MARCH MADNESS CONTESTVampires of Mina's Cove - Lucian

Here it is! An excerpt that should give you an idea of what the picture for Lucian should look like. First ten to post a picture will receive Romantic Days Erotic Nights, a cookbook with recipes of romance authors (including my recipe for Succulent Shrimp). At the end of the month, I will announce which picture will go up on THE VAMPIRES OF MINA'S COVE as Lucian. The person who posted that picture will receive a box of Godiva chocolates. So, read the following excerpt then start hunting!

(The following is an unedited, unproofed excerpt from Hunting Diana and may differ from the final version. Copyright 2006 Doreen Orsini)

A sudden shift in the crowd around the bar and an elbow in her back propelled Diana forward. If a strong hand hadn't emerged and clamped around her left arm, she would have slammed into a barstool. Her gaze dropped to the long fingers wrapped around her arm. Oh, God, she knew that hand, had seen it at the lake erupting from the swirling mist that had always left her yearning for its touch.

Her phantom lover.

Phantom...or vampire?

Swallowing the scream that would have ripped through the din of voices if her lungs hadn't shut down, she forced herself to look away from her phantom's hand. Her gaze slid past the black hair sprinkling the taut muscles along his forearm, past the biceps bulging out from a short, white sleeve, past the raven-black hair that fell in soft waves to his shoulders. When she finally saw his face--the stubble coating his chiseled jaw, chin, and cheeks and surrounding full, soft lips parted in a crooked smile--whatever breath she'd managed to drag into her lungs whooshed out with a wheezing scream. She'd kissed those lips, felt them take possession of her mouth, glide along her jaw and down her neck. Oh God, every nerve in her body tingled from the memory even as her body started to tremble with fear.

Tearing her gaze from his mouth, she peered up into the same midnight-blue eyes that had taken her breath away in her dream last night. The pain she'd felt in that dream, the horrible burning in her veins returned with a vengeance. Diana drew in a sharp breath. Her legs buckled.

Darkness obliterated the face of her phantom lover.

(Ok, I have to post the first entries. All others can be viewed by joining my group, doreenorsiniromancers, using the yahoo button on the right. IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!)