The R in RS

By: Autumn Jordon

When asked about our stories, I’ve noticed that many romantic suspense authors—myself included—focus on the suspense part of the novel when describing them.  Understandable, since action, adventure and intrigue does indeed edge us to the front of our seats and sends our pulse racing. However, a heated, flourishing relationship between a woman and a man also does, and it does even more.

Over the course of a romance we come to know two people better than we know anyone else in our lives. We know their strengths and weaknesses. We know their every thought. They become our dear friends. We feel their pain and their love for each other. Their love affair warms our hearts. We want to believe our own love is as strong and will live through eternity, like theirs.

When most young girls of sixteen were getting their first real taste of independence by learning to drive and getting job, and dreaming of college and that special someone who’ll take them to homecoming and proms, Nicole Carson, my heroine in Seized By Darkness, was surviving.  She was kidnapped and forced to become the mistress of mafia lord who plucked her from his human trafficking ring.

As you can see, I’m sharing with you part of the suspense plot of my new release, Seized By Darkness.  I have to because it is the life changing event that happens to my heroine which eventually leads her to cross paths with my hero, U.S. Marshal Will Haus.  If she had never been kidnapped and had never escaped, she would’ve never have met Will and perhaps they would never know the true meaning of love.

Nicole is the perfect woman for Will. Her ordeal has made her strong enough to stand by him, yet in many ways she has strangely been untouched by her nightmare and is both naïve and sweet. Nicole helps Will forget the dreadful world he has to deal with in his profession.  And Will is the prefect man for Nicole because he sees the true worth of a person and has a good, caring heart. He also is ferociously loyal and loves just as intensely.

Falling in love wasn’t easy for either of them because they each had issues they had to overcome. They helped each other do just that.  To borrow a famed thought from the film ‘Jerry McGuire’, they completed each other.

Next time someone asks me about Seized By Darkness, I’m going to tell them Seized By Darkness is a beautiful love story about two people who came together because of horrid incident and while defeating forces I hope I never experience, they fall deeply and forever in love.

Excerpt of SEIZED BYDARKNESS (Chp 14): (This is copyrighted material and may not be copied or used in any format without the express permission of the author, Autumn Jordon.) 

The old air conditioner, which did little more than act as a fan pushing warm air into the room, rattled in the window, pulling Nicole from a fretful sleep. Under her long hair, sweat beaded the nape of her neck. She stretched and peeled away from the damp sheet under her. Through heavy lashes, she noticed a boot tapping the air at the base of the single-sized bed and her heart shot into her throat. Clutching the sheet to her bare breasts, she rolled and scrambled to the opposite side of the bed, only to be pinned, faced-down onto the mattress by the intruder.

“Let me go.” She thrashed and kicked back, striking air. Her breasts squished into the mattress springs. She ignored the pain, reached behind her, and grabbed fists filled with the assailant’s long hair. With all her might, she yanked hard.

“Owww.”

She winced, her ear ringing with the attacker’s cry.

He dropped his weight from his elbows, forcing the air from her lungs. His fingers locked around her wrists and tried breaking her hold on him. “Damn, Katrina. Stop pulling. You’re ripping my hair out.”

Every muscle of her body went stark still, except for her eyes-they widened. “Will?” Over her shoulder, she peeked through her auburn strands and caught a glimpse of Will’s cheek plastered against her bare shoulder.

“Yeah. It’s me. Christ. Now let go.” His hot breath caressed her sensitive skin, sending tingles down her spine.

Nicole became aware of the softness of his hair between her fingers, his musty scent bombarding her nostrils on the cusp of each sharp breath she inhaled, and every inch of his hard body pressing against her backside. Warmth pooled between her legs and she closed her eyes against her body’s reaction to him. “You first.”

He let go of her wrists.

Nicole slid her arms close to her body and pushed against the mattress, trying to topple his weight from her, so she could roll over, but he kept her pinned in place.

The discounted, thin sheets she’d bought at the local Dollar-Mart and his clothing were the only barrier between his hot flesh meeting hers. The knowledge caused the room to grow warmer. “I let go. Now get off of me.” She bucked against him. A mistake. She laid still.

“Not until you tell me what were you reaching for?”

“What?” She glanced at him and then scanned the nightstand next to the bed. “Nothing. I don’t have a gun if that is what you’re thinking. I was just trying to get away.”

“Not until you promise me you won’t try to run.” Will arched up and bore his weight on his elbows. His strong thighs held her legs in place while his hard ridge pressed against her backside.

She fisted the sheet below her, trapped her lip between her teeth, and wrestled with the fire mounting low in her belly. Not to go dizzy with want, Nicole remained still. “I’ll scream if you don’t. My landlord has great hearing, and, he has a huge shot gun.”

“You don’t want to do that.”

She struggled to push up on her elbows again. “Why not?”

“I’ll have no choice but to flash my badge and haul your ass out of here, sheet optional.”

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Award-winning author Autumn Jordon is published in both romantic suspense and romantic western contemporary. Her first release ‘HisWitness To Evil’ was a 2009 Golden Heart® finalist and also won the 2010 Golden Leaf for ‘Best First Book’.  Taking events from life, twisting them and adding strong heroines and delicious heroes is the recipe she uses for her award-winning novels.  She is living her dream as a full-time writer with her own hero in the shadows of the Blue Appalachian Mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. 

To learn more about Autumn Jordon go to www.autumnjordon.com  or join her on Facebook and on Twitter as @ajordon.