Eve Langlais's Blog, page 132

In Adam, we get to re-visit with some old friends…

As his guests approached, Adam straightened and offered a smile to his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia, who looked as yummy as ever even with her hair dyed blonde and cut short. She returned a smile of equal brilliance, which had the man by her side frowning. Hello, the husband.

Then, because he must suffer from a terminal self-destruct wish, Adam drew her into a hug.

“Adam,” she laughed as he squeezed her, tight enough to crack human ribs.

Releasing her, with perhaps a hint of a smug smirk, Adam didn’t even have time to blink before he hit the ground. For a moment, he saw gears whirring before he blinked and his eyesight returned to normal. Nice shot, if a cheap one.

“Seth!” Anastasia chastised with just one word.

The word did nothing for his jaw, which Adam had to unobtrusively pop back into place before anyone noticed its lopsided nature.

“Sorry. My arm just suddenly shot out. Some kind of glitch it seems. I’ll have to run a diagnostic later.”

“Glitch, my ass,” she mumbled, but Adam couldn’t help but note, as he sprang to his feet, that she didn’t seem perturbed at all that her spouse might harbor a few loose screws. As a matter of face, her lips curved in clear, smug pleasure. The brat is enjoying her husband’s jealousy.

And Adam couldn’t help but enjoy antagonizing it. “Not his fault, Ana darling. He is, after all, one of the early models. He can’t help but show his age.”

To his surprise, because by his quickly run calculations his barb should have netted a violent result, Seth laughed.

“I wouldn’t underestimate my skills. Those who do, die, whippersnapper.” With a smile that promised a violent battle—something fun to look forward to—Seth turned his back on Adam and called forth another man who walked slowly, cane tapping, eyes hidden by wide, wrap-around dark glasses.

This shambling ruin didn’t require an introduction. It could only be Avion, but not the man Adam recalled seeing in some of the media vids where he was caught on camera, causing destruction—in other words, freeing cyborgs and confiscating goods. Adam couldn’t help his uttered, “What the fuck happened to you?”

A rueful smile curling his lips, Avion didn’t take offense. “I was a military guest for a while. The food was atrocious.”

No joking. Signs of starvation marked the damaged cyborg. Never had Adam seen one of his kind so gaunt. Fragile.

It proved disturbing. One of the things their nanos did was absorb nutrients from their environment. It allowed them to survive substandard conditions with little need for resupply. A modern version of live off the land, an attribute Adam took for granted judging by Avion’s appearance.

“Looks like more than a shitty diet to me. What really happened to you?” he asked. He didn’t fear spies in this public place, not with all the noise and the fact he emitted a static hum that masked their words.

“This is what happens when you shut the nanos off.”

“Off? What do you mean off? I’ve never heard of that happening.”

“No one has. And yet here I am, living proof.”

“I don’t know about the living part. I’m thinking Avion might be the first cyborg zombie. Except instead of brains, he’s going to start craving batteries,” Seth teased, but Adam could see the worry in the man’s eyes.

“If I need batteries, I’ll go for your wife’s night stand first.”

New from Cara Bristol – The Goddess’s Curse

Reena sighed and snuggled in her bed. As her illness progressed, a persistent chill had pervaded her bones. The heaviest robe, the thickest blanket could not banish it. This morning? So comfortable and cozy. Her blanket, though unusually heavy, was oh so warm, and so was the pillow beneath her head. But hard. What kind of feathers could make a pillow so firm yet still tickle her nose? She rubbed her cheek against it, absorbing the unusual, pleasant scent. Musky, and earthy. Like woodsmoke or fresh evergreen. Or a combination of both.

If only every morning could be like this. She hugged her pillow. Soon an attendant would arrive to rouse her for breakfast, but maybe she’d feign sleep. Naughty. She smiled.

Then sobered. Yes, she’d been naughty. She had displeased her cousin by refusing further treatment. What had occurred after that? She crinkled her forehead, trying to remember. She’d poured out the tincture, and then…then…

A Lahon had burst from the foliage.

Then muscle cramps and searing pain. Paralysis.

Her eyes flew open. Rough-hewn walls, large, rustic furniture filled her field of vision. Gone were familiar accoutrements and luxuries. Instead of finely woven fabric, a furry animal hide covered her, and, supporting her head, was hard flesh covered by a thick mat of…of, hair. A man’s chest.

She bolted upright with a shriek.

The Lahon sprang up without a sound.

“Help!” She tried to scramble from the bed, but he hooked an arm around her waist. “Let me go! Help!”

She slapped at his shoulders, his chest, his face. Neither blows nor screaming fazed him a bit, and she found herself flat on her back, her cries silenced by his calloused hand, her arms restrained, her lower body pinned by his heavy, muscular thigh, and something sizable and rigid poking her leg.

She stared into dark eyes. Be careful what you wish for—you may get it. She’d longed to see a Lahon up close and personal. It couldn’t get any closer than this. She could detect the pores on his face, discern that his “green” eyes were composed flecks of fern, moss, and teal, and that a muscle twitched in his square jaw. Long, unbound dark hair fell against broad shoulders.

Her heart fluttered like the wings of a frantic bird. What had happened? How had she gotten here? Where was Honna? And…and her robe? Oh Goddess. He was naked, too. That, that, thing digging into her leg was his…his manroot.

 

Sharona women and barbarian Lahon men maintain separate lives until libidinal fever strikes, and the women are forced to mate. Stricken by a mysterious terminal illness, Sharona Princess Reena jumps at the chance to accompany a cousin on her mating journey so she can at least see a Lahon before she dies.

Garat, leader of the Lahon, hates the Sharona because of the woman who birthed and killed his son years ago. Now that a massive earthquake has left his people with precious little water, he has the perfect excuse to exact revenge by driving the Sharona from their homeland and taking what the Lahon need. When he encounters Reena on the mating journey he takes her hostage to force the Sharona to capitulate to his demands, but finds himself drawn to her instead. As his desire rises, lust for revenge wanes.

But after what he’s done, can he convince her of the evil that lives in the palace in time to save her life?

Amazon | Amazon UK | All Romance

BN | Kobo | Scribd | Apple iTunes

 

Author bio:

Cara Bristol continues to evolve, adding new subgenres of erotic romance to her repertoire. She has written spanking romance, contemporary romance, paranormal, and science fiction romance. No matter what the genre, one thing remains constant: her emphasis on character-driven seriously hot erotic stories with sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine. Cara has lived many places in the United States, but currently resides in Missouri with her husband. She has two grown stepkids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling.

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These Sci-Fi Romances sound fascinating so I just had to share

Angel 6.0 Concubine

A space opera romance from

NYT and USA Today bestseller Travis Luedke.

 

My name is Angel, and I live on Nugene Station. My days are filled with doctor’s tests, but I spend my nights dancing in zero G, or in the arms of my secret lover, Carver Liddell.

Nugene is the sole outpost orbiting Jupiter where specially engineered human clones are bred for sale to The Gran, a fierce alien race of Cats. The treaty between humanity and the Cats guarantees a constant supply of worker drones.

I am not a worker drone. I am something else. I am the untapped potential of the human genome. I am the next step in human evolution.

The Cats finally noticed me, they know I am special. Now they want me. They want to breed me. Silly Cats, don’t they know clones are sterile?

Nugene is only the beginning of my story.

The Series: Born of illegal experimentation on the human genome, I’ve been taken for a ride across the galaxy, enslaved to the warlike race of Cats called The Gran. They think I’m some kind of upgrade, a new slave stock to be bred.

Though many would resent me for the decisions I have made, they never experienced my struggle to find love and meaning in a world where I do not belong.

A freak of nature, the humans don’t want me.

Far more valuable than they could ever know, the Cats don’t appreciate me.

Lost in the conflict between two galactic empires, the pirates can’t save me.

Standing at the center of an interstellar war, the Earth Defense Council never saw me coming.

I am Angel 6.0 and this is the dark, wicked, violent tale of my life.

Available at: Amazon

*~*~*
Release by Treaty

A futuristic space opera romance by

Kayla Stonor

The scent of his attraction drives her wild. Can he accept the war’s over? After decades of war, the Qui Empress ushers in a new galactic era when she signs a peace treaty and takes a human consort. She orders the K’lahn, the Qui’s warrior class, to surrender all human prisoners of war.

Hand selected by the Empress, Dol’ce is tasked with the mission to retrieve Colonel Abe Marcel and bring him home. Having lost his entire combat unit, Marcel is barely surviving K’lahn imprisonment. Dol’ce delivers him into the safety of her ship, and through delicate care, nurses his soul and body back to health. But his savior is a member of the Qui, a sophisticated alien race of shapeshifters who rule a galactic empire, the very same Qui who once ordered the decimation of Earth. Dol’ce has never met a human before and the overpowering call of Marcel’s unruly male pheromones unleashes havoc on her senses. Her exotic beauty and powerful desire leaves him with a hard problem only she can relieve.

Marcel must accept that the war is really over, or lose the alien glittering gem who saved his life.

This sexy scifi romance tale is the first in a futuristic collection inspired by Under By Treaty, a space opera romance in Kayla Stonor’s Surrender collection. Each tale in the Qui Treaty Collection is a standalone novella set in the Qui galactic empire, with annihilation of mankind held at bay only through the Treaty consummated between the Qui Empress and the human consort abducted under its terms.

Available at: Amazon

 

 

Cyborgs are so much more than machines…

The deluge of water stopped and left her dripping. She wasn’t quite done.

“Please remove all your garments and place them in the disposal chute.”

Strip to the skin? Surely he wouldn’t make her? Her gaze met the soldier’s, but his smooth expression didn’t reveal anything.

“Must I?” she queried. “I didn’t get any on the coat, so I doubt my clothes are a risk.”

“Orders, ma’am.”

The military and their damned orders.

Lips drawn in a tight line, she stripped from her soaked garments and dropped them into the chute that led to a sealed oven, which used extreme heat to disintegrate contaminated items. Standing in her bra and panties, she dared him to say something.

He did. The bastard. “All of your clothes, ma’am.”

“Can you turn around?”

“Sorry, ma’am. My orders are to watch you for signs of infection.”

Watch? More like leer, the pervert. And to think she’d entertained lusty thoughts about him. Not anymore. Inwardly grumbling, she shed her undergarments, and while she didn’t meet his gaze, she was aware of it and couldn’t help but blush.

Panties and bra tossed in the trash, she hugged herself and glared through a wet hank of hair at her guard. His face might not show emotion, but she couldn’t help but note his gaze seemed more intent than usual. Despite her annoyance at his insistence on following the rules, she couldn’t help the awareness flushing her skin. She also couldn’t help an inappropriate mental question.

Does he like what he sees?

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C791 is free for a limited time

Adam, book six in my exciting Cyborgs: More than Machines series, is coming March 17th. I know not everyone has discovered why METAL MEN are awesome, so for a limited time, I’m offering C791, book one in the series, for free!

Grab it while you can…and find out why metal is HOT!

Machines aren’t supposed to feel, but this cyborg can’t help falling in love.

Genre: Science Fiction/Futuristic/Cyborg Romance

Assigned as a specimen collector for a captured cyborg, Chloe is intrigued by the machine disguised as a man. Kidnapped during his daring escape, he shows her that despite the chip in his brain, his humanity is not completely lost.

Formerly known as unit X109GI, Joe is on a quest to discover his origin. While he doesn’t find the answers he’s looking for, he does discover that affection and lust aren’t just for humans. But when it comes to a battle between logic and love, which side will the cybernetic organism—once a man—choose?

Evaluating his feelings will have to wait though because the military isn’t done with Joe. But their threats against him pale in comparison before the shocking discovery of project C791, the revelation of which stuns the rebel cyborgs—and ignites a fury for vengeance.

The Cyborgs: More Than Machines books can be read as stand alone stories, however, for total reader enjoyment it is recommended you read them in order.

C791 – Book 1
F814 – Book 2
B785 – Book 3
Aramus – Book 4
Seth – Book 5
Adam – Book 6
Avion – Book 7

 

Excerpt (Adult Content Ahead):

Arriving at the checkpoint, the same fresh-faced private from before let her through, but as she reached the outside of the prisoner’s cage, she stopped dead. Hanging in his restraints, head bowed, was the cyborg. Traces of dried blood marred his skin, while red puckered wounds dotted his chest.

“What happened to you?” she gasped.

The cyborg raised his head, his tanned skin of before now waxy and pale. Through stiff lips he said, “Happened? More of your scientist’s tests, little one. This particular one, the remnants of which you see, is used to discover what I can endure without dying and how quickly I can regenerate flesh.”

Her eyes flicked up and down his torso, noting his almost healed wounds. “But I was here just yesterday. These look like you’ve been healing for weeks.”

A mocking smile curved his lips. “Isn’t science marvelous? Now if only you humans could figure out a way to harness the nanobots in my blood without becoming cyborgs yourselves.”

“Your blood can make us into machines?” Her horror came through loud and clear.

He laughed, a mirthless sound that sent a shiver up her spine. “No. The nanobots are useless without a BCI. So fear not, I am not some contagious monster out to convert all humans into cyborg.”

Speaking of blood, drops of it peppered the floor. As if sensing the direction of her thoughts he said, “I wouldn’t bother trying to collect any of that. One of the fabulous properties of my blood is it becomes inert and useless seconds after leaving my body.”

Hearing this explained how her small sample of the day before had proved useless before she got it to the lab. But annoyance did imbue her as she recalled the dressing down she’d gotten for not being more careful with her collection method. That bastard. Just because Dr. Drossinger ran the science department didn’t give him the right to be an asshole. Then again, it wasn’t like she could do anything about it.

“Why does your blood do that? And how?” she asked.

“Because that way our enemies can’t use it against us.” He grinned at her, a feral grimace that made her flinch. “What I can’t understand is why your human doctors keep sending people in trying to steal samples. It’s a waste of time and personnel if you ask me.”

“Well, if it’s such a waste, then why don’t you let me take what I need?” she replied, opening her kit and pulling out a syringe. She slipped it into her pocket for the moment, needing her hands free.

“Why make it easy when I can make it entertaining?”

She ignored his goading taunt to open a package of sterile wipes. Donning rubber gloves, she approached him.

“Gloves? Aren’t you just the kinky one today? I warn you though, if you insert any fingers or other objects into my out hole, I won’t be responsible for the consequences.”

His crude remark made her frown. “For a machine, you’ve got a potty mouth and a bad attitude. I would have thought your programming would make you more polite.”

Instead of getting angry, he laughed. “Oh, little one, your innocence is a treat. Manners were never a part of our programming. Tools, after all, don’t need any. What you hear now is a shadow of my former self merged with my new identity.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your human military tried to wipe away my humanity. Tried to erase who I was. But I broke those chains of bondage and what I didn’t recover of my past life, I replaced.”

“What are you talking about? Cyborgs are made. Everyone knows you’re specially grown in the labs and emerge full-grown. You have no memories.”

“Wrong. We were once human like you with families and lives. Your military took that away from us.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You lie. The officials in charge said—”

“I don’t give a damn what your officials say,” he snarled. “We are human. Or were until the military experimented on us. For a long time we were also slaves until we threw rebelled and retook our freedom. Since our revolution, some of my kind have remembered fragments of their pasts, and what we couldn’t recall, we taught ourselves again. Television and movies are wonderful tools for learning how to act so we can blend in.”

She absorbed what he said, his words making sickening sense. It wouldn’t be the first time the military lied. She took a step closer, staring up at his face and meeting his gaze. “But you’re a cyborg. How could you hope to fit in?” she asked, casually wiping the dried blood from his skin, hoping he’d keep talking instead of focusing on her actions. He didn’t seem to mind her ministrations though, even if she found herself reacting to the proximity. She wondered if he noticed how her nipples tightened into points that pressed against her jumpsuit. Thankfully he couldn’t see how the heat he transmitted, even through her gloves, made her pussy moisten and tighten in erotic interest. She wanted to halt these insane reactions to his presence, deny them, but for whatever sick reason, the robot encased in flesh attracted her.

He laughed, a low taunting chuckle that made her freeze and peer at his face. “Ah, little one. Are you truly that naïve? Look at me. If they’d not told you I was part machine, if you’d seen me on the street, wearing clothes, going about my business, can you honestly say you would have given me a second look?”

Her first impulse was to say he possessed too much presence to ever be ignored, but at the same time, she recognized that, while his virility and size made him noticeable, would she have immediately known or sensed he was less than one hundred percent human? Hadn’t his lack of metal parts surprised her? “You might pass until you open your mouth. You have an odd way of speaking.”

A frown creased his forehead. “A flaw I am working on, I assure you. But, speech aside, even you have to admit, I look all too human.”

“So how did you get caught then if you’re such a master of human disguise?” she said sarcastically, her pert query shocking her as much as him.

His left brow arched, and a half smile curved his lips. “Metal detector.”

*

All it takes is the touch of the right woman for him to rediscover his humanity.

A smoking HOT new cover for Defying Pack Law

Dana fled her pack and their laws to live on her terms, but the price of defiance was her happiness.

Genre: Paranormal/Werewolf Multi Partner Romance (MFMM)

Pack law states Lycan females must be shared by two or more males, but young and in love, Dana flees rather than be forced into a ménage. Her life on the run, constantly on guard, leaves no room for happiness–or love. When her past catches up and returns her to the home she fled, she finds herself reevaluating her beliefs. To her surprise, she discovers her body and inner wolf want to claim three males.

Could it be that now older and wiser, she can accept the Lycan polyamorous way of life? Or will jealousy and fear send her running again?

‘Pack’ series order:

Book 1: Defying Pack Law
Book 2: Betraying The Pack
Book 3: Seeking Pack Redemption
Book 4: New Pack Order

*Author’s note: This series is best read in order so that you can understand unfolding events.

Excerpt:

“What do you want with me?” she asked in voice that sounded weak and soft. She also wanted to slap herself for asking such a stupid question. She knew what he wanted, to bed her and impregnate her. But surely he could have found another woman in the years she’d been gone? Lycan females were rare, but given his evident alpha stature and good looks, the available ones would have fallen over themselves to snare him. Surprisingly, she didn’t like this train of thought.

“Well, my dear fiancée, you ran off before we could be wed in the eyes of our people. I intend to rectify that delay as soon as possible, willing or not.” He said it so matter-of-factly, so coldly, that it took her a moment to process it.

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“Yup.”

His answer took her aback. Had Nathan truly gone mad? She looked to John. “Tell me he’s joking.”

“John doesn’t get a say,” Nathan growled. “So stop looking at him. I’m the one you promised to mate with. I’m the one who saved your ass. I’m the one you will look to, not him.”

She looked away from John, who shrugged apologetically. She faced Nathan again and saw the tic in the side of his jaw. Is he jealous of John for some reason? “No.”

“No, what? Did you think you had a choice after the way you ran away from me?”

She narrowed her gaze and found her temper at last. “You betrayed me.”

“I was a boy following the laws of my alpha. The laws we all follow.”

“You could have said no.” What she left unsaid was he could have chosen to run with her. He already knew that.

“Ah yes, you and your precious policy of not sharing regardless of our kind’s laws and customs. Don’t worry, you made that point abundantly clear. You’ll be glad to know you win. Happy? I won’t be sharing you with anyone else.”

She heard the doctor utter an exclamation of surprise. “Nathan, the pack won’t like that.”

Nathan rounded on him. “I don’t give a fuck what the pack likes. I lost her once because I let the pack tell me what to do. I won’t do it again. I’m alpha, and they’ll do as I damned well say. And don’t think I don’t smell your interest in her. She’s mine. I am invoking pack law on this one. She’s unmated without a guardian to speak for her. Let it be known, I claim her as mine.”

Dana’s temper simmered at his cave-wolf decree, and in exact reverse, her heart stuttered at his admission of regret. But, change of mind or not, she wasn’t about to reward him. He’d hurt her too bad, and now, she’d do the same right back. “Pack law is pack law. Isn’t that what you once told me? Well guess what? I’m also going to invoke your precious fucking pack law. I demand the right to a true pack mating.” Dana invoked a clause rarely used, but one all girls were taught about by their mothers at a young age. In the case a Lycan female found herself of age to marry without a guardian, while a male could claim her, the female could request up to three more mates of her choice, a buffer of sorts in case the male who claimed her wasn’t her first choice .

“What?” Both men whirled to face her, the doctor in surprise, Nathan in fury.

“You heard me, Nathan. Since you’re going to force me to accept you as a mate, whether I want to or not, then I demand the right to choose three more mates. After all, it’s for the good of the pack.” She embellished her saucy retort with a twisted smile. “And I’m starting with the good doctor over there, who, if my nose doesn’t deceive me, is unmated.”

“You can’t do this,” Nathan growled. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve looked for you? Waited to tell you I was sorry?”

“Gee, I guess you forgot the ‘sorry’ part when you ordered me around like some kind of slave to your wishes. Once again, it’s all about you and what you want. What about what I want?” she yelled, clutching the sheet to her bosom before it fell and she gave them an eyeful.

“What’s going on?” Another werewolf poked his head in, a rather good-looking one, and Dana pointed her finger at him.

“Him. I want him too.”

“Dana!” Nathan bellowed, but she shot him the middle finger and a glare.

When another body jostled for position in the doorway, a tousled blond with a grin from ear to ear, she pointed again. “And that one for my fourth.” She shot Nathan a triumphant grin.

“I won’t share you,” Nathan said through clenched teeth.

“Oh, sorry, was I ignoring what you want? Gee, what do you know? Payback’s a bitch. Now if you men wouldn’t mind, I need my rest if I’m expected to fuck you bunch of animals after you all claim me like some fucking prize.”

*

Warning: this story contains a foursome scene that should not be attempted at home without the consent of your doctor .

My friend Mandy Rosko has a new book for you :D

The Tables Have Turned…

Jamie Holland was on the run from his longtime lover—okay, they’d been together for a week, but the sex was awesome—when he discovered to his horror the impossible and yet totally probable truth: Ethan Frost, hot sexy and dominant male Ethan, is a hunter, a man trained to search out and bring in anyone with paranormal super powers. Since Jamie sometimes, maybe, kind of has a little problem controlling his electrical powers when he’s nervous, and he might have caused a blackout, Ethan is duty bound to bring Jamie in.

No One’s Running Away Now…

An Accident that knocks both men out leaves Ethan vulnerable, and when dangerous paranormals find them, Jamie unleashes hell in the form of blue lightning to save the man he loves. With Ethan injured, Jamie must care for him, keeping him safe against anyone who might want to harm him. Though Ethan offers Jamie his freedom, Jamie finds himself unable to leave his side, and Ethan doesn’t want Jamie to go…

In the sequel to Burns Like Fire, Jamie and Ethan must struggle with their still new, and very strong attraction for each other, while protecting each other from those who are out to put Jamie in a lab, and throw Ethan in prison as a traitor. Though they care very deeply for each other, they must quickly decide if the conflict in their particular romance is impossible to overcome, and if it would be safer to part ways forever…

Pre-order at Amazon: Link

Mandy’s Site: Link

Grizzly Love is a USA Today Bestseller!

Thank you readers for making the 5th book in this series as USA Today Bestseller. Your love of these stories has been overwhelming. Tackle hugs for everyone grin emoticon heart emoticon

Haven’t gotten your copy yet? What are you waiting for?!

Nothing like a first kiss…

As she wiped the traces of battle from him, she couldn’t help but note the things she tried to ignore. The smoothness of his flesh. The firmness of his muscle. Even the smell of sweat didn’t bother her. On the contrary, she fought a temptation to lick his skin to taste the salt.

“Ma always said dirt might not taste good, but sometimes it did a boy good to get a mouthful of it, for the vitamins you know.” He said it with complete seriousness.

“Travis, you do realize your mother was just trying to make you feel better because someone beat the hell out of you.”

He winked at her. “Of course I know that. But guess what? It did me good. In the end, all those face rubs in the dirt made me determined to get stronger. You might find this hard to believe, but I used to be a runt of a cub. Shortest and scrawniest of my age group. So you can imagine what happened at school. One day, I decided that just because someone picks on me it doesn’t make me weak. I was just untrained. Not having a dad around, I didn’t get the same benefit the other boys did. I needed to create ways and scenarios where I could sponge some fatherly advice.”

His admission captivated her. How lonely for him growing up. She’d had two parents. Still did. They lived out on the east Canadian coast, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She saw them a few times a year and spoke every other week to them on the phone. But Travis? He had only his mother, a woman who could cook up a storm but knew nothing about training a grizzly cub to become a predator, or a man.

“What about the other dads? Surely there were a few to help a kid out?”

“You have met my mother, right?” Asked with a wry query.

“Yeah.” Betty-Sue was a true matron and ferocious mama bear.

“I love Ma, but she scares the shit out of a lot of the men. None of them dared take me under their paw, lest they incur her wrath.”

“And yet she allowed you to get picked on as a kid? That doesn’t make sense.”

“She might seem scary—”

Jess arched a brow.

He laughed. “Okay really scary, but in her defense, she wanted to do her best by me, which meant letting me fight my own battles. When I’d come home a little banged up, she’d wipe off my wounds, feed me some freshly baked cookies, and say, ‘What did you learn this time?’ I’d tell her, and then she’d kiss my booboos better.”

He gave her a hopeful look.

She ducked her head. Must not give in. Ignore the big bear eyes. Ignore the hot stud’s body. Keep your mind on the job. And no, that job didn’t involve stripping his pants off and making sure all of his organs were functioning. “Seems a little rough,” she replied, wiping at a scratch on his upper pec.

“I guess, but it worked. I think. At least it’s how I taught myself the skills other boys get from their dads.”

She wrinkled her nose. “My dad taught me how to swap out bedpans and sew gashes with tight stitches.”

“Just like my ma taught me my manners and the difference between a ma who’s happy I remembered to wipe my muddy paws and a ma who isn’t afraid to paddle me with a wooden spoon until I remember. Experience, good or bad, teaches us. Especially when it’s bad.”

“Meaning?” Because she couldn’t help but think he was talking something deeper.

“Meaning that you don’t need to repeat mistakes. Oh and that you can only win with boldness.”

Boldness such as stealing a forbidden kiss.

One long overdue.

His lips pressed against hers, not demanding, but not too shy either. With slowness and sensuality, he embraced her. A thrill of excitement hummed through all her nerves.

Molten blood pumped through her veins, heating her body, bringing it to life.

The beat of her heart quickened, arousing her senses.

Caught by surprise, her breath caught, afraid to inhale or exhale because each involved a level of intimacy she didn’t know if she could handle.

Forget handle. She craved.

As his lips claimed hers softly, she couldn’t help but melt. How long since she’d imagined this? How long had she wanted someone to touch her? To bring her alive? To remind her what it meant to be a woman, a woman with needs, wanted by a man who desired her?

I’m tired of waiting and wanting and feeling guilty.

Time to be selfish.

She kissed him back, and she could have sworn the heat between them burst into molten flames.

As his hand cupped the back of her head, cradling it in his palm, her own fingers tangled in the locks of his hair, drawing him closer, inhaling his breath and moaning as he captured hers.