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DESCENT
Praise for Julie Cannon
In Power Play,“Cannon gives her readers a high stakes game full of passion, humor, and incredible sex.”— Just About Write
“Heart 2 Heart has many hot, intense sex scenes; Lane and Kyle sizzle across the pages…Cannon has given her readers a read that’s fun as well as meaty.”— Just About Write In Heartland “[t]here’s nothing coy about the passion of these unalike dykes—it ignites at first encounter, and never abates…Cannon’s well-constructed novel conveys more complexity of character and less overwrought melodrama than most stories in the crowded genre of lesbian-love-against-all-odds—a definite plus.”— Book Marks In Heartland, “Julie Cannon has created a wonderful romance.
Rachel and Shivley are believable, likeable, bright, and funny. The scenery of the ranch is beautifully described, down to the smells, work, and dust. This is an extremely engaging book, full of humor, drama, and some very hot, hot sex!”— Just About Write
“Cannon has given her readers a novel rich in plot and rich in character development. Her vivid scenes touch our imaginations as her hot sex scenes touch us in many other areas. Uncharted Passage is a great read.”— Just About Write
“Julie Cannon’s novels just keep getting better and better! [ Just Business] is a delightful tale that completely engages the reader. It’s a must read romance!”— Just About Write Visit us at www.boldstrokesbooks.com
By the Author
Come and Get Me
Heart 2 Heart
Heartland
Uncharted Passage
Just Business
Power Play
Descent
DESCENT
by
Julie Cannon
2010
descent
© 2010 By Julie Cannon. all Rights ReseRved.
isBn 10: 1-60282-160-7e
isBn 13: 978-1-60282-160-6e
This ElEcTronic Book is PuBlishEd By
Bold sTrokEs Books, inc.
P.o. Box 249
VallEy Falls, ny 12185
FirsT EdiTion: augusT 2010
This is a Work oF FicTion. naMEs, characTErs, PlacEs, and incidEnTs arE ThE ProducT oF ThE auThor’s iMaginaTion or arE usEd FicTiTiously. any rEsEMBlancE To acTual PErsons, liVing or dEad, BusinEss EsTaBlishMEnTs, EVEnTs, or localEs is EnTirEly coincidEnTal.
This Book, or ParTs ThErEoF, May noT BE rEProducEd in any ForM WiThouT PErMission.
CRedits
EdiTor: cindy crEsaP
ProducTion dEsign: sTacia sEaMan
coVEr dEsign By shEri (graPhicarTisT2020@hoTMail.coM) Acknowledgments
Thank you never seems to be enough to say to all the people behind the scenes who allow my fantasies to come to life on the page. Unfortunately, that’s all I have, and because they are who they are, that’s all they need.
Thanks.
Dedication
For Laura
Every single one, every single time.
Descent
PRologuE
Don’t fall, don’t stumble, don’t trip, the cadence in her head echoed with each step. Her head was spinning, her heart racing in direct competition with her shaking legs as she climbed to the top of the winner’s platform. The crowd chanted her name as she finally arrived at her destination.
This was more than about winning. Much, much more. It was the achievement of everything she had worked a lifetime for. Millions of beads of sweat, thousands of hours of practice, and untold sacrifices to get to this point. She was the best in the world. She had proven it. To herself, her critics, and her adversaries.
She was finally here. She should be euphoric, ecstatic, on top of the world. This should be the happiest day of her life. But all she felt was empty. Hundreds of people surrounded her, but she was alone, totally alone when it really mattered.
She scanned the crowd searching for the only person that mattered.
She recognized many familiar faces, but none contained the crystal clear eyes that she desperately wanted to see.
Her name was called and she stepped forward.
• 13 •
• 14 •
Descent
ChaPTER oNE
Yeah, baby,” Shannon shouted into the cool, crisp morning air. The sun was at her back and the dew on the pine trees to her right had evaporated under the warm rays of the first day of June. Gripping her handlebars tightly and bending her knees, she pulled her lithe body and ultra-light carbon frame bike up and over the root snaking diagonally across the trail. Her thighs worked in tandem with the shocks on the front and rear of her custom-made bicycle and she landed on the hard dirt path with barely an impact.
She dodged a low-hanging branch and flew down the mountain, zigzagging around rocks, downed trees, and an occasional squirrel scampering across her path. The trail was a single track, no wider than one rider could traverse, one of her favorites. The trail was bound on one side by rocks and trees while the other dangerously dropped off the side of the mountain. She was in the middle of the San Bernardino Forest in central California careening down Big Bear Mountain and life didn’t get much better than this.
At the base of the trail she skidded to a stop, turned around, and looked at the path she just descended. She pumped her fist into the air. “Gotcha this morning, girl. This time I beat you. It’s about time.”
She faced the eight-thousand-foot mountain behind her. “I don’t need another patch of road rash or bent frame.” She took a long drink from her CamelBak, the water inside still cool.
Her monologue with the mountain complete, Shannon pedaled across the dirt parking lot to the chair lift that would take her back to the top of the mountain. It would be her fourth ride of the day and she
• 15 •
JuliE CaNNoN
would push herself harder this time. The championship series was less than a month away. Eleven races over thirteen weeks in Canada and several countries in Europe including Andorra, Spain, and Switzerland, culminating with the twenty-four-hour mountain bike championship in Australia that would determine the world’s best rider.
This time Shannon had to wait in line to board the Snow Summit Scenic Sky Chair. It was after ten and the tourists had arrived to ride the breathtaking Sky Chair to the top of Big Bear Mountain. Once at the summit everyone from walkers, recreational bikers, pro riders, and everything in between would find a trail to suit their skill level. If nothing else, they could have a light snack at the restaurant and eat on picnic tables overlooking the dark blue of Big Bear Lake.
Shannon’s critical eye told her that the couple sliding onto the lift chair were going to neck the entire eighteen-minute ride, the elderly man behind them would head directly for one of the hiking trails, and she hoped the baby boomers in front of her stayed on the gentle North Shore bike path.
She stepped forward watching the lift operator assist riders onto the chair or hang their bikes on the hooks specially made for the summer riders. The woman had been working the lift on her earlier rides and Shannon had made good use of the time in line. The worker was cute in a baby butch kind of way with a rock-hard ass, well-defined muscles in her legs, and an equally impressive physique from the waist up. She looked vaguely familiar but Shannon couldn’t put her finger on where she had seen her before. She hoped she hadn’t been with her and didn’t remember.