reminded me of a lion. The blonde curls the lazy sensuous aura; very laid-back and mellow. But in his eyes . . . in his eyes I could see an intensity that didn’t show in his body language. An intensity that reached down between my legs and stroked my pussy.
A sharp elbow nudged my ribs and I started.
“Oh! I’m going to enter the wet t-shirt contest,” I told him. “Since the winner is picked by crowd reaction, I need as many of you to cheer for me as possible so I can win.
He stepped closer, between me and the others. With his back to them, he cut us off and built a sense of privacy. “You’re going to have to put on a bit of show.”
“I plan to.”
His smile changed from lazy to downright amused. “Ohh, the little kitten has some claws.”
“Kitten?”
“Yeah, you look like a kitten to me. You know, one that will purr real nice when petted properly.”
Cheesy as his line was, I felt it. The fire hidden behind the playful spark in his gaze said this guy knew how to make a girl purr, maybe even scream.
But he didn’t need to know I felt it.
“You think you can make me purr?” I turned away from him slightly, scanning the room. Making it clear I was checking out the other men in the club.
Hot breath brushed against my ear. “I know I can,” he whispered.
And walked away.
Well, crap. I’d wanted to intrigue him, not dismiss him. What was it about me that made men turn me on then walk away?
BOUND was my first single title novel written. It was released by Berkley in July 2006, and remains a reader favorite. Finding copies of it in print is hard, but it’s recently been made available in electronic format. 🙂
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