It's time to start voting on the vellum overlay artwork for each book! We're beginning with Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh! Which scene with Kaleb Krychek and Sahara Kyriakus do you want to bring to life?
Our artist, @skaiwitch, has provided a loose sketch for each of the three scene options. This is a glimpse behind-the-scenes into how the art comes together. The earliest sketches can be a little hard to envision what the final will look like, so as an example of other art we've made with skaiwitch, here's how the first sketch looked along with the finished product! This example art is not from this book!
Before and After
Your scene options from Heart of Obsidian:
Sketch Options
First kiss at the cliff!
After climbing a cliff, Kaleb has laid Sahara down in the soft grass under the moonlight, and things escalate quickly after they kiss.
“Kaleb,” she whispered again. “I’ve missed you.”
He broke.
Gripping her wrists together as he came down over her, he pinned them above her head. “You can’t touch me.” Her fingers curled at his low-voiced order, but there was no panic, her lips soft under the hard demand of his mouth, her thighs spreading to cradle him.
Even as slender as she remained, there was no doubting her femininity. Gentle curves under his free hand, her breasts crushed against his chest, lips plump and wet. Until Sahara, he hadn’t understood why men murdered to possess a woman. Now the rage of it was a black fire in his blood, a deadly inferno that would engulf the world should anyone dare take her from him again.
This scene ends with one of our favorite lines from the book. “It will,” he said in a silken whisper, “only ever be with me.”
Telekinesis disrobing!
They get down to business, this time in a bed, and Kaleb demonstrates some of the many uses for his powers!
Her fingers clenched on the muscled heat of his back, the fine cotton of his shirt crumpling under her touch. “You came back.”
Closing his hand around her throat, he stroked gently, his mouth demanding on her own. She spread her thighs to accommodate his body, her core slick and soft. When he tugged at her cardigan, she reached down and pulled it off over her head to throw it to the floor. It left her dressed in a bra of delicate lace, her breasts straining at the cups.
Kaleb released her throat to look down at her breasts . . . and her bra straps tore in half, the center of the bra ripping to have the piece of lingerie falling off her body. It was the first time he’d used his Tk in such an intimate way, and her shocked surprise turned into pure pleasure when—still holding her gaze—he ran his fingers lightly over her nipple.
This time, his name whispered from her lips in a soft moan.
Lightning storm HEA!
Look, there's rain and lightning and professions of love--and it's perfect.
Both arms under her body, his hands curved over her shoulders as he held her in place for deep, hard thrusts that made her intimate muscles clench in sheer pleasure, he paused, his hair dark against his forehead, his eyes holding the colors of twilight, and his body a sculpture of male
beauty. “I love you. I will always love you.” Lightning, jagged and dangerous and beautiful, flashed overhead as he began to move again, his mouth seeking hers to lock them together. Around them, the rain was a thundering cocoon, theirs a private world. Kiss after kiss, stroke after stroke, they couldn’t get enough, would never
get enough.
He was so strong and hot and out of control, one of his hands now at her throat in a caress that her body instantly associated with erotic possession. She felt the orgasm approaching, tried to fight it off because she wanted more of this, didn’t want it to end, but it was too late, the pleasure tearing through them both in a wave of sensation as wild as the lightning that split the skies.
Only this time, it wasn’t limited to their bodies. Their minds collided on the psychic plane, their thoughts crashing together in a splintering of astonishing color that made her cry tears that became rain as she saw all the pieces of him. “I love you, Kaleb.”
Your vote will determine which scene we use for the vellum overlay artwork!
