It started with a kiss…
I bet I won’t be only writer to start my smoochy blog post with that line, but it’s such a good opener, who can resist it?
In my story, Cat and Mouse, Adam and Layla’s romance starts with a kiss. But it’s not a kiss either of them is expecting and Layla never intends for it to lead to the passionate chasing game it precipitates. Here’s how it comes about:
She returned, yet again, to the memory of their first meeting–a memory that she couldn’t resist worrying, like a loose tooth, taking pleasure in the danger of it.
She’d been new to her urban sport and inexperienced. One evening, months before, she’d climbed up a fire escape onto the roof of a derelict hospital building, taking some time after completing her tagging mission to enjoy the residual warmth of the summer air and the distant sounds of a calypso party somewhere nearby. She had lain down for a while and stared up at the stars, feeling part of the world for once, and at peace with it. She’d almost drifted off to sleep, but the sound of rough, male voices from somewhere under the roof had roused her to action.
Instantly, she was on her feet, grabbing her backpack and running on clunky, grippy soles toward the fire escape. She had just swung over the side of the building when the heads of two police officers had broken clear of an old trapdoor exit.
“He’s going down the fire exit. Let’s get back down and catch him at the bottom.”
Layla wasn’t sure which was the best way to run, so she simply pelted toward a clump of trees, as fast and as far away from the crunching gravel behind her as she could get.
They were shouting and hollering.
“Oi! You! Stop there!”
What a waste of breath all that was! Why didn’t they just concentrate on catching up with her?
Unfortunately for Layla, she was a tiny, feisty, five feet two set against their combined lofty heights and long legs, and it soon became clear that they were gaining on her at an alarming rate.
“Luke, take the side gate. I’ve got him. He’s mine.”
From the corner of her eye, Layla saw one of the men peel away to her right, running in a wide arc toward what she presumed must be her only escape route. Behind her, the thump, thump of the other man’s regulation boots on the patchy grass was ominously close. She wasn’t going to win this race.
In desperation, she whipped her wiry body around to face her pursuer, sending a fierce punch toward his face. At least, it would have been a fierce punch if he hadn’t caught hold of her wrist, immobilizing her with insultingly little effort.
“Got him!” crowed her captor.
If Layla hadn’t been so focused on her panic, she would have taken a moment to admire his sculpted cheekbones and sea-green eyes. But there was no time for that. She struggled in vain, her twists and turns only adding to the pain in her wrist.
The policeman pulled off her hood with a flourish, releasing a cascade of corkscrew, black curls and revealing Layla’s kittenish face.
“You’re a girl!”
He stared for a few seconds, and Layla sensed that his shock gave her a minuscule wedge of opportunity. She slammed her free hand down on his shoulder and levered herself up his body until she was able to snatch his lips with hers and press them into a thieving kiss. He made a strangled sound in his throat and jerked his head backwards. In that tiny window of the police officer’s shock and confusion, Layla smelled her chance of escape. It would be a matter of milliseconds before his arm wrapped around her, imprisoning her against his chest. Layla didn’t wait. She thrust her knee upwards as hard as she could.
The police officer howled and staggered backwards, clutching his crotch, those gorgeous green eyes wide with astonished pain.
“You little…” he gasped.
But Layla was on her way, hearing the other man running back to check on his friend.
“Adam! You okay, mate?”
“Oi!” Adam’s enraged cry was like wind at her back, pushing her onward. “I’m gonna have you! You’re mine!”
Knowing she was well out of range, Layla turned and waved. “Bye, Adam!” she shouted. “Sorry I didn’t have time for introductions. If you want to know my name, check the roof.”
Lying in her bed, she spoke those words to herself, once more, as she had done so many nights since.
“I’m gonna have you,” she whispered intensely, her fingers working hard between her thighs, the memory juicing her up so sweetly, so perfectly. “You’re mine.”
She thought again about that ferocious, stolen kiss, the way his lips had been hard at first but with a hint of yield, the potential of voracity. What if he’d trapped her in his arms? What if he’d laid her down in the woods and covered her body with his muscular, uniformed length?
What if he’d held her down and taken her, possessed her, made her belong in a way she had never felt before?
Well…what if he does do that stuff? Do you think it could happen?
If you want to find out, the book is available from http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/301-200-302-488-1–cat-and-mouse-by-justine-elyot.html, as well as at AllRomance, Amazon and all the best online stores.
And I’d be thrilled if you’d come and say hi at my blog and find out what else I’m up to – I’m usually pretty busy and it’s good to have company in the throes of my hair-tearing. See me at http://justineelyot.com/.
Thanks for reading – now pucker up! I’ve a free copy of Cat and Mouse to one random commenter. Many, many thanks too to Bianca for being such an impeccable hostess, as ever. Mwah!
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