The Universe Chronicles

Welcome to one of the September 21st stops on the blog tour for The Universe Chronicles with Silver Dagger Book Tours! Don’t forget to follow the rest of the tour for more promo spots, excerpts, reviews, and more! There’s also a giveaway; more information on that at the end.

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Storming Time
The Universe Chronicles Book Three
by Claire Davon

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Page Count: 182
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Rescuing compromised Universe agents is nothing new for Zared Hersh. A fast car, a little rain-and-fog manipulation to cover his tracks, and his job is done. But when Hannah Nickels dives into his front seat, something about her aquamarine eyes strikes him like lightning.

Thank God she’s not psychic, or she’d be reading his hormones like a book.

Hannah’s been groomed to join Universe practically from the moment her time-freezing talent emerged. But recently, her power’s been glitchy. She knows she’s in trouble, and the last thing she needs is her instant attraction to Zared’s solid body and dark good looks.

When their escape is almost derailed by someone with a strange new light-manipulating gift, only Hannah’s chrono talent gets them safely back to Universe HQ. In the relative safety of Richmond, their relationship grows. But Hannah has a second, more dangerous power that few know about. And as her control slips, someone with a hidden agenda sets her up to fall—straight into Whisper’s trap.

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She didn’t move her hand. He stroked her knuckles, aware of her skin and the rough patches that contained evidence of long-ago scars. He wondered what those scars were from, what missions had caused her to fight with her hands. She was no wilting flower like some of the operatives, like Maya had been when she first joined Universe. This woman was strong and capable. He was too big for her to kick his ass but he had no doubt she would give him a run for his money. The notion of wrestling naked with her made his jeans tight.

He cleared his throat to say something along the lines of “now that we’ve got that established how about we get out of here and go have sex” when their food came, stilling the words in his brain. There would be time after they ate—screw the mission, screw it all for tonight, all he longed to do was bury himself inside Hannah until neither one of them could walk. She slipped her hand out from under his and ordered a second beer. Then Hannah picked up her burger and saluted him, a grin sliding across her face. He returned the gesture, his hand flopping in an absent gesture. Need was washing through him like fire, jumbling his brain.

The burgers were big and juicy, the fries and wings hot. The welcome aroma of food wafted into his nose, driving out the rest of his musings. He would feast on something else succulent soon. But first, they needed to eat. One of the rules of being an operative was you ate when you could, you slept when you could, and you never missed an opportunity to do either as you might not have them again for a long time.

She made moaning noises, bringing his sex drive surging back to life. He could barely think for the desire flooding him, making his cock swell. Even as he tasted the delicious medium rare burger and the crispy fries and washed it down with the Guinness his blood pounded in his ears at the need to have Hannah, to take her, to be inside her.

They ate in silence until there was nothing left but a few bits of fries and some sesame seeds from the buns. The second glass of beer was also half drunk and as big as he was had no effect on him. He couldn’t pick up any signs of inebriation on Hannah either. It was possible her talent sped up her metabolism so she burned off alcohol quicker than the average person.

“Zared,” she said, sliding her hand over his. His body tightened again at the touch of her skin. Their motel room wasn’t far away by car and they could be there in a matter of minutes. Did he have condoms? They might have to stop at the store and get some. Maybe some lube too.

“Zared,” she said again and shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Yeah,” he said, and the word came out raspy and gruff like he’d had a cold for several days. He was slicker than this and cursed under his breath.

“Have you examined this restaurant yet?” She asked it in such a mild tone that he blinked. He’d expected a return to their discussion of getting naked.

“I don’t give a damn about the décor,” he said with a growl. Longing was pulsing inside him, hotter and wilder than anything he’d ever had happen in the past. If he didn’t have her soon he was going to go meshuga. It had been a long time, or maybe never, since he’d had such a profound, incessant need for a woman.

“I’m not talking about their selection of vodka,” she said, her voice sharpening.

It was a statement and not a question. Zared’s desire flickered as he caught the edge to her words. First rule of any operation was to always be aware of your surroundings. But she was so luscious that he’d forgotten that basic imperative. Now he did as she suggested and cast his gaze around the place.

On the surface nothing was off. It was a local bar just as it had been when they arrived. All indications were that they were getting ready to close up after these last stragglers were gone. No doubt the bartender and waiter were waiting for them to leave so they could get home to whatever it was they did after their late shift on a weeknight.

The bartender was at one end of the bar polishing glasses. The waiter was nowhere to be found. The remaining patrons had left, all but them and the two who had also been pelted by the quick storm, the men who had come in after them.

Two who kept glancing at them in the mirror.

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Tracking Shadows
The Universe Chronicles Book Two
by Claire Davon

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Page Count: 180
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Since the day Jiana Falco was forced to join the paranormal agency Night Stars, she’s been planning her escape. She uses her bodyguard’s split-second of distraction to vanish into the shadows, and burns the last bridge by saving Quillan Hardis.

But now, locked in Quillan’s muscular arms, pinned by his calculating amber gaze, his invisibility talent shielding them both, she’s in even deeper trouble. If that’s possible.

Quillan didn’t get to Universe Corps’ highest echelons by being a fool. The rare shadow manipulator in his grip is too easy a prize to be anything but a setup. A pretty lure he should send back to Night Stars. Instead, he holds on—and in changing her fate, he seals his own.

Under a secret order to unlock her untapped power—by any means necessary—Quillan takes Jiana on the run with only a precog’s vague direction, and a spark of desire that blooms into something warm and genuine. But her fear of being clawed back into Night Stars’ control could drive Jiana so deep into the shadows nothing will get her out. Not even the light of Quillan’s love.

But her fear of Night Stars could drives Jiana so deep into the shadows nothing can lead her out. Not even the light of Quillan’s love.

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Quillan carried his dark mood through the rest of their time until dinner and glowered at the waiter when he was slow to seat them at the fancy dining hall within the resort. Even the sight of Jiana in a cool tropical dress of vibrant colors that gathered at her neck and fell across her body in sweeps of cloth did little to halt his oppressive mood.

Even as he escorted Jiana to her table, admiring her high breasts in the halter dress with its flowing lines, he scowled. Ren had no right to dictate where Jiana should go. Ren was just another cog in Universe’s wheel. He wasn’t any more important than Quillan.

Except they all agreed that Jiana needed more training. She was unschooled in her powers and that could be dangerous. She could use the shadows and run into a . . . rock . . . or something where she would be trapped or killed. The thought of her dead was one Quillan could not contemplate.

“You’re quiet,” she said.

He turned his attention to Jiana. Her tongue moved over her teeth inside her closed mouth in a nervous habit. He’d been focused on Universe taking the woman away from him when she was right there. She wasn’t gone yet. He needed to shut his brain down and enjoy her.

“Just thinking about what happens next,” he said. “If the others don’t already know where we went it won’t take them long to track us down. We have forty-eight hours at best. Danger is coming and we have to be prepared for it.” Then he forced a grin he didn’t feel and was gratified to see whatever she was doing with the inside of her mouth stop and her lips parted. “It’s not here yet.”

“So little time?” she asked with a groan. “Why can’t Universe buy us more? They’re the government agency and all.”

“They have their limitations, just like anything else. I’m being an ass. Let’s get some wine. What would you like?”

They ordered a white wine to go with the fish dishes the jovial waiter recommended before Quillan turned his attention back to Jiana. She was so beautiful, this shadow manipulator he had the fortune to know. He should enjoy his time with her. He was leading her into a trap. They both knew Whisper was coming. The question was when.

He focused on Jiana, her lips distracting him. His cock twitched at the flow of her curves under the dress. He wanted to cup her breasts in his hands and stroke her nipples to glorious life, and then taste them with his tongue until she was moaning under his mouth. He could almost feel her hands on his cock, stroking him. It would be delicious to do it here, at this restaurant, with tourists flowing around them and waiters speaking a combination of English and something called Bahamianese, which was English and Creole, a unique mixture found in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. He heard phrases like “Een nothing” and “what da wybe is” mixed in with the English spoken in the waiter’s tongue.

They wouldn’t be here long enough to get killed, he hoped. That slowed his wayward cock down, but just a little. Survival was the most primary instinct there was. Considering Jiana, he had a flash of her belly round with his babies, a pleasing curve that added to her appeal. He pictured them together, making a family—and memories. It was foolish.

“After dinner do you want to take in the nightclub next door?”

Jiana cocked her head at Quillan and raised an eyebrow. “Dancing, Quillan Hardis? You? I can’t picture it.”

He leaned in, enjoying the banter, and wishing this moment could stay forever.

“I’ll have you know that once upon a time I was a very good dancer.” He left out that he hadn’t done that since his university days. Once he had gotten recruited by Universe and begun working on his long-range tracker skills and his invisibility, he had forgotten about his other, more mundane, talents. The kinds that most people appreciated, like singing and dancing. Since the day he had joined Universe he had aspired to be the best. There was little time for outside activities. Now he wondered why he had let the pleasures in life go. Whatever the reason, this lovely woman, this shadow manipulator who had such a bright future ahead of her, showed him what he had been missing.

And he had to let her go. But not tonight.

She blotted her lips with her napkin, not disturbing the delightful coral lipstick she’d applied, a color that matched the colors in the dress. He longed to smear that lipstick, or see it all over his cock. Quillan shifted as his erection swelled.

“I’d like to see that,” Jiana responded with a tilt of her head and a knowing grin that left him aching.

“Then we will go dancing.”

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Shifting Auras
The Universe Chronicles Book One
by Claire Davon

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Page Count: 173
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Maya Wingfield was raised to trust no one—least of all the dueling U.S. and Russian paranormal agencies, Universe and Night Stars, who’d love to harness her mind-reading gift.

She thought Richmond a safe place to escape their influence and hide from a rising psychic malevolence that drove her out of San Diego. But when she gets yet another call to retrieve her drunken roommate, her mind shows her an amber-eyed Universe operative with an impenetrable net around his deepest secret—and a voice that sends shock waves of awareness down her nerve endings.

Maya’s curves and aquamarine eyes aren’t the only things that jolt Ian Sanderson’s mental shields, bringing sexual tension thrumming back to life. It’s a power his Universe-trained mind knows he shouldn’t trust. And a vulnerability that makes his telekinetic power burn in his palms to protect her.

But to Universe, she is just one of too many unanswered questions. A target for Whisper, a shadowy new group of paranormals with powers beyond anything Universe has ever seen. Once before, Ian failed to protect a sensitive from a brain-scrambling attack. He will not fail again . . . even if it means using his talent—or his body—to stop a bullet.

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Quillan’s office door flew open, and Ian strode through, fury radiating through him. The door slammed shut when Ian was ten feet into the room. There was a red glow on his palms which faded as Maya watched.

Ian strode to her, patting each limb down with care, clearly assessing for injuries. His face was carved into deep furrows. “What the hell happened? Maya, are you okay?” The room grew quiet as he searched her face and body until, seemingly satisfied, he shot Quillan a glare that would have taken down an elephant at fifty paces. The items on Quillan’s desk vibrated. “I should never have left her alone.”

Quillan gestured to the remaining guest chair but Ian remained standing, spiking emotions across the color spectrum and through her mind. When she tried to meet his eyes, he avoided her scrutiny.

“Careful,” Quillan said, and his eyes were cold. “Ian has got the hump. Sit down, old chap, and I will explain.”

Ian’s amber eyes darkened to burnt gold. Regardless, he threw himself into the guest chair as Quillan had mockingly suggested. He seemed about to break, a rock vibrating at too high a frequency.

She had checked on British words and phrases since she became—whatever she was—with Ian, but “got the hump” eluded her. Although it sounded dirty, she doubted by the context that it was.

“How did Oriel get to her? We had a guard,” Ian said. His mind roiled, but all she could pick up were jagged edges of a raw wound that hadn’t healed.

“His abilities are greater than we anticipated.” Quillan returned. “As are Maya’s. She lashed out mentally and wounded him. A pleasant surprise.”

“This is your cock-up, mate.”

“Are you certain of that?”

Maya cleared her throat.

“Does anyone care about my encounter with Oriel? Or are you two going to stand there with your horns lowered?” she asked, trying to break the staring match between the two men. Quillan focused his attention on her.

Ian’s body was taut with tension, matching the stiffness of Quillan’s back. Both of their auras were streaked dark red.

Ian began pacing. Maya’s attention swung between the duo, the rippling undercurrents making a dull throb start in her temple. She wanted to rise and flee from their jagged emotions and auras. Finally, she clapped a hand over her ears, and cried out.

“What is it with you two?” she asked and lowered her hands. “You act like a bunch of schoolkids in short pants around each other.”

Quillan’s laugh was harsh, and strained.

“You’ll have to ask the Brit about the pants,” he said. “Do you want to tell her, or are you leaving it to me?”

Ian said nothing. She faced him squarely, trying to meet his eyes, but he focused on a point beyond her.

“Oriel said that there were very good reasons why you weren’t welcome in Europe, Ian, and that I should ask you.”

“Damn him. Quillan . . .” Ian began.

“Oh, you should do the honors, mate,” Quillan said, his voice thick with sarcasm and innuendo.

“That sodding bastard. Did he hurt you?”

Maya shook her head. “Not in that way. He dazzled me. Then he said stuff about secrets and Universe and enemies. He said to ask you what happened in England, and then I would want to go to Whisper. Something about a lot of people leaving around the same time and Universe and Night Stars letting them go. The way you’ve alluded to what happened with my parents. He seemed so sure. I was trying to break free, but it was so much easier to stay. I’m not sure I would have had the strength to leave if that lightning strike hadn’t happened. His power is something else. Zared’s weather saved me. That was Zared, right?”

“Damn it.” Quillan’s further words were dark and savage.

“Bastard. Bloody brilliant.” Judging from the muddy blue of his aura Ian’s mood was grim.

Maya’s hands shook, and she clasped them behind her.

“Well,” she said, trying and failing to achieve a casual tone. “It worked out all right. I got away. I won’t go anywhere by myself again. But what he said . . . I know that something has been kept from me, but I figured you would tell me when the time was right. I didn’t think Oriel would be the one to force the issue.” Quillan was studying her. Something unfathomable lurked behind his dark exterior. She pressed on it, but his thought slipped behind his shield.

“Maya.” Quillan’s voice was sharp.

She ignored him, turning her attention to Ian. Her lover, her boyfriend, whatever he was, had begun pacing.

“No secrets,” Quillan said, and Ian studied him for long moments. Then he nodded.

“As you say,” he agreed. Maya should have been glad, but she suddenly didn’t want to know. It would have been better to go back to her blissful unawareness and pretend that the dark emotions swirling through the two men didn’t affect her.

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Claire can’t remember a time when writing wasn’t part of her life. Growing up, she used to write stories with her friends. As a teenager she started out reading fantasy and science fiction, but her diet quickly changed to romance and happily-ever-after’s. A native of Massachusetts and cold weather, she left all that behind to move to the sun and fun of California, but has always lived no more than twenty miles from the ocean.

In college she studied acting with a minor in creative writing. In hindsight she should have flipped course studies. Before she was published, she sold books on eBay and discovered some of her favorite authors by sampling the goods, which was the perfect solution. Claire has many book-irons in the fire, most notably her urban fantasy series, The Elementals’ Challenge series, but writes contemporary and shifter romances as well as.

While she’s not a movie mogul or actor, she does work in the film industry with her office firmly situated in the 90210 district of Hollywood. Prone to break out into song, she is quick on feet and just as quick with snappy dialogue. In addition to writing she does animal rescue, reads, and goes to movies. She loves to hear from fans, so feel free to drop her a line.

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