Although I tried! I’m working on catching up – I think I’ll make it, but we’ll see. The awesome news is that there is only 10 more chapters and the epilogue for Rites, and then it’s DONE!!! I can’t believe I’m so close to the end of this story!<\/p>\n
Of course, then I get to play with Russian faery tales….<\/p>\n
Today’s darling is for Sue, who will now have seen it 3 times today. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
Starting Count: 81677
\nEnding Count: 82885
\nNet Gain: +1208
\nCurrent NaNo count: 15921
\nCurrent Word YTD count: 17017
\nVal\u2019s Tea Fund: $9<\/p>\n
Starting line:<\/b>
\n\u201cNikki was looking for you,\u201d she said, turning around and grinning at him. \u201cShe came by about forty-five minutes ago. I was going to give you about another fifteen minutes before I woke you up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ending line:<\/b>
\n\u201cAs ready as I\u2019ll ever be.\u201d He held on as Kore leaped forward, snow exploding from under her hooves. The grey mare burst through the front gate and tore up the hill, getting far enough from the house that she could open a Gate and not disturb Nikki\u2019s spells. They hadn\u2019t heard anything, but there was blood splashed on the ground as they rode through, and Justin hoped it wasn\u2019t theirs.<\/p>\n
Darling:<\/b>
\n\u201cNikki was looking for you,\u201d she said, turning around and grinning at him. \u201cShe came by about forty-five minutes ago. I was going to give you about another fifteen minutes before I woke you up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin stretched. \u201cHmm, maybe I should go back to sleep, then. Depends on how you\u2019d wake me up.\u201d He noticed there was a paint smear on the curve of her left breast and couldn\u2019t help smiling.<\/p>\n
Cleo jerked her head towards the window. \u201cOh, you know, the usual. Snowball in the face.\u201d When his jaw dropped, she chuckled. \u201cWhat did you expect?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI..uh..well\u2026\u201d Justin\u2019s mouth worked for a few moments more, without anything intelligible coming out, and then he gave up and got out of bed, full of injured dignity. \u201cI\u2019m going to take a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he walked by her, she said, \u201cAnd then I would have kissed it and made it better, of course.\u201d He stopped, blinking, and turned to look at her. She returned his look with an arch one of her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d Justin reached out and touched her face gently. \u201cCan we just skip the snowball?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes never left his. \u201cI\u2019m painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny. I thought your brush was supposed to be on the canvas when you did that.\u201d He stepped closer to her, ignoring the palette and brush as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is,\u201d she agreed, her lips moving against his. There was a clatter as the palette fell, dropped along with said brush as she stepped into his embrace. \u201cI\u2019ll have to work on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then there were no more words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although I tried! I’m working on catching up – I think I’ll make it, but we’ll see. The awesome news is that there is only 10 more chapters and the epilogue for Rites, and then it’s DONE!!! I can’t believe I’m so close to the end of this story! Of course, then I get to …<\/p>\n