Delilah Devlin's Blog, page 506

Snippet Saturday: Family

This Saturday's theme is family. The one that stands out most in my mind, of the books I've written, is the Kinzie family. You remember the boys, right? Ezra, Josh and Cade made such an impression in Four Sworn, I couldn't rest until I gave the boys their own happy-ever-after with their dream girl, Chrissi. Here's an excerpt where you see all three brothers in the same scene soon after Ezra kidnapped Chrissi. Enjoy!

"…Put into the mix three sexy brothers who happen to be cowboys and who are hot for one lucky female? You have a sexual, erotic masterpiece!"

5 Stars and Top Pick!, The Romance Reviews

"…Delilah Devlin just makes this type of story such an adventure as well as a hot ride… You will never go wrong with a Delilah Devlin story and you will never be disappointed."

5 Cherries, Whipped Cream Reviews

"Cleverly written, Breaking Leather breaks the mold when it comes to ménage stories… Highly recommend."

Sizzling, 4 1/2 Stars, Sensual Reads

One for remembrance…one for healing…and one to seal her heart forever.

Chrissi Page has tried to find one man who heats her bed the way the Kinzie brothers did one shameful night years ago. She's failed miserably, leaving her with no choice but to bank that inner fire—and keep a lid on her inner bad girl.

She'd been weak, unable to choose between three men who appealed to her in different ways. And when they'd confronted her as a tease, anger had boiled over into a passion so wild, she's still trying to live it down.

Since that night, Ezra, Cade and Joshua have individually sown their wild oats with pretty much the entire available female population of Two Mule, Texas. Yet nothing erases the attraction they still feel for Chrissi. And when she ends up stranded on the road near their ranch, it's their last chance to turn their mutual obsession into an unusual proposition.

One weekend, three on one. If she can't stand the heat, they'll let her go on with her life. And try to find a way to live with the hole she'll leave behind in theirs.

Warning: A girl who thinks she can't have it all, and three brothers who set out to prove otherwise. One on one, two on one, and three on one; bondage in the wild; a bit of riding crop action. And a pickup truck load of emotion.

Josh Kinzie watched the truck drive along the last hundred yards of gravel road before bumping over a cattle guard and into the fenced yard. He made out two figures in the cab—the bear-like figure of his brother and a slender, dark-haired feminine one sitting beside him.

Ezra had done it. Gotten Chrissi into the truck. With a little help from him. While Chrissi had been busy with Ms. Dunstan, he'd been busy making sure her radiator hose sprang a leak.

He pulled the reins to the right, whipping his horse around, and let out a loud "Yee-haw!" before racing toward the house. He pulled back when he neared the front porch and slid from the saddle to the ground in one fluid glide.

Cade sat on the top step, squinting against the sun as he watched the truck come to a stop. "We may still hit a snag, bro."

Josh glanced back at the truck. The couple inside appeared to be arguing.

"Not a good sign if he can't even get her out of the truck," Cade muttered.

Josh snorted, not too worried. He remembered how Ezra and Chrissi bumped heads in the old days. "Ezra may not be one for sweet-talk, but he does have a way of makin' the ladies do exactly what he wants. Eventually."

Cade grunted. "Chrissi's grown a metal-plated backbone."

"Our girl's all grown up."

They shared a glance, but turned to the sound of a door slamming.

Ezra crammed his cowboy hat on his head and walked around the truck, his features stern and his jaw grinding.

The sound of a click made Josh choke down a bark of laughter. "Did she just lock him out of his own truck?"

Cade grinned. "Won't do her any good. Though I think he's only givin' her a chance to behave. He's got the keys in his hand."

"Still, she's playin' with fire." Everyone knew you didn't defy Ezra Kinzie and expect to come out unscathed.

The two younger brothers watched, amusement growing, as Ezra cussed softly and tried the handle again.

"Chrissi," Ezra said, his voice deepening in warning, "thought you wanted to use that phone."

Even through the windshield, Josh could see the stubborn tilt of her chin.

Dark humor glinted in Chrissi's eyes. "I'm thinkin' I'd be better off usin' your truck to get back to town all by myself."

Ezra held up the keys. "Woman, how do you plan on doin' that? Do you know how to hot-wire a truck?" He tugged off his hat and raked a hand through his short, dark hair. "You were fine a minute ago. What the hell changed?"

Through the windshield, her gaze shifted to the two men on the porch and held.

Josh cussed under his breath.

Cade stood and brushed off his jeans. "Guess it might help if we made ourselves scarce for a couple o' minutes."

Josh grabbed up his horse's reins and spared one last look at Chrissi.

Her gaze met his, and her eyebrows furrowed into a fierce scowl. He tipped his hat to her and ambled toward the barn. Not looking back once.

It was hard pretending he was relaxed and indifferent to her anger. While she'd blatantly ignored Ezra and Cade over the years, she hadn't been quite as harsh with him, giving him the occasional subtle nod or tight smile.

He'd thought maybe she didn't hold as deep a grudge against him because he'd always been the one eager to soothe her bruised feelings, the one to coax a smile when things got out of hand with Ezra. And everyone always thought of him as the little brother, even though he and Cade had been born only minutes apart. That fact afforded him a little extra leniency with the ladies.

Josh cupped himself, readjusting his cock. Yeah, relaxed was the last thing he'd felt for days since they'd hatched this wild-ass plan. He tugged on the reins, pulling his trembling horse behind him. Sooner he turned him over to one of the ranch hands to walk, the better.

He didn't like leaving everything in Ezra's capable hands when Chrissi was on a tear—even though Ezra had always been the one who could bend a woman to his will, usually with just a look.

Josh ignored a pang of worry over the fact his brother's naturally dominating will didn't appear to be working at the moment. Chrissi was here. Within reach. One of them would shatter the armor she'd built around her heart.

* * * * *

Be sure to check out the snippets on these other authors' blogs:

Lauren Dane

Rhian Cahill

Eliza Gayle

Selena Blake

Anne Rainey

Jody Wallace

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Vivian Arend

Alison Kent

HelenKay Dimon

Shelli Stevens

Shiloh Walker

Leah Braemel

Louisa Edwards

TJ Michaels

Guest Blogger: Meg Benjamin (Contest)

Reunited Lovers

Don't Forget Me is my first reunited lovers book. The hero, Nando Avrogado, and the heroine, Kit Maldonado, were together in a previous Konigsburg book, Long Time Gone. But I always wanted to do more with them—they were a couple of those secondary characters whose stories seem to be worth telling. But if they're still together, there's not much story to tell, so sorry guys, had to break you up!

I'm not alone in this, of course. A lot of authors have played with the reunited lovers theme. Jennifer Crusie does it in Maybe This Time, where the hero and heroine have actually been divorced and come together again through trying to foil some particularly nasty ghosts. Susan Elizabeth Phillips does it in Fancy Pants where the first half of the book shows the hero and heroine meeting and parting and the second half shows them reuniting. And of course there are all those historicals where hero and heroine are actually married and parted and reunited, like Eloisa James's charming This Duchess of Mine.

The tricky thing about reuniting the hero and heroine is finding a credible reason for them to have been apart in the first place. If either has been too dastardly, it becomes hard for you to reunite them (unless, of course, the dastardly one has now reformed and wants desperately to be forgiven). On the other hand, if the event that drove them apart seems too trivial, you doubt their ability to commit. There's got to be a legitimate reason for them to have broken up, but not something so awful that you just can't see them ever getting together again.

In the case of Kit and Nando, the precipitating event was cheating, which is a sort of standard way to break things up. But I didn't want Nando to be one of those guys who just can't seem to settle down. In their case, the breakup came after a series of increasingly bitter fights as they came closer to the date when Kit was due to return to school from her time in Konigsburg. I've seen that happen—I think most of us have. As couples approach a turning point, the stress makes them break apart. A casual affair with somebody else is a way to escape making the real decision.

So now having broken them apart (bad author, bad, bad author), how do you bring them together again? Again, a lot depends on the couple themselves. You don't want to create a situation where either of them has just too much to forgive. Otherwise, you wonder just why your hero or heroine is such a wimp. In Don't Forget Me, both Nando and Kit struggle against getting together again largely because they're both afraid of being hurt after they managed to heal (more or less). Both have told themselves they've moved on, but neither one really has. In their case, they're brought together by a song, "You Don't Know Me," and a dance. And, of course, by the torches they're carrying for each other that are bright enough to light Carlsbad Caverns.

So, of course, they do reunite—this is romance, after all, not Annie Hall or 500 Days of Summer. Here's the blurb:

Once they said goodbye forever. Now they want to walk it back.

Konigsburg, Texas, Book 6

Eighteen months ago, Kit Maldonado was so over Nando Avrogado, she left Konigsburg without a backward glance. With the family restaurant in San Antonio sold out from under her, though, she's back to manage The Rose, an exclusive resort eatery outside town.

Dealing with a stingy boss, an amorous head chef, an understaffed dining room and planning her aunt's wedding should have kept her hands full. But she realizes she might not be as over Nando as she thought.

As the town's new assistant chief of police, Nando's got enough trouble without sexy Kit fanning embers he thought had long ago turned to ashes. Every time he turns around, she's there—and it doesn't help that everyone in town wants to see them back together.

One incendiary kiss, and there's no denying the force of their attraction. But there's a mysterious and oddly familiar burglar who's been lurking around Konigsburg, someone who isn't above a little mayhem—maybe even violence—to cover his tracks.

The Contest

Of course, there's a contest! Leave a comment on my blog,

and be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Don't Forget Me!

Buy link: Don't Forget Me

* * * * *

Meg Benjamin is the author of the Konigsburg series for Samhain Publishing. Book #3, Be My Baby, won a 2011 EPIC Award for Contemporary Romance. Book #4, Long Time Gone, received the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Small Press Romance. Book #5, Brand New Me, was a Long and Short Reviews Best Book. Meg lives in Colorado with her DH and two rather large Maine coon kitties (well, partly Maine Coon anyway). Her Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook, and Twitter. Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.

Alluring Tales: ENTANGLED IN DARKNESS

Psst! Remember, continue to post in order to increase your chances to win

The Dragon with a Cup of Joe Contest!

* * * * *

Another of my Allure Author buddies has a short novella out in our Alluring Tales: Night Moves series! Check it out!

Branlyn Carmichael has been having dreams. Sensual, hot dreams about a stranger with long, blond hair and pale eyes. A stranger yet he is somehow familiar. Nightly he visits, awakening not just her body, but also her memories. Memories of her childhood home and the horrible tragedy she witnessed there.

After fifteen years of running, it is time to go back to face her past. She can no longer deny the events she has seen or her connection to them. When she returns she finds her dream man waiting for her not in her mind but in her bed. He is flesh and blood claiming to be her protector, sent to shield her from a dark seductive power that wants to possess her body. A power named Gregorian.

Now she is caught between the light and the dark. With no way out except for complete surrender.

Download a sample excerpt to read at Smashwords!

Buy at Smashwords

Buy at Amazon

Guest Blogger: Summer Devon (Contest)

That question that writers either love or hate: where do you get your ideas? I usually hate the question, only because I often don't know any answer other "on dog walks." But I can finally give an explanation for how a story came into being. I'm talking about Unnatural Calamities, the book that came out yesterday.

Go on, ask it. I'll just wait here. Where did I get the ideas for that book, you ask?

I began Janey's story as an exercise. I'd just read a fun Harlequin Presents and it had a few great tropes (if you need a definition, here's a link to a trope site http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage but watch out, that site will suck you in and spit you out hours later.)

That Harlequin contained a millionaire, a woman living under a false identity, and a secret baby. Ha, I thought, I can do better than that using even more romance standards. I decided to pile on as many clichés as I could: twins, mistaken identity, secret baby, amnesia, men with odd first names, a kidnapping, a rich guy, a fish out of water—all the while keeping the story believable.

About two chapters in, soon after I'd introduced the "grungy bad boy with mystical powers to attract women," I became more interested in the actual characters and their story. Toph and Janey turned into real people for me and I wanted to make sure they got a fair shake.

So I continued writing, now employing my usual method—I usually write character-driven stories and I love me some tension. But I still managed to work in the romance standards, mostly disguised as people you'd meet on the street. If you pick up a copy of Unnatural Calamities, and you're a romance reader, you might see many familiar figures or situations—but all twisted to fit a story I grew to love.

* * * * *

She has a deft hand with banana flambé…and a touch that sets his body on fire.

Janey knows all too well she looks a wreck. What hard-working chef wouldn't, operating on three hours of sleep? Stuck in a dull Connecticut town, taking care of her beloved niece, Rachel, Janey spends her days looking for a job and her nights working high-end catering gigs.

Just her luck, she runs into Mr. Perfect two days past her designated laundry day. And she's just found out her niece is passing her off as "Mom" to avoid the embarrassment of admitting her real mother, Janey's identical twin, is serving time.

Despite Janey's questionable fashion sense and the juicy gossip about her checkered past, venture capitalist Christopher Dunham finds himself drawn to her spark. And warmed by her obvious affection for Rachel, so like what he feels for his own daughter.

When sexy, way-out-of-her-league Toph offers her a business loan, Janey can't believe her long string of bad luck with bad boys has come to an end. At least, until a blast from her sister's shady past turns up the heat on their attraction. And sets off a chain of events that could snuff out the flame just as their love starts to come to a boil…

Product Warnings: A comedy of errors, mistaken identity, poor girl meets rich guy, kidnapping at gunpoint, and hot handcuffed sex in a hotel bathtub—and that's all before lunch.

I'd like to give away two copies of Unnatural Calamities or any other book by Summer Devon (including any m/m's I've written with Bonnie Dee) winner's choice from http://summerdevon.com.

THANK YOU!

Kate/Summer

RED HOT WINTER is here!

Psst! Remember, continue to post in order to increase your chances to win

The Dragon with a Cup of Joe Contest!

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For those of you who have to have a paper copy of a book in hand, you're in luck! Three great ssssssmokin' stories await you. While you're admiring the cover and reading through the sexy blurbs, maybe you can answer a question, too.

What is is about printed books that calls to you? Or are you an eBook convert?

Buy at Samhain

Buy at Amazon

Buy at Barnes & Noble

Two men, one woman and some red-hot loving.

"True Heart" by Delilah Devlin

True can't believe his brother Lonny rented out their isolated hunting cabin to a city girl. With a herd to keep alive, who has time to babysit? Erotica writer Honey needs no distractions to finish her next book, but the Wyatt brothers set her imagination free. Then a fire forces her to seek shelter under their roof—and the temptation to do some "research" is overpowering.

"Winter Fire" by Jess Dee

Rachel and Jackson can't imagine being with anyone else, but Jackson never dates his twin sister's friends. At the twins' birthday weekend at a mountain resort, Rachel tries to forget him by indulging in a fling. Garreth weaves a fantasy that brings Jackson to their bed. Funny thing about his fantasies….they have a way of coming true.

"Triple Dare" by Lexxie Couper

Anna can see trouble is written all over Joseph and Rob, two sexy Aussies on a snowboarding trip to the Rockies. Sure enough, they end up needing her survival skills. Stuck in a remote cabin, the temperatures rise until a double dare turns into a triple threat.

Warning: These stories contain two men loving one woman in ways that break every fire code invented and are guaranteed to warm you on the coldest winter night.

Read an excerpt

The Dragon with a Cup of Joe Contest!

The Dragon with a Cup of Joe Contest

What can you win?

This lovely "Lady and a Dragon" coffee cup that comes in a very pretty box.

What do you have to do to enter?

Post a comment—here or on my Facebook page. I follow the KISS motto! (Keep It Simple, Stupid! )

This contest lasts until December 20th, so there are plenty of chances to enter!

You need something to talk about while you're here today, don't you?—besides the pretty coffee cup. Here's a question:

Would you be more afraid to be trapped on a rope bridge over a canyon

or in a dark cramped cave?

(Also, don't forget to check out my Contest page! Go there for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com!)

Catch me being Wild & Wicked!

I posted a lovely review for A Four-Gone Conclusion at Wild & Wicked Cowboys. I'd love for you to stop by there and say hello! I'll be busy here working on getting the next cool contest posted then switching gears to slam down pages on Lone Heart!

Oh! And the winner of yesterday's Facebook-related contest is…Gabi Wurst! Gabi, send me an email! ~DD

Snippet Saturday: Secondary Characters

Secondary characters add color and help to display different sides to a hero or heroine's personality. Sometimes, I have fun giving hints of what's to come in follow-up stories. Enjoy this snippet from the opening of A Four-Gone Conclusion where you meet ALL the Logan brothers over a typical family meal.

One devilish night…or a chance at heaven?

Lone Star Lovers, Book 5

Sam Logan's foster sons have a bad rep in Two Mule, Texas. Most of it earned. When it becomes clear they don't plan on giving up scootin' after every pretty pair of boots in town anytime soon, he issues the one thing he knows they can't resist: a challenge. Find a wife.

The oldest, Johnny, is actually grateful. He's had his eye on Mean Ellie Harker for a long time, and Sam's challenge is the kick in the pants he needed to ask her out. Except before he can make his move, his brothers kidnap her right out from under his nose. Now, instead of being one question away from victory, he has to compete for the woman of his dreams.

Ellie thought she'd be a dried up old spinster before Johnny finally untangled his tongue long enough to ask for a date. But instead of teaching him better uses for that tongue, his brothers have whisked her away to the ranch. At first she's furious…then intrigued when she starts to wonder what it might be like to have not just one sexy cowboy dedicated to her pleasure, but four…



Warning: Four handsome cowboys. Four choices. Will it be a single sordid night or a chance at heaven as she savors every luscious inch of the Logan brothers?

"It's time you boys found yerselves a wife." Sam Logan made his pronouncement then waited, watching the four younger men seated at the table from the corner of his eye. He didn't have to wait long for his words to sink in. They exploded in the room with the force of a silent grenade.

Johnny's jaw closed with a snap, and he laid his spoon down on the scarred oak table. His black winged brows drew together, nearly meeting over his dark eyes as he raised his head.

Sam suppressed a smile. That look could make the toughest hombre gulp, but Sam wasn't the least bit concerned. Johnny tended to look mean when things changed. His oldest boy hated any kind of change.

If any other man had said what he had, Johnny would have cussed under his breath and aimed a piercing, silencing glare. However, he respected Sam, trusted him as much as he could anyone. That trust and respect were the only things that kept his butt on the bench beside his brother Killian.

For his part, Killian's eyes narrowed. The corners of his lips twitched. Likely he was amused by Johnny's reaction and didn't want to let him off the hook too quickly, but was already lining up all the reasons why Sam's idea was ludicrous. He was quick that way.

Sam calmly ladled the hearty stew he'd made into his mouth and let his gaze roam to the twins. Jason was coughing into his napkin while Mace gave him "helpful" taps between his shoulder blades.

Mace caught his stare and grinned. "A wife, did you say?"

Sam grunted, ignoring the one word that had caught his son's attention. "This is the third time this week we've had stew," he murmured. Not to change the subject, but to point out a glaring fact.

"I like stew just fine," Johnny muttered.

"This house misses a woman's touch." There, he'd said it. Sat the big gorilla in the room right at the dinner table. Impossible to ignore.

"Gracie can't be replaced," Killian said softly.

The permanent ache next to his heart echoed that truth. Sam nodded. "She's gone. Three years. I miss her every day. Know you do too. But life goes on. You're men now. You have an obligation. Ranchin's a family business. Y'all need families."

Johnny cleared his throat. "No disrespect intended, Sam, but you didn't get sons the old-fashioned way."

"Not because Gracie and I didn't try. And in the end, we had no regrets. We both loved you all like you was our own."

"So, you'd rather saddle us with—"

Sam aimed a quelling stare. "Think I felt like Gracie was a noose around my neck?"

"No sir, but…" Johnny's hands fisted on the tabletop. "Hell, how're we to find someone like her?"

Sam understood what he meant. Gracie's passing had left a hole in all their hearts. The boys had loved her. Took to her the very first day he'd brought each of them home. Gracie had been born to be a mother, and she'd showered them all with the things they'd needed most—acceptance and unconditional love.

"Boys, Gracie wasn't born a rancher's wife. Truth is, she didn't know a bull from a cow and damn near poisoned me with the first meals she cooked. But she learned. Find a woman willin' to learn, one you kin love and who'll love you back."

"You said, 'a wife'." Mace wasn't gonna let that slip of the tongue go.

Sam shook his head and gave the twins a faint glimmer of a smile. Those two could always see the humor in any predicament. "Thought I'd give you two options. I know one can't piss without the other goin' too. And there are damn few single women to go around these parts. 'Nough said?" When all of them nodded, he cleared his throat. "I'll be out of town for the next four days. Auction in Abilene. The house is yours."

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Be sure to check out the snippets on these other authors' blogs:

Lauren Dane

Rhian Cahill

Eliza Gayle

Anne Rainey

Jody Wallace

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Vivian Arend

Alison Kent

HelenKay Dimon

Shelli Stevens

Shiloh Walker

Sneak Peek of DRIVE ME CRAZY!

The official release date of Cleis Press's latest collection, Best Erotic Romance, is December 6th, but Amazon, for one, is already shipping! I have a little story in this first annual "Best of" collection, entitled "Drive Me Crazy." Click on the cover to head to Amazon if you'd like to order your copy now. Hope you enjoy the excerpt!

Oh, and while you're over at Amazon, how about clicking on "Like" and the "tags"—those things do help a book! Thanks! ~DD

This inaugural collection of erotic romance features the very best of the genre. In erotic romance, the sexual component is critical to the development of the romantic relationship. Each of these masterfully written tales contains the essence of true romance: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying, optimistic ending. What sets Best Erotic Romance apart is the scorching hot sex and the happily-ever-after (or happy-for-now) ending. Award-winning romance writer and editor Kristina Wright and her cast of terrific romance writers have crafted stories that touch the hearts and minds of readers, and linger in the memory for a long, long time.

Just a glimpse of him standing in profile, arms crossed over his well-developed chest and leaning his firm, round butt against the dispatch counter, was enough to shore up my weakening resolve. Dressed in faded blue jeans, a black, chest-hugging t-shirt, and a red Razorback ball cap turned backwards on his dark shaggy hair, he was every woman's blue-collar fantasy. My mouth dried as I glanced down his tall, muscled frame. What woman in her right mind wouldn't want one night with all that ripped hotness?

And that's all it could be—one night. I'd waited until the last possible moment to make my move.

The midnight drive to the dispatch office had given me plenty of time to argue my way out of what had seemed like a good plan earlier when I'd realized that the planets had aligned to give me this one last chance to fulfill my long-standing fantasy.

There'd never been the right time. For the longest time, I was married. When my husband dumped me, Danny had been living with a woman with two kids, and seemed to be heading down a straight road to marriage.

We'd flirted; he'd issued lazy invitations for dates or a quickie at the Motel 6 down the road. But I'd never detected even a hint of serious interest. If something was going to happen, I had to be the one to make a move. Today had been my last day at Henderson Transport. It was now or never.

All the reasons why I was crazy to consider it fell away as I ticked through them in my mind:

He's too young—He'll be happy because I won't have any expectations, I said to myself. Well, none beyond a really good time.

I'm management and he's a driver—Midnight had just ticked past, so not true anymore. We were both free agents. Both consenting adults. All he had to do was say yes.

"You'll never see him again," I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my cold hands together. "If he turns you down, you won't have to live with his smug smile."

I sucked in a deep fortifying breath, adjusted the neckline of the red Lycra top to show my breasts to their best advantage, and pushed through the glass door.

His head turned at the sound, and then he straightened away from the counter and dropped his arms. "You cuttin' my route, Angel?"

I gave him a crooked smile. "Think I'd do that and ask you to wait for me here in the middle of the night?"

His brows drew together, curiosity glinting in his gaze before it dropped to my boobs. I'd worn a bra that pretty much left everything sitting on a shelf. My nipples were outlined against the red, stretchy fabric of my top, the tips spiking because I'd given them a little tweak before I'd exited my car.

His frown deepened. "What's this all about Angela?"

I cleared my throat and tried for a sultry look. "I think you know."

He cocked his head and looked me up and down again. Slowly. "You don't have to hijack a man's keys to get his attention, sweetheart."

I planted my hands on my generous hips. "Apparently, I do, because you sure as shit haven't followed through on any one of your invitations."

His lips twitched. "I thought you flirted like that with all the guys."

"You ever see me do it? Even once?"

His jaw tightened. Fatigue showed in the shadows under his eyes. Stubble clung to his craggy cheeks.

I felt a momentary twinge of guilt over the fact I was keeping him from his bed, but that was all I'd allow. He was young and hot as hell. If he needed sleep that damn bad, he could tell his latest squeeze to come around another time. Tonight, he was mine.

"My keys weren't in the lockbox. I know I left 'em there."

"You did indeed," I said nodding. Then I looked him up and down, making sure he hadn't mistaken my intent. "Fact is, I have an itch that needs scratchin' and I'm hopin' you'll help me out."

I tried to exude more confidence than I felt, but lost my nerve on the return trip up his hard body. I paused and swallowed hard, then gave a little cough to loosen the knot lodging at the back of my throat. When I reached his mouth, he was grinning.

Shit.

"Angela, is there somethin' you want?"

You, preferably naked and tied spread-eagle on a bed so you can't stop me nibbling every edible part of you.

"Angela?"

"Is there something I want? Yeah, there is."

"Then just say it."

But I couldn't. I felt foolish enough. I reached into my purse and drew out his key ring. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken this so far."

"You made me wait half an hour, when I could have been home, showered and in bed. You know how long I've been out this time."

"I know. I arranged the schedule."

Still, he didn't take the keys.

I took a step toward him and had to tilt my head to maintain the lock on his gray gaze.

His hands settled on my waist."You want somethin', sweetheart?" he repeated, his voice lowering to a sexy rumble.

I squeezed my eyes shut, prayed for courage and that the blush staining my cheeks would fade. "I want you," I said, then opened my eyes.

His grin widened. "Now, was that so hard?"

"Matter of fact it was."

He bent toward me, his gaze narrowing on my mouth, but I turned away my face. "Not here. Your rig."

His eyebrows shot up, and he pushed me gently back. "After you. You know where I'm docked, and you have a key. Let yourself inside and get comfortable. I'm hittin' the locker room for a quick shower. I smell like diesel." He turned on his heel, giving me another view of that backside I'd drooled over for months.

A moan slipped from my mouth, and I heard a chuckle as he pushed through the door and left me standing weak-kneed in his wake.

A Question…

I'm sick as a dog today and not able to spend much time in front of the monitor, so this is a quick post.

Have you ever been escorted out of a place by security?

As a teenager, I was asked to leave a movie theater for making too much noise with my friends, but I can't remember anything more exciting than that. Tell me your story!