Dawn, Autumn - Teasing Danger

Title: Teasing Danger
Author: Autumn Dawn
Series: Darklands #1
Pub: New Concepts Publishing
Pub Date: November, 2003
ISBN: 1586080814
Genre: Futuristic erotic romance
Time Period:
Setting:
Hero: Keilor
Heroine: Jasmine

Summary:

When Jasmine's best friend disappears in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, Jasmine knows it's up to her to bring her home. What she didn't count on was just how far she'd have to go to get the job done.

Before Jasmine can figure out her next move her camp is surrounded by wolves, controlled by a stranger hidden by the night. He forces her to choose: follow him or become wolf bait.

She follows him into a world gone suddenly alien. Three moons shine in the sultry night sky, and wolves weave in and out of majestic redwoods.

She finds her friend, but things are more complicated than she ever imagined. They discover they are trapped in a world not their own, held captive by men who are as dangerous as they are exciting. When love calls Jasmine to the arms of a powerful alien soldier, can she overcome what stands between them, or will she run away?

Excerpt:

Chapter 1


“Wait a minute, Lemming! Let me catch my breath,” Jasmine gasped, clutching a slender poplar for balance and causing a shower of bright leaves and water to pepper her head and shoulders. For a moment, her vision blurred and her legs trembled, but she stiffened them, waiting it out. It was the painful tightness in her chest that was more difficult to ease.

Used to such stops, the black and white border collie trotted over to her, tail wagging, and sat gracefully at her feet. Deciding a rest was in order, Jasmine inspected a large rock that had been washed free of the hill’s sticky clay, looking for ants. Satisfied, she shifted the holstered pistol on her hip and sat down gingerly on the lichen covered stone to take in the view.

Densely wooded Alaskan hills rolled away in the distance without a sign of civilization. Autumn had hung her golden coins from every birch and cottonwood as far as the eye could see, and the gold water wash of late evening sunlight showed them to their best advantage. Even the dark spruce covering the gentle slopes were sprinkled with the natural glitter.

She glanced at her watch, her breath frosting in the chill air; 7:44 P.M.. It would start getting dark soon, and this late in September, it could snow at any time. Too bad it wasn’t June. If it were then she wouldn’t have to worry about the darkness at all, since the sun never set during the height of summer.

She stood and hefted her pack, her lungs giving a tired protest. Once again she cursed the fact that asthma medication made her heart race and her hands and feet go numb. She could use a dose of something right now. At least it was only exercise induced asthma, she thought, trying to pick up her flagging spirits. All she really needed was a little rest to catch her breath. Besides, she could have been born allergic to chocolate. She glanced at Lemming affectionately. Or dogs.

Though come to think of it, if she’d been allergic to dogs, she wouldn’t have to be out here.

Rapidly losing steam, she trudged up the trail, really little more than a brushy track, noting the moose nuggets and hoof prints in the soft turf without enthusiasm. With her luck she’d run into an irate cow with a calf and get stuck in a Mexican standoff while the cow tried to decide if she was worth trampling or better off ignored. It really was a shame she didn’t have the energy to stop and pick some cranberries. They were plentiful this year and she could use a good batch of cranberry bars.

Heck, while she was dreaming, how about a hot date, an end cut of the Turtle Club’s prime rib and a dry pair of socks?

Or maybe she should be dreaming about a hot date for Wiley, she thought with disgust. She scanned the brush covered hillside. If her friend and roommate paid more attention to her love life then maybe she wouldn’t feel the need to run off to the woods at a moments notice, and she wouldn’t have to chase the girl all over the country.

Like now.

Lemming barked from somewhere up ahead, signaling that she’d found Wiley’s camp. Jasmine’s head came up and she eagerly picked up her pace. In a minute she’d be sipping hot cocoa and roasting herself in front of a hot fire, and—

She entered the mossy clearing where Lemming waited and stopped, confused.

The clearing was empty.

(c) copyright August 2002, Autumn Beadreault

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The Darklands series

Book 1: Teasing Danger
Book 2: Something Wild This Way Comes
Book 3: Bad Moon Rising