Love thy Neighbor

Meet Victoria “Torii” Theas, the female lead of At Last

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s my depiction of Ethan Forché, Torii’s love interest:

 

 

I’m putting up the entire first chapter of the ebook today. Here’s a brief excerpt of the beginning:

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

“Can you please hold the elevator?”

The female voice sweetly asking Ethan Forché not to let the doors close caught him off guard. Pressing the open button while the thing buzzed in annoyance, Ethan angled his wheelchair sideways so that he didn’t block the entrance. One of the perks of having underground parking meant he could park his car close to the elevator. It was a welcome convenience, since his apartment was on the first floor. After an out of breath “thank you,” the woman walked in, positioning herself in the middle of the back wall.

“Hi, I’m Torii Theas.” An outstretched, manicured hand waited to shake his. Their flesh to flesh contact was brief and business like, but it gave him enough time to notice the golden undertone of her brown skin.

After managing to find his voice, he gave her a smile. “Ethan . . . Forché. It’s nice to see you again.” Oops. That was probably the wrong thing to say. The last time he’d seen her she’d been clothed in just a bed sheet after the police broke down her door. Ethan got up to the second floor just in time to hear her cursing up a storm while demanding the cops release her boyfriend.

Yeah, it was all just a stupid error on his part. Really stupid. Now they awkwardly shared the same elevator. He was still sweaty from a hard fought game of basketball while she was very professional looking with her attaché in one hand and parted on the side, bone straight brunette hair grazing her shoulders.

Ethan just wanted to get this over with. But the elevator rose so slowly that it gave him enough time to dwell on the nearness of her elbow to his bare shoulder, and the pleasant aroma of whatever kind of perfume she had on. After what seemed like an eternity, instead of blasting him Torii’s voice and demeanor remained friendly.

“So, I hear you’re an artist?” she asked, turning toward him again. The fabric of the dress she wore shimmered from her movement. The outfit was so posh looking that it made him think she’d come back from a dinner date. If he had to guess her age he would’ve said early thirties, but thanks to their apartment manager’s loose tongue he already knew she was over forty. After getting an up close view Ethan had to admit that Torii Theas looked damn good for her age, and that included getting a peek of her Serena Williams stacked frame molded to a bed sheet. When her lips pursed, it finally registered that she was patiently waiting on him to answer.

“I-I’m a graphic artist.”

“And you like shooting hoops,” Torii said, intent on trying to initiate some sort of conversation. The basketball perched on his lap seemed like a good ice breaker, especially since she thought he was acting a little stand-offish.

“The basketball court is my second home.”

“So you must be pretty good, huh?”

Slightly embarrassed, he dropped his head. “Ah, my shooting skills were lacking tonight but I think I redeemed myself by getting in some decent blocks and steals.”

“Do you play one on one or on a team?

“I’m in a team league.” He left off the part about it being a wheelchair league, just because.

“Did your team win?”

“It was a close game but yeah, we won.” Saying it was close was an understatement. After his NBA worthy steal and lob down court to an open man, the ball circled the rim until it finally fell in. Those kinds of shots were misery for the losing team and just plain lucky for the winner. The elevator chimed just then to let him know they’d reached the first floor. Propelling his chair forward, Ethan debated whether he should apologize. Figuring it couldn’t hurt, he told her, “I hope this means you’ve forgiven me. I-I really didn’t mean to call the cops on you guys. I just thought you were screaming for help-”

Torii’s eyes narrowed and her voice was nothing but a screech. “You’re the one who called the police?”

Oh. Shit. At a time like this he wished his wheelchair  was equipped with a turbo booster.

 

~~~~~End of Excerpt~~~~~

Copyrighted Material 

 

 

I tend to use Saturdays as a digital art day. One more promo I finished:

 

 

 

Ronin is part of a new series of sexy paranormal Alphas: