Black Friday: An Elf for the Holidays by Felicity Heaton

Black Friday 2013Black Friday is here and we’re discussing the season with Felicity Heaton’s Loren from Kissed by a Dark Prince.

Olivia thinks it’s her lucky night when a dangerously handsome unconscious fae ends up on her inspection table. He’s her chance to redeem herself with her employer, the demon-hunting organisation, Archangel. But when the tall, dark and deadly immortal warrior awakes, she gets much more than she bargained for…

Attacked by his enemy in the elf kingdom, the last thing Prince Loren expects when he comes around is a beautiful angel watching over him and medical technology of the mortal realm. Hazy from his injuries, all he can focus on is the pulse ticking in her throat and the sweet allure of her blood.

One single bite reveals she is his eternal mate, triggering a bond between them that will leave him weakened until it is completed… or broken, and pulling Olivia into the crossfire of his ancient feud.

To protect his people and his mate from the machinations of a madman, Loren must risk everything by working with Olivia at Archangel to find a way to break the bond blossoming between them.

But will Loren be strong enough to place duty before desire and give up the one thing he has waited millennia for and craves above all others–his eternal mate? And will Olivia be able to resist the incredible heat that burns between them and the temptation of her dark prince’s kiss?

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away any book on her back list.
_____________________________________________

Thanks for having me here at Literary Escapism as part of your Black Friday event. I have a short seasonal piece with some of the characters from my latest release to share with you all, but first I’ll introduce myself and the book these characters are from. I’m a USA Today best-selling paranormal romance author and I’ve been writing since 2005, and went indie in 2006. I love to write big worlds, populated by vampires, shifters, demons, fae and angels, and I have several series, some complete and some still going. The characters from my piece today are from the first book in my new series, Eternal Mates, which is set in the same world as my Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Here’s my piece with the hot hero of Kissed by a Dark Prince as he attempts to find the perfect present for his eternal mate, Olivia…

An Elf for the Holidays

FHeaton-Kissed by a Dark PrinceLoren navigated the busy pedestrian street, curling his lip at any mortal who bumped him and barely stifling the growl that rumbled up his throat and his desire to flash fangs at them. Beneath the thick woollen hat covering his blue-black hair, his ears were pointed, a sign of his distress he preferred to keep hidden from the male escorting him on this mission.

Bleu, his second in command, muttered dark things in the elf tongue into the thick black scarf wrapped around his neck and shielding the lower half of his face. Loren walked hunched up like him, his hands jammed into his matching black heavy wool coat to keep the biting chill off his skin. Bleu had no such path open to him. He had foolishly insisted on carrying all of Loren’s shopping bags, an act he evidently now regretted. His mood was degenerating faster with each passing second and Loren felt sure it was only a matter of time before his friend snapped and threatened any one of the jovial human shoppers bustling around them.

Colourful decorations illuminated Loren’s path, hanging between the buildings of the shopping street in the heart of London. Bright against the inky sky. They caught Loren’s attention, distracting him as his blue gaze studied the strange choice of creature and tried to make sense of them. They were a large number of enormous robins. He was familiar with the bird, but uncertain why mortals had chosen it to symbolise their religious holiday they called Christmas.

Olivia, his beautiful human mate, had attempted to explain to him the importance of the holiday, but the more she had told him, the more it had sounded less like something religious and more like something focused on family and the pleasure of giving and receiving presents. She had turned solemn after a short period of discussing it with him and reflecting on the Christmases she had shared with her brother in the past in an attempt to explain it to him, and why she loved this time of year. Neither of them enjoyed speaking of their brother. She had lost hers many years ago. He was still searching for his, trying to track him across the mortal world and Hell before he harmed himself or others.

The discussion with Olivia had given him insight into her, and he had decided then that this festive season and the giving of presents was important to her. He had silently vowed that he would give her a Christmas that she would remember. His eternal mate deserved no less. She had given him joy, love, and a future no longer filled with darkness but flooded with light and warmth. He wanted, needed, to give something back to her and show her that she was important to him.

When he had approached her friend Sable about the objective of his mission, the demon huntress had told him to get Olivia presents. He had probed in an attempt to discover what presents his little female would prefer, but Sable had been unable to offer any suggestions and had merely told him to ‘go with your gut’.

Loren had turned to Bleu.

Bleu had suggested he ask Olivia.

Loren still shook his head at that. His second in command spent hours in the company of mortal females when the urge struck him, yet he had failed to acquire any knowledge on female likes and dislikes.

A mortal bumped against him, knocking him back a step.

“Tourists,” the female muttered and stormed onwards.

Loren’s gaze tracked her. Bleu growled beside him and took a step forwards, in the direction of the woman.

Loren caught his arm and held him back. “Calm yourself, Bleu. I was not looking where I was going.”

“My prince?” Bleu said and looked back at him, a scowl darkening his features. “I grow tired of these impudent creatures.”

He could sense Bleu’s unease and irritation, and knew most of it stemmed from the fact they had spent long hours shopping. He had bought Olivia everything from a scarf to jewels, and household items he knew that she liked but lacked when she stayed with him in his castle.

Bleu’s irritation only increased when a young child pointed at him.

“Elf.”

Bleu turned his scowl on the tiny blond boy swaddled in thick colourful clothes. The boy’s mother attempted to pull her child away but he stood firm, his finger as unwavering as his broad smile.

“Mummy, there’s an elf.”

Loren looked across at his second in command and sighed when he spotted what had drawn attention to him. Bleu’s ears had changed, growing pointed, the tips showing through the wild blue-black strands of his hair. He cleared his throat and gave Bleu a pointed look when he looked as if he was considering scaring the child away.

Olivia had been poking fun at him about Christmas elves ever since she had told him about all the traditions and stories of this festive season and had realised that he was an elf too. She had even taken to calling him her ‘little helper’ and had threatened to find him something green to wear. She knew more than anyone that there was a vast difference between his kind and the ones mortals had made up. For a start, he was certain that the elves belonging to this time of year did not drink blood, fight wars with or against demons, or possess the ability to teleport and other psychic gifts.

The boy showed no fear as he dragged his mother towards him. More humans had stopped to stare too. It was too late for Bleu to change his ears back without revealing that they weren’t fake ones procured as a festive joke. The dark elf council would have both their heads if they revealed that elves were in fact very real, very dangerous and residing in their own realm in Hell, and that he was the prince and leader of that species.

“Do you know Santa Claus?” The boy beamed up at Bleu, a hopeful look in his dark eyes.

Bleu’s gaze darkened and Loren could see he was considering all the ways he could rid himself of the child he viewed as a pest.

“Let’s allow them to go on their way,” the mother said, flicking a nervous glance at them both. Her boy had no fear of them but she was another matter.

“But he’s an elf. I want to know if he lives at the North Pole.” The child pouted at his mother. The woman smiled shakily at them both.

“I live in Hel—” Bleu started.

Loren clapped a hand over his mouth to silence him. “Helsinki… which is near this North Pole you speak of.”

He scowled at Bleu. Bleu shrugged, no sign of remorse in his steady green gaze. He would have words with his second in command later, when they were alone. Telling the boy they were from Hell would have been disastrous.

“So you know Santa Claus?” The boy continued to smile at him. The mother continued to try to drag him away.

Loren wasn’t sure what to say. He stared down at the child, seeing not a blond lad with dark eyes but a small boy with black hair and purple eyes, and his mother’s smile. His heart ached in his chest at the thought of his love with Olivia bringing new life into the world.

“My prince?” Bleu asked in their own language.

Loren held his hand up to reassure him that he was well and then pulled the hat from his head to reveal his pointed ears and crouched before the boy.

“Another elf.” The boy reached for him and the woman looked as if she might scream. Loren gave her a reassuring smile and nodded, hoping she would see that he meant no harm to her offspring.

The young boy touched his pointed ear and gasped. “It’s real. You’re really an elf?”

He nodded, his heart squeezing in his chest at the excitement that flittered across the boy’s face.

“And you know Santa?”

He still wasn’t sure what to say in response to that and he still couldn’t stop picturing the boy as his own, imagining how it would feel to see this excitement and curiosity in his own child’s eyes, this wonder at the world. He had lost that wonder centuries ago, not long into his five thousand years in this world, and envied the boy.

“Of course he knows Santa Claus.” The familiar female voice coming from behind him sent warmth seeping through his bones. “Don’t all elves?”

Loren looked over his shoulder at Olivia. She stood behind him, a beautiful smile curving her rosy lips, her eyes sparkling with it under the twinkling illuminations above her. Her dark hair tumbled from beneath her red woollen hat, cascading over the shoulders of her black winter coat.

She stepped forwards, her smile growing as she met his gaze, and then looked beyond him to the boy. She placed her hands on Loren’s shoulders.

“Have you been a good little boy?” she said and Loren wasn’t sure whether she was talking to him now, or the child.

“Very,” the boy answered and looked up at his mother. “Haven’t I?”

The mother gave a stiff nod.

“Then I’m sure these two elves will tell Santa all about it and you’ll get your wish,” Olivia said and the boy grinned at her, and then at Loren.

Loren’s heart seized again. Bleu huffed a sigh and muttered about the cold and the number of bags he was carrying.

The mother finally managed to pull her child away. He waved as he went, constantly looking behind him until the crowd swallowed them both.

Loren rose to his feet, towering over Olivia, and looked down into her enchanting dark eyes.

She stepped up to him, ran her hands up his chest to his shoulders, and tipped her head back. “And what about you? Have you been a good little boy?”

Loren smiled and nodded, and her smile turned wicked and tempting. He would take his reward later, when they were alone in his rooms at the castle.

“I came to find you when Sable said you had gone shopping and had taken Bleu of all people as your guide.”

Bleu growled at her. Loren stifled a chuckle. She was right. Bleu was not the best choice, had not been much assistance in helping him find the perfect presents for Olivia, but he was his friend and he appreciated him offering to keep him company.

Olivia took the hat from his hands and placed it back onto his head, her fingers brushing his ears at the same time, sending a hot shivery ache through him. He wanted to teleport her home now and lay her down on his bed, making love to her for hours.

“So… elves… what possessed you to go shopping at a time of year that paints your kind as small, extremely happy, and with a penchant for wearing green and red?”

Loren brushed his fingers across her cold rosy cheek. “I desired to get you a present.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? What did you get?”

She tried to look over at the bags Bleu carried. Loren stopped her, cupping her cheek with his palm and keeping her gaze on him.

“That would spoil the surprise. You will find out on the appropriate day.” He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip, his gaze dropping there and his blood heating. “What present will you give me… since I have been a good elf?”

Olivia grinned saucily, tiptoed and whispered into his ear.

Loren’s eyes widened and turned purple and his pointed ears flared beneath his hat. He growled, tugged her against him, and teleported, landing them in their rooms in the castle. Olivia giggled as he swept her up into his arms and carried her towards their bed, and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

As he laid her down on the dark purple sheets and covered her with his body, kissing her, he realised that she had already given him the most wonderful present in the world.

She had given him her love.

She had given herself to him forever.

And he felt certain that at some point in the future, when they were both ready, she would give him another wonderful gift. A child to share their love and their world.

But for now she was all his.

He kissed a trail down her throat.

And he would show her just how good an elf he could be for her.
______________________

Meet Felicity Heaton!

Felicity writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

Felicity HeatonContact Info: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReadsVampires Realm siteYahoo Group

Want to purchase Felicity’s novels?
Kissed by a Dark Prince
Her Angel

  1. Her Dark Angel
  2. Her Fallen Angel
  3. Her Warrior Angel
  4. Her Guardian Angel
  5. Her Demonic Angel
  6. Her Wicked Angel

Her Angel Vol 1

Please help spread the word: Tweet: #BlackFriday is here. Celebrate the chaos with #holiday #stories and #contests by 26 authors (Nov29-Dec24) http://wp.me/p3SIUp-atz
_____________________________________________

Contest Time!

Thank you Felicity for taking part in Literary Escapism’s Black Friday!

Here’s the a Rafflecopter widget for the $25 giftcard giveaway.

Felicity is giving away any book on her back list (excluding Kissed by a Dark Prince and Her Wicked Angel). To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What would you do if you came across an elf while shopping? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.

Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.

The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

All Black Friday contests will remain open until December 31st at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have. Have you checked out the other Black Friday contests yet? Check out the Master List to see all the Black Friday giveaways

I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

8 Comments

  1. I think I’ll be stunned and just keep staring at him; trying to see if he looks anything like how I’ve imagined. Once I recover from my shock, I’ll probably try to touch him to see how he feels like.

  2. I only hope that when I’m shopping that if I do come across an Elf, that its one of Felicity’s, I would pick him up put him in my bag and rush home and devour him! boy those Elves of hers are deliciously HOT and I would certainly have a Wicked Christmas. yum!!

  3. Omg that was so funny, Ah bless Bleu he’s not a happy Bunny ( Oop’s I mean Elf) I think Loren is definitely going to get his reward for getting Olivia so many Gifts? I wish I was out Christmas shopping and bumped into one of Felicity’s Elves I would snap him up put him in my bag rush home and devour him, Oh what a Wickedly Merry Christmas that would be! I’d never be able to let him go, delishhhh. loving this new series Eternal Mates.

Comments are closed.