Valentine's Slay by Denise N. Wheatley Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Valentine's Slay
by Denise N. Wheatley
Genre: Steamy Sci-fi/Fantasy Romance Novella
In the land of Zanalia, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of war. When two of the realm’s fiercest foes go head-to-head over the sacred ritual, sparks unexpectedly fly, igniting an explosion of love, lust, and ultimately, broken traditions.
In a world filled with warriors, Valentine’s Day means war for the creatures of Zanalia. Mina, queen of the disciplinarian tribe, is responsible for spearheading attacks on the land’s worst enemies.
Spike, the son of king Theo and Mina’s biggest adversary, no longer believes in provoking battles on this love-filled holiday. He secretly encourages the Zanalians to put away their weapons and spend time with their loved ones instead. The absurd suggestion goes against the territory’s oldest tradition and is rejected by many, to the point where Spike receives death threats. His father grows worried for his son and orders Mina to stage his kidnapping, then provide him with personal, around-the-clock protection.
Mina is infuriated by the mission as she’s being forced to protect a disloyal traitor. She vows to make Spike’s time with her as torturous as possible until she unwittingly finds pleasure in the pain she inflicts upon him, while he seemingly relishes in her harsh punishments. Emotions run high between the pair, and Mina realizes that Spike’s wish to spread love this Valentine’s Day just may come true after all.
**On Sale for only $1.99!! **
VALENTINE’S
SLAY
by
Denise
N. Wheatley
Book
Excerpt
Mina
slowly climbed the winding, glass staircase inside of Spike’s
compound. She pressed her back against the wall while watching every
angle around her. In order to gain access to his home, Mina had
utilized her narcoleptic machine gun, which was capable of putting
its victims to sleep within less than a second. She’d shot several
darts into the necks of four armed guards manning the exterior.
According to her surveillance, there were only two guards inside of
the complex. Mina planned to quickly knock them out, grab hold of
Spike, and get him inside of the transporter.
When
she approached Spike’s master bedroom, Mina pressed her ear against
the door and listened as he and the creatures spoke in hushed tones.
She slowly turned the knob and cocked her gun. The minute she swung
open the door, Mina shot a dart into the neck of a watchman standing
to her left, then the one to her right. Spike made a run toward the
bathroom, but just as he reached the threshold, she fired a dart into
his throat. He fell to the floor, and along with the other two
guards, fell into a deep, snoring slumber.
Mina
swooped in immediately, lifting Spike up off the floor, carried him
out of the house and threw him inside the transporter. There was a
comfortable velvet couch that had been placed in the back, but
instead of lying him there, she dragged his body onto a hard, cold
iron bench.
“You’re
going to pay for disrupting my retirement as Queen of the
Disciplinarian Tribe and betraying our beloved Zanalian tradition,”
she said, her wicked tone filled with satisfaction.
Mina
stripped Spike down to his scant undergarments. She handcuffed his
wrists and ankles, then wrapped a heavy metal chain around his waist
and secured it with a huge padlock. As he lay there knocked out cold,
she looked down at his muscular body, handsome face, and soft,
vulnerable expression.
“Don’t
you dare start that,” Mina told herself, shaking off the feeling of
lust that briefly overcame her.
She
headed to the front of the transporter and typed the name of a secret
back road into the navigation system that would lead them far away
from Spike’s compound and in the direction of her quarters. Once a
map popped up on the overhead screen, Mina signaled to the horses
that it was time to take off then sped away into the night.
“Help…help.
Help!”
Mina’s
ears perked up while she listened to Spike scream from the back of
the transporter.
“What
is going on?” he screeched. “Where the hell am I? Somebody,
please, help me!”
“Ugh,”
Mina moaned, ignoring his pleas. She grabbed hold of the steering bar
and maneuvered the vehicle through a dark, dank, hilly road.
According to her digital dashboard, they had been traveling for well
over three hours. Mina had been in constant contact with Theo, who
warned her to remain on the outskirts of Zanalia as Spike’s
protestors were circling every inch of the land, waiting to attack
him the moment he appeared.
“Whoever
is holding me captive,” Spike called out, “you must release me at
once! Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father
is? I am the prince
of Zanalia, soon to be king!”
“Please,
shut up,” Mina muttered, unsympathetically. She pulled the steering
bar back, anxious to get through the swampy territory and onto
smoother terrain. When the chargers slowed down instead of speeding
up, Mina realized they had yet to stop and take a break and assumed
they were exhausted.
She
directed them toward the side of the road, then grabbed several
buckets of food and water and carried them outside. Once the chargers
began feeding away, she hopped back into the transporter and headed
toward the back where Spike was being held.
“What
the…” he yelled the moment he saw her. “What is going on here,
Mina? Where are we, and why am I in shackles? Release me, now! I
insist!”
“Unfortunately
for you, Spike, that is not going to happen. You see, because of your
little attempt to disrupt Zanalia’s Valentine’s Day tradition,
your father ordered that I kidnap and hold you captive until the
holiday is over and our battle against Raynalium is complete. If
you’re angry, be mad at yourself, but you should actually be
thanking me, because I’m the reason you’re still alive.”
Spike
glared at Mina. “If you do not remove these cuffs and chain at
once, you will forever regret it,” he spewed, rattling the
restraints to the point they almost tore into his skin.
“If
you keep threatening me, you’ll be the only one with regrets.”
Spike
tried to sit up, but the chain around his waist forced him back down
onto the freezing bench. He jerked his head toward Mina and let out a
resounding roar.
“My
guards will know where to find me,” he told her. “The second they
free me, I swear I’m going to kill you!”
She
walked over to Spike and leaned in so closely her face was mere
inches away from his.
“You
know what? I was going to play nice with you. Well…semi-nice. But
now? Playtime is over. You’re going to be sorry for the way you
just spoke to me.”
Mina
sauntered toward the front of the transporter, ignoring Spike’s
cries as he called out her name. She grabbed the metal suitcase she’d
secretly packed before heading out on the mission in the event she’d
need its contents. Judging from Spike’s rebellious behavior, Mina
realized that she had done the right thing.
“What
are you doing?” he asked when she opened the case and pulled out
two steel clamps. “What are those?”
Denise N. Wheatley is a lover of happily-ever-afters and the art of storytelling. She is best known for her chick lit novel I WISH I NEVER MET YOU, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004. Since then she’s written (and ghostwritten) numerous novels and novellas that run the romance gamut, from contemporary to paranormal, sweet to steamy.
Denise strives to pen entertaining stories that embody matters of the heart, while creating characters who are strong, colorful and relatable. She is an RWA member and received a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, the city where she was born and raised. When Denise is not sitting behind a computer, you can find her in a movie theater, on a tennis court, watching true crime television or chatting on social media.
Let’s
play ten questions in ten seconds. Go!
1.
Favorite Author: Terry McMillan
2.
Favorite Book: WHACKED by Jules Asner
3.
Sweet or Salty: Sweet
4.
Dream Vacation: Paris
5.
Music or Silence: Music
6.
Plotter or Panster: Plotter
7.
Vanilla or Kink: Kink
8.
Morning Bird or Night Owl: Night Owl
9.
Half Full or Half Empty: Half Full
10.
Boxers, Briefs or Bare: Bare
2 winners: One $15 Amazon gift card and one copy of my steamy contemporary romance novella, MY UNCONDITIONAL VALENTINE
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Thank you so much for featuring me!
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