T-R-O-U-B-L-E
by Sable Hunter
Published August 2011 by Secret Cravings Publishing
Trouble comes calling on Kyler Landon. He falls hard and fast for his beautiful, mysterious neighbor after she saves him from a rattlesnake attack.The sexual tension mounts between them with each sensual encounter, but he soon realizes that Cooper has been hurt and is leery of men. So he sets out to teach her that a real man can be gentle, loving, and sexy as hell. Trouble seems to follow Cooper, and Ky makes it his mission to protect her from her past. Kyler would move heaven and earth to keep her in his bed and in his life.
Excerpt:
Kyler Landon smoothed the supple leather with a large, roughened hand. The saddle was almost completed. This particular saddle would go to the Houston Livestock Rodeo and be presented to the current World Champion cowboy. It was solitary work, but work he enjoyed. Tooling patterns on the leather was his favorite thing, this one had a vine pattern, and the brand of the cowboy’s ranch figured prominently in the design. Letting his mind wander, he found himself caressing the leather, remembering the last time he touched the velvety skin of a woman. Stop! He tried to turn his mind away from sex. He tortured himself night after night with images of a soft, sweet woman who would welcome him between her thighs. He wanted a woman who would let him love her as much and as often as he wanted. A woman that would enjoy his loving as much as he enjoyed loving her.
The sound of a vehicle stopping at his front gate pulled him from his sensual reverie. He imagined it was the mysterious little black car from down the road, but he knew better. This was a bigger engine. Sometimes, when he was working out in the front yard, that car would go by and slow down to a crawl. The windows were tinted completely black, a great deal darker than was legal, he knew. So, he was at a disadvantage. He couldn’t see who was behind the wheel, but whoever it was could sure the hell see him. And they had looked, long and hard. He could actually, physically, feel their gaze on his skin.
Hell, he had even fantasized about who was driving that sexy little car. Once, when he had been working on the front fence without a shirt, the driver had actually run off the road. That fact had made him smile. Whoever it was, he was getting to them. As his luck ran, however, the driver was probably a woman in her seventies or a man in his forties. But one could dream.
He sat there too long, dreaming. He heard the vehicle leave. Rising from his chair, he made his way out of the Saddlery shop and across the yard to the main house. A package sat by the front door. ‘Must have been UPS,’ he thought. Good! He had been waiting on some custom silver belt buckles for a special order. Taking the six front steps in two leaps, he grabbed the package from the floor, opened the door, and let himself in.
Laying the cardboard box on the coffee table, he grabbed a beer and headed back to the yard. The belt buckles would have to wait. One of these days, a cold front would head this way and he would want to put a fire in the fireplace, so wood needed to be split. He opened his mouth to call the dogs, but then remembered he had taken them to the vet for their annual check-up and shots.
Today, it would just be him. Alone again. Going to the side of the house, he retrieved his axe. Chopping wood would go a long way to working off some of his sexual frustration. Maybe. Hell, it was worth a try. The wood was piled out front near the gate, a mix of red oak and hickory, as good for barbeque as it was for heat. He swigged the beer, and then set the bottle up on top of a fence post. Ky had employees who could have done this work for him, but he like to keep in shape and there was nothing better than real physical labor to put on layers of muscle—it beat the crap out of a gym, any day. It didn’t take long for him to find his rhythm and even a shorter time for him to get hot and decide to shed his shirt.
Cooper drove slowly by the Landon place. Ah, sweet Lord! There he was. And the fact she had been a good girl was paying off in spades. The powers-that-be had seen fit to reward her by letting the sun beat down hot enough to cause Gorgeous to shed his shirt. She slowed to a crawl. Sometimes, he would stop working and watch her drive by. Today, he appeared too busy to notice. A movement at the side of the woodpile caught her eye. What in the world? Cooper was alarmed to see a huge snake crawling out of the stacked logs. The vibrations of the axe on the wood had obviously disturbed it. This couldn’t be good.
Cooper pulled over and stopped. Trying to be as quite as possible, she opened the car door but did not shut it. The snake was right behind her neighbor and she was afraid to call out, for fear, any sudden movement on his part would cause the snake to strike. The rhythmic movement of the man and the axe had the snake, seemingly, hypnotized.
She walked as silently as she could, until she was at the fence, right behind the snake. He was coiled and ready to strike. Cooper knew snakes, having grown up on in the deserts of southwest Texas. She quickly recognized that either the rattler had somehow lost his rattles in an accident, or someone had intentionally caught it and removed them for a hat decoration or whatever.
It was now or never. Putting aside her normal reservations about being so close to a man, she decided his safety was more important than her own. Climbing slowly up on the fence, she spoke softly. “Don’t move, Mr. Landon. Don’t move a muscle.” The snake was huge! Coiled up, it was hard to judge, but it could easily top five feet.
The beautifully muscled man slowed his movements, until he was still. “Is this a hold-up?” He asked the question softly, with a touch of humor in his voice.
“No, but there is a major-sized rattlesnake right behind you, and it’s getting ready to strike.”
I'd like to thank Sable Hunter for taking the time to answer some questions about her writing and some questions about herself.
What's your perfect place to write?
My perfect place to write is in my recliner. It is located in the living room between the fireplace and the big screen TV. I set the laptop on my tummy, lean back and work away. My red wiener dog, Mojo, climbs in with me and stretches his extra long, chubby self right next to my hip. He thinks he is helping, providing me with support and inspiration. And he does. There is an ulterior motive in being next to the TV. It’s not that I'm tempted to watch it - my family can have it on - watching Swamp People, American Pickers, The Blind Side - whatever, and I am oblivious to the picture or the noise. But late at night, when I'm by myself and I need extra inspiration for that difficult sex scene that I'm writing, I can sneak Cinemax late night on and watch one of their juicy programs. Actually, I use Lingerie's Michael Scratch as the inspiration for a lot of my heroes. He is one luscious man.
Which character of yours is your favorite?
I prefer my male characters. I always fall in love with my heros - always. My favorite character in TROUBLE is Kyler Landon. He is what is known as a 'Texas Good Ole' Boy' with a heart of gold and a body that will make any woman fan herself, even in a Texas blizzard. Kyler does manly things to make a living - runs his family's cattle ranch, timber company and makes saddles and other leather items 'just for fun'. In other words -ahem - he is good with his hands. And even better, he is involved in community service projects and loves animals. What is there not to love? But what makes him sexy in my book is that he is the type of man who falls hard, and the woman lucky enough to capture his heart is the center of his attention. He is possessive, protective, and determined to keep her in his bed and in his life.
Least liked?
The least liked character in T-R-O-U-B-L-E, of course, is the villan. Cooper's ex-husband, Richard. is abusive. He has mistreated Cooper, beat her, and tortured her physically and mentally. Misuse of steroids has made him a big bully with an uncontrollable temper. Plus he is a crooked cop who has turned to selling drugs to a Mexican cartel. Unfortunately, Cooper ends up with his record book and he is determined to get it back.
What makes this story different?
In my books, I like to address topics that are sometimes avoided in romances. I have stories that address heroines with cancer, kidney failure, politically incorrect victims of prejudice, surrogate pregnancies gone wrong - I love dealing with circumstances where the heroine grows stronger despite huge challenges and setbacks. In T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Cooper has escaped a bad marriage. She was a victim of severe spousal abuse and he has her convinced that she is ugly and unlovable. Writing the interaction between Ky and Cooper was an emotional roller coaster for me. He falls head over heels for her and aches to show her that a real man can be gentle, loving and sexy as hell. I have decided to give a percentage of my sales to a shelter for battered women in Austin - TheSafePlace.
What are some of the situations in your stories that relate to your life?
Sadly, I do have knowledge of abuse. It's not something that I talk about except to say that no woman should have to suffer at the hands of someone in whom they have placed their life and trust. I also live among Texas 'good ole' boys', cowboys, and all of the Texas and Louisiana culture that make my books into pages from my own life. In my paranormal novels, I relate many of the stories and situations that I grew up with where the older people on my street practiced hoodoo. They thought nothing of going to church in the morning and making an appropriate mojo bag at night to aid someone with their gambling or their love life.
What kind of books/genres do you like to read?
I write what I like to read. I enjoy love stories that take me behind the bedroom door. The first hot-hot book I read was Leslie Kelly's Slow Hands and that book made me replot my first novel to be more erotic. I also like to read horror and non-fiction accounts of ghosts and hauntings. Oh - and cookbooks - I love to sit down and look at one from cover to cover, especially Ina Garten or Bobby Flay.
Do you listen to music when you write? What kind?
No, I do not listen to music. I enjoy playing the piano, but listening to music when I write distracts me. I like an assortment of music - from Elvis to rap - but when I write, music just gets on my nerves.
What was the last concert you went to?
I don't go to concerts. I go to rodeos, casinos and I haunt graveyards at midnight with all sorts of ghost hunting equipment on a mission to prove that love survives the grave.
What are you watching this summer?
I am watching TRUE BLOOD. I have always been a fan of Charlaine Harris. The series of hers that I like the best is the one about the girl who can sense where bodies are buried. But the Sookie series is delightful. I love Eric Northman and Hoyt and Jason - but my dreamboat is the werewolf - Alcide. That shifter is sex personified. My newest hero Joseph McCoy in Her Magic Touch is based on the outstanding beauty of Joe Manganiello.
If you could pick a $500 gift card from any store you wanted, which one would it be?
Give me five hundred dollars on Amazon any day. I love to buy books for my kindle - oh, goodness - I even buy sex toys from Amazon. And it’s my reliable source of San Marzano tomatoes that I use to make my homemade Marinara sauce. The tomatoes are the best in the world and are grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius - the great volcano that erupted and covered the ancient city of Pompeii. It was a terrible time in history - but the foothills of that area grow the most wonderful tomatoes in the world.
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Aubrie is an author and flutist in New England. Her stories have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, A Fly in Amber, and several print anthologies including Skulls and Crossbones by Minddancer Press, Rise of the Necromancers, by Pill Hill Press, Nightbird Singing in the Dead of Night by Nightbird Publishing, Dragontales and Mertales by Wyvern Publications, A Yuletide Wish by Nightwolf Publications, and Aurora Rising by Aurora Wolf Publications. Her epic fantasy is published with Wyvern Publications, and several of her ebooks are published with Lyrical Press and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. When she’s not writing, she plays in orchestras and teaches flute at Plymouth State University and a community music school. 
