Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

The topic for this week is food. As much as I enjoy food and cooking, I don’t have many foodie scenes. Most of them are picnic scenes. In the end I chose this scene from Lynx to the Pharaoh, a historical romance with a feline shapeshifter hero.

Lynx to the Pharaoh by Shelley Munro

“I’d love to visit the oasis,” Charlotte said, ignoring the feminine pride inside warning her she would not look her best after sleeping in her clothes. And the knowledge that she shouldn’t go anywhere with a man she didn’t know. She risked another glance at him, and the silent gleam of approval in his eyes warmed her all over. This early in the morning, she couldn’t blame the heat of the sun.

They passed the camp, and as Sethmet had said, no one stirred apart from the servants. Charlotte told herself her brother would never know. They arrived at the edge of the oasis more quickly than she would have liked. Countless questions trembled at the tip of her tongue. Curious as a cat. That’s what George used to say, always in a chiding manner. Could she help it if she liked to learn new things and gain knowledge?

Sethmet stopped by the edge of the lake, in a small private spot screened from the main path, glad Lady Charlotte had agreed to accompany him.

A gentle breeze played a musical tune as it blew through the reeds. Not far from them a heron stabbed the water with its beak and came up with a wriggling silver fish.

He placed his basket down and helped Charlotte sit on a flat rock. Her lack of primping and fussing gained his approval, not that she needed to preen. Sethmet opened his woven basket. He had to stop the urgent need to touch, to run his hands across her silky cheek. A bark of laughter escaped at the thought. No doubt the lady would slap his face at the presumption.

“Is something funny?”

“Not a thing,” Sethmet said. “Would you care for flat bread and cheese?” He spread a blue woven cloth on the ground beside them and set out the food. The instinct to serve and nurture Lady Charlotte, or Charlotte as he thought of her, came as a surprise. Most women ran after him, but being with Charlotte felt right. He didn’t feel pressure or hunted for matrimony. He wanted to protect her, even if she came from the English camp and was possibly an enemy.

Charlotte was no longer committed to a man.

Satisfaction swelled within Sethmet along with an urge to kiss her. Hell, he wanted to do more than that. He wanted to claim her as mate. The thought gave him pause because he knew nothing of her. Yet he didn’t worry overly. Swift courtships were normal in his family, and their decisive nature when taking a partner was one of the gifts that came with feline powers. Everyone in his family married for love. They might argue at times, but he had no hesitation about following his heart.

He glanced up from laying out the food and saw Charlotte studied him avidly. For an instant, open desire shimmered in her blue eyes before her lashes lowered to screen the emotion.

Sethmet acted on instinct, going with his gut. He leaned toward her and took possession of her lips in a slow kiss of exploration. When she didn’t object, he deepened the contact, sliding his tongue across her soft, pink lips and urging her to open her mouth so he could taste. She was so soft, tasted so sweet, and he wanted more.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave or Amazon Kindle

To read more Snippet Saturday excerpts follow the links below:

Mari Carr
Shelley Munro
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
McKenna Jeffries
Lauren Dane
Jody Wallace
TJ Michaels

The other day I told you about the Munro war with Austin, the neighboring cat, and how Austin was winning hands down. Yesterday I had a victory for the home team, and I’m still chuckling about it. I was busy writing when I heard Austin’s bell. I looked up and saw him wander past the sliding door in front of where I was sitting. He’s a curious kitty and was sniffing in the flower garden. Then he noticed our water feature, which is a witch’s cauldron. He stood up on his hind legs to peer inside and that was when I snuck up behind him. I opened the window and made a loud barking sound. Poor Austin almost jumped out of his ginger stripes he got such a fright. He scuttled off under our hedge with me hot on his tail. I barked again and he jumped over the fence into a neighboring property.

Chuckling, I returned to my writing. Heck, I was so pleased I would have wagged my tail if I’d had one. About ten minutes later, I heard Austin’s bell again. I ran outside, making noise and Austin ran along the top of the fence in a real panic. He leapt into his own section and I haven’t seen him since. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t feel so pleased with my victory over a cat, but it made my day.

We are going to put down some chili powder as some of you suggested, but haven’t yet because it’s rained so much.

Janice Seagraves presented me with a blogging award yesterday. Thanks so much, Janice!

I’m meant to present the award to fifteen people. I could probably do that easily enough but I think I’d like to present the award to all of my visitors today. You’re probably a regular visitor anyway.

Enjoy the award and thanks for visiting me.

Disaster! Our giant pumpkin seeds haven’t germinated. We’ll have to go back to the Farmers’ market and buy more seeds so we can try again. My father’s seeds have, of course, sprouted and are growing busily. I’ve no idea what went wrong, but all we have are little punnets of dirt.

And even worse, since our little dog died we’ve been over run with cats. Scotty used to enjoy chasing them and they knew not to enter our section. No longer. One particular cat called Austin has taken to doing his business in Mr. Munro’s vegetable garden. Understandably this makes Mr. Munro very cranky. The steps to deter Austin have gradually grown more determined. It’s Austin v Mr. Munro and what Austin lacks in size, he makes up in intelligence.

Hubby’s latest strategy is to cover his garden with netting, and he’s also set up a sprinkler system. I have strict instructions that the moment I see Austin near the garden I’m to creep to the tap and turn it on full force. Luckily Austin wears a bell and my hearing is good. We had our first run in yesterday. I heard Austin’s bell and headed straight for the tap. Unfortunately he wasn’t in the garden so he didn’t get wet with the sprinkler, but I did give him a fright.

Yes–it’s the Munros v Austin. And so far, we’re losing.

Does anyone have any tips to deter an adventurous cat?