Ali Holsinger
Every Breath
(Rapture Island 8)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Menage a Trois/Quatre, BDSM, MFMM, HEAJoanna Winslow met Michael Drake when she was a teenager, just when she needed him. He made an impact on her life, but she couldn’t know just how much of one.
Over the next several years, he became her hero and confidant, and eventually, her lover. Learning Michael was a Dominant rocked her world, scaring her enough to pull away, until an accident brought him back into her life, along with another revelation.
Michael’s best friends, Thomas Evers and Simon Reese had known about Joanna from the beginning and wanted to share her with Michael. She had to admit to being attracted to them, but she doubted she’d feel for them the way she felt for Michael.
Thomas and Simon had the same concern but vowed to build the trust and intimacy with her they all needed. They’d finally found what they’d searched for and wouldn’t let anything- or anyone-threaten that.
Excerpt
Michael winced at the slam of Joanna’s bedroom door. “Damn it. What the hell did she mean by that shit?”
“If I’m not mistaken, she’s in love with you, and because you want to share her with your friends for sex, it means that you don’t love her.” Simon dropped into one of the two chairs at her small kitchen table. “We should have met her sooner.”
Clenching his jaw, Michael went to the kitchen cabinet where Joanna kept a bottle of the scotch he preferred, got a glass, and poured himself a healthy portion. “She wasn’t ready. How the hell can she think I don’t love her? I’ve been calling and visiting her ever since I met her. I waited until she was older and had a chance to be on her own before I took her.”
Thomas took Michael’s drink and helped himself to a small sip. “We could have handled this differently, but I don’t see any better way of letting her know our intentions without shocking her.”
“She was a virgin.” Michael closed his eyes, his hunger for her stronger than ever. Keeping his voice low as the others did, he blew out a breath. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Thomas dropped into the seat across the table from Simon and took another sip, his gaze going toward the small hallway. “At least you told her about our desire to dominate her. Well, your desire.”
Michael got another glass and poured himself a drink with a sigh. “Yeah, and I gave her the time to think about it. I was getting ready to pay her a visit when I got the call that she was in the ER. Scared the hell out of me.”
Simon poured himself a glass of wine and opened the container that held their appetizers. “Scared the hell out of all of us. Hell, after all these years of talking about her, learning about her, I already feel as if she’s mine.”
He looked up at Michael. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m not leaving here tonight. I want to be here if she gets up tonight, and if not, I want to be here when she wakes up in the morning.”
Michael leaned against the wall, staring toward the hallway. “The way she looked at me…She’s never looked at me with hurt in her eyes. I’ve never hurt her. Damn it.”
He didn’t think he’d ever forget that look.
Straightening, he set his glass on the table. “I can’t leave this until morning. The only way to deal with this is to talk it out. I can’t let her go on thinking she’s nothing but a fuck toy for all of us. Frankly, I just don’t understand how she could think something like that. I thought I’d already established a relationship with her and that I had her trust.”
Thomas lifted his gaze from his drink and inclined his head. “I’ll give you five minutes alone with her and I’m coming in.”
“So am I.” Sitting back, Simon sipped his drink. “We all need to have a nice long conversation with Joanna.”
Michael went to Joanna’s door and, finding it locked, went back out to the kitchen, opening the drawer where she kept a few tools.
Raising a brow, Thomas turned in his seat. “Problem?”
“Just have to unlock the door.”
Armed with the small screwdriver, Michael made his way back to the bedroom and unlocked the door. Quietly opening it, he paused in the doorway, taking in the sight of her lying on the bed, the moonlight coming in through the window illuminating her.
Still dressed in her black dress, her stockings in small puddles on the floor, she stared at the window, her hand, fisted around a bunch of tissues, lying limply near her face.
He took a step toward her, setting the screwdriver on her dresser and pausing when he saw that her eyes were closed.
Moving around the bed to the other side, he stood watching her, enthralled by the vision she made in the moonlight.
Picking up the small throw she kept at the foot of the bed, he covered her. When she didn’t move or react in any way, he concluded that she had, indeed, fallen asleep.
The sight of a glistening tear on her cheek and on her lashes ripped a tear in his heart.
He must have stood there longer than he thought because Thomas and Simon came silently into the room and stood next to him.
More Desire, Oklahoma, Volume 2
(Includes “Blades Desire: Adoring Kelly” and “Dark Desire: Earning Hope’s Submission”
Erotic Romance, Consensual BDSM, Contemporary, Sex Toys, MF, HEABlade’s Desire: Adoring Kelly
Kelly Royal has learned the pleasure of submitting under her husband’s gentle, but firm, hand, but Blade’s interest in dominating her seems to be gone forever. Going into labor a month early scared the hell out of her, and despite Blade’s efforts, he couldn’t hide his own fear—especially when things go terribly wrong. Unable to forget the image of her pale and unmoving form in the hospital bed, Blade can’t even imagine taking her back into his playroom, and as soon as he brings her home from the hospital, he empties the room, vowing to never dominate her again. His fragile wife has been through enough, and he can’t imagine taking her the way he did before. Kelly, though, has other plans. She wants her husband back, and frustrated that he thwarts her attempts to take her the way he did before, she takes matters into her own hands.
Dark Desire: Earning Hope’s Submission
Hope Tyler had married the man of her dreams–the stern-faced sheriff of Desire, Oklahoma. She loved him, and his dark desires, but feared that surrendering herself completely to him would lead to him becoming bored with her, so she challenged him at every opportunity. Ace Tyler understood his wife’s fears, probably better than she did. He’d discovered her need to submit completely, but understood her reluctance to do so, but knew, deep down, that neither one of them would be completely happy until they each gave in to their own needs. Her demands, and an ultimatum that sent him reeling, handed him the perfect opportunity to set his plans to earn a deeper submission from her in motion. Dominant in ways he never had with her before, he led her deeper into the world of erotic pleasure, and to a closeness that each of them desperately needed.
Excerpt
Blades Desire: Adoring Kelly
“I should walk away from you right now.”
“Please, no!” Kelly struggled to remain still when she wanted to jump up from her position bent over the table and run to him, throw herself in his arms and beg forgiveness.
When Blade moved into her peripheral vision and stroked a hand slowly, deliberately from her buttocks and up her spine, tears of relief filled her eyes. She needed this, needed the connection. He seemed to know it and she drew a shuddering breath, grateful that once again, he gave her what she needed.
“Why should I waste my time trying to train such an undisciplined submissive?” he asked her coolly. “Only a few minutes ago, you assured me that you can take whatever I dish out and almost immediately have the audacity to bring yourself to orgasm, deliberately disobeying me, in my presence and in the room that more than anywhere else, I demand total obedience and submission from you.”
“I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “All of this is still new to me The ice in his voice froze her. When he lifted her trembling form off the table to stand in front of him, she looked up to see the same cold look in his eyes.
She wiped at the tear trickling down her face and stared up at him blinking furiously. “I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t stand it anymore.”
It seemed impossible, but his eyes became even colder.
“Now, you’re going to tell me how much you can take? I decide what you can and cannot take. Not you. Remember?”
Reaching out, Kelly gripped his arms. “Please give me another chance.. I’m trying, Blade. Honest. Please don’t give up on me. Give me another chance.”
When Blade looked down pointedly at where her hands gripped his arms and raised a brow, Kelly immediately dropped her hands to her sides.
Damn, she’d messed up again.
Blade stared at her intently for what seemed like hours, stretching her nerves to the breaking point. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand another second, he spoke, his words both thrilling and terrifying.
“You do know that what you did demands disciplinary action, don’t you?”
Dark Desire: Earning Hope’s Submission
Hope stiffened and pushed away from him, getting up from his lap and putting several feet of distance between them. “You’re rich, Ace. You own Tyler Oil with your brothers. You could work with them.”
Raising a brow at the whine in her tone, he rose and started out of the room. “If I had to work there, I’d go out of my mind.”
Following him down the hall to the kitchen, she tugged at his forearm. “Then don’t work at all! You don’t need to.”
Keeping a tight rein on his temper, he shrugged her off and reached into the refrigerator for the pitcher of sweet tea. “Not working at all would make me even crazier.”
“I can’t stand it anymore, Ace! I want you to quit.”
After filling her glass and his, he set the pitcher on the table and slowly turned to her, raising a brow. “Excuse me? Quit what, exactly?”
Hope swallowed heavily and set the plate of fried chicken on the table, taking a deep breath before lifting her chin. “I want you to quit your job as sheriff.”
“No.” He went to the refrigerator, retrieved the coleslaw, and took it to the table before looking at her again.
Hope spun, slamming the bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. “No? Just like that?”
Ace inclined his head, keeping his tone calm and controlled. “No. Just like that.”
“You won’t even discuss it?”
“We just did. You knew what I did when you married me, Hope.”
“You never got shot at before!”
He waited until she dropped into her seat before lowering himself to his. “You’re so naïve, baby. Of course I’ve been shot at before. I’ve even been shot before. It’s part of the job.”
Hope’s eyes went wide. “Well, I never knew about it, and I’m not naïve. I thought the most dangerous thing you ever did was breaking up bar fights. You handle the Dominants from the club, give out tickets, and help round up horses that have escaped.”
After setting a piece of chicken on her plate, he set one on his. “Did you ever ask about my job?”
Lowering her gaze, she shifted restless in her seat, her face flushing. “Well, no.”
“Of course not. You were more interested in making sure that I accepted you as a submissive than learning more about me. I knew you were too young, but your innocence intrigued me, and I found you too irresistible.”
Raising a brow when she gasped, he let his gaze linger on her flushed cheeks before continuing. “You were raised by a mother and three very overprotective fathers who tried to shield you and your sister from the ugly side of life.”
“Like you do?”
Ace shrugged. “It’s only natural for a man to try to protect his woman, but I’ve never lied to you. I knew who you were when I married you. I knew that you were exactly what I wanted. I love you, but I won’t quit my job, not even for you.”
Jumping to her feet, Hope stamped her foot. “Damn it, Ace!”
Ace had had enough. Pausing in the process of scooping mashed potatoes onto his plate, he clenched his jaw. “Stamp your foot at me again, and I’ll put you across my knee.”
Her eyes flared with desire, the passions inside her too strong to contain. “That’s your answer? Sex?”
Confident in his ability to handle his wife’s passions—including her temper—Ace raised a brow. “Who said anything about sex? You’re acting like a brat and obviously need to be spanked.”
Hope gasped, her eyes going wide. “A brat?”
Ace reached for the coleslaw. “A brat. You’re demanding that I quit a job I’ve had most of my adult life—a job that I love. A job that I had when you married me.”
Hope sighed. “I worry.”
Ace inclined his head. “I know that, and I do everything I can to make things easier for you.”
“Sometimes it’s not enough.”
Knowing this was an issue that couldn’t be resolved, Ace dug into his dinner. “People die in car accidents every day. Do you want me to stop driving, too? You drive like a maniac just to get my attention—an unnecessary danger that scares me but that you do on a whim.”
Hope’s face flushed again. “I won’t do it again.”
Ace nodded once, pleased that he’d made his point. “Good.”
She dropped into her seat again with a sigh. “I don’t know if I can live this way anymore.”
Fear turned his stomach to ice, and setting his silverware aside, he kept his tone low and cold. “Is that an ultimatum?”
Losing her wasn’t an option, but he couldn’t allow his wife to deliver ultimatums and expect to get away with it.
Lifting her chin, she met his gaze squarely, her bottom lip trembling. “What if it is?”
“You know that I don’t respond well to ultimatums.”
With her chin still lifted, Hope wrapped her arms around herself, the combination of defiance and defensiveness a testament to the contrary woman herself. “What if I said that I would leave you if you don’t quit?”
Sitting back, he smiled coldly. “Then I would give you the spanking you so richly deserve and tell you that you’re not going anywhere. Are you sure this is the tack you wanna take?”
Stormy Desire: Guarding Stormy
(More Desire, Oklahoma 12)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Menage, Suspense, MFMM, HEAStormy Hart loved working as a private investigator and had a reputation for finding proof of cheating husbands. Little did she know that her latest assignment would put her in grave danger.
Her client suspected that her elderly boyfriend was seeing another woman and wanted Stormy to find proof, one way or the other. Stormy found the proof, information that could ruin a marriage and a career. Proof that could get her killed.
The attack on her out of nowhere sent her husbands, Lucas Hart, Devlin Monroe, and Caleb Ward into an icy rage, and their protective instincts through the roof. The knowledge that the threat to her still existed kept them by her bedside. Although Stormy was used to taking care of herself, she knew she needed her husbands’ protection, for her and their unborn child.
Excerpt
Taking notes and measurements, Caleb made his way around the building while talking to Boone and Chase Jackson, his friends and the fathers of two little girls. “I don’t care if Stormy’s carrying a boy or a girl. I just want her and the baby to be healthy.”
Because they were friends, Caleb found himself spitting out the truth. “I never thought we’d ever be fathers. I want to give this baby a stable homelife.”
Boone frowned and glanced up from the large paper where he’d penciled in his own measurements, marking electrical and plumbing. “You and the others grew up in foster homes, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Caleb’s stomach knotted. “We never knew when we’d be transferred to another house. No security at all. I want Stormy and the baby to feel secure. We all do. Love and security are things we never knew, and we all want to make sure Stormy and the baby never go without either.”
Boone inclined his head and made another notation before looking up again. “Understood. Chase and I didn’t have your rough upbringing, but we want the same for Rachel and the girls.”
He looked up with a smile, his smile falling when the door flew open and Cord Preston, one of the owners of the grocery store in town, rushed toward them.
“Caleb, there’s been an accident. Stormy’s down on Second Street. She was hit by a car.”
Icy fear stabbed his stomach and gripped him by the throat. “Jesus!”
His feet were moving before Cord had even finished speaking, with Boone and Chase hot on his heels. A crowd had already started to gather, and frustrated at trying to fight through it, he ran into the street and went full out until he reached Rafe Delgatto, who spoke on his cell phone, raising his voice to be heard over the sirens. “Dark blue four-door coupe. License plates covered with mud. Driver, Caucasian, mid-forties, dark hair.”
He pointed toward the ground where Krystal knelt over Stormy, running her hands over her.
Stormy remained absolutely motionless.
Caleb couldn’t breathe as he knelt at his wife’s side. “Baby?” He felt for a pulse, Krystal’s voice getting to him just as he felt his wife’s weak pulse.
“She’s alive, Caleb. Scraped up pretty good and her leg is broken. Serious bump on her head. Christ, I heard it when her head hit the pavement. I’d be amazed if she doesn’t have a concussion. I just hope she doesn’t have internal injuries.”
Caleb leaned protectively over her as Ace Tyler, the town sheriff, and Linc, Krystal’s other husband and another of Desire’s deputies, blocked traffic and had the crowd back off. “The baby?”
Krystal looked worried as hell as she gathered clothing that Stormy had obviously bought and used it to pillow her head. “I don’t know, Caleb. I’m sorry. She was hit hard and hit the ground hard. She’s alive. Let’s just hold on to that right now.”
Caleb helped Krystal pillow Stormy’s head and leaned over her, stroking her hair and face, avoiding the red scrape where her face had met the pavement. “Come on, baby. Open your eyes for me. Wake up. Let me see those beautiful green eyes.”
He held her hand, wincing when he noted that her wrist was broken. “Krystal—”
“Yeah, I see it. I’ll ride with her in the ambulance. I can splint it there.”
Caleb’s phone started beeping, the ice of fear in his stomach accompanied by the edge of anger.
Krystal continued to check Stormy’s pulse and breathing, glancing up when he pulled his phone from his pocket to shut off the alarm. “An alarm?”
“Yeah. Somebody’s breaking into the house.”
Rafe crouched next to him, closing a hand on his shoulder. “This was intentional, Caleb. I’m sorry. I tried to reach her in time, but I couldn’t.”
Fighting not to tighten his grip on her hand and risk hurting her worse, Caleb kept his focus on Stormy. “Intentional? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Rafe blew out a breath. “Can I call Lucas for you?”
“He should be calling any minute. The alarm went off at the house. Someone’s trying to break in.”
Rafe’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “What? I’ll go check it out.”
Caleb ignored him and bent lower, touching his lips to Stormy’s hair. “I don’t care about that. Hey, baby. Please wake up for me. Please, baby.”
Krystal touched his arm. “At least she’d not in pain right now. When she wakes up, she’s gonna feel it.”
“I never should have left her alone. I should have been with her.”
His phone rang just as the ambulance pulled up, and when he looked up, it was to see that Ace had disappeared. Marshall and Joe Garrison rushed toward them, and Clay and Rio Erickson, along with Cord and his wife, Isabel, kept people back, Isabel doing so with tears running down her face.
Boone stood at his other side, blocking their view of Stormy and turning his head to yell at someone behind Caleb. “Hurry up with that gurney!”
Erin came rushing up, shaking off the hold of Jared, one of her husbands. “She just left the store. She was so happy. What can I do? What do you need?”
Shaking his head, Caleb looked at his phone display, unsurprised to see that the call came from Lucas. “I don’t know.”
He watched as they loaded Stormy, terrified beyond anything he’d ever felt before. After helping Krystal inside, he answered the phone and stepped up into the ambulance beside her. “Stormy’s hurt. She was hit by a car. Rafe saw and said it was intentional. I’m not gonna be able to hear you soon. They just loaded her into the ambulance. Krystal and I are riding in with her. Get to the hospital. Just…get to the hospital.”
Night Secrets
(Night 7)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, MFM, HEASerena Wyndham can see present and future events and hear the thoughts of people around her. Her visions haunt her at times. Visions of murders, of thefts. Visions of the darker sides of life that leave her feeling helpless to do anything.
When word about Serena’s abilities gets to her husbands’ boss, Mitchell Krantz, aka Mr. Jones, Mitchell is desperate for Serena’s help. His daughter has been taken, a victim of human trafficking, and he needs Serena’s help to get Annabelle back. Serena doesn’t trust the agent, but her visions have shown the details of the human trafficking ring and the men who took his daughter. She agrees to help him, even though she’s aware Mitchell has plans to use her to climb the ranks.
Her husbands don’t want her to get entangled with Mitchell if he’s using her, but Serena won’t be deterred. She needs to help the young women in her visions. When her husbands see her resolve, they have no choice but to agree to help her. They’ll just watch her like hawks.
Excerpt
Alastair watched his wife as she experienced one of her visions, biting back a curse when she jolted, when she gasped, again when she whimpered, and once more when she opened her eyes and he saw the tears brimming in the beautiful violet depths.
Instinctively sliding off the sofa to kneel in front of her, Alastair started to wrap his arms around her, but she shook her head, holding out her hands and jumped up. “I’ll be in the guest house. My cousin’s dead, Jonathan. Dumped in the landfill. Like trash. When you find her body, I want to arrange her funeral. She deserves that.”
Jonathan jumped to his feet. “Mrs. Wyndham! Serena!”
Ian rose and ran a hand down his wife’s back as she walked away, holding out an arm to prevent Jonathan from going after her. “No. You’ve given her enough hurt.”
Ian watched as Alastair left the room with Serena and waited until he heard the puppies yipping excitedly as they followed Serena and Alastair out the back door.
Once he heard the door close, he turned to Jonathan. “If that’s all…”
Jonathan sat again and leaned forward to pick up his glass. “No. That’s not all. I wanted to talk to Serena about the rest. It concerns her.”
“No. Tell me. Whatever concerns my wife concerns me.”
Jonathan took a sip of his tea and sighed. “Now Carello is suspected of murder. He was picked up and questioned by homicide, but they don’t have enough to hold him. I don’t know where he killed her—if he killed her—but if he did, there’s no sign of it. Hell, no one even knew where to look and your wife didn’t tell me anything specific. I assume it’s the landfill closest to Carello’s house, but it’s a large area.”
Ian inclined his head. “I’ll find out from her and call you. Is that it?”
“No.” After taking another sip, Jonathan set his tea down again. “The FBI got wind of the murder investigation, and since they’ve been trying to pin a whole slew of shit on Carello for years, they started showing up at his house to question him. They’re watching him and making sure he knows that he’s on their radar. They started questioning him about some of his businesses. But no one saw anyone leave the house with a body. Hell, they didn’t even know she’d been killed and weren’t looking for someone smuggling a body out of the house.”
Jonathan smiled faintly. “And since they’re also watching them, and are allowing him to see that they’re watching him, he’s had to curtail certain activities. It’s costing him money. The feds arrested several of his employees for an assortment of things, concealed carry without a license, prostitution, some of them underage, drugs, even shutting down a few of his bars for serving to minors. They haven’t found anyone who’ll testify to the extortion yet, so they can’t even use this for leverage. Carello’s getting desperate. He’s trying to make a deal.”
Jonathan drew a breath and blew it out in a rush. “He mentioned Serena.”
Ian saw red, his fury so intense it turned to ice. “Why the hell is he talking about my wife? What did he say?”
Jonathan rose and began to pace. “He told the FBI that she was psychic. That she knew things and she’s using that to help you increase your fortune in illegal ways.”
Ian raised a brow at that, his blood boiling. “Such as?”
“Such as the stock market, gambling, and theft.”
“Oh? What are we supposed to have stolen?”
Jonathan paused behind the sofa facing Ian and sighed again, his features tight. “Jewelry, paintings, and that bit with someone breaking into the FBI office and stealing counterfeit money… Well, that’s something that’s still talked about.”
Other than raising a brow, Ian let nothing of his thoughts show. “So my wife is a criminal?”
Jonathan took his seat again. “That’s Carello’s claim. You and your wife are using her psychic abilities to steal. To cheat. Whatever. Most of the agents see it for what it is, and even more think this psychic crap is bullshit.”
With a shrug, Jonathan leaned back, his fingertips on the arm of the chair. “Word got to my boss. He called me in to ask me what the hell I knew about it. I told him that you were rich as hell long before Serena came along and had no trouble making investments long before she got here. I knew of Carello, but I looked up his file to see what they had. They have a lot more than I thought. But Carello must have been pretty damn convincing because he’s drawing a lot of attention to Serena. They’re curious about her now.”
“I see.” Ian rose, too restless to sit, the thought of Serena being in the government’s crosshairs churning his stomach. “Well, their curiosity is going to have to go unsatisfied.”
Shaking his head, Jonathan sat forward. “I wish it was that easy.”
“It’s going to have to be.”
Shaking his head again, he sat back and met Ian’s gaze, the worry in it tightening Ian’s stomach even more. “My boss wants to meet her. He’s got her under surveillance now. If she can do what you think she can do, she should know it by now. Has she said anything to you?”
Ian wondered if his wife knew and was keeping it from them, or if she truly hadn’t picked up on it. He forced a smile. “None of your business.”
He didn’t know, but he would for damn sure find out.
Rancher’s Woman
(Erotically Yours 6)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, WesternCaroline Cobb fell in love with her neighbor Beck Branson when a teen. Back then, she did nothing but amuse Beck, but now he has fallen in love with her too. Caroline is embarrassed by her past behavior and she’s avoiding Beck, even when he visits her ailing father.
Beck wants Caroline to share her burdens with him, but she will only share her body. As soon as he touches her, he wants her in his life permanently. He’s convinced she’s the only woman for him.
When Caroline’s father dies, his wife, Mona, and her children, Chantel and Daniel, set out to make trouble over the will, despite divorce papers. Everything comes to a head, including an attack on Caroline, and it’s left to Beck to pay them back for hurting the woman he loves.
Excerpt
“I was thinking about going for a ride. I don’t get to ride as much as I used to. Just ride for the hell of it instead of to get from point A to point B.”
Her lips twitched. “My father says you’re a busy man.”
“That I am.”
It used to amuse him when she was in high school and flirted with him, but once she started getting her college degree online and gradually taking over running The Red Stone, he hadn’t been able to deny his attraction to her.
He reminded himself often that she was too young for him.
Too inexperienced.
Too innocent.
Knowing that his hard edges would slice her to pieces, he did his best to avoid her.
For the first time, he realized that she hadn’t hunted him down in months.
She inclined her head. “I’m sure those women in Dallas kept you busy while you were there.” Without giving him a chance to answer, and before he knew how he would, she continued as if not expecting an answer or not wanting to hear it. “Duff going crazy getting ready for your Fourth of July party?”
Randy Duff, a man with a heart of gold and a temper like lightning, was the cook on the Branson Ranch.
Beck allowed a small smile. “He’s mostly bossing the caterers around. It wouldn’t be so hard on him if he didn’t insist that he was the better cook. If he didn’t have such an issue with having to be in control all the time, things would be a hell of a lot easier for him.”
Caroline raised a brow at that. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Her smile turned him inside out in a way he didn’t want to look at too closely.
Firming his voice, he wished he could see her brilliant green gaze, fighting to ignore the fact that she excited him like no other woman.
She teased him, criticized him, and argued with him, while other women bent over backward to get close to him.
At times, she irritated him.
At times, she inflamed him.
But she always challenged him and never, ever bored him.
Wishing he could stroke her, he did the closest thing and stroked a hand down the silky coat of her favorite horse, Storm.
He smiled and looked up at her. “I remember when I asked you why you named him Storm. You were right about him. He’s powerful, fast, strong, and just a little mean and unpredictable.”
“Sometimes he can be very mean and unpredictable.”
Her tone worried him, and he wished once again he could see her eyes. “What’s wrong, baby?”
She stared out at the horizon for so long he figured she wasn’t going to answer, but finally she shrugged. “Nothing. Don’t call me that.”
Reacting before he could stop himself, he laid a hand on her thigh. “You’ve never lied to me before, Caroline.”
Caroline drew a steadying breath, the rock in her stomach and lump in her throat bringing tears to her eyes. “You haven’t paid enough attention to me to know that. I need to ride. I’ll see you at your party.”
He watched her ride away, angry as hell that she’d lied to him.
Confused and surprisingly hurt that she wanted to get away from him, he strode to the stable and hurriedly saddled his horse.
Something was wrong, and he wouldn’t be able to rest until he found out what it was and fixed it.
Suspecting it had something to do with her stepmother and Mona’s two spoiled brats, both in their thirties and with no visible means of support other than living off of others, he clenched his jaw, inwardly cursing.
“Problem, boss?”
Beck continued to saddle his horse, glancing at Wes Roberts, his foreman. “Not sure. I’ll be at the watering hole. Make sure no one goes in that direction.”
Wes frowned. “Somethin’ wrong with Miss Caroline?”
Surprised, Beck turned. “You know that Caroline goes there?”
Wes smiled humorlessly. “The night her mother was diagnosed, she and Mr. Cobb came home from the hospital and she disappeared. It was already dark, and everyone was worried. No one knew where the hell to find her. No one knew if she was hurt. We knew she couldn’t get lost. Hell, that girl knew the ranch like the back of her hand, but what if she’d wandered off or if she’d run into some unsavory character?”
“Christ.”
“Mr. Cobb was beside himself, and we were ready to send out a search party when Bull got back from Fort Worth where he’d gone to a sale and called off the search, said he knew where she was. I was already there and ready to go out and went with him. Found the poor thing just sitting on one of those rocks and staring out in the dark.”
Shaking his head, Wes blew out a breath. “I never felt such relief in my life. Bull just stopped there where she’d tethered her horse and waited. Hell, we must have waited an hour before she came to us. I’ll never forget how she looked. Barely a young woman, with tears in her eyes and her little shoulders slumped as if she carried the weight of the world on them.”
Wes wiped a hand over his eyes. “Turned out she did.”
Beck wished he’d been there at that time, but although he’d bought the property before her mother’s death, he hadn’t moved in until months afterward.
If he’d known her and what she’d endured, nothing would have kept him away.
And nothing could keep him away now.
Logan’s Desire
(Desire, Oklahoma 18)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, BDSM, MF, HEAKatherine Long had met Logan James years earlier and had fallen in love with him almost from the start. Logan, though, admitted to her that he was a Dominant and said she was too innocent for him. He feared that one day she would look at him with fear or disgust in her eyes.
Logan tried his best to stay away from Kat for months before finally admitting that she was the only woman for him, so he drove to Memphis with the intention of admitting his love for her. He got to the hospital just in time to watch Kat’s beloved grandmother die—and for Kat to fall apart.
When Logan takes her to Desire to build a life together, neither suspects that a coworker has hidden drugs in her car and that danger will follow.
Excerpt
The hole in her heart, which had begun with Logan’s rejection of her, had grown since her grandmother’s stroke until it had become excruciating.
It took everything out of her.
She’d never known it was possible to be so tired.
So empty inside.
Dropping her head onto the bed, she kept her grandmother’s hand clasped in hers and let herself sleep.
Logan found her that way, the relief at finally finding her so intense, he paused just inside the door to look at her.
He moved closer, the low music coming from a small speaker on the bed both calming and depressing as hell.
It sounded like the music played in funeral homes during a funeral.
Katherine, sitting in a chair, her head on her folded arms on the bed, faced away from him, but he could see clearly that she’d lost a good bit of weight.
Furious that she’d kept this from them, he leaned against the wall, taking in the plain, colorless room, the monitors and the tubes running in and out of the old, too-pale woman sleeping peacefully.
He watched them for almost an hour, straightening when the left side of Eleanor’s body began to twitch restlessly and several of the monitors started beeping.
Katherine jolted upright, looking over when several nurses burst through the door, her already too-pale face paling even more when she saw him. “What’s going on?”
Her grandmother suddenly stilled, and the nurse took Kat’s arm. “You need to move.”
The nurse nudged the chair out of the way, and as they worked on her grandmother, Logan went to Kat and gently pulled her aside.
She gasped. “What are you doing here? Go away!”
Stiffening against him, she tried to pull away, but Logan held firm, pressing his lips against her ear. “Stop fighting me.”
He turned her toward him, holding her against his chest and watched the nurses’ faces and the monitor that flat-lined.
Katherine jolted and turned, shaking her head. “No!”
Another nurse and a doctor came in and after listening to her grandmother’s chest, the doctor sighed and met Kathy’s gaze.
Releasing her so she could go to her grandmother’s side, Logan followed as the doctor kept his gaze on Kathy’s. “I’m sorry. She had another stroke. It was more than her body could handle.”
Watching Kat wrap her arms around her grandmother, her sobs racking her body, Logan felt his heart break.
Nodding to acknowledge the doctor, he went to stand behind Kat, running a hand up and down her back in an effort to soothe her and to let her know she was no longer alone.
She cried so hard he feared she would make herself sick before finally straightening, a shudder going through her.
Kathy felt a sense of disbelief, feeling a distance from her surroundings, as if she was watching the incredibly sad scene play out in a movie. A kind of blessed numbness settled over her and made it possible for her to allow Logan to help her into her cardigan and lead her out of the room.
Voices around her faded into the background, the words jumbling together and unrecognizable.
She knew Logan spoke to the nurses at the nurses’ station, his deep tone one she could never forget, but it took too much effort to decipher his words.
His voice, deep and soothing, was enough.
God, she’d missed him.
She shivered, cold everywhere except the hand he held in his.
She went where he guided her, which allowed her to stop thinking altogether.
Logan led her to his car, the arm around her firm, warm, and solid. He paused at the passenger door, drawing her against him. “I’m here for you, baby. You’re not alone. Just lean on me. I’ll help you get through this.”
Pressing her face against his shoulder, she breathed him in, tears filling her eyes and spilling over. “She’s gone, Logan. I wanted her to get better. I didn’t want to believe…”
“I know, love.” He ran his hands up and down her back, his lips pressing against her hair. “I know how much she meant to you. Let me get you home.”
“I don’t have a home anymore.” The reality of it hit her hard. She got into the passenger seat, unmoving as he fastened her seat belt and closed the door again.
Staring out the window, she leaned her head back, still reeling with her grandmother’s death and Logan’s sudden appearance. She’d loved him for years, loved him so much that when he told her that things wouldn’t work out between them, it broke her heart.
Even now, when nothing else seemed to get through the fog surrounding her, her feelings for him did.
For him to show up so suddenly, just when she needed him most, was both a blessing and torture. Leaning on him gave her the comfort and strength she needed, but she knew it was temporary and her heart would break all over again when he left.
He would leave, and the loneliness would become unbearable.
“You shouldn’t have come. Why did you have to come?”
Reaching across, he took her hand in his. “If I’d known what was going on, I would have been here sooner.”
Too numb for embarrassment, she continued to stare out the side window. “I need you to go. I need to get over you.”
Logan stopped at a red light and turned her face to his, the warm firmness of his fingertips on her chin causing butterflies in her belly. “I can’t get over you, so why would I allow you to get over me?”
Dakota Firestorm
(Dakota Heat 9)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Western, MFMMM, HEADanielle Marsh takes a job as a police officer in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where her sister, Veronica, is a student, when she can’t get in touch with Ronni. When she meets her new boss, she finds herself more than attracted to him, but when she discovers Ronni is, in fact, missing, Danni finds herself embroiled in far more than she expected in the college town.
Travis Branson hired Danni, never expecting that she would change his life and those of his brother and cousins forever. With an influx of drugs creating mayhem at the university and his own cops on the take, Travis has more than enough to deal with. But his desire for Danni, along with the interest from his brother, Mace, and his cousins, Drake and Zane, is impossible to ignore. They know immediately that she’ll belong to them.
After Veronica is rescued, Travis settles the women at the ranch the four men share and launches an operation with the FBI to catch the drug dealers, never suspecting Danni is in danger.
Excerpt
Travis reached over to touch Danni’s hand. “What did Andrew tell you about your sister?”
“He said that she’s out with friends. Doesn’t know who she went with, where they were, or when she’d be back. So, I’m waiting.”
“We’re gonna go check it out. Come on. Let’s go fuck up this guy’s night.”
Danni scrambled from the SUV, more than willing to go knock on this asshole’s door again.
As they crossed the street, the man who came out the front door saw Travis, still in uniform, and took off toward his car.
“I’ve got the back.” Drake ran around to the back of the house, while Travis easily caught the other man and cuffed him.
Using another set of cuffs to secure the man to his car door, he looked back at Danni. “You and I are going to talk later.” He slammed the other man, one screaming for Andy, against the car door. “Shut the fuck up.”
Danni nodded and stood just outside the front door, suspecting that the loud music kept Andrew from hearing his customer.
Moving to the front door, Travis placed his hand over his weapon and knocked loudly on the door. “Stand so he can see you.”
Travis stepped to the side and, when the door opened, nudged Danni back and stood in front of the door, his gun pointed at Andrew’s chest. “Where’s Veronica Marsh?”
As Danni expected, Andrew, although slow at first, probably due to his own merchandise, quickly realized that he might be in some sort of trouble.
Especially when the coffee table behind him was covered with an assortment of drugs, a nine-millimeter handgun, and a scale.
Andrew turned, but before he could bolt, Travis grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him toward him. “Well, what do we have here?”
“Fuck you!” Andrew’s dirty T-shirt ripped as he managed to jerk away from Travis and went for the gun on the table.
Travis caught him again, yanking his hands behind his back and using a zip tie that had been secured at his side, secured his wrists behind his back.
“Looks like you were right about the drugs.”
“I don’t give a shit about the drugs. I want to see if I can find something that’ll tell me where the hell my sister is. I know she lived with him. I— Jesus! Ronni!”
“Danni!”
She leapt toward her sister, studying her bruised and swollen face just as Drake came in from the back. “That asshole did that to you?”
The music suddenly stopped, and Danni blocked out the curses and threats coming from the other side of the room where Travis had tossed Andrew into a chair. “I need to get you to a hospital.”
“No. I’m fine.” Veronica’s blood-shot eyes filled with tears. “I’m just so glad you’re here. When you came earlier, I was in the bathroom. I didn’t hear you. When you left, Andrew told me it was you.”
She glanced at Andrew and seemed to shrink into herself, pissing Danni off even more. “When I heard you were in town, I knew it was almost over.”
Both enraged and relieved to tears, Danni wanted to hug her sister but didn’t know the extent of her injuries. She wrapped her arms lightly around her and rubbed her back. “Christ, I’ve been so scared.”
Drake approached, easing back when Ronni jolted. “I’m gonna take one in while Travis takes the other. Mace will drive you in your car to the hospital. We’ll meet you there unless you leave earlier. Then we’ll see you at home.”
“At home?” Ronni blinked and wiped her wet cheeks.
“I’ll explain everything. Let’s go.” She glanced at Travis, giving him a stony look as he spoke on his radio to the police station, asking for two officers by name to come to the scene.
Drake opened the door for her and escorted her outside, where Mace stood, standing guard over the guy still secured to his car door.
With a look of horror, Mace rushed forward, glancing at Danni. “What the hell? Is this your sister?”
“Yes. I need to get her to the hospital.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital, Danni. I want to get my stuff. I packed almost everything up except for my clothes.”
Drake lightly touched Ronni’s shoulder. “Where is it?”
Ronni smiled, wincing and touching her lip. “I have two big blue bins in the garage. I hid them under a piece of tarp. My clothes are in the first three drawers in the dresser and in the closet.”
Nodding, Drake looked into Danni’s eyes. “I’ll take care of it, okay? I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’ll get your sister’s things together and bring them to the house.”
Mace bent and lifted Ronni. “Let’s get you to the hospital. I’m Mace, by the way. You must be Veronica.”
“Ronni.” With fear in her eyes, she held out a hand to Danni. “I recognized the chief, but I don’t know any of these men. How long have you been here?”
Danni grimaced and opened the back door of her SUV. “A couple of hours. Mace here is Travis’s brother. Drake and Zane are brothers and their cousins. I want to hear about how the hell you got tangled up with this asshole and what he’s done to you.”
She closed the door behind her sister, turning and stopping abruptly when she found Mace directly in front of her.
He lifted her chin, his dark gaze steady on hers. “She’ll be safe now. Both of you will.”
Even scared and pissed off, she couldn’t deny the slam to her system. “I can take care of myself and my sister. But something’s wrong in the department. I don’t trust anyone. I can take her to the hospital myself.”
“No. Sit in the back with her. I’ll drive.”
Recipe for Desire: The Perfect Mixture
(More Desire, Oklahoma 11)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Menage, BDSM, Romantic Suspense, MFM, HEAEmma Ross married Dominants, two men who insisted on control, two men with rage inside, but she’d seen the tenderness beneath. She loves her husbands and has a wonderful life with them and their infant son. Now that she’s recovered from giving birth, she yearns for the passion of the past, but they continue to thwart her efforts to indulge in their playroom.
To make the situation worse, a woman who used to be their submissive wants them back, and she’ll do anything to get them. Charlene tried to kill Emma in the past, and this time, she’s determined to get Hunter and Remington back.
Doubts build, and Charlene’s involvement creates a distance between Emma and her husbands that has never been there before. Emma wants nothing more than to get on with their lives so she can indulge in both the dark hungers and loving tenderness of the two men she loves. But first she has to deal with Charlene.
Excerpt
With a sigh, Hunter rose to refill his coffee mug. “Baby, you don’t have any reason to be jealous. You know damned well that you’re the love of my life.”
“Our lives.” Remington smiled and ran a hand down her back as he dropped onto the stool next to her again. “Hunter told me about it, baby. He was going to tell you when you came home, but you were in a bad mood and he figured it would be better to find out what was wrong first. Nobody was going to keep something like that from you.”
Hunter turned from the counter and, seeing that Marcus had finished with the teething biscuit and getting fussy, started to clean him up. “Anyway, I doubt if I see her again. She said she wanted to apologize and that it would help her with her therapy. I’d rather just forget the whole thing. She’s not a part of our lives.”
“She had a hand on your chest. You were holding her arms.”
Hunter finished cleaning up and removed the tray to take Marcus out of the highchair. “She laid her hand on my chest, and I pushed her away. Don’t you trust me?”
She held out her arms for the baby, snuggling him close while Hunter prepared his bottle. “Did she kiss you?”
“Oh, Christ, Emma.” He scraped a hand through his hair. “She kissed me on the cheek, hence me gripping her arms to push her away. Please don’t make a big deal out of this. I wanted to punch her in the face for what she’d done to you, but I’m not violent toward women.”
He smiled and tested the warmth of the bottle. “You taught me that I never could be.”
“Did you kiss her?”
“Of course not! Hell. The only reason I didn’t boot her out on her ass was because she said she was getting help. I didn’t want to do anything to sabotage that. I just wanted her to get the hell out of there so I could lock up and get home to you.”
Emma nodded, believing him.
Taking the bottle, she started to feed her son, glancing at both men. “She confronted me.”
Remington’s gaze sharpened. “What? When? Where?”
Hunter slammed his coffee mug onto the island, his expression hard. “Son of a bitch!”
Remington took a steadying breath and let it out slowly. “When did this happen?”
“Tonight, when I left the restaurant. She confronted me in the parking lot.”
With a sigh, Hunter picked up his coffee again, trying to appear nonchalant, while inside his blood boiled. “She probably just wanted to apologize to you. I’m sorry. I should have anticipated that, but it surprises me that she did it so quickly.”
Remington nodded and glanced at Hunter. “You said she was in contact with the club. She was probably on her way there and saw Emma coming out of the restaurant. Probably wanted to finish with the apologies.” He smiled at Emma. “Is that what she did? Apologize to you?”
Lifting a brow, Emma gave Remington a look that usually meant trouble. “That’s what she said. She’d blocked my car in. I told her I didn’t want her apology. She tried to kill me. I told her to get the fuck out of my way and move the car before I moved it for her. Then she told me she wished she’d killed me when she had the chance.”
Remington frowned and ran a hand over her shoulder. “Baby, are you sure she wasn’t just trying to apologize to you?”
Hunter leaned toward her. “Maybe you misunderstood because you’re already afraid of her. I don’t want you to be afraid of her. If I thought she had any plans to do you any harm, I’d take care of it.”
Hurt, she sent Hunter a dirty look and rose to take Marcus to the nursery. “So you go ahead and accept her apology. I won’t.”
Coming around the counter, Hunter gripped her shoulder. “Baby, I’m sorry if she scared you. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you again.”
“She didn’t scare me. She pissed me off. The next time she comes anywhere near me, I’m gonna hurt her.”
She turned at the doorway. “And if either one of you decide to go see her at the club, you can pack your bags.”
“What the fuck?”
Shaken, more than she cared to admit, Emma left the two of them alone in the kitchen and went back to the nursery.
Hunter and Remington had a soft spot for women, like most of the other men who lived in Desire.
It appeared that softness extended to wanting to believe that the woman who’d attacked her now felt sorry for it and was getting help.
But Emma had seen the truth in the other woman’s eyes.
She’d heard the evil.
She’d heard it in Charlene’s voice.
Now, she just had to figure out what to do about it.
The Desire, Oklahoma Collection, Volume 4
(Desire Oklahoma 7 and 9)
Erotic Romance, BDSM , Contemporary, Ménage a Trois, Spanking, Whipping, Sex Toys, MFM, HEAA compilation of books seven and eleven in the Desire, Oklahoma collection:
- Submission to Desire
- Desire Unleashed
Excerpt
Submission to Desire
“So, you liked the fact that he wanted to hurt women. I knew it. Any men who would own a place like this must really hate women. I’m sure he fit right in. You people make me sick.”
She shot to her feet with the intention of getting the hell out of here before she threw something at their heads, but King moved fast for such a large man and caught her before she could even take a step.
With fire in his eyes, he gripped her upper arms.
“I don’t appreciate being judged by a woman who doesn’t know the first thing about me.”
Royce came to his feet, no longer smiling. “Or what we do here. We kept Donner close to watch him. We all talked to him over and over about the way to treat women, and Blade, our partner, even went out to meet with him. We were afraid that he would be a danger to women in the club in Virginia, and even went so far as to warn the owners there.”
King gestured toward the sofa, leading her back to it. As she sat, he braced a hand on the arm and loomed over her.
“We knew that there was a woman he was fixated on, but we didn’t know who you were. We’re very sorry that you had to go through that. We do not promote abusing women.”
Breathing a sigh of relief when King stepped back, and watching the play of muscle as he perched on the arm of the chair across from her, Brenna fisted her hands on her lap.
“You’re Doms, right?” Even if she didn’t know that they owned this place, she would know that they were. Something about their presence reminded her of the Dominants she’d met back in Virginia. It was in their posture, in their eyes, and in the way they looked at a woman, as though not wanting to miss a single weakness that they could exploit at their leisure.
The confidence, and arrogance, couldn’t be mistaken.
King inclined his head. “We are.”
Expecting that answer, and the cool tone, Brenna nodded. “So, are you going to try to tell me that you don’t use whips on women? You don’t hit them? Hurt them? Isn’t that how you get your kicks?”
Royce shot to his feet, but King waved him back, the calculating gleam in his eyes sending off all sorts of red flags. “If you’re really curious, I’ll be happy to answer all your questions, but I’m not about to sit here and argue with you when you’ve already made up your closed mind about us and what we do here.”
The disappointment and censure in his tone made her feel like a heel, but remembering Donner and his cruelty infuriated her all over again.
“I’m not buying it.” She jumped when Royce came close and squatted down in front of her, stiffening when he ran his fingers over the back of her hands in a caress she assumed should have felt nonthreatening. Alarmed at the rivulets of heat that ran up her arm, she forced herself to remain still, shaken by his intense stare and the cool calculation in his eyes.
Royce smiled knowingly and ran his fingers up her arm, sharpening the tingling sensation.
“I’m afraid I’d have to agree with King. If you really want to understand, we’ll be glad to answer all of your questions.” He lifted a finger when she started to speak.
“But, we’d like to show you. That’s the only way you’d truly understand. The only way you’ll be able to see the way we live is to experience it for yourself.”
Brenna pulled her hand away and scooted as far as she could away from him. “Sure. Sign me up and make me pay an exorbitant amount of money for you and all your customers to beat me. I don’t care what you call it, it’s just an excuse to hurt a woman. Even those men in the club carried whips with them. The women thought it was sexy. I didn’t.”
Hoping he didn’t see the lie in her eyes, she lifted her chin, silently daring him to call her a liar.
Royce’s gaze sharpened, his eyes becoming the deepest green she’d ever seen.
“So, you’re a submissive? Do you go to clubs regularly? Do you belong to someone?”
Bristling at the bite in his tone, she shot to her feet and started forward, only to have King come to his feet and block her again.
“Belong to someone? What’s with you people and that belonging crap? I don’t belong to anyone and I only went to that club once. And no, I’m not a submissive and I don’t ever plan to be. Frankly, I just don’t get why any woman would want to be.”
Royce came to his feet and moved in behind her, the fingers he ran up and down her arm making her shiver.
“Maybe you are. Maybe you’re not. Maybe you don’t want to know for sure because you’re afraid of the answer. You went to that club for a reason.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She jerked out of his hold and started for the door, both relieved and disappointed when neither man made a move to stop her. “Just because you’re surrounded by women who let you do what you want to them, you think every woman you meet is the same. I’m not. I think you’re all assholes.”
Proud of her exit line, she turned the knob and yanked, cursing when it didn’t budge. Whirling, she fumed. “Open the fucking door and let me the hell out of here.”
Desire Unleashed
His handsome features, so beloved, softened as he trailed his fingers over her hair. “I’m sorry, baby. I sure as hell didn’t mean to scare you. Keeping her hand in his, he turned away, leading her into the living room. “I’ve been pretty scared myself. Give me a minute. I have no fucking idea how to begin.”
Nat allowed him to pull her down to the sofa, but instead of snuggling against him the way she normally did, she slid to the opposite end and turned toward him, needing to see his face. “Well, you’re going to have to figure it out. You’re pissing me off.”
Jake didn’t smile the way she’d expected, and even more alarming, his eyes didn’t light with anticipation the way they usually did when she confronted him with her temper.
Instead, he sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry for it. I haven’t given you what you need from me these last few months, have I, baby?”
His lips twisted. “My only excuse is that I’m scared, Nat.” Holding her gaze, he sighed. “I’m scared to death of losing you.”
“That could never happen. I can’t imagine not loving you.” Too nervous to sit still, she started to get up, cursing when Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her to land heavily against him.
Overcoming her struggles with frustrating ease, Jake pulled her onto his lap. “You’re not going anywhere. Let me finish, damn it!”
“Then finish!” Nat’s temper dissolved at the anguish on her husband’s face. “I’m sorry. Tell me, Jake. Please.”
“Don’t you think I’m trying?” He scrubbed a hand over his face in a rare sign of frustration. “I’m probably going to screw this up, but you’re staying right where you are until I get it all out.”
“Fine. Just do it.” Shaken by her usually controlled husband’s demeanor, Nat waited, her nerves stretching to the breaking point as she watched his inner struggle.
Jake sighed again, his sharp gaze holding hers. “Hoyt’s retiring.”
A gasp escaped before she could prevent it, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to show only mild interest.
At least she hoped she only showed mild interest.
The jolt to her system made her heart pound furiously and affected her breathing. She fought to hide it, ashamed of herself for still having feelings for the man who’d been out of her life for years. “Is that who all those private calls and text messages have been from? What the hell does that have to do with us?”
Hoyt.
Her first lover.
Her son’s father.
The man who’d held a piece of her heart ever since he’d first captured it.
The image of the way he’d looked the last time she saw him rose in her mind—her stomach fluttering when she remembered the pain and resignation in his eyes.
Jake’s eyes sharpened. “There it is.”
Running a hand over her hair, he lifted her face to his, tightening his hold when she would have pulled away. “You would never have said anything about it, but it’s there. It hasn’t dimmed at all, has it, baby?”
Ashamed of herself, she averted her gaze, fighting the surge of panic that made her stomach roll. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Nothing mattered except what she had with Jake. Nothing could ever be allowed to come between them.
His lips thinned. “You know Hoyt and I have always been close. We’ve spoken on and off over the last several years, but much more in the last few months.”
Nat frowned, fighting not to show any emotion as she struggled to understand where this was going. “Oh?”
Jake rubbed his hand up and down her back, the way he did when she was upset about something. Lifting her chin, he regarded her steadily, his hand still moving in a slow rhythm as if he worked to loosen the tight muscles in her back she hadn’t wanted him to know about. “He used to come and visit every chance he got, but he stopped coming a few years ago.” His eyes sharpened on hers. “You’ve never mentioned it—never asked about it. That’s not like you. The more I thought about it, the more it shook me. You want to tell me why you never mentioned it?”
Sitting on his lap, she found it difficult to avoid his gaze—a maneuver she recognized well. Spinning her wedding ring around her finger, Nat shrugged, trying not to think about those visits from Hoyt—visits that had been both heaven and hell for her. “I figured he stopped coming by because he got busy. I assumed he had a girlfriend.”
She’d lost a lot of sleep thinking about Hoyt in the arms of another woman, something that both shamed and infuriated her.
He used to visit every chance he got and especially made a point to visit at the holidays whenever possible. Over the last three years, he hadn’t spent his vacation time with them, and had missed every holiday.
Holidays had been hell for her because she’d imagined him spending them with another woman.
Leaning forward, Jake took her left hand in his, staring down at it as he ran his thumb back and forth over her wedding band. “No. He doesn’t have a girlfriend.” Lifting his gaze to hers, he lifted a brow. “I think you know why he stopped coming around. The fact that you haven’t discussed it with me has given me quite a few sleepless nights.”
Her stomach fluttered, nerves making her too restless to sit still. Yanking her hand out of his, she jumped to her feet. “I have no idea why he stopped coming around. Hey!”
Jake tumbled her to the sofa, covering her body with his, and lying full length over her. “Be still.” Using his weight to press her to the cushions, he ran his fingers through her hair, his eyes hard and cool. “We’re not done here.”
Panthers’ Prisoner
(Black Panthers 6)
Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifters, Suspense, MFM, HEAWhen her uncle pushes her to date Nico, Antonia Carerra doesn’t understand until she overhears a conversation between them. Soon she is on the run, trying desperately to hide from a man she senses is very bad. When the men her uncle and Nico have hired find her, she’s puzzled by the strong effect these men have on her. She’s overwhelmed by desire.
She has no experience with such lust, and panicked and alarmed, she soon learns that Mitch Landon and Graham Tate want her for their own. When her escape attempts prove futile, her struggle to resist them becomes impossible. Even learning that the men are shapeshifters doesn’t diminish her hunger for them, but she needs more than their word that she is their mate to profess her love.
Toni soon discovers that her ex-lover is a dangerous man and will go to any lengths to make her his. She also learns that her two panthers will go to any length to protect the most precious thing in the world to them—their mate.
Excerpt
After another pause, he inclined his head. “I get it, my m—honey. I understand why you’re wary of us. We don’t know how to convince you that you can trust us, and it’s a little frustrating because it’s so important.”
“If you’re not taking me back to Nico or my uncle, why is it so important?”
Turning back to her, Graham sighed. “Because I don’t think they’re going to stop looking for you until they know you’re safe.”
“That’s bullshit!” Toni whirled on him. “I’m not heartless. I called my uncle a few days after I left, when I got a burner phone and got far enough away, to tell him I was all right. He told me to run!”
Graham’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“None of your business. Please leave.”
Graham cursed. “Fuck it. I’m gonna go get some food. You try to talk to her.”
“Why don’t you both go? I need to take a shower.”
Sharing a look with Graham, Mitch nodded. “Okay. Mitch will go pick up some food while you take your shower. I’ll be here to make sure no one gets in.”
Graham slid his gaze to Toni’s. “Is the food good in the restaurant you work in?”
“Yes.”
Graham inclined his head and walked out.
Mitch pulled a chair out from the table and placed it close to the door. “Go ahead and get your shower before the food comes.”
Staying in the shadows, Graham pulled out his cell phone and called the farm, slowing his steps when he wanted to hurry back to his mate.
“Moran.”
“Leland, it’s Graham.”
“Did you find her?”
“Yeah. She’s pissed and not very trusting.”
“But she’s safe?”
“Yes. She doesn’t want to go back to Nico or her uncle.”
“I already returned the money.”
“Before we found her?”
“I trust your instincts. Either way, knowing she was your mate, she wasn’t going back.”
“That’s the fucking truth. I still don’t know how you and Joe know which ones of us to send out together, but neither one of us expected this.”
“We’ve sent men out on jobs in every fucking combination. We sent Mitch this time in case she was injured when she was kidnapped or drugged. These assholes don’t always know what they’re doing when they drug people. How the hell do we know what’s gonna happen?” He chuckled softly. “At least we know she’s safe. Pissed, huh?”
“Yeah.” Graham came to a stop. “We startled her, and she thought we were Nico’s goons, and she fought to get away.”
“Yeah, that’ll make you crazy. The scent alone makes it difficult not to shift.”
“If I’d done that, I would have scared her to death.”
“Yeah, that’s what happened with Glenna. She survived it. So, how did you find her?”
“Blind fucking luck. And good hunting. You saw in her a traffic camera, which told us she was headed south, and that she was riding a bicycle. We figured she could get lost in Virginia Beach but didn’t figure she had or would want to spend the money to stay there. Too expensive.”
“True.”
“Caught her scent a couple of times. Just followed it. Then we lost it. Frustrating as hell.”
“I know the feeling.”
“We stopped for something to eat at a small restaurant on the outskirts of Virginia Beach. Picked up her scent again., and when we showed her picture, the woman who owns the place lied and said she didn’t know her.”
“Nice.”
“Asked a couple other people who worked in town, and they pointed us in the right direction of a shithole motel. From there, we just followed our noses. I’m on my way back to the restaurant now to get something for all of us to eat. Graham’s with her. We’re hoping we can convince her that she can trust us not to take her back to Richmond.”
Leland sighed. “Yeah, but she’s not gonna trust you to bring her back here.”
“Then she’s gonna run out of options. Hell, she’ll just leave here and find another town or a low-rent part of a big city that she could get lost in.”
“Again, that’s what my mate did, along with her sister. Keep her close. If she manages to shake loose, you could lose her forever.”
Graham grimaced at the memory of the Alphas’ frantic search for their mate. “If I remember right, when you found them, Glenna was pregnant and some gang-bangers were bothering her.”
“Not for long. Stay close to your mate.”
Graham smiled at that. “Hell, being away from her now is making me nervous.”
His smile fell. He rubbed the back of his neck where it tingled. “I just wanted to touch base. I’ve got—”
Two dark cars, luxury cars that looked out of place, turned onto the street.
“I don’t like this. Looks like we might have been found. How the hell…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nico’s men. They’re here. They all drive the same cars and wear way too much cologne. How the fuck did they find her? I’ll call you when I can.”
Disconnecting, he hurriedly called Mitch.
“Yeah?”
“Get outta there.”
“Fuck.”
Graham heard the sound of the bathroom door being broken and then another curse as water was shut off. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s gone.”