Under the Moon Re-Release Blog Tour: Chapter One(part 2) and Giveaway

Under the Moon by Natalie J. Damschroder Chapter One (part 2 of 7)

“How long did you sleep?” he asked. 

She stifled a yawn. “Seven hours, six minutes.” 

 He shook his head. “That’s not enough.” 
“Gonna have to be. It sounds like we have a full house tonight.”
 “It’s busy for a Tuesday,” he acknowledged. Murmurs and laughter mixed with the jukebox music filtering in from the main room. It was still early, too. 
 “Bets and Katie are both sick, so they probably need us out there.” She stood and stretched, closing her eyes briefly and arching with her arms high. He didn’t answer. “Sam?” She caught him staring at the stretch of skin bared by her sweatshirt and tugged it over the waistband of her jeans. Heat seeped through her, dragging tingles in its wake. Did he notice her skin flush?
 He gave himself a little shake and pulled his gaze away. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess.” But he scowled.
 Quinn propped her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong?”   “Nothing.” He sat up and shifted papers on his desk, but she knew it wasn’t “nothing.”   “Sam.” 
 He sighed. “We need to talk. You’ve put me off all week, and now we’ve got Nick…”    Shit. She had hoped Nick coming early would put an end to this debate. She dragged her cotton apron off the back of her chair and busied herself tying it. “I’d better get to work.” 
 But Sam didn’t get up. His voice was low and deep when he said, “Why didn’t you come to me?”    Her hands stilled, and she avoided his steady gaze by checking for her order pad and pen. “You know why.” 
 “I’m still here.” He stood and came around the desk, and she couldn’t help but look at him now. He dwarfed her, filling her vision, his scent flooding her senses, feeding the grinding need she’d battled for weeks. She kept her lids shuttered so he couldn’t see the inevitable dilation of her pupils and take the reaction the wrong way. Her moon lust knew what Sam could give her, her body giving a Pavlovian response to his nearness.    Tapping her power source had a price. As energy flowed through her, it depleted her resources like exercise depleted an athlete. Instead of needing water and vitamins to balance her body, Quinn needed sex. She’d never understood why, but her body had always been recharged by that primal connection to another human being. She hadn’t had that for three months now, and the longer she resisted, the more difficult it got.   So Sam’s long legs, ridged stomach, and broad chest all called to her. Quinn’s hands flexed, anticipating the silk of his shaggy hair bunched in them. Only a few minutes, a voice whispered in her head. That’s all it will take. For balance. A moment of thought, of remembering the heat between them, was enough to make her crave it again. Her mouth watered as she watched Sam’s long-fingered hand track up his chest and around the back of his neck, a move she knew was calculated.    That didn’t matter. She took a step toward him, then forced herself to stop. She’d told Sam three months ago that she wouldn’t use him anymore and had held fast to the decision no matter how willing he was. It had been six years since she’d first had sex with him, and she’d only recently understood the damage they were doing to each other. Sam didn’t believe she could stop, but she had fought the moon lust for nearly twelve weeks. Tomorrow would end this full-moon cycle; she’d have it completely under control, and it would get easier next month. It had to. Yeah, because it’s been a cakewalk so far. But she didn’t have to convince herself—she had to convince Sam.
 “I’ve told you. What we’re doing isn’t fair. You’ve stopped dating, stopped even looking for—” She hesitated, uncertain how to phrase it. 
 “I don’t need to look for it.” His tone was hard with conviction, and Quinn closed her eyes, despairing.

 “That’s my point,” she said. “I’m tying you up, and you deserve better.” 
 “That’s a matter of debate, and you don’t have to suffer because of it.”    Her laugh didn’t need to be forced. “Not having sex isn’t suffering.”    “For you it is.”
 He’d closed the distance between them, and though Quinn knew she didn’t move, her body seemed to surge toward him in agreement. She breathed in the remains of the aftershave he’d used this morning and wavered. He smelled so good.   A shout came from the other side of the paneled door, jerking Quinn out of her trance and replacing it with guilt. She couldn’t give in. Sam cared too much. And so did she, but not in the way he wanted.    Under the Moon    Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books a Million | 
  Their power gives them strength…and makes them targets. Quinn Caldwell is the epitome of a modern goddess. Her power source is the moon, her abilities restricted only by physical resources and lunar phase. She runs a consulting business and her father’s bar, serves on the board of the ancient Society for Goddess Education and Defense, and yearns for Nick Jarrett, professional goddess protector and the soul mate she can never have. But someone has developed the rare and difficult ability to drain a goddess of her powers, and Quinn is a target. With the world thinking Nick has gone rogue (whatever that means) and that Quinn is influenced by “family ties” she didn’t know she had, keeping themselves safe while working to find the enemy proves harder each day. But not as hard as denying their hearts… 

 Look for Heavy Metal, Book 2 in the Goddesses Rising series, in March 2013! 

Natalie J. Damschroder grew up in Massachusetts, and loves the New England Patriots more than anything. (Except her family. And writing and reading. And popcorn.) When she's not writing romantic adventure for Carina Press and paranormal romance for Entangled Publishing, she does freelance editing and works part time as a chiropractic assistant. 

She and her husband have two daughters they've dubbed "the anti-teenagers," one of whom is also a novelist. (The other one prefers math. Smart kid. Practical.) You can learn more about Natalie and her books at her website, Goodreads</ a>, Twitter, and Facebook. She blogs with a number of fantastic romance authors at Everybody Needs a Little Romance and just to hear herself talk at Indulge Yourself.

Now to the giveaways, yes that's right there are two one is an ebook copy of Under the Moon (let me say this book is one of my favorites and I can't wait for book 2. 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the second giveaway is a Goddess box of goodies 

a Rafflecopter giveaway