Sunday Snippet: Under a Crescent Moon

We had a bit of a thaw with temperatures just a little above freezing. It's not going to last long but nice to step outside and not have it hurt to breathe.

Work ended up being very busy this week. And I made some progress on my side project. Hoping to launch by February, but that's not a given. I am crossing my fingers though.

Didn't quite make it all the way through my usual shows. I did add a new one, which I think I'm going to enjoy.

The new show I added is One Lane Bridge and I watched the first episode. There's a bit of a paranormal twist to this that I'm very interested in.

Caught another episode of London Kills. It was nice to get some Billie backstory. Also nice to see movement on the larger case. Looking forward to a new episode this week.

Enjoyed an episode of Death in Paradise. New sergeant is fun, and the mystery ended up being interesting. Looking forward to more of season eleven.

Watched another episode of Beyond Paradise. I'm enjoying my favorite actor's character in this. Loved the mystery and piecing everything together.

I started an episode of Elementary and I'm enjoying it. I'm not quite sure what's going on with Watson's guy, but I have a sneaking suspicion there's more to him than we're seeing and not in a good way.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Under a Crescent Moon, a sexy short featuring conflict between a couple when a secret is revealed.

Here's the miniblurb:

Tyra Blanc, a top military pilot, harbors a secret love for classic old romance movies. When she's not paying attention during a briefing, her superior officer, Dev Dravenish, reveals her weakness and Tyra is caught between wondering how he discovered the information and how to deal with the all-out ribbing coming her way.

And a sneaky peek…

"Dismissed."

Tyra's head shot up. Shit. She'd zoned out again. Sliding from her seat, she wondered if...

"Lieutenant Blanc, a moment, please." Dev called out from the podium.

Yep. He'd noticed. Dammit.

She walked up to the front of the briefing room. "Sir?"

Dev folded his arms over his chest. "Little distracted this morning?" He arched both brows.

She winced. "Not so much distracted as … well … maybe a little unfocused." Yeah, that sounded lame even to her.

Dev's eyes widened and he dropped his arms. "A little unfocused? You were all but snoring back there." He leaned and pitched his voice low. "If our nocturnal activities have you nodding off during briefings, maybe we should find alternative ways to spend our time together."

Tyra deserved to catch some grief for almost—okay, actually—falling asleep, but what else did he think they should do if not having sex?

She tilted her head to one side. "You think we should do what? Read books? Have a tea party?" Not much two people could get into that didn't involve the rest of the ship.

Like sitting in at a card game or maybe catching up at the rec room bar. Possibly sitting through entertainment shows.

Dev shot back. "Gee, I don't know. Maybe you'd rather watch some old romance classics." His lips quirked. "Something with a noir flair."

The room went a little dark when what he meant dawned on her. He shouldn't have any kind of knowledge about her secret passion for the old-time black and white romance films. Her reasons for loving the genre were extremely personal and very private. Having Dev whip the subject out left her feeling naked and exposed … even if they were alone in the room.

She didn't like having her secret trotted out and used against her.

Her gaze narrowed. "How did you know about that?" She hissed the words out.

Dev blinked in surprise then backpedaled. "Josh told me in a drunken confession during a game of cards."

Son of a bitch. It figured. And, oddly, hurt.

Tyra schooled her features. "And did your brother share the information with everyone else?" A little bruised and battered, her heart twisted in her chest.

And anger made her vision swim.

Confused, Dev shook his head. "No, it was just him and me. Why? What's the big deal?"

Tyra ignored the question, needing to escape before she said something she shouldn't. "Fine, whatever. I'll be sure to pay attention during the briefing tomorrow." She lifted her chin. "No problem." She stomped off, biting her tongue and fighting back tears.

Dev wouldn't understand why she couldn't talk about the topic. And she didn't have the capacity to explain right now. Not when memories were crowding her thoughts, and she fought the urge to drown in them.

I love digging into weird quirks that create drama between characters. Tyra and Dev are kind of on the cusp of something more, which might be in jeopardy now.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Under a Crescent Moon

Ugh. The saying when it rains it pours definitely applied to me this week. All three of our vehicles ended up needing something crucial and important RFN. Luckily, one of our local car dealers is a friend and he let us borrow a car. Yes, I said borrow. Saving the expense of renting a car helped a lot! Then… I ended up with a nasty cold. The kind where I literally couldn't be more than an arm's length away from a box of tissues because my nose wouldn't stop running, my eyes wouldn't stop watering, and I coughed and / or sneezed every few minutes. Thankfully, I’m at the stage where my voice is gone and my throat is a little scratchy, but otherwise, I'm tissue-free. Whew!

I'm so behind on my regular television shows. Arrow is probably my favorite and I'm at least two episodes behind. I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.

I did get to watch Penny Dreadful and I'm one episode away from the end of the first season. I kind of like the jagged direction this show takes sometimes.

Wynonna Earp continues to be a favorite. The "Undo It" episode ended up being way better than I expected. This show is so good.

Watched another episode of The Dresden Files and I think I'm close to being at the end of the one season we got. So much promise for this show.

Started a new season of Underbelly: Razor. 1920s Australia is a great setting.

And that's pretty much it for television this week. Between dealing with all the car drama and the cold symptoms, my brain took a vacation. LOL

Tonight's post is from Under a Crescent Moon, a sexy short that started with a writing community prompt of someone tells your main character a secret about another main character.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Tyra Blanc, a top military pilot, harbors a secret love for classic old romance movies. When she's not paying attention during a briefing, her superior officer, Dev Dravenish, reveals her weakness and Tyra is caught between wondering how he discovered the information and how to deal with the all-out ribbing coming her way.

And a sneaky peek…

Tyra rolled out of bed at 0555. She'd barely make the briefing but every last moment of sleep counted.

She used a dry toothbrush with a minimal amount of paste and a bottle of water to get rid of the sticky morning mouth she hated with a passion. Swallowing the remnants, she vowed to get one of those personal one-shot coffeemakers to get rid of the minty aftertaste and jolt her system into go mode.

Dragging on her uniform, she muttered curses. "Stupid effing morning briefings. They oughtta be outlawed." She jammed her feet in her boots and exited quarters to make a semi-mad dash for the briefing room.

She skidded in at 0558. Not bad if she had anything to say about it.

Manny Ramsey blinked at the sight of her. "Damn, Tyra, who'd you tangle with last night?" He nudged Natalie Janis who chuckled when she got a good look at Tyra.

Tyra rolled her eyes. "Obviously it wasn't you." As if she'd share any details of her sex life with the leading male gossip on the ship.

Nat quirked a brow. "At least you made it on time. Bleary eyes and bedhead are a good look on you." She winked and added a smirk for good measure.

Tyra got off a shot at the duo. "You two are on a roll. Did you come up with this stuff before or after you hooked up on the hangar deck?" She pushed another round into the chamber. "No, wait. It was during, wasn't it?" The guilty flush staining each pilot's cheeks almost made Tyra's day.

Nothing like confirming a rumor about the notorious Manny, and having a little dirt on Natalie could be useful the next time Tyra needed a favor. All in good fun, of course.

She dropped into the first seat in the last row while Manny and Natalie headed toward the front. Dev entered and called the briefing to order, giving the rundown on the previous night's watch. Tyra yawned and settled back in the seat, listening with half an ear. They were flying through a neutral part of space and aside from a malfunctioning craft every once in a while, not much changed in the reports.

She yawned again and propped her head on her hand. I'll close my eyes… just for a moment. Bad idea. Vivid imagery of her night with Dev played out in her head. Damn… she loved the terrific sex. Morning briefings after, yeah, not so much.

Her chin dropped and she jerked upward. Shit. Power nodding through the briefing would get her in trouble.

Her eyes closed again after another yawn. Never again would she encourage a triple round of bed romping when they had an early briefing. Yeah, right, who am I kidding? I wouldn't trade a full night with Dev for anything.

Her chin dropped off her hand again and she slumped further down in the seat. She'd only leave her eyes closed for a few more moments.

Writing the scene where Tyra can't quite keep her eyes open ended up being loads of fun. I can't wait to writes Dev's response.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Under a Crescent Moon

*sigh*

Sit back and get a little comfy. I'm going to blather on about my disappointment in the new season of Doctor Who, which feels almost sacrilegious, but necessary. Maybe if I purge myself, I'll enjoy the show more.

So… as mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of Capaldi as the Doctor. This has nothing to do with his acting. I enjoy his work. But… here's the thing… I just can't get past the fact he's been two other characters besides the Doctor in the Whoverse—Caecilius in The Fires of Pompeii and John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth. But wait! What about Eve Myles? She played a character in Doctor Who before being in Torchwood. Why doesn't that bother me?

One simple reason. The character she played in The Unquiet Dead, Gwyneth, by rights, could have been an ancestor of Torchwood's Gwen, so… my brain has no problem wrapping around the idea. But Capaldi's characters? Not so much. Wanna know why?

Because THE DOCTOR doesn't have ancestors on earth. Even if I bought the idea Caecilius could be John Frobisher's ancestor, I can't buy the idea they're somehow related to the Doctor. EVER. It's just a big, fat NOPE.

Do I take this Whoverse stuff way too seriously? Oh, hell yes, I do. LOL But… I miss the continuity of the earlier Davies seasons. The sweeping emotional arcs we got in a single episode sometimes. And Moffat is more than capable of writing that way. I mean Blink is one of the most emotional roller coaster episodes I've EVER watched on TV, so he's got the chops to connect with me on that level… when he's not trying to be too quirky or clever or whatever the hell he's trying to be with the gimmicky shtick he's been throwing out lately, especially with the two opening episodes of this season. They were disjointed and messy and I'm honestly not sure what I was watching, but it's not the Doctor Who I love.

And no worries if anyone vehemently disagrees with me. I'm totally okay with the rest of the planet loving the Doctor as much as they always have. I'm just not quite there yet—maybe I never will be—but I'm hoping Moffat rises to the challenge of keeping me as a viewer.

Whew. I feel WAY better now. Thanks for letting me vent. LOL I think I'll rant a little more on my sister blog, or you know, copy this and post it there, too. :D

I could go on about having new episodes of Lost Girl to watch, but I'll save it for a later post.

Moving on… Tonight's post is from Under a Crescent Moon, a sexy short where my hero needs to make amends.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Tyra Blanc, a top military pilot, harbors a secret love for classic old romance movies. When she's not paying attention during a briefing, her superior officer, Dev Dravenish, reveals her weakness and Tyra is caught between wondering how he discovered the information and how to deal with the all-out ribbing coming her way.

And a sneaky peek…

Tyra Blanc moaned. "Mmm. Yes, Dev. Right there." Her orgasm hit and she rode it out, planting her hands on Dev Dravenish's chest.

He bucked his hips. "Right behind you, Tyra." His fingers dug into her thighs, tightening when he found his release.

Tyra slumped forward, goose bumps breaking out over her skin. The chilly recycled air doing its job of cooling her down after extremely hot sex. Dev wrapped his arms around her, ghosting his palms over her back. She shifted sideways and he tucked her into his side.

Her head lolled on his shoulder. "Geez, Dev. We can't let a whole week go by without sex anymore." Her eyes grew heavy. "Three times in one night is a personal record."

For her anyway. She had no idea if Dev had ever topped that many times.

His arm tightened around her. "Yeah, two times is my usual limit. At least it is during one night." He shifted to his side and met her gaze. "A full twenty-four hour period is a different story."

Her lips curved in a grin. "Meaning we could continue this in the morning?" She draped an arm around his waist and palmed his ass cheek.

Dev chuckled. "Would love to, but…" He caught her lips in a quick, hard kiss. "Briefing starts at 0600 and my schedule is jammed until after 2030." Maneuvering his arm out from under her, he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bunk.

Tyra groaned. "Dammit, Dev. It's after one a.m." She rolled onto her back. "Early briefings suck balls."

He glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. I know. You're not a morning person." He fished around for his boxers and jammed his legs through. "But sometimes you gotta deal and drag your ass out of bed." He stood up and shot her an amused look. "Do I have to come and douse you with cold water in four hours?" He yanked his t-shirt over his head.

Tyra squeaked out a protest. "Don't even think about it." She lifted her head and punched the pillow. "I'll be there. Won't enjoy it, but I'll be there." Her head dropped and she yawned.

Dev ducked back inside the bunk enclosure. "I'll buy you all the coffee you need after the briefing." His mouth brushed over hers. "Love you."

He straightened and made his way across the floor, crawling up into his berth. Tyra sighed and closed her eyes. They rarely had the senior quarters all to themselves and she didn't regret taking advantage of the alone time. But, ugh, she'd definitely be sluggish and out of sorts when she had to get up in less than five hours. Dev would probably be awake within two, if he held to his habit of going over the briefing notes and checking in with command deck for last minute changes.

She hated his ability to exist on a few hours' sleep. But, oh, she loved what he could do to her in the same time span.

Snuggling into the mattress, she smiled. She could manage to get her ass up, right?

Ha. She'll manage, but it won't be pretty. LOL

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye