THE HOT SEAT WITH QWILLIA RAIN, BECKA AND RICK
13 Days of Halloween Edition
I set up The Hot Seat to accommodate three people and put out lemon cakes and mini pumpkin pies and some spiced apple cider. Once I'm ready, I signal the Cabana Men dressed in leather to escort my guests in. Once they're settled in, I begin the interview.
Qwillia settles onto one of the chairs, her legs curled under her while Rick takes a throw pillow from the sofa and sets it on the floor, helping Becka onto it before taking a seat on the sofa behind her, his legs on either side of Becka as she relaxed back against him.
1) Thank you all for allowing me to interview you. I take it you guys are looking forward to Halloween, what with it being Rick's birthday and all.
QWILLIA: Halloween has always been my favorite holiday because I love dressing up and trick or treating.
RICK STAYED QUIET, BUT BECKA SPOKE UP: We're having a small party at our house for the kids. Mattie and Bryce and Mike and Lyssa are bringing all their kids. Jacob promised to stop in for a bit and Dayton and Elf may show up with Noelle. Dante flies in on Saturday to spend the week before he heads back to Mexico and the Dulce Oro.
2) A little birdie told me aboutDiablo Blanco Club's Midnight Masquerade. What happens there, or is it a secret? What's the best part of the party? What's the worst?
QWILLIA: Readers can get a glimpse of the party in Rite of First Claim, but I'm hoping to revamp a deleted scene and make it into a short story so readers can see some of the more interesting aspects of the Midnight Masquerade. As for the best part of the party, for me it's the lead up to midnight because the subs get to mix and mingle with the Doms. The worst part is after selections are made and the couples or groups disperse.
RICK CHUCKLES: But that's the best part (looks down at Becka) Right, Boo? (Becka smiles and leans back into Rick's touch.)
3) Other than your birthday what do you look forward to most about Halloween?
BECKA LAUGHS:Having Mattie, Bryce and their kids over. Daddy loves having all the kids to tease and tell scary stories to.
RICK GRUMBLES:Only because he likes to make me do the monster under the bed routine before bedtime.
BECKA GRINS UP AT HIM: You love it and you know it.
Rick remained silent, but his look promised retribution and Becka's expression didn't seem to mind.
4) Can you give us a hint as to what you're dressing up as?
QWILLIA: If they were going to the Midnight Masquerade, Rick would wear a tuxedo and Becka would have to wear a costume.
BECKA FOUGHT A SMILE BUT LOST: Danny, our oldest, has already decided he wants us to dress up as a lion tamer and a lioness.
RICK SHOOK HIS HEAD: Your father should never have taught him how to pick locks.
5) Halloween always seems like a magical night. Anything can happen; all the candles lit, the jack-o-lanterns and of course the candy and parties. What would you say your ideal Halloween would be?
QWILLIA: For me, I would love to explore a real haunted house one Halloween. Or spend Halloween with the Ghost Hunters on some location.
RICK CHUCKLED AND SHOOK HIS HEAD: Only you would intentionally seek out something to scare you.
QWILLIA: You betcha. I enjoy the paranormal even if I don't write the genre.
6) Can you tell us a bit more about Diablo Blanco Club and where we can find out more about it?
RICK: The Diablo Blanco Club has been in operation since the early 1800s in Southern California--before the state was even a territory. If you go to you can see the various books she's written about the club members.
QWILLIA MUMBLES IN IRRITATION: Except yours.
BECKA PATTED QWILLIA'S HAND: You'll get it finished.
7) Now I know you love pumpkin pie. What other treats do you love to make during this time of year?
QWILLIA: Caramel apples, hot spiced cider, and my grandmother's gingerbread cookies.
Becka peeks over to where Rick is offering a demonstration on the use of a tawse, she whispets: Rick likes to make old fashioned popcorn balls and caramel popcornbut you didn't hear that from me.
8) If you could go anywhere to celebrate Halloween where would you go?
QWILLIA: Stanley House near Denver, Colorado or the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, North Carolina (both are reputed to be very haunted.)
RICK: The dungeons of the Diablo Blanco Club.
9) What do you have coming up for us? What tasty tidbits will be going on our must buy list?
QWILLIA: As I said earlier, I've decided to try converting a deleted scene into a short, fun Halloween story. It'll be an interesting tour through the dungeon of the Diablo Blanco Club during the Midnight Masquerade.
10) Please tell us where we can find you on the internet.Facebook Fan Page:
Thank you for allowing me to interview you. I have the Cabana Men escort them out along with the goodies.
RITE OF FIRST CLAIM
Amazon:
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BLURB:
What's a Dom to do when the submissive he wants runs from the feelings between them?
From the moment he met Lyssa Lawrence, Mike Halsey knew what he felt was love -- not lust. Convincing her has been an uphill battle even after the two steamy hours they'd shared at the Diablo Blanco Club four years earlier.
Lyssa Lawrence wished the man who claimed to love her wasn't so damned appealing. Eight years of denying the pull of her submissive nature almost went up in smoke four years ago, but she'd gathered the nerve to tell him 'no' when he asked for more. She'd have stayed away for good if her biological clock hadn't hiccuped, threatening her dreams of motherhood.
In the same way she'd strategized her success in fashion design, Lyssa worked out a plan to get the baby she wanted. The Diablo Blanco Club's annual Midnight Masquerade would provide a number of potential donors to choose from. What she hadn't bargained on was Mike's interference through an arcane Club rule.
When Mike invoked Rite of First Claim, Lyssa finally became his. Now, he has one month to prove that the role of his submissive was one she was born to play.
EXCERPT:
A stone frame accented the unique arched doorway, and a second brim of stone edged the frame. The letters etched into the gray rock were worn down by time and the weather, but each was still visible when she looked close.
"El diablo supone; el Dios sabe; los actos blancos del Diablo," a man's voice whispered into her ear.
Lyssa jumped at the amused tone. "Excuse me?"
The man beside Lyssa stepped into the glow of the lanterns that were shaped like medieval sconces on either side of the entrance. His hazel eyes glittered down at her. "The devil supposes; God knows; the white devil acts."
A neatly trimmed goatee framed his mouth, accenting the full lower and slightly thinner upper lips. The whiskers were the same jet-black as the hair he'd pulled back and secured at his nape. The way he held himself and the self-control emanating from him gave more than enough of a clue that he was one of the Club's dominants. His tailored tuxedo only confirmed it.
"The words." The man motioned to the doorway's decoration with his chin. "That's what they mean." His eyes twinkled with humor in his handsome face as he leaned back against the stone pillar to watch her.
Lyssa nodded at him. "I know. A friend of mine told me years ago."
"Wouldn't happen to be anyone I know, would it?"
"No." Lyssa shook her head and grinned. "It was long ago. When I first moved to San Diablo."
"With your sister, Mattie?"
Lyssa looked at him and finally recognized the man. "You're David Henderson, aren't you?" Heat filled her cheeks as an image of this man and his friend, Dayton Kringle--her target for the night--sharing a woman in the lounge of the Club four years earlier entered her mind. She'd joked with her sister about what it would feel like to be caught between a private dick and a hard Saint Nick. How ironic would it be if she were to actually experience it? She held her hand out to him.
He nodded and grinned. "And even with a wig on, I recognized you. You're Lyssa Lawrence."
His big hand wrapped around hers, but instead of a friendly handshake, he lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a gentlemanly kiss against her knuckles. The warmth of his breath took away the chill in her fingers for a moment.
After releasing her, he continued, "If a friend told you the motto when you first arrived, it must have been one of your foster brothers."
The accuracy of his guess made Lyssa start. Then a wisp of memory surfaced. "I remember hearing you're a detective."
"Investigator. So was it one of Gino's boys?"
The nerves relaxed in her belly at the mention of her foster father. It was possible David only recalled the information about her and her sister because he'd been tasked to do a background check on her sister when Mattie first started working as Bryce's personal assistant twelve years ago. Lyssa admitted, "Yes, it was one of Gino's boys. I'd forgotten about the inscription being there."
David stepped aside as another couple ascended the stairs to the front of the Club. He guided Lyssa away from the steps with a hand at her elbow. "I'll bet Gino tanned his son's hide for bringing you out here to begin with."
"Marco was scrubbing hulls for a month." Lyssa laughed as she recalled the punishment her foster father, the owner of a small boatbuilding and repair shop, had meted out. Her gaze returned to the stone engraving, then drifted back to David.
He extended his hand. "Would you allow me to escort you, or are you having second thoughts?"
Lyssa looked at the hand he held out to her. She might have dressed for her intended target, but nothing said she needed to center her attention exclusively on that man. Considering David posed a likely candidate, it made sense she take the opportunity to acquaint herself with him. Her intended quarry might already be inside or en route. Either way, Lyssa knew what she was looking for, and she wouldn't settle for less. "No, no second thoughts. As for your escort, I would like that. Thank you." Lyssa allowed him to settle her hand in the crook of his elbow and draw her through the entrance and into the Club.
Unlike other fetish clubs she'd seen online or had described to her, there were no dimmed lights or curtained hallways leading to private rooms. Instead the paneled walls and crown molding exuded a sophistication and respectability equal to any of the exclusive country or yacht clubs up and down the California coast. These little details made it easier for her to keep her emotions under control. And staying in control, especially tonight, was paramount to the success of her plan. She didn't dare give in to the temptation to submit to a dominant, no matter how much a part of her craved to do so.
The majority of the guests were dressed in evening gowns or tuxedos. The only ones in costume, like her, were submissives--both those owned and those looking for owners. Scanning the faces, she identified several of her potential donors, but she was careful not to stare at them in a way that might arouse unease or make them leery of her approach. She ignored the tiny pain that twisted her heart when Mike wasn't among the guests. Forget the fantasy and face reality, Lyssa.
"Smile. We aren't that scary," David whispered, his warm breath stirring the hair of her auburn wig over her ear.
A tingle slid up Lyssa's spine.
"You've been here often enough to know we don't bite." A wicked grin lifted his lips. "Well, not unless you ask us to."
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