I’m a writer, so by definition, I have a very active imagination. Lately, I have begun to fantasize about taking a bath. Is there anything more deliciously self-indulgent than a bubble bath? I’ve been forced to satisfy myself with quick showers for a couple months.

You see, my house is on the market, so I have a nightmare that the minute I step into a tub, a real estate agent will show up with a suburbanite couple and their 2.5 children. And of course, I will have forgotten to lock the bathroom door. Which means Realtor Bob, Mr. and Mrs. Straightlace, and their kids Billy, Sally, and Halfsie will hover in the doorway in open-mouthed shock at the lady in the fluffy towel who is frantically trying to distract them with the beautiful tile floor … which they would appreciate if only they would avert their eyes!

(I did mention I have an active imagination, didn’t I?)

In VISIONS OF SKYFIRE, the second book of The Awakening, Teresa Santiago is on the run with her Eternal mate, Rune, desperately fleeing the Bureau of Witchcraft. Teresa is a witch, and the BOW won’t rest until she’s dead.

The worst thing about being on the run, to me, would be not being able to take a bath. (Well, okay, the worst thing would be the gunfire … but not being able to take a bath is a close second.) Here’s a brief excerpt from VISIONS OF SKYFIRE, showing Rune’s wildly romantic surprise for his witch …

Taking her hand, Rune led her toward the far wall of the sumptuous cave and then behind yet another wall of crystal-studded rock. He lit the torch within to display even more wonderful secrets.

“A hot tub?” She bent over the rocky ledge of a pool of steaming water and dipped one hand into the froth. Heat pulsed through her and she nearly sighed with pleasure.

“It’s not a shower,” he told her with another smile, “but I think it’ll do.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “It’s great.”

“Glad you approve. It’s fed from an underground spring,” Rune told her, then showed her another alcove. “It drains through here . . .”

Teresa looked, realized what she was seeing and laughed, delighted. It wasn’t the Ritz, and in fact it looked more like what she assumed a medieval garderobe was like, but at least she wouldn’t have to run into the desert at night to relieve herself. “This is so great, Rune. I don’t even know what to say.”

She turned to smile up at him and found him watching her with amusement and something . . . else in his eyes. Those pale gray depths were awash with secrets and emotions. As if she could sense exactly what he was thinking and feeling, she shivered in response. That low curl of heat and expectation at the very core of her had returned and it was all she could do not to moan softly as need pulsed inside her along with the beat of her heart.

“You feel it, don’t you?” he whispered, even that faint hush of sound seeming to echo against the rocks.

“Yes,” she said, not bothering to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. What would have been the point?

“We begin the Mating tonight.”

She lifted her chin to meet his gaze squarely, so that he could see her own determination to accept their joined destiny. She only hoped he couldn’t read her trepidation as easily. “Yes, we will.”

If you enjoyed the excerpt of VISIONS OF SKYFIRE, please visit www.reganhastings.com to read the first chapter. If you answer a simple question, you’ll be in the running for a $50 Amazon e-gift card. You can use it to buy a wicked cool Halloween costume, or you can use it to buy books. Up to you! The winner will be chosen at random from among all the correct answers on October 15.