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By Arlene Webb
Norse
mythology has a lot to do with the tradition of kissing beneath a plant that
sucks the life from other plants. They say the god Baldur, a.k.a. Baldar,
suddenly turned paranoid and alas, without shrinks and modern day meds, the
poor guy became more and more unhinged. He was convinced all (yes, all. Not
just bears and poison ivy) the plants and animals on Earth wished him dead, so
his mother and wife negotiated with what they thought was every living thing to
leave Baldur alone.
Unfortunately,
mistletoe was the one plant the women in Baldar’s life overlooked, and the god
was killed with an arrow made from the plant. Then, too late for Baldar, they
figured out Mistletoe has a downfall and a sword made of gold will kill it.
Like all
traditions that don’t need logic to start a trend, people began feeling
obligated to kiss beneath a clump of Mistletoe. Perhaps to pay respect to
deadly things that never should be left off the negotiating-good-will list or
to sword-makers who like working with quality metals such as gold.
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| Available HERE |
I had a
lot of fun using this info to shape TakingDown Mistletoe, but, like all of the best romances, I twisted ‘facts’ to
give my hero, Alek Baldar, a happy ending. I also introduced a love interest
who has nothing to do with Norse myths and everything to do with vampire ones.
Obviously when dealing with suckers, an expert related to Van Helsing (guy who
dealt with Bram Stroker’s Dracula) gets a role.
Here’s the
blub for Taking Down Mistletoe:
Parties everywhere, but Alek—security and
all-around handy guy—is stuck at work in the department store taking down the
holiday decorations. Just when he thinks he’ll escape in time for a little
celebrating, fate takes a deadly turn. A thirsty leech doesn’t mind going down,
as long as Alek joins him.
Tired of sucking on candy canes, Loki is sick of the tall security guard ignoring him. He’s determined, one way or another, that Alek will find himself lying flat. Unfortunately, a man dressed in black enters the scene and interrupts him.
When the parasite-exterminator, in the form of a dark, handsome hunk, arrives and latches onto Alex, things go from weird to downright bizarre. Did Alek really find love under the mistletoe, or has something beyond sinister taken hold of him?
Tired of sucking on candy canes, Loki is sick of the tall security guard ignoring him. He’s determined, one way or another, that Alek will find himself lying flat. Unfortunately, a man dressed in black enters the scene and interrupts him.
When the parasite-exterminator, in the form of a dark, handsome hunk, arrives and latches onto Alex, things go from weird to downright bizarre. Did Alek really find love under the mistletoe, or has something beyond sinister taken hold of him?
Excerpt:
Jesus
Christ. With one look, I’ve gone psychotic? Alek knew his body was in a store, standing toe
to toe with a strange man a decade older than him, but it sure felt like he
lay, nude, on his back beside a forest stream. In a green world, fat emerald
flakes of snow fell from a turquoise sky. Trees clustered with jade leaves with
solid mosses blotched along their trunks grew alongside a bubbling stream of
green waters. Where oh where had reality gone? And, more important,
should he care? Everything was so surreal, beautiful beyond imagination. And
then, it got even better. The deepest green eyes came closer and closer. Pure
joy would escape from Alex’s mouth, if only he could draw air.
The man sighed. He
snapped his fingers at Alek, stepped back, and lowered his gaze. Alek shook his
head. The vision shattered. A zillion sparkling dots of emerald exploded into
invisible dust around him.
He’d never dropped
acid, snorted coke, done any hallucinogenic drug, but Alek certainly felt like
he was tripping now. In a two-second flash, the feel of the man dressed in
black topping him, blanketing him from softly falling flakes of emerald snow,
triggered in Alek the hardest and fastest erection any male could ever attempt
to hide.
Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph. ’Tis the
season, but what the hell had they put in the punch he hadn’t tasted?
There’s
free e-copies of winner’s pick of my stories with Decadent going out to
commentators chosen at random, so please leave your email address.
Best wishes
for a wonderful 2014 to all,
