Happy Saturday!  Noony here, with some Noos and a sneak peak.  First, The Noos:  Join me and your other favorite authors over at the Romance Studio\’s End of Summer Bash.  You can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card, prizes from authors, and read lots of great posts.  The party is open through tomorrow, so be there!

As for \”Saucy Saturday,\” our new feature here at the Nice Girls Writing Naughty – I figured I\’d share a bit of background, and then a bit of a peek into a story that Rachel and I are working on – that\’s Rachel Wilder, the Wilder part of Noon & Wilder – but hey, you knew that, right?  Right.  When the Nice Girls discussed what to do on our blog for you, our Dear Readers, we wanted to have different kinds of posts – some fun, some naughty, and some nice.  Thus, Saucy Saturday was born.  But I never like to follow the rules, which you may already know about me.  So my saucy excerpt today is more \”saucy\” in the sense of having sass, rather than sexy times.

Besides.  It\’s a post that made me smile, so I figured it might make you smile, too.

In case you\’re not familiar with our Persis Chronicles, it\’s a cross between the classic Harlequin white-covers trope of the billionaire with his harem girls, and Anne McCaffrey\’s Pern novels – only set in M/M romance.  They\’re a ton of fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we do:

Excerpt (PG):

Cheula slipped his feet into heavier slippers and followed Ming out.  He tried to pay more attention this time and managed to not get lost until they were several hallways away from home.  He sighed in irritation.

“What?” Ming asked, eyeing him.

“Hmm?”

“You’re frustrated, if I’m any judge.  What’s wrong?”

“I’m lost!”  He waved a hand at the halls.  “This isn’t like stone!”

“True.  But look there, see the glyph in the tent wall?”  Ming fingered an embroidered square.

“Yeah…”

“They’re directional markers.”

Cheula gaped at him.  “You’re kidding!”

“Yes.”

He blinked.  “What?”

Ming started walking again and chuckled.  “Come on, we’re almost to the Hunters’ Pavilion.”

“Ming!”

“Come on!” Ming called over his shoulder, still laughing.

Cheula stomped after him and, probably due to his annoyance, recognized the Hunter’s Pavilion from their last visit.  He came even with Ming and the Asian threw his muscular arm around Cheula’s shoulders as they entered.

“You met Elder Hunter?” Ming asked, releasing him from the hug.

Cheula nodded.  “Earlier.”

“Do you play poker?”

Cheula could get some of his own back.  “Only a little.”

Ming cocked an eyebrow but didn’t comment, just led the way over to a table.  A Hunter dressed in dark grey turned and Cheula recognized Quill.  He waved one-handed and finished his conversation, then came over.

“Good day, Senior Hunter,” Cheula greeted.

“Call me Quill.”

Warmed, Cheula smiled at him.  “I will.”

“Poker?” Ming asked.

Quill shrugged.  “Sure.  Where’s Feyl?”

“Sleeping.”

Tybin entered from an entrance on the far side and saw them.  He smiled and spoke to his Keeper, who disappeared back through the flap.  Tybin walked over to join them.

“Poker, sire?” Ming asked.

“I could play a hand or two,” Tybin agreed.  “Keeper.”

“Sire.”

Ming shuffled with practiced efficiency and dealt.  Cheula checked his cards and smiled to himself.  This would be fun.

After five hands, Ming sat back in his chair and threw the cards on the table.  “Cheula, you’re not a novice.”

“Never said I was,” Cheula murmured.  “Just lost.”

Ming gaped at him and then guffawed.

“What’s this?” Quill asked, watching them both with his penetrating grey eyes.

“Ming was teasing me about finding my way around the passages,” Cheula told him.

Quill laughed.  “Then you deserve it, Ming.”

“But…”

Tybin chuckled, a deep rumble.  “If you don’t know by know that Keepers are trained in poker, you deserve what you get, my son.”

And in closing, Dear Reader, mark your calendars!  I\’ll be participating with the Romance Studio\’s Spookapalooza next month, so keep your mouse at the ready!

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