Hotblooded (29 page)

“You think I somehow messed my transmission up on purpose?”

“Can’t say that the thought didn’t occur to me.”

She stood and turned to face him, her eyes glinting with her temper. “All I would have had to do was call Luke and ask him to come. I wouldn’t even have had to pop the hood.”

He scowled at her. She was right and he hated that she knew it and was so in his face with it.

“Let’s go already.”

“Okay, okay…” She continued muttering something under her breath he couldn’t hear and decided that was likely for the best. She scooted to the edge of the bed and pulled the top sheet with her.

She looked at him expectantly.

“What?” he finally asked.

“I need to get dressed.”

Automatically his eyes slid over her body. It was hidden under the sheet but he felt his heart speed up.

“You always sleep nude?” That would be a redeeming quality at least.

“I was hot and sweaty when I got here. I showered and rinsed my bra and panties out and laid them out to dry. If you must know.”

She pointed in the direction of the air conditioning vent. It was directly over the chair she’d obviously drug into place so she could hang her underwear over the two wooden arms.

Lavender.

Her panties and bra were lavender.

And tiny.

She wasn’t a big girl by any stretch, but these things were clearly more for show than support.

“Nice,” he commented dryly.

“So glad you like them.” For Marc, Sabrina and sarcasm went hand in hand.

“Put them on already and let’s go.”

She stood, with the sheet wrapped under her arms sarong-style. “Do you mind?”

“Not a bit.”

“You want to step outside?” she asked, looking pointedly at the door.

“No I don’t. As you pointed out, it’s hot out there. I’m starting to cool off now. You don’t want to be in the same room with me,
you
step outside.”

Her gaze flickered to the bathroom door. That would make sense. She should go in there and change. But, as expected based on history, she wasn’t going to let him get away with the last word.

“Fine.”

She tucked the sheet in more firmly between her breasts, turned her back and snagged the bra from the arm of the chair where it hung.

Marc took a seat in the chair by the window, facing the room. That should drive her nuts. He would ignore his own traitorous reaction to the whole thing. It was simple—he was a guy and she was a nearly naked woman in a hotel room. Some reaction should be expected. In fact, if he
hadn’t
reacted he’d be concerned.

He watched her stick her arms through the straps of the bra and pull the cups into position, then reach behind to fasten the hooks.

Beautiful, pretty, cute, sexy—they were all different terms he used to described women. If had to choose one for Sabrina he’d definitely go with sexy. But beautiful too. Not drop-dead-gorgeous. She didn’t turn
every
head when she walked in a room. There were men who would not, maybe, find her attractive. Guys who liked curvy blondes, for example. Or who were firmly in the redhead camp. Guys who liked major curves also wouldn’t find her slim, toned build tempting.

Unfortunately, Marc wasn’t one of those guys.

Which annoyed the bejeezus out of him. It had always annoyed the bejeezus out of him.

It seemed that one way or another Sabrina Cassidy was destined to raise his blood pressure. A lot of the time—
most
of the time—she was pissing him off. And most of those times she was doing it on purpose. But he could walk in a room where she was and feel his heart race even before he saw her. He anticipated seeing her. He always searched her out. He used to try to tell himself that it was because he was instantly expecting her to do something to make him mad and it was better to keep an eye on one’s enemies. But he hadn’t believed that even from the first moment.

He didn’t like her. He didn’t trust her. Yet his body wanted hers.

The damnedest thing was he was attracted in spite of trying to fight it. For years. He’d never fought it like this with another woman. Only one other woman had been off-limits in his mind and it was because she was the younger sister of a friend.

The thing that really put Sabrina on Marc’s do-not-go-there list was the fact that he found her to be the most frustrating person in the entire world. If he said the sky was blue, she would argue it was purple, just to annoy him. He’d once complimented her outfit. She’d asked if his mother knew he was gay. He’d offered to help her study for a calculus test once and she’d asked if everyone else on the planet had been wiped out by a nuclear disaster—because that was the only way she would even think about spending more than ten minutes with him in one stretch.

He supposed that was where it came from. He didn’t like her because it had been clear since the day he moved into the neighborhood in fifth grade that she didn’t like him.

Of course, it also had a lot to do with the fact that she screwed over Luke Hamilton, the nicest guy on the planet, repeatedly.

She glanced over her shoulder as she pulled the bra straps into place.

He yawned.

He’d rather die than let her know that she’d created some of the fastest and most painful hard-ons he’d ever had. And today was no exception.

She rolled her eyes and reached for her panties. Somehow she managed to step into them without losing the sheet. It was huge on her, wrapped around more than once, so there was no glimpsing skin as she moved. Until she had the panties in place underneath.

Then she let the sheet drop.

Revenge can be sweet. Forgiveness is sweeter.

Welcome to Paradise

© 2011 Elle Kennedy

Welcome to Paradise, Book 1

Singing sensation Charlotte Hill can’t wait for her high school reunion. She’s out to give Nate Bishop—the man who walked away with her virginity—the sexiest ride of his life. Then give him a heaping dose of the same medicine he gave her fifteen years ago.

Stomp all over his heart as she walks out the door.

Nate has never forgotten the green-eyed redhead who set his body on fire, the one girl who saw past his bad reputation. The heat of those memories still warms his thoughts, even after all these years. After he did the right thing and let her go, rather than let his love chain her to a town she despised.

Now she’s back in Paradise looking sexier than ever, and Nate finds himself powerless to keep his distance. And Charlotte, in spite of her resolve, can’t believe she’s so easily falling under his spell. Yet mind-blowing sex doesn’t bury the past. It unearths painful emotions too long buried. Emotions that could stamp out rekindled love before it catches flame…

Warning: Contains a reformed bad boy and a newly minted bad girl with revenge on her mind, feuding families, dirty little secrets, and a lot of dirty sex.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Welcome to Paradise:

There was something different about her. Nate couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but something about Charlotte and the way she was looking at him brought on a spark of unease. She hadn’t said much since they’d gotten into his beat-up black pickup truck, and as they neared the B&B, Nate was rethinking his decision to be alone with Charlotte.

He wanted her so badly he could taste her. Her perfume, an intriguing combination of roses and honey, sent his senses into overdrive. He breathed her in each time he inhaled, his cock growing harder by the second.

Yet this didn’t feel entirely right. She’d claimed that she was over everything, that their past didn’t matter, but her sudden aloofness didn’t sit well with him.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling up to the curb and killing the engine.

Charlotte blinked, as if coming out of trance. “I’m fine,” she said lightly, already reaching for the door handle. “Let’s go inside. I’m a little cold.”

Nate got out of the truck and followed her toward the porch, unable to stop himself from admiring her perfect ass. She was all grown up, all right.

His apprehension continued to climb as they headed upstairs. Though it was only nine-thirty, the house was bathed in darkness. The Andersons lived in a small suite on the main floor, and they must have turned in already. Nate’s pulse sped up when Charlotte opened the door to her room and gestured for him to come inside.

He hesitated in the doorway. “What are we doing, Charlie?”

Her mouth quirked. “Catching up.”

A little alarm went off in his head. “Why don’t you want to talk about what happened between us?”

“Because it’s in the past. I told you, Nate, I got over it a long time ago.” Her green eyes twinkled. “Are you just going to lurk there in the doorway?”

He took a step forward then halted again. “Are you trying to seduce me?” Both anticipation and dread accompanied the question.

“Would it bother you if I was?”

The teasing look on her beautiful face made his cock twitch. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” The tease became a taunt. “Come on, Nate, you were never one to mince words. Tell me, do you want to be seduced?”

His entire mouth went as dry as sawdust. Who was this woman and where had his Charlotte gone? As a teenager, she’d never been this forward. He’d made every move in their relationship, including that final one that resulted in the two of them lying naked on a blanket by the lake.

“Here’s the thing,” the new Charlotte said in the old Charlotte’s familiar throaty voice. “Like I said before, my life is hectic. I don’t have a lot of time for, you know,
fun
stuff. And chances are that won’t change in the near future since I’m going on tour early next week. So I figured as long as I’m here…”

“You want to do some fun stuff,” he finished. “With me.”

“With you,” she confirmed.

He gulped.

Charlotte took a few steps toward him. “Come on, Nate, you know you want to say yes. And I can assure you, I’m much more experienced than I was with you.”

A hot blade of guilt sliced into him, which she must have picked up on because she waved a careless hand.

“In the past,” she reiterated.

Before he could respond, she moved even closer. Her hands dropped to his waistband, and he sucked in a breath then released a ragged burst of air when she unsnapped the button of his trousers and tugged on the zipper.

And Nate did what any healthy red-blooded male would do when a beautiful woman was trying to take off his pants.

He let her.

It’s the quiet ones that take you by surprise.

Rocky Mountain Haven

© 2012 Vivian Arend

Six Pack Ranch, Book 2

Beth Danube’s emotionally abusive husband is dead and buried. So is her heart. It’s no big deal, she has all she wants: her three little boys and a fresh start in a small Alberta town. What she
doesn’t
want is another man in her life—not now, maybe not ever.

After ten years of unsatisfactory, missionary-position sex, she never expected her libido to reawaken. One look at sex-in-boots Daniel Coleman in a Calgary bar, though, blows the dust off her sexuality.

Sensing an edge of desperation, even fear, beneath Beth’s come-on, Daniel finds himself giving in to the powerful urge to let his normally subdued desires run wild. The lady wants non-judgmental, non-vanilla sex? She’s got it—in and out of the bedroom.

At first, friends with blazing-hot benefits is more than enough. Then she realizes Daniel is burning away the protective fortress around her heart…and the guilty secret she dare not reveal.

Warning: One woman determined to retake control of her life, a man with the single-minded purpose of offering her—and her body—everything she needs. Inappropriate behavior in barns, change rooms, and oh-my-gawd phone sex with a cowboy.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Rocky Mountain Haven:

By Friday, after a week’s worth of crappy sleep where she tossed and turned all night, she’d come to a conclusion. She could wear out the battery-operated boyfriend she’d finally had the courage to purchase, or she could find another way to deal with the lust driving her. She didn’t need a man in her life full time, but she sure could use one part time.

He’d offered. He was attracted to her. Maybe he’d even be willing to show her something other than sex in the missionary position.

As long as she was the one who got to call the shots, this could work out well for them both.

The house was quiet, the boys all off at a birthday party. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, tucking her T-shirt in a little more, buttoning and unbuttoning her sweater. It was one thing to decide she was ready for some casual sex, another to inform Daniel of his role in that decision. Beth plopped down on her bed and sighed, her reflection taunting her. Yeah, the sleepless nights really added to her appeal as a sex symbol, dark shadows under her eyes. It took a rush of sheer willpower to force herself out the door and across the small bridge before she could change her mind, again. She’d never know if she didn’t take the chance.

The barns and outbuildings on the other side of the trees were brightly lit, and she hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she’d even find him at home on a Friday night, but there was no way she was going to phone. If nothing else, she’d walk to the main ranch house, say hello to Marion and Mike then retreat to the Peter’s house to wait until it was time to pick up the kids.

She found him in the barn. Her throat and mouth flashed dry as she watched him rake something straw-like from a stall. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, and his biceps rocked with every pull of his arms. Tight muscles showed under the jeans, under his shirt—damn, he was just so good looking from boots all the way up to his slightly mussed hair. A throb hit between her legs and she bit her lip. There was nothing wrong with her physical response.

She took a deep breath. “Hey.”

The delight in his eyes stirred more fluttering in her belly. “Beth. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

She glanced around. None of the rest of the Colemans seemed to be near. “You got a minute? My boys are at a birthday party and I…” Holy cow, this was harder than she thought it would be. She forced her head up and met his gaze. “We need to talk.”