The Cruds

Oh, joy.

Whatever flavor of crud is going around this year has finally caught up with me. My head hurts, yesterday I was nauseous and could barely eat, and today my throat is starting to hurt.

Blech.

So I managed to get a little work done today, but I'm going to be pretty much off-line until I kick this crud in the nads and send it crying back to its Mama. In the meantime, since I'm pretty sure I'll be off FB and Twitter for at least another day or two, how about an impromptu excerpt from The Hob?

There. That made you feel better, didn't it?

THE HOB

The Gray Court Book 4

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Length: Novel

Release Date: January 22, 2013

Robin Goodfellow has met his match.

When the Black Queen kidnaps one of the White Queen's nephews, Robin Goodfellow is sent to ensure that the young prince safely returns to the bosom of his family. True to his role as Oberon’s Hobgoblin, he is ready for anything…except meeting his truebond, the very delicious, very human Michaela Exton.

Michaela has dreamed about a flame-haired rogue named Robin Goodfellow since she was a little girl, but everyone knows Puck doesn’t really exist. In real life, it’s a dark-eyed man named Ringo who makes her heart beat faster.

She is closer to her dream man than she thinks, and nobody knows it better than Robin, who wears the guise of Ringo. But there’s competition for her love in the form of Lord Raven, who holds a secret that will rock the foundation of Robin’s world. As a Black Court delegate does the unthinkable, leaving an enraged, grief-stricken Robin hanging onto his humanity by a thread, only Michaela has the power to bring him back from the killing edge—if she survives.


Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, Robin Goodfellow and... Really. Do I need to say any more?


“What the fuck is this?” Robin stared at the entrance to the Marriott. He turned and looked at Kael in disbelief as people, huge masses of people, streamed in and out of the building. A woman in nothing more than a bikini made out of leaves walked past him, distracting him.

Kael cocked one pale brow.

“What? She has nice eyes.” There was no reason for the sudden guilt Robin felt. He’d barely met his bondmate, after all, and hadn’t yet mated with her.

Still, from now on he would keep his gaze to himself. Robin rarely felt guilty about anything, and the sensation took him by surprise. It was unexpected, and unpleasant.

Kael grunted, whether in agreement or not Robin couldn’t say. “I think it’s a fairy convention.”

Robin turned to where Kael casually pointed at a rather large, florally decorated sign situated right outside the front doors. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He could think of only one person who would’ve chosen this is as the place to negotiate her nephew’s release. Laughter bubbled up inside him, seeking release. It was a truly evil mind that had thought up this as a neutral location. “Gloriana’s idea?”

“Who else? Ugh. Fairies.”

The utter disgust in Kael’s voice was his undoing. Robin threw his head back and howled. Truly, Gloriana could not have picked a better venue. The Black Court delegation would be climbing the walls within seconds. The laughter was welcome after his aborted dream last night.

Just a few moments more, and he’d have had her. But something had interrupted his dream, waking him abruptly. He’d been in a foul mood ever since.

Trust humanity to find a way to amuse the Hob.

Kael glared at Robin. “I see nothing funny in this.”

Robin snorted, his shoulders shaking.

“How are we supposed to hide in a group of humans this big?”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Robin snorted, still laughing. The two of them were masters at hiding in plain sight. And here, even if Kael dropped his Seeming, he’d fit right in.

Robin, not so much.

“Did you see those idiots with the strap-on fairy wings? I mean, really. Butterfly wings? A real fairy wouldn’t be caught dead with wings like that.” He completely ignored the woman with the purple monarch butterfly wings glaring at him.

The laughter was turning into outright guffaws at Kael’s continued disgust. The man was entertaining as hell.

“It isn’t funny.”

Oh, yes it was. Robin bent double, clutching his knees to hold himself upright. He could just picture some Black Court Sidhe prancing amongst mortals in strap-on wings. He’d have to videotape it just so Oberon could also watch the fun. Perhaps Gloriana was finally developing a sense of humor.

“Don’t even think you’re strapping fake wings on my ass. And don’t even think about solid-gold Lycra boy over there.” Kael pointed to a man in a skintight gold bodysuit, his face, hands and hair spray painted gold to match.

“I think you’d look stunning.”

Kael snarled. “I’m not the one who’s willing to grow a vagina. You wear it if you like it so much.”

Robin laughed so hard he nearly stopped breathing. He was definitely recruiting Lord Kael for the Blades, if only for his entertainment value.

Kael sighed, grabbed Robin’s arm and turned him around, navigating around a slightly pudgy faux fairy in iridescent dragonfly wings to enter the hotel. The fact that Kael felt comfortable enough with Robin to manhandle him nearly stopped his laughter.

Unfortunately, some human male in far too much body glitter and far too little clothing chose that moment to walk by. His companion, a burly man dressed as, of all things, a large furry pooka, had Kael literally growling, setting Robin off once more.

Kael sighed. “C’mon. I don’t know about you, but I need some caffeine. I can’t deal with this shit before coffee.”

Kael managed to keep Robin upright until the last of the laughter worked its way out of his system.

This assignment had a great deal more potential for fun than he’d first thought...