Mari Carr's Blog, page 75
August 2, 2012
Five for Friday
Summer time makes me think of the beach, fun with the family and TEQUILA! So…today’s five pages come from Tequila Truth.
Prologue
“What is your ultimate sex fantasy?” Heath filled the shot glasses with Jose Cuervo.
Colt grinned while Kylie groaned. “Christ. Surely we’ve answered that one before?” She knew they hadn’t, but this particular question made her uncomfortable. Quite frankly, she didn’t think her two testosterone-laden buddies were ready to hear about her fantasies. They believed her desires to be somewhat chaste. Silly men.
The trio had been following this same tradition since the early days of their friendship. Kylie initiated the celebration, calling it Tequila Truth, explaining that birthdays should be a time of reflection. The concept of the game was simple. The birthday boy—or girl in her case—posed a question and then each member drank a shot of tequila and answered. The only rule was the answer had to be completely honest.
Unfortunately, her attempt to bring deep introspection to her male roommates fell quite a bit short of the mark. They’d played the game since their freshman year of college and Heath’s questions always revolved around sex.
“Nope.” Heath began reciting past questions while ticking them off on his fingers. “Past questions have included your dream bed partner, strangest place you ever had sex and lost-virginity stories, but no sexual fantasies. I was saving this one up special.” He gave her a naughty grin that let her know he wasn’t fooled by her reluctance to share. By now, both men knew her well enough to know if she was holding back or wasn’t being completely honest.
“For heaven’s sake, Heath, why don’t you try to play this game with some semblance of maturity? After all, you are twenty-five this year.”
“That’s an easy one.” Colt licked the salt off his hand, downed the tequila and sucked the lime. Licking his lips, he settled in for a long story. He was nothing if not an imaginative storyteller. “I’ve got this busty blonde all to myself on a desert island. We’re stranded and she’s completely at my mercy. Begging me to save her and all that crap. She’s wearing nothing but a bikini top and thong, as all of her clothes were ripped off during the shipwreck.”
Kylie interrupted at this point. “Holy hell, Colt. Why do these imaginary women of yours always have to be blonde and stupid?”
Heath and Colt laughed, but she merely raised her eyebrow, waiting for his response.
Colt stopped laughing when she failed to join in. “Oh, that was a serious question? I thought it was one of those rhetorical ones.”
She grinned despite herself. Colt was the ultimate male chauvinist pig and, for some inexplicable reason, she adored him anyway. He and Heath were the best friends she’d ever had and she didn’t doubt both of them would lay down their lives for her. They’d mistaken her for a male—Kyle, not Kylie—when she wrote expressing a desire to share an apartment with them during their first year of college.
To soften the blow of their mistake, she’d pulled out a bottle of tequila her first night in residence. Her older brother had given it to her as a going-away present, unbeknownst to their parents. As it was her eighteenth birthday, she started the Tequila Truth game thinking it would be a great way for them to get to know one another. Several drunken hours later, the three of them were as thick as thieves and had never lived apart since.
“So what are you doing to this blonde with questionable intellect?” Heath, as always, was relishing Colt’s detailed descriptions.
“Well, I don’t know if you know this about me or not, but I’m a man who likes to be in control.”
She gasped, as if amazed, and laid her hand on her heart. “No, absolutely not. I will never believe that of you.”
He grinned at her sarcasm and continued. “There’s some rope that’s washed up from the shipwreck and this chick is hot for me. I mean way hot. She starts begging me to take her.”
At this point in his story Kylie faked a bored yawn, but he continued anyway. “I grab the rope and take her over to a coconut tree. I throw the rope over one of the low-lying branches and tie her hands above her head.”
“Have you ever seen a coconut tree?” she asked. “The branches are miles off the ground.”
“Shit, it doesn’t matter what kind of tree. Kylie, will you let me finish?”
“Fine,” she answered shortly, pressing her thighs together. The problem with his fantasy was she knew exactly where it was going and she would be hard-pressed to hide her reaction. The idea of being tied up and left completely at a man’s mercy was certainly pretty high on her list of fantasies as well. Definitely in the top five.
“So I tie her to the tree with her hands above her head. She’s helpless that way and her whole body is mine to explore and possess. I pull the thong down her legs and throw it into the sea. I tell her on this island, she’ll always be naked, that she will never hide her body from me. I can tell she likes the way I’m talking to her, all stern and powerful and shit, because she starts squirming and whimpering.”
Kylie struggled to stop reacting in completely the same way.
“I tell her to open her legs and she does. When I touch her, the woman is dripping wet and hotter than hell. I nearly come in my pants right there because I want her so bad. I reach into the back pocket of my ripped-up shorts and pull out a knife.”
He paused briefly and looked at her. No doubt he expected her to make some smartass comment about the convenience of having a knife, but she was struggling to catch her breath, overwhelmed by her own arousal.
Colt, satisfied with her silence, continued talking. “I use the knife to cut off her bikini top and I have to step away because I’m telling you this girl is stacked, with a capital S. She’s got these enormous big brown nipples and they are pointing straight at me.”
He continued describing the woman’s body in detail until finally she cried, “Enough. I think we get the picture.”
“I’m not sure I do,” Heath joked and she sent him a nasty look. “Maybe visuals would help. I’ve got some dirty magazines in my closet leftover from high school days. We could find a model who fits your description.”
“Can I help it if I’m a breast man?” Colt asked the question with a look of injured innocence that fooled her not one bit.
“That’s a rhetorical question, right?” she asked and then lifted her hand in a gesture that said continue.
“Well, I was going to go in to detail about how I suck the life out of those babies, but I can skip ahead. You get the picture.”
“Hell yeah, I do. This fantasy is a thing of beauty.” Heath sighed with appreciation apparently enjoying Colt’s answer to his question.
“So once we’re both good and hot, I take off my shorts and tell her to wrap her legs around my waist. She’s holding on to the rope around her wrists and this woman is strong. She uses her toned legs and arms to fuck the hell out of my cock while she’s hanging there naked from the tree. She’s driving her cunt down on me hard and it’s all I can do to hold on to her hips.”
She swallowed hard as she imagined the woman riding him. Problem was the blonde wasn’t a blonde, but a redhead who looked suspiciously like her.
Heath adjusted his pants under the table without bothering to hide his arousal. If there was one thing she had gotten used to in seven years of living with these men, it was that they were always functioning at half-mast. Shit, a strong breeze could arouse her roommates—she never ceased to be amazed by their intense sexuality. Over the years, she’d watched the revolving door of women who passed in and out of their lives and she’d heard enough moaning and banging headboards through the walls to last her a lifetime.
She consoled herself with the thought that through it all, she was the one constant woman in Colt and Heath’s lives. Through college graduation and first jobs, broken hearts and promotions, she was the steady one, the reliable one, their buddy with boobs.
“That was hot, Colt, but not as hot as mine.” Heath poured another round of shots.
“So hit us with your best shot.” Colt picked up his tequila, clearly enjoying his pun and ready to continue with the drinking part of the celebration.
Heath drank his tequila shot and leaned forward. “In my fantasy, I’ve got this smokin’ hot babe spread across my lap and I’m spanking her full, firm ass. It’s flushed red with my handprint and she’s moving into my smacks while her arousal is dripping down her legs. She’s begging me for more and I’m giving it to her. Then she starts pleading for my hard cock. When I think she’s been punished enough, I push her down to the floor and tell her get on her hands and knees. Then I fuck her from behind, hard and fast. She’s so hot she’s burning the flesh off me, but I don’t care. I keep pounding into her tight cunt, while she’s crying and screaming for more.”
She sat motionless after his fantasy for several moments before she realized her mouth was gaping and she closed it.
Colt shook his head in obvious disgust. “That’s the problem with you, Heath. No foreplay. That was the worst description of a fantasy I’ve ever heard. You don’t build the scene or give good descriptions. You just go straight to the climax, so to speak.” When he finished chuckling about his second pun, he pushed her shot glass closer to her. “So what about you, little darlin’?”
Taking a deep breath, she licked the salt, swallowed the burning alcohol and skipped the lime. Before she could think about it, she heard her unspoken dream falling out of her mouth.
“In my ultimate sex fantasy, two guys are taking me the way you both described…at the same time.”
Tequila Truth is available at Samhain, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, All Romance Ebooks, and Fictionwise.
Want five more first pages? Check out these sites!
July 31, 2012
Summer’s Sexiest Hero
All Romance Ebooks kicks off their Summer’s Hottest Hero contest today and I’m thrilled to announce that Jarod, from Party Naked, will be one of the heroes participating in the competition.
It’s going to be the battle of all battles this summer as 32 of 2011′s hottest heroes suit up in their armor, fangs, fur, camouflage, fire-fighting gear, etc., and square off. Voting begins on August 1.
There will be five rounds of elimination with prizes for voters along the way and prizes for the top 3 authors at the end.
In ROUND 1 – You will Meet the Heroes from Aug 1 – Aug 7
32 Heroes will be divided into 16 pairs. Readers will get to vote for 1 Hero in each pair. The winner of each pairing will advance to the next level
And a PRIZE will be AWARDED as One random voter will receive a $25.00 gift certificate
I hope you’ll show a little love to Jarod and all the heroes! I thought I’d leave you with a little excerpt from Party Naked.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t De—”
The detective grabbed her shoulders, pulled her toward him and cut off her words with a kiss that left her stunned motionless for a full thirty seconds.
What the hell?
She put her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but the man was relentless. He turned his head slightly, his tongue brushing her lower lip. She gasped and he took advantage, opening her mouth even more for his beautiful assault.
Stephanie might be angry, but she appreciated a good kiss as much as the next woman, and it seemed a shame to interrupt the man when he was on a roll. Then she recalled the ticket and his rudeness. She shoved at his chest again, but he dipped his tongue in farther, the brief scent and flavor of peppermint on his breath making her mouth water.
Anger. Arousal. Those two emotions seemed to be in direct opposition and she was torn. Should she break the contact—and his neck—or hang on and enjoy the ride? For all his personality defects, the cop could work magic with his mouth. Holy wow.
He stroked her tongue with his, touching it with quick, teasing brushes. His hands moved from her shoulders to her face, cupping her cheeks, and Stephanie felt herself go molten, her panties suddenly wet. She was a sucker for a sexy kisser and a good face hold. God, she loved it when a guy touched her cheeks so sweetly.
After a few hours, the detective pulled away, though his face was so close to hers, she could feel his hot breath on her skin. With a bit of distance between them, Stephanie’s wits began to return.
“Are you mental?” she whispered, too breathless to speak louder.
“No.”
His answer was too quick, too pat, too unsatisfying.
“You better have a damn good reason for doing that, Offi—”
He covered her mouth with his again. Rather than repeating the initial, long, soul-searching kiss, this time it was harder, hungrier. The horny fool inside her returned the effort…with interest.
The next time he moved away, he spoke first. “Is there somewhere private where we can talk?”
She snorted. She couldn’t help it. “You just came in here and attacked me in my bar. I’m not about to go anywhere with you alone until you give me some answers.”
The detective sighed heavily and then looked around, first at the bar and then over his shoulder, through the plate-glass window facing the street. Stephanie noticed he hadn’t released her and she was beginning to suspect it was to keep her in check.
For what?
“How about outside? The city street is private enough for our conversation, but public enough you don’t have to worry about me overpowering and taking advantage of you.”
She heard the humor in his tone, but she also sensed there could be some truth to his admission. Of course, she wasn’t so sure she’d kick up much of a fuss should he try that overpowering thing.
She looked at his quiet, serious face and just like that, she knew she’d be perfectly safe with him. Damn it. “Street’s fine, but make it quick. I’m working.”
He grinned and her stomach lurched unsteadily at the sight. Detective Asshole, as she’d taken to thinking of him in her mind, was gorgeous. Stunningly so. With deep, rich brown hair and eyes so dark they looked black, he also had a small cleft in his chin that added a bit of interest to his perfectly put-together face.
“You work here.” His words didn’t seem to be posed as a question so she didn’t answer. Instead, she followed him as he headed for the front door. He’d released her face, only to reach down and grasp her hand. She felt foolish and ridiculously happy to be holding his hand as they walked to the sidewalk, standing right outside Books and Brew. She noticed he was careful to make sure she was still in sight of her friends inside. She appreciated that small, thoughtful gesture.
So much for first impressions.
The detective was quickly becoming an enigma—asshole, sexy, arrogant, confusing. He pushed every button inside her and poked at every emotion. This was not good.
If you haven’t met Jarod yet, Party Naked is available at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and All Romance Ebooks.
July 30, 2012
Breaking Brodix
Anne Rainey is a dear friend and part of the International Heat gang. She has a new book out today, Breaking Brodix. It’s part of her Blackwater series. I wanted to give her a shout out because she’s so incredibly talented!!!
She wants to get all up in his business? She’ll have to get real personal.
Blackwater, Book 3
Brodix Jennings has a head for business, but his skills are put to the test when his brothers call on him to bring the family restaurant back into the black. With the grand reopening only days away, it’ll damn near take a miracle to keep the doors from closing for good.
Reporter Sarah Greer knows exactly what Brodix needs—free publicity on the front page of the town’s only newspaper. All she wants in exchange is the Jennings brothers’ rags-to-riches story. Except none of them are talking. And Brodix, who cuts a blazing path through her body with just a smile, is the most tight-lipped of the lot.
Brodix wouldn’t think twice about seducing prissy, buttoned-up Sarah into his bed, if her lousy profession didn’t leave him cold to the bone. A second look at the bar’s books, though, makes him think twice about saying no. But if he’s going to open the floodgates, it’ll be on his terms.
When Brodix asks her out, Sarah agrees, confident she can keep personal at arm’s length from professional. Until physical attraction melts their emotional barriers…and Sarah gets way more than she bargained for.
Product Warnings
Expect an annoying ex-husband, a slightly pushy reporter, a fiercely protective hero, and some meddling family members. Of course there’s also a whole lot of naughty sex, and in numerous positions too. Possible overheating of various electronic devices could occur.
EXCERPT:
Brodix ran the numbers again, even though he knew it was useless. The renovations on the Blackwater Bar and Grill were finished, and right on schedule too. It was Saturday, and the grand opening was scheduled for Friday. Six days away. Brodix groaned. “It had better be a frigging record-breaking night,” he mumbled to himself. They needed the cash flow in a bad way. He’d crunched the numbers, done what he could to keep things on budget, but the bills were piling up. He sat back in his chair and pushed a hand through his hair. What were they going to do if the restaurant failed after all the money and time they’d put into rebuilding it?
He looked around at the work they’d done. The old diner was gone. His chest tightened at the thought even as pride shot through him at all the work they’d done. The bar top Vance had designed had a beautiful, dark wood finish, and the smooth swirl design down the sides of the bar was a work of art. The old, plain white walls had been replaced with more rustic, weathered barn siding. He and his brothers had even added on to allow room for a dance floor. They’d decided on live music for the busier weekend crowd, and it had become Reilly’s job to find the right band for the job. They wanted someone with a Southern rock sound, but as of yet, Reilly hadn’t settled on anyone. They’d taken out the ugly, harsh lights and installed recessed lighting, which created a cozier atmosphere.
The changes were all going to be good for business, and although the place no longer resembled the little diner it’d once been, Brodix could still picture his father, Chet Jennings, standing behind the counter with his apron tied around his waist and laughing with the customers, even as he worked himself to the bone to keep the place running. Letting the restaurant go now would be more than any of them could bear. It had to do well. There was no other choice. It was a part of their family, their father’s legacy. None of them would let that go without fighting tooth and nail.
A high-pitched yelp tore Brodix out of his maudlin thoughts. He looked out the front window, but no one was there. Still, he could’ve sworn he’d heard a woman.
Reilly came striding out of the kitchen. White paint from the finishing touches he’d been putting on the trim in the kitchen splattered the black T-shirt and sweats he wore. Christ, he was a mess. His shaggy black hair needed a decent trim too, Brodix realized. Now that he was looking, Brodix noticed his little brother had somehow gained a few more muscles. When had that happened?
“Did you hear that?” Reilly said. “Sounded like a woman.”
Brodix nodded and stood. “Yeah. Were you expecting anyone this early?” The depressing numbers he’d been working on all morning were forgotten as they both went to the front door.
“Nope.”
Brodix flipped the lock and stepped outside into the cool springtime sun. He heard a string of curses and glanced down to see a woman sprawled out on the ground. A sexy, curvy woman. His blood heated instantly.
Brodix wanted to sink his fingers into the blonde curls flowing around her shoulders. Their gazes met, and for a moment, Brodix got caught in the pretty blue depths of the woman’s almond-shaped eyes. But something wasn’t right. The eyes, the hair, they were all too familiar, and not in a good way. She all but growled his name, and that was when it hit him. She was none other than Sarah Greer, a reporter for the local newspaper. And the one woman he’d been dodging for the last two weeks.
She squinted up at him. “Do you think one of you could possibly help me up, or is that simply too much to ask?”
Brodix forced himself to stop eyeballing her. “Are you all right?” He crouched in front of her to get a better look at the ankle she held in the palm of one hand as if she’d twisted it. “Does it hurt?”
She rolled her eyes. “Only my pride managed to get bruised, I assure you.”
Brodix knew he shouldn’t look past her face, but he didn’t seem to have any control over his own body at the moment. When his gaze traveled her length, his heart sped up. She had curves, but they weren’t overblown and in your face. They were subtle. As if a man had to get up close and personal before he could truly appreciate them.
Not a bad idea.
The fact that her black skirt had gotten pushed up around her thighs, showing a tantalizing glimpse of smooth, sexy skin, hadn’t escaped his notice either. They were quite possibly the longest, prettiest legs he’d ever seen. When he took in the angry expression pinching her brows together, his lips twitched. Oh yeah, she was good and pissed.
He started to help her to her feet, but his brother was quicker. Sarah’s face softened as she placed her hand in his palm. He grinned down at her. “Reilly Jennings. And you are?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Reilly. I’m Sarah Greer.” The sweet smile spreading across her face turned her into a gentle beauty right before their eyes. She had the look of an innocent. A delicate flower in need of a man to keep her safe and secure. What a crock. Sarah was as ruthless as they came. Oh, Brodix didn’t know her personally, but he’d seen her type a hundred times over. Had even dated a few, much to his dismay.
Sarah had a reputation for being ruthless when it came to getting a story. Brodix remembered the article she’d written last summer about Blackwater’s mayor, Michael Coburn. She’d gotten her facts wrong when she’d accused the man of taking contributions from a controversial source. As a result of Sarah’s erroneous information, Coburn’s reputation had nearly been ruined. Hell, Brodix was surprised she was still a reporter after that fiasco.
Brodix stood and glared at Reilly, willing him to back off, but Reilly suddenly only had eyes for Sarah. That would change, he knew, as soon as Reilly found out why Sarah had shown up at the Blackwater Bar and Grill unannounced. What had she thought? That she could get around him with her baby blues and cute smile? It’d take a hell of a lot more than that. Brodix hid a grin and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked over at Sarah and waited while she brushed fresh grass clippings off her white blouse. When her gaze met his, the frown came right back.
Sarah released Reilly, and Brodix relaxed a fraction. For some ridiculous reason, he didn’t much care for the smile Reilly was giving Sarah, as if he was a step away from asking her to dinner. Sarah looked down at the ground and lifted her right foot in the air, twisted it this way and that, then sighed and stood on both feet once again. “I’ve been attempting to get in touch with you, Mr. Jennings,” she said as she pinned him with a hard glare. “You’ve been avoiding me.” Her voice was as stern as a schoolteacher scolding a naughty child. “I’ve left several voice-mail messages on your cell phone and at your office. You haven’t returned a single one of them.”
Brodix grinned. “That should have clued you in right there, but yet here you are.”
She let out a sigh. “Look, I don’t see why you won’t consider my proposal. Your backgrounds would make a fabulous human-interest piece, and the exposure would be good for business. From what I’ve learned about the Blackwater Restaurant, Mr. Jennings, you could use all the help you can get with the grand opening.”
Reilly cleared his throat, and they both looked over at him. “Exposure? Someone care to catch me up here?”
Brodix quirked a brow and pointed to Sarah. “I can see how you might not recognize our little reporter here, considering the stains on her blouse and the blades of grass in her hair.”
Reilly frowned. “Reporter?”
Sarah clearly wasn’t daunted by the change in Reilly. He’d gone from flirtatious to cautious in a heartbeat. Sarah merely turned on the charm like a pro. Brodix tried not to let the sexiness of it affect him, but his dick was already standing at attention. Damn it all to hell.
July 27, 2012
Saturday Snippet
It’s the last Saturday of the month, so you know what that means. This week, we can “Say Anything.” Today I thought I’d share a snippet from one of my older books, Spitfire. It’s part of my trilogy of cowboy quickies over at Ellora’s Cave.
Snippet:
“What I want from you, Liv, what I need…it isn’t tame and easy. I’m going to claim you, take you, make you mine in every sense of the word.”
She gasped at his terrifyingly sexy threat as he bent down to kiss her. His lips grazed hers lightly, a sharp contrast to the heated, hungry kisses he’d given her in the truck and to his words.
“I want to finish the kiss my father interrupted all those years ago.” He dragged his lips gently along hers and she was struck by the sensation that he was offering her a real first kiss. Had he known she’d never been kissed by a boy that day she’d cornered him? His lips continued to dance against hers with an innocence, a sweetness that took her breath away, destroying her ability to resist him. She’d wanted him forever and she was disappointed when he pulled back.
“I owed you a decent first kiss,” he said, grinning down at her.
She fought back a groan as he stepped away from her, pulling a crate to the center of the room and sitting down.
“You know I wouldn’t mind a second and third kiss,” she said, returning his smile.
After years of being ignored and pushed aside by him, she should be telling him to take his kisses and shove them where the sun don’t shine, but she’d wanted him far too long. Besides, what if he took her words at face value and she had to wait another decade or so for him to make another move? She may be a bit miffed, but she wasn’t stupid.
He beckoned her over to him by crooking his finger and she went willingly. He grasped her hips when she stopped a few feet away and pulled her closer. His face was eye-level with her pussy and she fought to catch her breath at the intimacy of their positions. She closed her eyes and silently prayed that no matter what happened tonight, he wouldn’t stop. She’d gladly pay the piper tomorrow for one night with Rem.
“Pull down your pants,” he demanded.
Spitfire is available at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony and All Romance Ebooks.
Want more snippets?
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Myla Jackson
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July 26, 2012
Five for Friday
Woo Hoo! TGIF! How about five pages of Retreat? It’s a dirty one…hee hee…go menage!
Chapter One
“I’m retired.”
“I know that, Jon, and believe me, I wouldn’t be here if there was any other way.”
Jon Walker sighed, turning his back on his former boss, Reilly—his mentor, his conscience and the bane of his existence the last fifteen years.
Walking around his desk, he glanced out the window of his classroom at the beautiful autumn afternoon. The students had gone home for the day, yet reminders of their presence could be still be seen as he stood amidst the skewed rows of desks, forgotten books and scattered love notes left behind. He tried to rekindle the feeling of contentment he’d felt an hour earlier, before Reilly crash-landed back into his life. Since being hired a year ago as a senior English teacher, he’d never stopped relishing the idea that he had finally found his niche in life.
And now, five years after his retirement from the Undercover Intelligence Agency, he was being dragged back into the hell he’d barely escaped with his life and sanity intact. Jon had given ten years of his life to the UIA, a government-sanctioned organization known only to those inWashingtonwith the highest level of security clearance. The UIA—unlike its sister agencies—operated on both home and foreign soil, gathering information and diffusing difficult situations by any means necessary. By any means.
“No.” He could already feel the invisible bonds he thought he’d severed, tightening around his chest like a vise.
“Jon,” Reilly said softly, “just hear me out.”
“Dammit Reilly!” He turned quickly, striding back to his ex-boss to point an angry finger in his face. “There is nothing you can say that would change my mind. I’m done with that life. Done! Do you hear me? This is where I belong now. This is where I want to be.”
“The cult is back,” Reilly whispered.
And with those four words, he felt his blood run cold. “That’s impossible. Rex is dead. He’s been dead for three years and he was rotting in a prison cell a dozen years prior to that. There’s no one left who would—”
“No one?” Reilly posed his statement as a question, though he knew it was merely rhetorical. They both knew there was another.
“Cassandra?” Jon read Reilly’s chagrined expression and shook his head in denial. “My mother? You’re crazy. Cassandra barely escaped with her freedom last time. She would never, I mean… Christ Reilly, what could she possibly hope to gain?”
“What did Cassie ever hope to gain? Money, power, sex.”
He felt a cold laugh pass his lips. “You better hope she never hears you calling her ‘Cassie’. Sort of like uttering Voldemort in Hogwarts.”
Reilly didn’t share his laughter, but Jon continued anyway. “Only thing she hates worse than being called ‘Cassie’ is ‘Mother’.” Jon shook his head and walked back to the windows. “Find someone else.”
“I have,” Reilly answered coolly. “Unfortunately, this mission calls for a team.”
“Night? You’ve signed Night up for this?”
His mentor smirked. “Actually, he signed himself up.”
“Fuck that!” Jon exploded with a pent-up anger he’d spent years struggling to keep under control. “Un-sign him, Reilly. He’s my best friend. You can’t send him back to that.”
“Night was no fan of Cassie. You know that, Jon.”
He knew the man’s words were true and he was hard-pressed not to admit to the same disdain. If a more egocentric and cold-hearted woman than Cassandra Walker existed, he hoped to hell he never met her. Simply knowing Cassandra still lived as a free woman, rather than locked up behind bars, was enough to drive him insane. God help her if they ever met on the street because he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep himself from committing matricide.
Reilly remained quiet for a few moments, obviously attempting to give him a chance to digest the unsavory news he’d just delivered. He studied his mentor’s face and discovered the stress of Reilly’s job was finally catching up to him, noting the deep-set lines around his mouth and eyes that had not been so pronounced when he left the agency. A deep crease between his worried eyes told Jon his former boss spoke the truth. Reilly felt no pleasure in dragging him back into the cesspool of his younger life.
“It doesn’t make any sense.” He crossed the room and sat in one of the student desks, resting his head in his hands.
“None of the sick shit Cassie ever pulled made sense, Jon.” Reilly stood behind the podium at the front of the room. If Jon hadn’t been so angry, he would have been amused by how easily they reverted back to their natural states. For nearly half his life, the man standing before him had been his teacher. Whether the lessons involved how to fire an AK-47, how to break into an impenetrable fortress or even how to control his hot-blooded temper, Reilly never stopped instructing him.
“Why now?” He was genuinely perplexed by Reilly’s news. “Rex has been dead for years. Cassandra made a clean break from the Commitment Church and if your sources are correct, she managed to abscond with more than a lion’s share of the money. She’s an incredibly wealthy woman. Besides which, you and I both know she never bought into Rex’s religious mumbo jumbo.”
“I can’t tell you why, Jon. Only that she has moved back up on the mountain and she’s reorganizing. Night’s doing a bit of reconnaissance up there already. He could probably tell you more about the specifics of what’s happening.”
“Take him off the case.”
“No. And he wouldn’t thank you for asking me to. He’s still one of my top operatives and this case is priority one. No one at the bureau wants a repeat of the last time.”
“Dammit. I know Night. He may seem cool as a cucumber on the outside, but I know what this case will do to him. He can’t go back there.”
“Are you sure it’s Night who can’t go back, Jon? It sounds to me like it’s you who can’t face it all again.”
“I didn’t drag him out of that godforsaken place only to have you drag him back in!”
“You dragged him out?” Reilly’s usually calm voice rose slightly. “That’s funny. I remember it a slightly different way. I seem to recall Night dragging you out.”
Any response he could have given to Reilly’s astute comment seemed to become lodged in the ever-growing lump in his throat. He was saved from having to acknowledge Reilly’s comment when his mentor spoke again.
“Why did you come back here?” Reilly asked, shocking him with the abrupt change in topic.
“What?”
“I’ve never understood why you returned here. You could have settled anywhere in the world. Why here? You never considered this place your home and after all that happened on that mountain, I would think this would be the last place on earth you’d set up housekeeping.”
Jon sighed. He had asked himself the same question every day since returning to this sleepy southern town. He wasn’t sure there was an answer. When he’d retired from the agency and returned to college to get his degree in English education—always in the back of his mind—he knew this was where he would settle down to teach.
Penance, perhaps? For a decade, he and Night had dedicated themselves to the agency, to ridding the world of villains like Rex Thomas. When he’d felt too tired to continue to do that job to the best of his ability, he’d turned to teaching. But the cult of his childhood had played a role in every decision of his adult life and coming back here was no different.
Apparently deciding he wasn’t going to answer his question, Reilly changed the subject again. “Regardless of your feelings on the matter, the fact remains your mother is operating some sort of underground organization again. Back up on that mountain.” Reilly pointed out the window of the classroom and Jon’s eyes followed the line to the colorful mountain range that served as the backdrop to his lessons every school day.
“Christ.” Jon ran his hands through his shaggy black hair. He needed to get it trimmed but hadn’t found the time. His nights were spent planning lessons and grading writing assignments—a pastime others would consider dull in the extreme, but which appealed to him greatly. He was tired of a life lived on the razor-sharp edge of a blade, every minute spent in the struggle to kill or be killed. He couldn’t go back to that—regardless of the fact this case wasn’t simply a case, but his past coming back to haunt him once again. “I can’t help you.”
“Jon—”
Jon’s temper got the best of him again and he felt his grip on calmness slip away. “No, don’t. Don’t say another damn word. I’ve said no and I won’t change my mind.”
“Do you think I wanted to come back here? To disturb this life you’ve created? I’ve never wanted you to have anything else, but how can you close your eyes to what’s happening? What will happen? The seventeen-year-old boy I pulled out of that rubble would never turn his back—”
“Enough! I’m not him! Not anymore.” He rose, stalked to his teacher’s desk and pounded his hand on the hard surface in frustration as the door to his classroom opened.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” a soft voice said from the hallway. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Carly.” Jon crossed the room to where she hovered just outside the door.
Carly James, the school secretary, was the first friend he’d made after returning to Westchester to teach atLowellHigh School. The cute brunette had caught his eye on his first day at his new job. She simply walked up to him, introduced herself and in twenty mind-boggling minutes, gave him such a thorough and accurate overview of his new place of employment he was surprised she wasn’t working for the UIA.
“I wanted to see if you were going to the football game tonight, but I can see you’re busy,” she said.
“No, I’m not busy at all,” Jon replied smoothly, despite the fact he felt as if his two worlds were colliding and he was helpless to stop it. “Carly James, this is Mr. Reilly, my, uh, my…” As far as Carly was concerned, he’d spent the first decade of his adult life working in advertising. After growing bored with that, he’d decided to become a teacher. His personnel file confirmed that lie.
“Old colleague from his advertising days,” Reilly finished as Jon watched him produce the charming grin that came easily to the old man when in the presence of beautiful women. Reilly—whose age was a mystery to Jon—could still turn the ladies’ heads. At six foot five, the man was a towering presence with salt and pepper hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to laser straight through anyone who stood in his way. In the past, Jon had emulated that same cocky smile, but seeing it flashed for Carly’s benefit left him feeling like smashing a fist into his mentor’s face.
Shocked by his response, Jon cleared his throat. “Carly is the secretary here.”
“Secretary?” Reilly reached over to take her outstretched hand. Rather than return her intended handshake, he raised her hand and placed a light kiss on the knuckles. Jon could see his romance-reading friend was entranced by the gesture. “Any chance I could steal you away? I’m looking for a new secretary.”
“Are you really?” she asked.
“No, but I could be,” Reilly teasingly answered.
She laughed at his corny joke and again, Jon felt an irrational streak of jealousy attack. “Careful, old man, she’s young enough to be your daughter. Wouldn’t want you to have a heart attack.”
“Jon!” she chastised, clearly surprised by his sudden rudeness.
“Oh, don’t mind him, Ms. James. Or is it Mrs. James?” Reilly’s interest in Carly was now fully engaged thanks to Jon’s revealing, if foolish, comment.
“Ms. I’m divorced.”
“I see.”
Jon sensed the undertones in his mentor’s short response. Clearly, the only person in the room unaware of his less-than-platonic interest in Carly was Carly herself.
Her divorce became final the summer he was hired. When he had first arrived, he’d wanted a simple life devoid of complications, and she’d offered that. Over the past year, they’d filled a void in each other’s lives. He was her handyman, spending a couple Saturdays a month helping with the repairs that never seemed to run out in her old house. When he needed help typing up a test—a skill he’d never mastered—she would do it for him. However, lately he’d found his feelings for her moving beyond simple friendship, despite the fact she seemed content with their “best friends” status.
“I can see you have plans for the evening.” Reilly interrupted his thoughts. “I’ll give you time to consider my proposal and touch base with you later.”
“Proposal?” she asked.
“Property he’s selling,” Jon lied smoothly. “He has some land he thought I might be interested in buying and he invited me to drive out and take a look at it.”
Carly’s eyes widened. “I had no idea you were looking to buy property. How exciting. Where is this land?”
Before he could reply, Reilly answered for him. “Up on Olson Mountain, just past Lindsey Lane.”
Jon jerked at his response. The Commitment Church had owned and operated a fair amount of land on Olson Mountain. Because of poor roads and steep inclines, the area was nearly inaccessible to anyone the cult wished to keep out. Clearly, Reilly hadn’t given up hope that he would take the case and was dangling more information in front of him despite his refusal.
“Oh it’s beautiful out there. I think the school library has several house-plan books, Jon. You should check them out.”
“I haven’t bought the land yet and I didn’t say anything about building a house.” The idea of lying to Carly did not sit easily on Jon’s shoulders.
“I have to be going.” Reilly picked up his jacket. “I’ll be in touch with you later. Perhaps we can drive out to look at the property together—and Ms. James, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we run into one another again before I return home.”
“So do I.” She smiled as Reilly made his way to the door of the classroom.
Retreat is available in ebook at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony and All Romance Ebooks. Retreat is also available in print at Ellora’s Cave and Amazon.
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July 24, 2012
WIP Wednesday
I’m hosting the International Heat blog this week. Today I’ve declared it Work in Progress Wednesday over there. If you’d like sneak peeks of Bachelor’s Bait, book 3 of Cocktales and Winter’s Thaw, book 1 of Compass Girls, come check it out.
July 23, 2012
Colors of Love
So…if you want the inside scoop, Jess Dee is a sarcastic bitch…which is probably what I love so much about the woman! LOL. Jess is a dear friend with a wicked, cutting sense of humor that never fails to make me laugh. Usually hard enough to make me spit out my drink and give me a stomach ache. She has a new release, Colors of Love, out today. It’s part of her Speed series, which is amazing!
Their true colors are hidden…until one woman turns everything upside down.
Speed, Book 2
Seth Pace, guitarist of the rock band Speed, is a born dreamer, and nothing stands in his way of making those dreams a reality. Except when it comes to band manager Luke Struthers. He’s everything Seth wants in a partner, but even after five years of perfectly explosive sex, Luke refuses to commit.
After a childhood ravaged by abuse, Luke knows he’s a potential danger to anyone foolish enough to love him. Seth is safer without him, but Luke has no idea how to cut him loose painlessly. Until he spots Seth’s kind of woman—pretty, smart, friendly. The plan: seduce her into a sexy threesome, then leave the two alone to fall in love. Problem solved.
A night of excitement with the two hottest men on the planet? Yeah, baby! Yet Kaz’s inborn ability to read auras tells her something isn’t right. It’s obvious Seth and Luke are madly in love, but subtle clues in Luke’s aura signal he’s up to something. She’s not sure what, but if she doesn’t do something quick, the two men she’s quickly come to adore will wind up without the happily ever after they both deserve.
Product Warnings
One man + one man + one woman = a whole lot of steamy two-way and three-way M/M & M/M/F sex, a hero or two to drool over, and a heroine who recognizes true love when she sees it.
EXCERPT:
“I’ve been working on a song,” he told Kaz. “One that isn’t coming together. Maybe you can help? Work out the next line?”
Kaz grinned in delight. “I have no idea if I can, but I’d love to hear the song.”
Seth grinned back. Then he looked up at Luke and sang the words to him. Again.
“Now, forever and always, we’re going nowhere.
“Quit dreaming, coz we’re already there.
“This is it, this will be all.
“If you think there’s more, you’re the fool.”
Luke glared at him. Seth’s heart pounded.
Kaz inhaled sharply.
He flicked his gaze back at her. “What do you think?”
“Um…” She bit her lip.
“C’mon. Out with it. Tell me the truth.”
“Fine. But I’m only telling you what I really think so you understand I’m treating you like a regular person and not a rock star.”
“Kaz, this evening alone, I’ve performed at a concert, been interviewed by two different radio hosts and spent half an hour with three fans who couldn’t see past the facade. I would love to be treated like a regular guy.”
“I hate it,” Kaz confessed with a big gulp of air. “It’s dark. Depressing. Almost like the words are shrouded in a mist of charcoal grey.” Her gaze met Luke’s, and Seth got a strong sense she’d made a connection between the words and the man. Perceptive woman.
Luke had picked up on it too. He shifted from one leg to the other, but his face remained impassive.
Seth tilted his head appreciatively. “Thank you for your honesty.”
“You don’t hate me for it?”
“Hell, no. If anything, I hate the song. I was explaining to Luke that it just didn’t work for me. Asked him to help me see it differently.”
“Did he?”
Seth gazed at Luke. “He did. He has the knack. Always helps me to see things differently.”
“So, you have another version?”
Seth nodded. “But I’m stuck on the first verse, and Luke over here hasn’t had time to work on it further. I was hoping maybe you could help with the next one?”
“Go ahead, then. Sing it.”
Seth leaned forward, closed his eyes and plucked at the strings of his invisible guitar.
“Now, forever and always, we have each other.
“I am yours, and you’re my lover.
“This is it, you have my heart.
“We’ll build on it, it’s just the start.”
The verse was met by silence.
Seth didn’t open his eyes, but he knew Luke was glaring at him, just like he’d glared at him the last time he’d sung the words. With a mixture of frustration and desire and emotion Seth had not been able to identify.
“When I look in your eyes, I see the sun rising. A new day on the horizon.”
Seth’s eyes popped open.
Kaz hadn’t sung the words. She’d spoken them, but with each syllable, a shiver stroked up Seth’s spine.
He stared at her, and she stared back, seemingly as stunned as he was by her inventiveness.
“More,” he whispered.
Kaz’s tongue darted out to lick her lips, leaving them shiny and glistening. “Um…”
It was her turn to close her eyes. Seconds ticked by, minutes. Seth sat silently, waiting. Even Luke didn’t speak.
“You’ve been sent from up above,
“So paint my heart with colors of love.”
“Say it again,” Seth demanded.
Kaz repeated the whole thing.
Seth shook his head. “No. Something’s wrong. Something’s not gelling.” He had to get the words down. Had to look at them, see them in front of his eyes so he could work through them.
He grabbed the first thing he could find to write on—a paper napkin from the small pile on the coffee table. Before he could scramble for a pen, one appeared in front of him.
Luke. Of course. The man knew him better than he knew himself, anticipated every one of his needs. Seth almost kissed him in gratitude. Almost. But then didn’t for fear he’d get all horny and distracted and wouldn’t be able to concentrate for shit.
He jotted down the verse Kaz had just come up with. Most of it was perfect. There was just one line that didn’t work.
You’ve been sent from up above.
Seth drew a line through it. When it came to love, he’d given up believing in divine intervention a long time ago. If there was a God, he’d have slapped Luke on the head way back when and forced him to open his eyes to all the wondrous possibilities that lay before him if he just let Seth in. If he just shared Seth’s dreams.
Then there was the last line. The bit about “painting my heart with colors of love”.
Something about that line gave him the strongest sense of déjà vu. He liked it. Thought it fitted the song well, but what was it that jarred at his memory? Made him think instinctively of his grandmother?
And then he gave it no more thought as the verse untangled in his mind.
Yes! He had it. The third line.
Seth grinned like a lunatic and scrawled down the words. Then he sang the whole verse out loud.
“When I look in your eyes, I see the sun rising.
“A new day on the horizon.
“You’re the one I always dreamed of,
“So paint my heart with colors of love.”
Kaz’s eyes shone. “Perfect.”
“Perfect, indeed.” Impulsively, Seth leaned forward, placed his hands on her cheeks, and planted a huge kiss smack bang on her lips.
She laughed in delight. “What are you kissing me for, you idiot? It’s Luke you should be kissing.”
“Luke didn’t help with these lines, you did.”
“He gave you the pen,” Kaz pointed out.
“You gave me the verse,” he pointed out right back.
“Yeah, but he’s your inspiration.”
Seth didn’t stop to wonder how Kaz knew that, he just went with the flow, thoroughly enjoying himself. “He is, but Luke doesn’t want my kisses, and I need to kiss someone in celebration, so you’ll have to do.”
He placed another huge kiss on her lips.
“Rubbish,” Kaz insisted—a little breathless. “Of course he wants your kisses. Just look at his face.”
Seth looked. And there stood Luke, wearing a smug, satisfied expression.
Smug?
His eyes didn’t seem smug. They were dark, molten hot, filled with desire, passion and…pain?
Seth blinked, taken aback, but when he looked again he saw only desire in Luke’s expression.
He turned back to Kaz. “His face is telling me he wants me to kiss you. I want to kiss you too. So that’s just exactly what I’m gonna do.” This time when he held her cheeks between his palms, he didn’t smack a huge one on her mouth. Instead he slowly lowered his lips to hers and pressed them gently together.
Her lips softened instantly beneath his, molding to their shape. She gave a soft sigh of surprise, and Seth took full advantage, dipping his tongue into her mouth for a taste. He gave himself a long, lazy minute to sample the subtle taste of champagne on her breath before he pulled away.
“Mmm. Nice.” His body hardened, his groin stirring to life.
Kaz blinked rapidly, and once again her cheeks blushed a becoming pink. “T-tell you what,” she stuttered. “You can give me as many…c-celebratory kisses as you like, if—”
“If?”
Her gaze moved to Luke. “If you kiss Luke now.”
July 20, 2012
Saturday Snippet
When I think of family, I think of the Compass Brothers series. So…in keeping with the theme of We are Family, I thought I’d give you a peek at the Compton clan in Southern Comfort.
Snippet:
Seth Compton let his horse run free across the dry earth, enjoying the cloud of dust stirring around them. He and his brothers raced over the mountain ridge, heading to their favorite camping spot. Summer was just kicking in, but given the heat and lack of rain, it promised to be a brutally dry one.
Though the heat and humidity were unusual for Wyoming, they certainly didn’t bother him. He loved hard earth and the loud clomping of his horse’s hooves as they beat out a tempo that proclaimed his freedom. He was connected to the land, to the animals, to the fresh mountain air and even the unusually brutal sun. All of it made him feel alive and he whooped, grinning at his brothers.
The ride to the campsite went a long way to easing the ache in his chest that had started at dinner, when his older brother, Silas, broke the news he was moving away. It had shocked Seth, stunned him. Silas was the most like their pop, JD, and he was the one brother Seth never thought would leave the ranch. He figured like every ancestor who’d come before them, Silas would lay down deep, solid roots in Compton Pass. He belonged to this place, to their home, and Seth simply couldn’t imagine living here without him.
While Silas was made for Compass Ranch, Seth knew his greener pastures lay elsewhere. He longed to leave, to head south and work in Texas. While attending a livestock show with his pop a few months ago, he’d met Thomas Kirkland. Kirkland lived outside San Antonio and owned one of the biggest working ranches in the state. Seth had spent most of one afternoon picking Thomas’s brain about the workings on a real Texas ranch. He must have impressed the man because Thomas had sent him a letter last week, inviting him to come down after graduation to work for him. Seth kept the offer a secret from his pop and brothers. He wasn’t sure why, but the time to tell them his plans had never felt right.
The setting sun drew patterns on the ground, and Seth let the images wander through his mind. Some people looked for pictures in the clouds, but Seth found them on the earth. The shadows of the trees as they neared the mountain ridge looked like an army of soldiers, standing at attention, all waiting for his command. His destiny was at hand. He could feel it. One more year of damn high school and then he would be free.
He looked back at Silas once more, worried about the deep lines carved in his brother’s face. Something had happened, Seth could sense it deep in his soul, but he knew his brother. Silas would never tell him why he was really leaving. Glancing forward, he watched the backs of the twins as they rode side by side, always together. Unlike most identical twins, there was no mistaking who was Sam and who was Sawyer. The two were as alike as mud and soap. Sawyer possessed a recklessness that didn’t seem to reside in the refined Sam.
They hadn’t discussed their plans for the evening, but the second Silas had made his announcement to the family, he and his brothers looked around the dining table and nodded. Seth saw Silas’s pain and knew he’d support his brother no matter what he did. Hell, there was a selfish part of him that was actually glad his brother was leaving. It would pave the way for his departure next summer. Make it easier. Christ, his self-seeking thought made him sick.
Tonight was about Silas, about helping his brother. Besides, Seth felt a pain grip him low in his gut. When would the four of them all be together like this again? The idea cut through him like a knife and as he slowed his horse, a piece of his childhood died.
Tonight. Tonight would be their last time together and the heaviness that accompanied that realization threatened to stop him in his tracks.
Tonight wasn’t their usual laid-back escape from chores and hard work and school. It wasn’t a hunting trip or the beginning of a summer vacation or a winter retreat to test their wilderness survival skills.
Tonight wasn’t about playing or bonding or just being guys. It was about saying goodbye to Silas, and in part, to his youth.
They slowed as they approached their destination and ducked beneath the shelter of the mountain cypresses. The uneven terrain forced them to walk their mounts. They knew better than to risk injuring their animals.
Seth shoved his concerns to the back of his mind. Hell, it was that or fall on his knees and beg his brother not to leave. He wasn’t ready to be the oldest brother, to take on more responsibility, serve as a role model for the twins. Those traits had rested easily on Silas’s shoulders and Seth suddenly realized there was a freedom in being the second oldest. He got away with more, didn’t have to toe the straight and narrow line that Silas seemed to walk so easily.
They dismounted, and Seth helped Sawyer tie the horses to some low hanging branches. Sam gathered kindling for their bonfire, while Silas patched the pit they’d left from prior visits. Silas withdrew some hot dogs from his pack and grinned. They’d just eaten dinner, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to turn down a dog cooked black from a campfire. Manna from heaven.
“Si, you’re bleeding.” Sawyer’s comment distracted Seth from his stomach.
“It’s nothing.” Silas tried to hide his injury, but their youngest brother was relentless.
“It is something.” Sawyer moved behind Silas to get a closer look. Sawyer’s next comment clued Seth in to exactly what he was looking at. “It’s too uniform to be a cut.”
“Did you do it?” Seth tipped his hat away from his face and glared at his older brother. Damn him. They’d talked for years of getting tattoos when they were old enough. Swore they’d go together. When Silas didn’t answer, he stomped over, determined to see his brother’s betrayal for himself. “Holy shit. You did. You got a freaking tattoo. Without me? Without us? You asshole!”
Silas dodged Seth’s half-hearted punch toward the sore spot between his shoulder blades. While he was pissed as shit, his heart couldn’t let go of the idea that Silas was leaving in the morning. He couldn’t let tonight end in a fight.
Silas shrugged. “I had a hard enough time convincing Snake to ink me. If I’d brought you guys with me he never would have caved. He only did it because I’m eighteen now.”
Besides, if Silas had told Seth, they wouldn’t have been able to stop Sam and Sawyer from tagging along too. Their kid brothers shadowed their every move. Sometimes it was flattering as hell, but most of the time, it was just fucking annoying.
“Well, I suppose that’s true. Plus he’s probably afraid JD’ll kill him if he finds out,” Sawyer said, ever the peacekeeper.
Seth rolled his eyes at his baby brother’s words. Kid thought their pop walked on water. Of course, Seth had to admit, around here, the guy did. As head of Compass Ranch—the center of Compton Pass, Wyoming—JD Compton wielded a power most men could only dream of. However, while Seth’s father’s money opened doors, his personality made him a born leader. When JD spoke, people listened.
Silas nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I took the bandages off. Didn’t want him to notice.”
Sawyer persisted. “But you gotta let us see it at least.”
“Sure.” Silas dropped a wedge of wood on the fire and stood. Seth moved to his brother’s back, standing next to the twins, as Silas tugged his grey T-shirt over his head. He caught a slight hitch in his brother’s actions and realized the tattoo must hurt like hell. None of them made a sound as they studied the artwork inked on his brother’s back.
The sudden silence seemed to unnerve Silas, and he began to offer unneeded explanations. “It’s swollen and stuff—”
“Whoa.” Seth murmured, not needing any explanation.
“It’s awesome.” Sam laid his palm to the right of the emblem, careful not to touch the raw skin.
“Sweet,” Sawyer agreed then added his hand, on the left side of Silas’s back.
“Does it hurt?” Seth couldn’t resist the urge to join in, touching the area below the design.
“So bad,” Silas confirmed.
“I’m still doing it. Next year. The minute I turn eighteen.” Seth had never spoken truer words. He wanted this pattern. Bad. It was perfect. “Exactly like this.”
“Me too,” Sam chimed in. “The compass design is fucking great. And the ranch brand is perfect. It matches the one we use.”
“I didn’t know Snake had this kind of shit in him. The shading is so cool. It looks 3D.” Sawyer’s hand shook on Silas’s back. “I want one now. Like yours. But without the fancy N.”
“You’re only fifteen,” Silas barked. “Wait a while and make sure it’s what you really want.”
“I know what I want.”
“Things don’t always happen like you expect, Sawyer.” Silas sighed and Seth wondered what had altered in his brother’s life. Then, he considered the adjustments facing him in the immediate future. The difference was, while Seth was a bit anxious about the move, he embraced the idea, excited by the prospect. Silas didn’t seem to feel the same joy in venturing out of Compton Pass.
“Is that why you’re leaving?” The high pitch of Sam’s question told Seth his younger brothers were taking Silas’s departure hard as well.
“Yeah.” Seth knew that was the only answer his older brother would give them.
“Well, some people might flip flop around. Not me. Not going to change my mind.” Sawyer’s words were strong, self-assured. He’d always been the most determined to prove himself despite being the baby of the group. Maybe because of it. “I’m joining the Coast Guard. Gonna see the world.”
“What!” Silas pivoted to stare at their kid brother, and Seth wondered at the vehemence in his tone. “You’ve been watching too many freaking commercials. Your place is here, on the ranch.”
“No, it isn’t,” the teenager whispered.
Seth nodded in agreement. Sawyer was right to dream of the world beyond their property line. They’d lived like crown princes for all of their young lives, regarded with a fair bit of jealousy and even a bit of awe by their neighbors and the other kids in school. JD Compton was the uncrowned ruler of the area. In addition to owning a fair bit of the land in Compton Pass, the town was named for Seth’s great-great grandfather and JD served as chairman on the town council. Very few decisions were made in this area that didn’t have JD’s seal of approval. Problem was, Seth knew there was a hell of a lot more to this world than Compass Ranch and he was aching to strike out and make a stand, build a life with his own hands, rather than riding in the shade provided by his father’s very large shadow.
“You’re not planning to stay?” Silas’s forehead creased with disbelief. “None of you?”
The look of outright betrayal on his brother’s face tweaked Seth’s already stretched nerves. “Don’t look at us like that! I figured you’d understand. I need to get the hell out of here. Find my own place. Same as you.” His secret desire fell from his lips, and he was helpless to hold back. “Not Alaska though, I hate winter. You’re crazy to take on all that snow. Somewhere warm. Maybe I’ll head down south.” He withheld the information regarding Kirkland’s invitation. He remembered Silas’s tattoo and the image of his future became clear. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. A fancy S instead of an N on my compass, bro.”
“What? No!” Silas threw his arms up in frustration. “It’s not like that. I mean—”
“We understand, Si.” Sam smiled and nodded. “I’d like to go to college. Earn a degree. Find a real job. Something where I don’t have to dirty my hands to rake in cash. I’m going to have fancy clothes, a slick apartment and a kickass car. I’ll party every night with the hottest girls in the city.”
Seth grinned. He wasn’t the only one with dreams bigger than Compton Pass. His brothers understood. They yearned for the same things.
Silas turned to Sawyer and Seth read the unspoken question, the lingering concern on his lips. Who would stay at Compass Ranch? A slight pang of guilt penetrated Seth’s conscience, but he batted it away.
“Oh, no.” Sawyer shook his head as he kicked a rock when Silas turned to him. “Don’t give me that look. I told you, I’m not getting stuck here. Fuck that. You think someone should hang around, then stay put. It ain’t too late to cancel your plane ticket.”
“I-I can’t,” Silas said.
Seth understood his brother’s feeling. Some undeniable lure was tearing them away from this place, something stronger than all of them.
“And neither can we.” Seth hated the look of desolation on his older brother’s face. He slugged Silas’s shoulder, hoping to lighten the atmosphere. He didn’t want Silas’s last night to be weighted down with such heavy discussion. There was plenty of time to figure out what would come next. Seth still had a year until graduation, and the twins were only fifteen. Three years was a long time for a young man to change his mind. Maybe one or both of their little brothers would come to realize they didn’t have to leave. Regardless of that, they didn’t need to worry about any of that right now. He chuckled as he thought of a surefire way to make them all smile. “Come on, start the dogs. I’m starving. Jake slipped me a couple Playboys for doing his chores last weekend so he could bang Missy Trelane.”
“Nice! Me first.” Sam squeaked a head start for Seth’s backpack as Sawyer launched himself after his twin.
Seth laughed as he watched them wrestle and call each other names. Yep, he thought, there’s still plenty of time.
Southern Comfort is available at Samhain, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and All Romance Ebooks.
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July 19, 2012
Five for Friday
It’s that time again! Y’all up for Five pages of this week’s Friday book? Today I’m featuring Kiss Me, Kate.
Chapter One
Mid-May
“Yowza,” Kate muttered as the front door of the farmhouse opened. Recalling herself, she quickly said, “Hi there. I c-called earlier. I’m Jill’s sister. The, uh, house-sitter.” Kate stumbled over her words as a man who could pass for George Clooney’s identical twin brother answered the door. O brother, where art thou been all my life?
“Hello.” Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome spoke in a voice so hot and deep she was sure it could melt chocolate, not to mention what it was doing to her insides. “Ms. Summers?”
“Harper.” She silently remarked how strange it felt to be using her maiden name again and extended her hand. “Kate Harper.”
“Harper.” He shook the hand she offered, his grip strong yet curiously comforting. “Rick McAllister.”
Kate prayed he couldn’t feel her hand shaking. Damn, she was a fool. She needed this job, desperately. Now was not the time to act like a giggling teenager crushing on a movie star. Although with his dark brown hair and cocoa-colored eyes, he could certainly grace her silver screen anytime of the day or night. “You’re doing it again,” she muttered underneath her breath.
“Excuse me?” Rick had heard her mumbles and looked confused.
Mortified, Kate attempted to backtrack quickly. “Nothing, I was just, uh, saying…so you and Jill are friends?”
Rick grinned in a way that let Kate know he wasn’t fooled. “Yep and I don’t mind telling you that your sister makes a Dutch apple pie that can bring a grown man to his knees begging for a crumb of the crust.”
Kate laughed at his description. She constantly heard similar comments from most of the folks in town. Her sister owned and operated a diner on Main Street. It was typically packed for breakfast, lunch and dinner due to Jill’s amazing culinary skills and vivacious personality. Kate couldn’t think of one person in town who wasn’t drawn to Jill and her delicious food—which made it all the more painful to have to admit she was Jill’s baby sister. People expected Kate to be like her and were always disappointed.
“Jill’s cooking is one of the reasons I’ll never succeed in any diet.”
“Why on earth are you dieting?”
Rick looked so sincere in his question, Kate wasn’t sure how to respond. Flustered, she changed the subject. “I, uh, understand you’re leaving town immediately.”
“That’s right.” Rick stepped back from the doorway and gestured for her to enter. “Why don’t you come on in? Would you like something to drink? I’m not sure there’s much left in the fridge except for a couple beers and maybe some lemonade. Wes and I have been trying to clean it out so nothing would spoil. We weren’t sure we’d be able to find someone to stay here on such short notice.”
“Oh, I’m not thirsty. Thanks anyway.” Kate’s eyes took in the spacious foyer. “Wow.”
Rick chuckled behind her. “Is that an impressed ‘wow’ or a horrified one?”
“Impressed,” she answered without thinking. “This house is even better on the inside.” It was an old farmhouse, situated on twenty-five acres just outside the small town where she worked as the high school librarian. She’d driven by the house quite a few times in the past since it sat on the road that led to one of her favorite hiking trails. Every time she drove by, she slowed down to see all the improvements the new owners had made over the years.
Although she’d never actually met Wes Robson or Rick McAllister, she’d certainly heard all about them via the gossip grapevine, a.k.a. Jill. She had seen them in town on various occasions, but only from a distance. She had to say up-close was much, much better.
“Other than Wes and myself, I think you’re the only person to ever actually admit that. We still have quite a bit of work left to do, as you can see. Wes and I have put most of our efforts into maintaining the outside of the house and the outbuildings. I’m afraid neither one of us is much use when it comes to interior decorating. Add to that the fact that our housekeeper quit a couple months ago, we’re two hopeless bachelors when it comes to housework and voila—the mess you see before you.”
“Not a mess.” Kate studied the high ceilings and arched doorways that led to several different rooms. The house was clearly built at a time when people paid attention to detail. She was so sick of the carbon-copy cardboard boxes contractors liked to refer to as “dream homes” nowadays. “A work in progress—and one with a lot of potential.”
“I agree,” Rick added quietly. “We’ve just had a hard time making any progress on that work. Come on in the living room. Wes will be here in awhile. He’s out mowing the yard.”
“I assume you have a riding mower?” Kate wondered if yard chores would be part of her duties if she could convince Rick and Wes to allow her to stay.
“Hell yeah. Pardon my language, but it would be a bit much to do with a push mower.” Then he seemed to realize the reason for her question. “You don’t have to worry about that, though. There’s a teenager who lives down the road. He’ll be taking over the yard work once school lets out in a couple weeks. Jill says you’re a teacher?”
“Librarian, but as it’s at the high school, chances are good I know your new gardener.”
“Scott Miller.”
“Oh yeah, Scott’s a great kid. He’ll do a terrific job.” Kate wondered if Rick knew how much the Miller family could use any money Scott would earn. His mother was a teacher at the same school as Kate and his father had recently been placed on disability. The family had four kids, ages eight to seventeen, and Kate knew money was tight.
“Jill says you’re going through a divorce,” Rick added and Kate felt the usual tightness in her chest that accompanied that statement. The pain of her slime-ball husband’s desertion still stung. She’d come home two months ago to find their house empty and their joint bank account cleaned out.
Madison was a small town and she was sure there was little chance Rick McAllister hadn’t heard all the gory details of how the town’s top lawyer had run out on his dumpy librarian wife and taken off with Madison’s one and only hairdresser. True to the cliché, Kate was the last one to find out about Zachary Summers’ cheating ways. In fact, until she came home to find everything in the house gone—except her books and clothes—Kate hadn’t had a clue Zack wasn’t faithful to her.
Having grown up in Madison, Kate wasn’t surprised by the townspeople’s reactions. Her husband’s exploits were apparently acceptable because they were so expected. She overheard one particularly nasty comment about how it had only been a matter of time before Zack Summers left to find a woman worthy of him. On top of that, Kate sensed most of the women in town were actually pissed off with her for not keeping her husband happy because they now had to travel thirty-five miles toHarrisburgto get their perms and color.
Kate cleared her throat and nodded. “That’s right. Unfortunately divorce is a rather pricey investment and I decided to put my house on the market to help with the cost.” Not that Kate gave a damn about the house. Zack picked out the modern monstrosity, determined to rub his success as an ambulance chaser in the neighbors’ noses, and Kate had hated it since the day they’d moved in.
“I’ve been staying with Jill, but she and I are rather different people and her apartment is a bit small.” Kate didn’t bother to include the fact that, although she loved her sister dearly, Jill was driving her up the wall.
“Well, I have to say Wes and I were starting to give up hope of finding someone to take care of the place. Fact of the matter is we aren’t sure how long we’ll be out of town and we hate to leave the place empty for so long. There are lots of plants inside that need tending, and Rex.”
“Rex?”
“Jill did tell you we have a dog, didn’t she?” Rick asked, looking concerned.
“Uh, no.” And Kate knew exactly why Jill had omitted that fact. Kate was deathly afraid of dogs since being bitten by one in the sixth grade. “Is Rex an outdoor dog?” Silently she prayed he was one of those dogs kept in a pen in the back she only had to throw water and food at once a day.
Rick laughed. “Oh no, although he probably should be. Big old pain in the ass is what he is. He adopted us about a year ago.”
The word “big” reverberated in Kate’s head. “He adopted you?”
“Just walked up to the back door and started scratching. Wes is a softie when it comes to dogs. Started feeding him scraps every night. Next thing I know, there’s a horse of a dog sleeping with me in my bed, hogging the covers.”
“H-horse of a dog,” Kate mumbled as Rick studied her face.
“You’re afraid of dogs,” he said simply and, realizing she wouldn’t be able to deny it, she nodded.
“Hell,” Rick cursed.
Kate sank down on the plush chair behind her, indecision flooding her. A dog. Dammit, they would have a dog. Of everything she could have dealt with while house-sitting, she wasn’t sure about an enormous dog.
Then her mind drifted back to this morning when Jill’s current flavor of the month, Seth, came into the kitchen completely naked. Kate spent more than half the night listening to the man’s moans and groans and her sister’s headboard banging against her bedroom wall. That was when she decided sleeping on the street was preferable to spending one more night under Jill’s roof. There were dogs on the street, she supposed, so if she was willing to cuddle up to a trashcan rather than risk seeing the naked woman tattooed on Seth’s ass again, then perhaps she could handle this. “Dog or trashcan,” she muttered.
“Trashcan?” Rick asked, clearly confused.
Hmmm…wonder which she’ll choose. LOL. Kiss Me Kate is available at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and All Romance Ebooks.
July 13, 2012
Saturday Snippet
Today we look at the Midnight Rider, all those hunky heroes who make reading romance so much fun! I thought I’d share not one, but two heroes! Screwdriver is all about the menage!
Snippet:
Casey looked closer at the AC unit. “Damn. I was afraid of that.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I was hoping it was an issue with the belt, but the motor bearings are shot. I’m going to need to order a part.”
“So it’s not getting fixed today?”
“I’ll see if I can rig a work around for the time being.” He stood and stretched. “God bless it, Jordan. I apologize if this offends you, but it’s hot as hell in here.” Reaching for the hem of his t-shirt, he whipped the thin cotton over his head and fanned himself with it.
Her now-familiar blush returned and Casey felt compelled to prod, to see if his suspicions about Jordan’s underlying naughty side were true. “Just so you know, I absolutely will not be upset if you decide to follow suit and work shirtless for the rest of the afternoon.”
The twinkle in her eyes let him know she enjoyed his joke. “I’m fine with my shirt on.”
“You sure?” he teased, taking a step closer. “I don’t mind helping you peel it off.” He reached out but she darted away, her smile widening.
“Casey,” she said, swatting his hands away. She dodged behind the AC unit and he followed.
The two of them played a quick game of cat and mouse as Casey chased her around the storage closet.
He’d just captured her, Jordan squealing loudly, when the door to the closet opened.
“Jordan? Are you okay?” a deep voice asked from the hallway.
Gabriel peered around the door and Casey wondered what his best friend thought he was seeing. They certainly presented a risqué picture—Casey shirtless, his arms wrapped around Jordan from behind while she laughed.
“Hey, Gabe.” Casey released Jordan and pulled his shirt back on. “What are you doing here?”
Gabriel’s response was slow in coming as his gaze traveled from Casey to Jordan. “I was checking on your progress.” Gabriel’s eyes landed back on Casey’s face and they narrowed angrily. “Looks like you’re making some.”
Shit. Casey’s suspicions about Gabe’s feelings for Jordan were confirmed in an instant. His friend was hot for the accountant.
Problem was…so was Casey.
“We were taking a break,” he explained.
Gabriel looked at Jordan, his expression softening. “You’re blood-red, Jordan. You need to get out of this heat.”
Casey glanced at her face. Gabriel made the same mistake he had. Jordan wasn’t hot. She was blushing. Big time.
“I’m okay, Gabe. No worries,” she answered. “I can see why you two are friends. Casey’s cure for the heat wave is going topless too.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened even further as he snapped his gaze to Casey once more. “Topless?”
“Actually, I think we’re done for the day,” Casey said, anxious to change the subject before Gabriel pulverized him. “I need to order a part before I can fix the unit.”
Jordan frowned and he sensed she was surprised by his sudden retreat to safer territory. Gabriel had never referred to Jordan as anything more than a pal, but Casey could read between the lines—even if his oblivious friend couldn’t.
“Um, yeah. That’s right. We were just wrapping things up. It was nice of you to come by and check on us.” Jordan’s gaze drifted to Gabriel’s face and she smiled.
Crap. The pure longing on Jordan’s face told Casey all he needed to know in regards to her feelings for Gabriel. It told him more than he wanted to know.
Jordan’s cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. “It’s Steph. We made plans to do a late lunch. I should take this.”
She walked toward the door as she answered the phone. Gabriel stepped aside and let her escape. Casey suspected he wouldn’t be freed as easily.
“What the fuck were you doing?” Gabe’s question was murmured, but even in the quiet tone, Casey detected the anger. A small part of him was thrilled to hear any emotion at all from his friend.
“I told you. Taking a break.”
“With your clothes off?”
Casey shot him a dirty look. “I took off my shirt to cool down. I’ve been in this godforsaken sweatbox for nearly two hours. Besides, what the hell are you so pissed off about? I’m here because you asked me to fix the air conditioner.”
“Why was Jordan in here?”
And now they were getting to the heart of the matter. “I asked her to help me.”
“Since when do you need an assistant?”
Casey was hot and tired and annoyed. Not a good combination. Gabe was poking the bear. “I spotted a gorgeous woman and an empty closet. Come on, Gabe. You’re a smart guy with a degree in finance. Put two and two together. I’m not averse to mixing work and play.”
Gabriel shook his head. “You’re not playing with Jordan.”
His friend’s vehemence tweaked Casey’s temper. “Last time I checked, you weren’t my keeper. Or Jordan’s.”
Gabriel rubbed his neck wearily, and for the first time, Casey noticed the dark circles under his friend’s eyes.
When he spoke again, Gabriel’s voice was calmer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I saw you with Jordan and I…shit, I guess I lost it.”
“Why? I’m not an asshole to women. You know that.”
Gabriel shrugged. “I know. She reminds me of Annie in a lot of ways. Somewhere along the line I’ve become a bit protective of her.”
Annie was Gabriel’s only sibling, and no little sister was ever loved more. Casey wasn’t sure how to respond. Gabe’s initial reaction screamed of jealousy, not brotherly instinct. “I can see why. Jordan’s very sweet.”
Gabriel didn’t seem to appreciate his answer. “So sweet you felt compelled to strip off your shirt and corner her in a storage closet?”
Yep. Definitely jealous.
Screwdriver is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, All Romance Ebooks, Kobo and Ellora’s Cave.
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