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12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 12

“Both of you tell me you are not one and the same, and yet you remember everything. You know each other’s minds. You know what the other is planning and you let it happen.” The words come in a rush and with them a terrible realization. “You let it happen.” Angry tears sting my eyes. I’ve given everything to this being; left myself at his mercy time and again. I’ve borne _____’s torments, as I’ve shouldered _____’s, hoping that my pleasance would better them in return. And for all his now gentle words, I find that the fearsome, powerful _____ is a coward. Possible points: 8 Complete contest rules here.

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 11

_____ was the first man she’d seen whose scars were a fact of life. On him, they were a testament to his strength and will to survive. At least two of his scars would have been life threatening. He’d received them fighting for his life. As a scientist, _____ should have been impassive, looking at them. As a woman, she wanted to know how he’d gotten each one. She wanted to ask if it had hurt. There was another scar on his forearm. It looked like it had come too close to severing part of his limb. _____ watched her hand reach for that arm, as if she weren’t in control of it. _____ caught it in a flash, squeezing… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 11

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 10

The fantasy made the region around her heart ache. Why couldn’t she have met a guy like this before? Maybe if she had, her life would have turned out differently. Maybe he could have kept her thoughts and dreams occupied with more pleasant things than what those around her were thinking. Maybe she could have woken up with him, and spent her days smiling about how lucky she was, and come back home to sleep in his arms at night. Maybe he would have kept her so busy in his bed that she wouldn’t have had time to think about anything else. Ah, sex. _____ remembered having had it. So very long ago. Remembered not being impressed with it. She should… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 10

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 9

The doc cleared her throat. “In light of the unusual circumstances,”—her tone said just how much of an understatement that was—“I am willing to put aside what happened earlier, for now. I believe it is … not impossible … for us to have a rational conversation. After which, of course, I will expect you to leave.” It would have sounded almost professional if he didn’t keep picturing her naked. “Fair enough,” he managed. “Please, sit.” She hesitated, but finally sat, leaving plenty of room for herself, in case she had to bolt. He really hoped she wouldn’t. If he had to chase her down again, he might be tempted to do something stupid. “Who are you?” she asked, for the… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 9

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 8

A pot broke in the kitchen. The cook screamed and chased the thief outside, but the wily youth escaped with a loaf of bread to fill a painfully empty belly. The wizard noticed and Woden smiled, savoring his reaction. There again, the girl who’d mourned an old woman’s death. She was the one. She would change everything. If only the wizard and his king could accept the counsel of a woman. Another shift and there was the young prince, barely thirteen years old, strapping on armor and climbing the stairs to the battlements. He gravely surveyed the armies before him and directed the archers in their assault. A shout went up too late. _____’s faithful general grabbed the boy, shielding… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 8

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 7

_____ followed the corridor, feeling colder with each step. She could hear her heart beating out a frantic staccato against her ribs. The sound drowned out any noise her shoes might have made on a regular floor. This one had been designed to muffle it. Her palms were sweating as she turned left again and continued along the down sloping path. The noises the clerk had mentioned started off as nothing but a soft hum. It gave _____ pause and her step slowed. For the first time apprehension hit her. Not for her safety, but for her sanity. So many people … so many voices. She might not be able to block them out. Her arms shook. She wanted to… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 7

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 6

“You presume me immune to Honorine’s charms?” “I know you to be.” Her fingers travel over my arm. “Innocence was never a lure for you, not even m-mine.” _____ was an innocent the first time she rode alone through the night, slipped into my castle and beneath my bed sheets. Innocent in body, perhaps, but in no other way. I was the one seduced. The reminder makes me chuckle. I take her fingers in my hand. “I’ve always wondered just how innocent you really were,” I say. “And what precisely did you tell Honorine about that night to make her stoop to this?” Surprise, guilt, and finally hurt flash in her lovely eyes. She masks them quickly with an easy… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 6

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 5

“Y-you know who I am?” He chuckles, more of a scoff. “Oh, I know.” He turns and I see his profile, backlit by the fire. He has long wooden stick in his hand to tend the fire; there are no iron pokers in this room. Nothing he could use to free himself. “You think I don’t hear your sniveling voice every month? You think I don’t smell that disgusting sewer water you call perfume all over my home?” He shoves to his feet and I flinch. Worse, he notices. Though I cannot see his face clearly, I … sense his amusement. “I hear the servants talk about you like some goddamned salvation. They all think you’re a saint come to… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 5

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 4

____ went for the first thing she could reach. A pillow. In her fright, she didn’t care. She whaled it over his head again and again, until the thing tore apart and feathers rained everywhere. When all that was left in her hand was an empty pillow case, and she was breathing hard, she looked up at him again. The guy was covered in feathers, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at her. “Feel better now?” _____ screamed again. “Knock it off!” he commanded, his voice booming. _____ shut up instantly. He sighed, in what sounded like relief. Possible points: 8 Complete contest rules here.

12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 3

A whirlwind rises around me, so powerful I’m afraid it will lift me off my feet, and I don’t understand how the cards can be so still on that barrel, so steady, as if my future is already written in stone and it’s only my denial that tries to make me stray from the path set out before me. I fight it with all of my might. There is wilderness ahead, danger I can avoid if only I turn my feet around and go back the way I came. The pull of destiny and my need to escape it tears me asunder, and in my mind I scream for the hag to turn the last card. Finish this—save me somehow.… Read More »12 Days of Christmas Excerpts Contest Day 3