September 3rd is the official release date for High Octane Heroes (although Amazon is already offering it on their website!). For the next 17 days, the authors of the collection will be sharing snippets from our stories and giving you a chance to get to know us. To keep you coming back, we’ll also be offering little incentives along the way…

For posting a comment from now until this coming Sunday, you’ll be entered to win a $25.00 Amazon gift card. So be sure to subscribe to our blog (see instructions in the left sidebar) so you don’t miss a thing!

My story in this collection, “Pitch Black,” was inspired by the stories someone very close to me told me when she was working as a corrections officer in a men’s prison. I was glad to be able to provide a hint of realism and a real-life scenario for my hero and heroine to overcome. Enjoy the excerpt, and be sure to come back every day to read more about this very exciting and sexy book!

Heroes inspire lustful fascination. Worthy of High Octane Hero status, kickass iconic heroes enter danger zones in the name of duty, honor, country, and even love. These rugged men conjure images of hard, chiselled bodies, laser-sharp gazes and stark, camouflaged features.

Get ready for high-octane, smoldering-hot adventures, featuring these “super alpha” heroes and the strong women who wage heated battles for their hearts. In “Beseiged,” a special forces soldier rescues his lover from an embassy takeover. In “The Star,” an American Air Force pilot and a grieving British woman find solace in each other’s arms. A sexy SWAT team leader saves a rookie during a bungled undercover assignment in “Renegade.” And get ready for an undercover cop who flexes more than his “Big Guns.” Set in war-torn regions of the world and in your own neighborhoods, High Octane Heroes delivers passion, danger and heart.

FROM “PITCH BLACK” BY DELILAH DEVLIN

Passion lights the way for an ex-marine corrections officer rescuing a female CO trapped in a prison block during a blackout…

Even through the rattle of the spray hitting her glass shower door, Jenna heard the front door slam. Rinsing the last of the suds from her hair, she turned off the water and tugged her towel from over the edge of the door, wrapping it quickly around her body. By the sound of the heavy thuds of his boots, he was a man on a mission. She had no doubts what was on his mind.

What had been on everyone’s mind during the debrief at shift’s end. She’d felt the glances, saw the condemnation simmering in the male officers’ eyes. Despite the fact females had been serving inside the prison for years, she was a problem. Too pretty. Too slim. A distraction for the prisoners and officers alike.

Things she’d faced down before. No matter how she’d tried to minimize her attraction—no makeup, loose uniforms, her hair pulled into an unflattering, tight bun—she still stuck out like a sore thumb. Danny had to come to her rescue, and that put him in unnecessary danger because guards caught in the dark were supposed to hit a wall and wait. He’d traversed the entire barracks to get her out. Yet no one pointed a finger at him for breaking protocol. They all understood the need.

More than once the LT and the major had offered her easier duty, inside the infirmary or permanently manning a hub’s control, but she’d refused, wanting to prove herself. Not because her sole ambition was to be the best corrections office she could be, but because a successful stint there would make her application to the police academy stand out among the other candidates.

Danny knew this. But he didn’t support her. Even before they’d begun to see each other, he’d been after her to quit or transfer. When she’d been assigned to his shift, under his command, he’d kept silent about their relationship because he’d been hell-bent on protecting her. Maybe it was time she asked for a transfer to another shift.

The thought left her cold. Because even though things had gone sideways tonight, she’d known he would get to her. No matter what. And that thought had kept her from panic. Not something she would ever let him know.

Her bathroom door slammed open. Still dressed in his uniform, his shoulders spanned the door frame. His short black hair skimmed the upper edge. His dark blue shirt, spattered with raindrops, reflected the stormy color of his eyes as he raked her with a glance. Anger simmered in the glance he gave her.

Her chin shot up. “No, hello darlin’?”

His hand shot out, grabbed her arm and yanked her against his chest. “Fight me.”

Her eyes widened. “What’s this about?”

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “Shut up. Fight me.”

She inserted her free hand between them and shoved at his chest. “Danny?”

“Think you could have fought Draper off if he’d been after you?” he said, his voice a deep, graveled growl.

She swallowed hard against a burning lump at the back of her throat. So that was what this was going to be. A lesson. Proof she wasn’t strong enough, mean enough to be on that barracks floor. “Stop this, right now.” She pushed again, but he ducked down, shoved his shoulder against her abdomen, forcing her to crumple over him.

Then he was backing out the door, striding toward her bed. He shrugged his shoulder, and she tumbled to the mattress, her towel flying open.

Before she could roll over the side to escape, he was on her, his superior weight sinking her deep into the mattress. Covered shoulder to toe by his large body, she could barely breathe. “Danny.”

He shook his head again, a grim set to his tight square jaw. “This ends, Jenn. Tomorrow, you’re gonna accept that transfer. Work in the warden’s office, guard the nurse, whatever, but you won’t be on that goddamn floor.”

“You have no right to dictate to me.”

“Don’t I? Wasn’t my ass on the line tonight?”

“I didn’t ask—”

“You didn’t have to! Dammit, I love you!”

His shout reverberated in the room and had her jaw clamping shut. Bitter tears filled her eyes.

His eyes squeezed shut. Then before she could draw the next shattered breath, he rolled off her to sit at the edge of the bed, his back to her. His shoulders were slumped. “I can’t do this again.”