Callan
Sybil Bartel
(Uncompromising #5)
Publication date: March 20th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
CallanI was trained to be a hunter. Growing up in the nation’s most infamous, violent cult, my job was simple. Track. Kill. Survive.And that’s what I did… until our leader threatened to kill his own daughter.Refusing to watch another senseless murder, I did what I was trained to do. I took his life, claimed his land, and set every member free, including her. I only had one goal left. Find the sister I was told was dead.But being a hunter in the woods is a far cry from tracking a woman in Miami Beach.I didn’t find my sister.I found someone else.
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Excerpts
CALLAN Excerpts
Excerpt #1
She stepped back and turned to leave.
Suddenly, I was starved for human interaction. Not just any interaction, but female interaction. Two years was probably too long to go without speaking unless absolutely necessary, but it hadn’t felt lonely, not until this unexpected female smiled at me. “What is your name?”
Denim shorts hugging her womanly curves, showing off tanned legs, she paused and looked over her shoulder. Her brown hair cascaded down her back, the soft waves reaching almost to her waist. “Are you hitting on me?”
I frowned. “Hitting on you?”
“Right, okay, um, sorry.” Her cheeks flushed beautifully. “Of course you weren’t. You’re….” Her hand fluttered in the air gracefully as her gaze dropped to my chest. She gave a small, shy laugh and met my eyes again. “I’m just going to stop talking now. Have a good day.”
“I would never hit you.” The thought was abhorrent.
She stopped. “No, I meant….” Her head cocked to the side, and she looked at me curiously. “Never mind. Are you from around here?”
“Yes.” The compound was close enough.
She kept looking at me, but not in the usual way females on the compound looked at me. Almost six and half feet, blond hair, blue eyes, I knew I was attractive to the opposite sex, but this woman was not looking at me like she merely wanted my seed.
Mesmerized by her, I gave her a name I had never said out loud. “I am Callan.” The six letters strung together on a birth certificate I had never seen sounded as foreign as my voice.
Wide and pure, her smile came naturally and without motive. “I’m Emily. Nice to meet you, Callan.”
I had never met a female outside the compound gates. “You are beautiful.” And she was. Like the saplings in spring, she was new and fresh and full of promise.
Heat instantly colored her cheeks, and she looked away.
I frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”
Excerpt #2
“You should go, Callan.” I bit my lip, wanting to take the words back.
Quick, precise, his hand shot out, and with a gentleness I wasn’t prepared for, his thumb stroked across my bottom lip. “You bite when you are nervous.”
My heart raced, and my lip tingled. Wanting to reach for him, I forced myself to stand perfectly still. “You don’t know me enough to know when I’m nervous.”
“Your body language does not lie.” He stroked my lip again. “The pain, when your teeth bite your lip, do you enjoy it?”
Uncomfortable heat hit my cheeks. “What are you doing?” The strangled whisper rushed past the very spot he was caressing.
“Touching you.” His thumb coasted across my jaw and his fingers landed on my pulse point on my neck. “Have you ever been with a man?”
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
I swallowed past the embarrassment and kept perfectly still. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
For a split second, something crossed his features. Then his impenetrable, intense mask returned. “I do not need permission to touch you.”
Blessed righteousness overtook my traitorous hormones. “Ah, yeah, you do. This isn’t the dark ages, and you aren’t a caveman.” His upbringing may have been primitive, but he didn’t look a thing like a Neanderthal.
Faster than I could blink, his hand caught the side of my neck and his fingers captured a thick lock of my hair. “I have already touched you, many times. You made no protest. Are you making one now?”
My core pulsed and a wave of heat washed over my body. For ten whole seconds, I let myself relish in the blazing sensations of his hold on me. Dominant, assured, confident, he held me like he knew how to hold a woman. But more, he held me like he knew every secret desire I’d ever had. Chastising myself and my dirty thoughts, I pushed at his hand.
He held firm. “Use words.”
The sheer dominance in his voice made my eyes flutter shut. “Oh God, I want to. I need to.” But I didn’t. I stopped there, leaving the decision on his shoulders.
He lowered his voice and slowly wrapped my long hair around his hand. “That was not an answer. Do you want me to stop?”
My legs quivering, my core pulsing, I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
“Open your eyes, angel.”
The sound of his voice, the term of endearment, I wanted to weep. Honest to God, weep. “I’m afraid of you,” I whispered the truth.
Excerpt #3
He tipped his chin toward my back seat. “You have a child carrier.”
I took a moment to digest the way he spoke. I couldn’t imagine growing up on a compound, let alone never having gone to school. “I’m a nanny.” I glanced at his clenched fists. “And a student.”
“Nanny?” The word sounded odd coming out of his mouth.
“Yes. I babysit a four-year-old boy while his mother works.” I’d shamelessly googled River Ranch after he’d left. While there was no mention of him or his name in any of the articles, they all painted a frighteningly bleak picture of a group of followers that were more prisoners, than believers.
Callan’s gaze traveled to my hips. “Does that satisfy you?”
My stomach fluttered, at his intense stare, at the sound of the word satisfy passing his full lips, but holy shit, I needed to get a grip. If the articles were to be believed, this man grew up with no schooling, with liberal access to any female on the compound, whether she was willing or not, and with more weapons than a military ammunitions storage.
I swallowed. “Um, well, it’s a paycheck, and the boy is sweet.” And I loved it a thousand times more than nursing school, but being a nanny wasn’t gainful, long-term employment.
Still standing in the shadows, the line between his eyebrows deepened. “Who tends to you?”
Tends? “I’m an adult. I don’t need anyone to look after me. I work and I pay my own—”
“What man takes care of you?” he interrupted, demanding an answer I didn’t have.
My mouth opened, but nothing came out. His change in behavior, his attitude, it should’ve been a red flag. His tone was a one-eighty from when he’d left, and I wasn’t sure I understood even a fraction of it, but I felt it. Like you feel a warm sunray slowly travel across your body, heating where it touches until it’s too hot to stand. If I was smart, I would’ve gotten in my car and driven away, but I didn’t.
Excerpts
CALLAN Excerpts
Excerpt #1
She stepped back and turned to leave.
Suddenly, I was starved for human interaction. Not just any interaction, but female interaction. Two years was probably too long to go without speaking unless absolutely necessary, but it hadn’t felt lonely, not until this unexpected female smiled at me. “What is your name?”
Denim shorts hugging her womanly curves, showing off tanned legs, she paused and looked over her shoulder. Her brown hair cascaded down her back, the soft waves reaching almost to her waist. “Are you hitting on me?”
I frowned. “Hitting on you?”
“Right, okay, um, sorry.” Her cheeks flushed beautifully. “Of course you weren’t. You’re….” Her hand fluttered in the air gracefully as her gaze dropped to my chest. She gave a small, shy laugh and met my eyes again. “I’m just going to stop talking now. Have a good day.”
“I would never hit you.” The thought was abhorrent.
She stopped. “No, I meant….” Her head cocked to the side, and she looked at me curiously. “Never mind. Are you from around here?”
“Yes.” The compound was close enough.
She kept looking at me, but not in the usual way females on the compound looked at me. Almost six and half feet, blond hair, blue eyes, I knew I was attractive to the opposite sex, but this woman was not looking at me like she merely wanted my seed.
Mesmerized by her, I gave her a name I had never said out loud. “I am Callan.” The six letters strung together on a birth certificate I had never seen sounded as foreign as my voice.
Wide and pure, her smile came naturally and without motive. “I’m Emily. Nice to meet you, Callan.”
I had never met a female outside the compound gates. “You are beautiful.” And she was. Like the saplings in spring, she was new and fresh and full of promise.
Heat instantly colored her cheeks, and she looked away.
I frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”
Excerpt #2
“You should go, Callan.” I bit my lip, wanting to take the words back.
Quick, precise, his hand shot out, and with a gentleness I wasn’t prepared for, his thumb stroked across my bottom lip. “You bite when you are nervous.”
My heart raced, and my lip tingled. Wanting to reach for him, I forced myself to stand perfectly still. “You don’t know me enough to know when I’m nervous.”
“Your body language does not lie.” He stroked my lip again. “The pain, when your teeth bite your lip, do you enjoy it?”
Uncomfortable heat hit my cheeks. “What are you doing?” The strangled whisper rushed past the very spot he was caressing.
“Touching you.” His thumb coasted across my jaw and his fingers landed on my pulse point on my neck. “Have you ever been with a man?”
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
I swallowed past the embarrassment and kept perfectly still. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
For a split second, something crossed his features. Then his impenetrable, intense mask returned. “I do not need permission to touch you.”
Blessed righteousness overtook my traitorous hormones. “Ah, yeah, you do. This isn’t the dark ages, and you aren’t a caveman.” His upbringing may have been primitive, but he didn’t look a thing like a Neanderthal.
Faster than I could blink, his hand caught the side of my neck and his fingers captured a thick lock of my hair. “I have already touched you, many times. You made no protest. Are you making one now?”
My core pulsed and a wave of heat washed over my body. For ten whole seconds, I let myself relish in the blazing sensations of his hold on me. Dominant, assured, confident, he held me like he knew how to hold a woman. But more, he held me like he knew every secret desire I’d ever had. Chastising myself and my dirty thoughts, I pushed at his hand.
He held firm. “Use words.”
The sheer dominance in his voice made my eyes flutter shut. “Oh God, I want to. I need to.” But I didn’t. I stopped there, leaving the decision on his shoulders.
He lowered his voice and slowly wrapped my long hair around his hand. “That was not an answer. Do you want me to stop?”
My legs quivering, my core pulsing, I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
“Open your eyes, angel.”
The sound of his voice, the term of endearment, I wanted to weep. Honest to God, weep. “I’m afraid of you,” I whispered the truth.
Excerpt #3
He tipped his chin toward my back seat. “You have a child carrier.”
I took a moment to digest the way he spoke. I couldn’t imagine growing up on a compound, let alone never having gone to school. “I’m a nanny.” I glanced at his clenched fists. “And a student.”
“Nanny?” The word sounded odd coming out of his mouth.
“Yes. I babysit a four-year-old boy while his mother works.” I’d shamelessly googled River Ranch after he’d left. While there was no mention of him or his name in any of the articles, they all painted a frighteningly bleak picture of a group of followers that were more prisoners, than believers.
Callan’s gaze traveled to my hips. “Does that satisfy you?”
My stomach fluttered, at his intense stare, at the sound of the word satisfy passing his full lips, but holy shit, I needed to get a grip. If the articles were to be believed, this man grew up with no schooling, with liberal access to any female on the compound, whether she was willing or not, and with more weapons than a military ammunitions storage.
I swallowed. “Um, well, it’s a paycheck, and the boy is sweet.” And I loved it a thousand times more than nursing school, but being a nanny wasn’t gainful, long-term employment.
Still standing in the shadows, the line between his eyebrows deepened. “Who tends to you?”
Tends? “I’m an adult. I don’t need anyone to look after me. I work and I pay my own—”
“What man takes care of you?” he interrupted, demanding an answer I didn’t have.
My mouth opened, but nothing came out. His change in behavior, his attitude, it should’ve been a red flag. His tone was a one-eighty from when he’d left, and I wasn’t sure I understood even a fraction of it, but I felt it. Like you feel a warm sunray slowly travel across your body, heating where it touches until it’s too hot to stand. If I was smart, I would’ve gotten in my car and driven away, but I didn’t.
Author Bio:Sybil Bartel grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. She loves the New Adult genre, but any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she isn’t writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…But Seriously?Here are ten things you probably really want to know about Sybil.She grew up a faculty brat. She can swear like a sailor. She loves men in uniform. She hates being told what to do. She can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks her out. Her favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—she can’t decide. She has a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on her for driving directions, ever. And she has a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell her husband.To find out more about Sybil Bartel, be sure to follow her on Twitter (she loves to hear about your favorite book boyfriend!), visit her website, like her on Facebook or join her Facebook group Book Boyfriend Heroes for exclusive excerpts and giveaways.Website / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Bookbub / Newsletter / Amazon
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3 comments:
Look forward to reading !
Nice cover
sounds great, love the good looking cover!
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