The girl catches me
staring and I hold my breath. But neither of us turns away. We stare,
unabashed, until Antoine's direction pulls her back into the shoot and she's
lost again—guarded and unhappy, frowning and resigned. She's a blackbird
sitting in a tree staring out at the world, daring the wind to come and knock
her off the swaying bough.
She is wrecked, Elise is
right. But she's not down yet. The look on her face is defiant.
When I look over at the
clock it's well past five. Antoine has been shooting her for almost two hours.
Elise left a while back but whether she's still here in the studio or up in her
apartment, I have no idea. I lost track of her because my eyes are only on the
girl.
Antoine does pretty well
until the end. It's clear he's finished shooting and the girl is starting to
look uncomfortable when he asks her what she was thinking about during the
shoot.
I cringe. No, you don't ask them! You make them want
to tell you, you idiot! I want to pull him aside and stop the crash and
burn that's coming, but it's too late. She snaps at him and he pulls back when
he realizes his mistake.
He turns the conversation
to business and this is where it really gets interesting. She tells him she's
not a model and has no portfolio. I'm just about to laugh when she starts
yelling about pictures as payment.
I look back towards
Elise's station and realize she forgot to explain the terms to her.
We are so off our game
today. One tragic girl has disrupted all the carefully laid plans and protocols
we've had in place for years.
The tragic girl storms
off yelling. Antoine walks over to me and we wait together as she rants to
Elise.
"You better fix
this, Antoine," I say calmly, but inside I'm screaming too. "Pay the f****ing girl, she needs the money."
He snorts like a f****ing
Frenchman. "I do not pay for test shoots."
"This," I say,
turning to face him, "was no test shoot and you know it. You've got
hundreds of shots in that camera. Pay her and make sure she comes back or I
won't do the contract. I want her. I've put up with hundreds of stupid girls
over the years for you and I've never asked you for a favor like this. I want
this one, or I won't do it."
He fishes through his
pocket and pulls out the cash that Clare never earned.
The studio door slams and
we are all reminded that two models have walked out on us today.
"Elise!"
Antoine calls, thrusting the bills out at her. "Catch her, pay her, and
invite her back on Monday."
Elise grabs the money and
flies out the door.
"We're in trouble,
Ronin. She is trouble." He turns a little to look me in the eye, something
he rarely does unless he's serious and wants me to consider his advice.
"You should stay away from her, keep it professional. Or it might get
messy."
I shrug. "I'll do
what I want. And staying away from her isn't even in the top million things I
want to do with that girl."
"Elise will hurt you
if you ruin this one, Ronin. She won't tolerate another Mardee."
F*** you,
is what I think. But I don't say it, I just sigh and we wait in silence for
Elise to come back.
Manic (Rook & Ronin #2) by J.A. Huss
Genre: Adult Fiction (Contemporary Romance)18+
Date Published: April 1, 2013
Publisher: Science Future Press
My Review of This Book
*Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage.
TRAGIC is over and Rook is ready for the future—Spencer Shrike and the STURGIS contract!
It's three months of body art modeling! That means three months of Spencer Shrike's paintbrush all over her body, three months in front of Antoine's camera, and three months of twenty-four-hour filming for Spencer's Biker Channel reality show.
Wait a minute… what reality show? Maybe she should've read that STURGIS contract a little closer?
Sure, Rook's bank account is overflowing, but Ronin is angry, Clare is trying to escape rehab, Antoine is a worried mess, and Elise is just trying to hold everyone together. Rook's new family is about to fall apart before she even gets the chance to enjoy it.
"You scare me,
Rook."
"Why?" I ask,
puzzled.
"Because your future
is making itself right now, this very moment. And you have no idea it's
happening. I want you so completely it hurts. But you and I are in two totally
different places."
My whole body shivers
with a chill as I absorb his words. I swallow. "That sounds like the
beginning of a break-up speech. Are you breaking up with me?"
He scoots my bottom
closer, thrusting himself inside me a little more. "I love you, Rook. I'm
not breaking up with you. But it's all bad timing, you know?"
I shake my head.
"No, not really."
"My career started
when I was seventeen. I've done everything you're just getting a taste of now.
I've traveled all over the world, I've made a shitload of money, I have pretty
much everything I want."
"But—"
"Except the only
thing I really want."
I wait for it, but he
lets out a long sigh and holds it in. "Is it a secret?"
He lets out a soft laugh
and rocks himself into me again. "No, it's not. I already told you that
night we went to the zoo."
"A family," I
say, a little breathless now because what he's doing, this serious conversation
combined with the sensual lovemaking, is making my heart pound.
"Yes. I'm done,
Rook. I can live off the money I've made for decades. I'm ready to do something
else. Start something new."
"Well, how is that a
problem for us?" I ask, lifting up and slipping down on him. It's his turn
to become breathless. "I'm not against the idea, you know."
He smiles as his hand
reaches up to cup my breast.
I shiver again, but this
time it's a good one.
"Not against the
idea is not the same as on board." His fingers stop and his hands wrap
around my waist as he slides me back and forth across his lap. My whole body
flushes with heat and I tip my head back and close my eyes.
"I'm looking for a
partner."
I swallow. "I'd like
to be that partner, but—"
He waits.
I open my eyes. He's
watching me very closely, his hands still gliding over my body, slowly—so, so
slowly. My clit throbs against his friction.
He waits.
"I'm scared too,
Ronin. But of very different things."
He wraps his arms around me
completely and buries his face in my neck, tasting the water on my skin left
over from the misting shower spray. "I'll take care of you, Rook."
I take a deep breath and
let it out. "I want you to take care of me, Ronin."
His palms slide up
underneath my wet hair and then he fists it, just a little, like a claim. It
makes me hesitate, but then he pulls me forward until my cheek touches his.
"Then let me, just let me put it all together for us. I can make you
happy."
Panic (Rook & Ronin #3) by J.A. Huss
Genre: Adult Fiction (Contemporary Romance)18+
Date Published: October 15, 2013
Publisher: Science Future Press
My Review of This Book
*Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage.
Rook is chasing her dream—film school and a chance at a life beyond the one she ran from six months ago. But before she can become the girl she wants to be, she must deal with the girl she left behind.
Ronin is also chasing his dream—a family of his own and a life away from erotic modeling. And he too, has a past he’s trying to forget. A past that makes Rook question everything about their life together.
Lies, secrets, and shocking truths will rock the foundation Rook and Ronin have built. Can they put the past behind them and move forward together? Or is this just another too good to be true relationship that will crash and burn in the end?
My phone beeps an incoming
text just as I settle back on my couch and turn on the TV.
My heart flutters a
little as I read the text.
Dear Rook (AKA Gidget),
I’ve never had the urge to write a love
letter but I’m lying in bed, looking over at your side, wondering if I can somehow
change your mind about this whole deal and talk you into coming the fuck home.
(I’m a selfish asshole, I know.) But I get that you need this so I’ll just say
this instead: I felt like I was leaving a piece of my soul behind the moment I
left. And every second that passes, I miss you like that, times a million.
Love,
Ronin (AKA Larue)
I press call under his
name and he picks up on the first ring. “Ronin Flynn, you are like a door.”
He laughs. “It was that
touching, huh?”
“Not a window where you
can see through to the other side and be sure of what’s coming. But a door,
still closed and leading to every opportunity imaginable and requiring a leap
of faith that the risk is worth it. You are my doorway to endless possibilities
and I’m ready to take that risk.”
I can hear him swallow on
the other end and when he’s done his words rumble out
in his deep, sexy voice.
“Rook, I’m not a risk, I’m a sure thing. You’re the only girl I want to build a
future with. Ever. You’re the one, Rook. The love that only comes around once
in a lifetime and I refuse to settle for anything else.”
He’s perfect. Simply
perfect. “I love your love letter, Larue. It made me sigh like a schoolgirl.”
“Well, you are a schoolgirl, right? I think I’m
gonna have to go looking for a little tartan skirt and some knee socks. Dress
you all up in a sexy outfit this weekend.”
“If you do that, I might
have to be bad on purpose, Mr. Flynn.”
“Don’t tease, Gidget, or
I’ll spank you.”
“You promise that so much
and never come through. I hardly get excited about it anymore.”
He guffaws this time and
I can practically picture his gorgeous smile lighting up his electric blue
eyes. “I can’t f***ing wait until Friday.”
I giggle a little as I
picture our Friday. “I might just ditch class early, Mr. Flynn.”
“And that will earn you
two spankings, Miss Corvus.”
“Promises, promises.”
Check out my reviews of two of the spin-off books in the Rook and Ronin series!
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).
She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.
