Introducing LEXI POST

Forgiving the Flaws in a Hero

Thank you Denysé, for having me on the Bound By Passion blog. It’s so great to be here to talk about the hero in my new release MASQUE.

Let’s face it.  Women generally don’t want a perfect man for a love interest, especially in a romance novel.  Even better if it’s an erotic romance novel. As I created the character of Synn MacAllistair, the hero of MASQUE, I knew he had to have a flaw. After all, he is aristocratic, tall, muscular, has long brown hair and grey eyes with shards of sapphire blue, so the flaw was definitely not on the outside. Well, except for that black burn mark on his chest, but we won’t go there.

It wasn’t difficult to find Synn’s problem because like most heroes, he was honorable to the core. You see, unlike many people we encounter who don’t take responsibility for their actions, Synn took responsibility for things he had no control over. Have you ever met someone like this? I have, and to say this hyper-honorability can be frustrating would be an understatement.

Of course, that is not Synn’s only flaw. Due to the weight of this guilt he has carried around with him for 150 years (no he’s not a vampire), he cannot see beyond rectifying his mistake by helping his friends to cross over (yes, the friends are ghosts).  The problem is, nothing he has tried has worked. Unfortunately for the modern-day Rena, Synn cannot see beyond his need to fix what he believes he broke. I’m sure you have met someone like this, right?  Someone who is so fixated on one goal that other parts of his or her life completely fall apart?

Yes, this is my hero. A self-tortured man who believes the only way to help his friends is to bring the heroine through the seven rooms of the Masque. Each room is a different sexual experience Synn is determined to complete with her. Hmm, I think I could forgive the man his few flaws to help him out. J Could you?

For a chance to win a beautiful Venetian mask made in Italy, be sure to leave a comment along with your contact information.  Good luck!

Excerpt from MASQUE:

At the top, a wooden door stood open and she stepped outside into the fading light of day, but it wasn’t the sunset that arrested her attention. Synn stood, one foot braced on an embrasure, one hand resting on the crenellated stone of the battlement. The breeze lifted his long brown hair away from his face and off his shoulders…his very bare shoulders.

Oh shit. She hadn’t expected his back to be so broad and muscular. His biceps stood in stark relief as if he worked construction. Below his narrow waist, his firm ass and muscular thighs were outlined by his tight gray pantaloons, if she had the term right. She’d bet the boots he wore were Hessians because those were the only nineteenth-century boots she’d heard of that rose to the knee. To call the man handsome would be to belittle his sculpted perfection, and her heart increased its beat as raw, sexual attraction rifled through her limbs.

He brought his arm down, causing the muscles in his back to ripple before he turned to catch her staring.

Her gaze shifted to his eyes and for a moment they revealed such heartbreaking anguish that all sexual heat fled and her stomach tightened into a sorrowful knot. He shuttered his gaze and smirked. “Were you looking for something?”

Confused, and more than a little distracted by the man’s emotions and his highly defined pectoral muscles, one of which had a fist-sized dark spot, she grasped for logic. “Yes, the sunset.”

“Ah, then you are just in time.” He stepped to the side, bowed and swept his hand toward the battlement. “It’s ready for you, my lady.”

She searched his eyes for any sign that he made fun of her, but found only sincerity. “Thank you.”

She stepped up to the place next to him as indicated and gazed across the town. As she suspected, the ocean was a few blocks past the shops and it glittered red as the setting sun shimmered off its dark surface, its waves lifting and lowering the dazzling color as it moved.

“This is breathtaking.”

“Yes, it is.”

His tone made her glance up, and she found him staring at her. She swallowed.

He released her hair from its clip and the breeze swept it from her face. She couldn’t have looked away from his eyes even if the sun had turned green.

He cupped her jaw with his hand. “You are exquisite.”

Her breath hitched at his words, but her mouth parted as his face drew closer to hers. When their lips were but a breath away, he spoke again. “You are made for passion, Rena.”

She let her eyes close, his words shooting pure desire through her, and then his full lips were upon hers. It was not a gentle kiss, but neither was it harsh or demanding, simply controlled. The hand holding her face encouraged her to open her lips and she did.

She grasped his biceps as his tongue swept into her mouth to explore. He tasted like cinnamon spice but not sweet. When his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, she entwined her arms around his neck, her body tight against his hard one. Unable to stem the growing need building inside her, she pressed her hips into his. A long, hard cock greeted her. She wanted him.

Synn groaned and released her, stepping away.

She grabbed at the embrasure to keep herself from falling on her ass. What the hell was that?

He turned toward the sunset again, his body in perfect profile, his hands clenched at his sides.

Not sure if she was upset because he stopped the kiss or because he started it in the first place, she gritted her teeth. Her body ached for release and she wanted him to provide it, no matter what her mind said. Her sexual frustration gave her a bravery she rarely had. “Why did you stop kissing me?” She had hoped to sound matter-of-fact, but hurt crept into her voice. Did he find her beneath him?

He remained motionless, speaking to the horizon. “If I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t be able to. You are not ready for me yet.”

MASQUE is available at Ellora’s Cave http://www.ellorascave.com/masque.html

You can find Lexi at:

http://www.lexipostbooks.com

http://www.facebook.com/lexipostbooks

https://twitter.com/LexiPost

Don’t forget for a chance to win the Venetian mask made in Italy, be sure to leave a comment!