Romantic Friday Writers - a day late due to Blogger!

Greetings Everyone!

Here we are for the first Romantic Friday Writers, a wonderful idea from L'Aussie (Denise) and Francine Howarth. I had no Blogger yesterday so had a frustrating time waiting to post! I am working part of today and will read everyone's work over today and tomorrow. I'm so excitied to be a part of this. We are submitting work to a theme each week and it can be Flash Fiction, an excerpt from WIP, poetry...whatever as long as it's Romance and under 400 words.

This week's theme is Dire Moment.

My excerpt is from a very new, just forming idea, where Miranda is the head chef on a luxury yacht owned by Xavier Clichy. They are cruising the Western Mediterranean and Miranda has met and fallen in love with Xavier's nephew, Sol. Then.........

The voices sounded far away, sounds lost to the whispering slaps of water against the side of the boat. Miranda raised her head from the deck, pulling sticky strands of hair from the wooden grooves of the floor. Her ear throbbed and her cheek stung where she had been struck. The taste of sweet lemons in her mouth, so delicious earlier in the evening, now brought a chilly nausea rising from her stomach as she took deep breaths to halt the sickness she felt was sure to follow. Forcing herself to stand, she clung to a leather bar stool and fixed her gaze on the calligraphy of the yacht's name etched into the seat as dizziness threatened to swamp her senses.

The air was warm but her teeth chattered and her body shook as the chill of terror took over. She rubbed her frozen arms, feeling goosepimples prickle under the touch. A group of five or six people surrounded a prone figure. They had their backs to her and hadn't seen her stagger to her feet. Their voices were muted to Miranda's ears, the vicious pounding blocked out any clarity. She glimpsed a single white shoe, not Xavier! Please, not Xavier! Her breath caught in her throat as the group shifted enough for her to see her boss lying motionless, his linen suit spattered with stains, which Miranda prayed wasn't blood. Needles of pain pierced her head as she searched for Sol. She dreaded finding him laid out like his uncle. One of the group spotted her and alerted the others. Miranda swayed – they were armed! She counted five men and one woman. The woman was tall and muscular and the smirk she gave chilled Miranda to her core. The menace hesitated. Miranda sensed a presence behind her and turned. The agony in her head was excrutiating and she put out a hand to stop herself falling. Another hand caught her. She looked into the eyes she loved, the face that had lain close to hers only hours before. Sol! Here! Holding her. She melted into his arms. Those arms propelled her into the waiting mob. Rough bodies grabbed her as she stumbled. Her body slumped as the horror of her situation dawned. Sol, the man she loved more than anything glared at her with a gaze so cold she shuddered. He raised a gun,
“Lose her!”

As I said VERY new and I have condensed to meet 400 words - I have, though, had a wonderful time researching Super Yachts! This is an story I wish to develop.

Do click on the picture above to read the other posts and I will be dropping in and catching up all weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone x