Feisty (15 page)

“Like what you see?” Reece asked.

“Huh?” He glanced at his friend.

Reece nodded toward the dance floor.

“Oh.” Leo turned back to the dancing couple. “New in town?” Damn. The woman had a nice ass.

“No. She’s been here over a week.”

“Who is she?”

Tabby chuckled. “You don’t recognize her?”

Now Leo was confused. “Should I?” If he had met a woman like that, he wouldn’t be forgetting her anytime soon.

The music ended and the dance floor began to clear. Byron and the stranger headed for the table. When they neared, her gaze met Leo’s. Blue-green—familiar eyes, but it couldn’t be.

“Lad, pick your jaw off the floor and say good evening to our Tempest.”

Heat crawled up Leo’s neck, flooding over his face. Was he so obvious?

“Quite the beauty,” Reece whispered for Leo’s ears only, but Tabby heard and walloped him playfully in the chest. He chuckled, taking his wife into his arms.

“Good evening, Tempest.”
Yay
. Leo finally found his voice. Now if he could get his eyes back into his head he’d be doing all right.

Byron pulled out her chair and she sat next to Leo. “Leo.” 

Her sweet perfume was like a web weaving itself around him. “You look lovely tonight.” What he really meant is she looked sexy as hell. Good enough to eat and he was a hungry man.

“Thank you. I feel stupid.”

“You shouldn’t. You’re beautiful.”

Now it was her turn to blush. The prettiest pink dotted her cheeks. She picked up her drink and took a sip.

“What are you drinking?” he asked.

“Sex at My House.”

“Is that an invitation?” Devon asked as he approached the table.

“Back it up, Romeo,” Reece said. “It’s a drink that Aimee renamed. I think we know it as Sex on the Beach.”

Devon pulled up a chair and took a seat. “I liked my way of thinking better.” He winked at Tempest.

“I bet you do.” Reece laughed, but Leo didn’t. No, he wasn’t happy at all. In fact, if he had to admit it, he felt the stirrings of jealousy raising its green head and he didn’t like it a bit.

When the music started again, he knew exactly what was on Devon’s mind. So without hesitation, Leo reached for Tempest’s hand. “Let’s dance.” He got to his feet, pulling her to hers.

Placing his hand on the small of her back, he guided her out onto the floor. Then he drew her hard against him, chest to chest, hips to hips. At the right beat in the music he moved, dancing her around the floor. On a turn, his knee slipped between her thighs. She gasped as they whirled around and around. By the time they came out of the turn he felt lightheaded. His mind—his body—still spun. The woman intoxicated him.

Light on her feet, she followed as if they had practiced their dance moves night after night instead of this being the first they had come together. She felt so good in his arms. He didn’t want to let her go even when the music ended, so he didn’t. He held her quietly. No words exchanged.

The next song was a slow one and he took advantage of it, holding her closer, feeling her body move against his. Between his thighs the stirrings of arousal rose. He couldn’t have hidden it even if he wanted to. He wanted her—and he wanted her to know it.

He stared into her eyes, watching the blue-green darken like a stormy sea. She held herself aloof, in control, but he could sense a fire simmering inside her. The same fire that burned bright in him. When her arms tightened around him, electricity shot through him clear to the soles of his feet.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said softly.

She didn’t speak, only nodded.

Making their way off the floor, they returned to collect their jackets. Only Harold, Errol and Byron were at the table sipping on their glasses of rum.

Leo began to help Tempest with her coat and then put on his own. “Harold, can you catch a ride with Brody? I’m dropping Tempest off on my way home.”

“Don’t be worrying about me. Just take care of our lassie.”

Tempest kissed Harold gently on the cheek, whispering, “Good night.”

“You have a good night too, lassie.”

When she turned her back, Harold flashed Leo a wink. Judging by the grins on the three old men’s faces, rumors would be flying tomorrow.

Escorting her out of the pub, his cock grew hard with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to touch her, kiss her. The minute they walked around the corner of the building, out of sight from wandering eyes, he took her into his arms. His mouth descended upon hers. She leaned into him, her fingers curling in his coat as she held on to him, giving as much as he gave.

The desperate cry she released thrilled him. Backing her up as he kissed her, he pinned her against the brick wall with his body. Then he dragged his lips down her neck, nibbling on her silky skin. “Your place or mine?”

“Mine,” she breathed. “Now. Please.”

Once the fuse is lit, there’s only one way to extinguish the flames.

His Obsession Next Door

© 2014 Cathryn Fox

In the Line of Duty, Book 1

Years ago, Cole Sullivan made a battlefield promise sealed in a dying man’s blood—to take care of his best friend’s little sister. Now he’s forced to live with the fact that Gemma Matthews is completely off limits.

Though Gemma’s always had a crush on the darkly handsome, far-too-serious explosives expert, she can’t forget the sting of his rejection. Now here they are, ten years later, with Cole still stubbornly in the role of protector. But when she catches him watching her from his house next door, she jumps at the opportunity to show him
everything
he’s been missing.

Cole can barely keep his cool at Gemma’s bedroom window performance. He’s never been a risk taker, but her all-out campaign of seduction ignites a fuse that can only blow up in his face.

All thoughts of backing off are swept away in the heat of reckless passion. Leaving him wondering how he will live with himself amid the razor-sharp shards of his broken promise.

Warning: Contains a smoking-hot explosives expert and enough heat to set an ammunition depot ablaze.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
His Obsession Next Door:

“What do you think you’re doing?” Gemma asked as Cole moved in to take Douglas’s place.

Strong hands circled her hips. The roughness of his palms felt erotic as he pulled her into a tight embrace, anchoring her body firmly to his. When his warm, familiar scent curled around her, a shiver raced down her spine. She shifted but there was nothing she could do to conceal the telltale hardening of her nipples as they pressed against his even harder chest. Dark eyes met hers unflinchingly. The intensity in his gaze frightened her as much as it excited her.

“Maybe I should be the one asking you that question.”

Feeling slightly breathless as their bodies swayed together, not to mention the way his firmness meshed against her softness, she jutted her chin out and asked, “I have no idea what you mean.”

“You know full well what I mean,” he bit out, appearing more pained with each passing second.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to elaborate. The only thing I’m doing is trying to raise funds—”

“That’s not all you’re raising,” he groaned.

“What do you mean?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“Stop leaving your curtains open.”

She blinked. “My curtains?” His hand trailed lower on her back, and when his big fingers splayed over her sensitive flesh, the air instantly charged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” As a wave of heated anticipation prowled through her bloodstream, she realized there was nothing impersonal in the way he was touching her.

“And stop parading around in nothing but slinky underwear,” he added, clearly not buying her story.

She wet her lips, and gave a casual shrug. “I didn’t think it would bother you, considering…”

His nostrils flared and between clenched teeth he said, “You were a kid, Gems.”

“Well I’m not a kid anymore now, am I?” she challenged, her pulse leaping with renewed excitement. She had the sneaking suspicion her devious plan had actually worked, and that she’d somehow gotten under Cole’s skin.

A strange, strangled noise sounded in his throat as he drew in a ragged breath. “Maybe not.” He fingered the silky material on her dress. “But underneath this façade, this life you built for yourself, you’re still that same wild child, aren’t you?”

Her heart sank. She must have misread him. She steeled herself, waiting for the lecture. “Cole, I…” she began, wanting to make it perfectly clear to him she didn’t need his protection.

“I never said I didn’t like that side of you, Gems.”

Everything in the way his voice softened when he said her name had her realizing she hadn’t misinterpreted him at all. A slow lick of flame moved over her flesh and liquid desire settled deep between her thighs. “Well if you must know, I’ll probably always have a wild side, but believe me I’m not a child anymore.”

His nostrils flared, like he was waging some sort of internal war. He clenched his teeth harder, the muscles along his jaw rippling. Her glance went back to his and when she saw the desire reflecting there, a shudder moved through her body.

Arousal thickened his voice and volatile heat backlit dark eyes full of raw lust when he whispered, “What are we doing?”

Her heart missed a beat. Everything from the tortured way he was looking at her, to the way his body was pressed against hers—one part in particular—spoke volumes. Cole Sullivan, the same guy she’d been lusting after for ten long years, was finally seeing her as something more than his friend’s rebellious kid sister. She’d be damned if she wasn’t going to do something about it.

Her nipples scraped against his chest and she murmured, “We’re doing what we should have done a long time ago.”

He frowned and gave a hard shake of his head. He rested his hands on her hips as if he was having second thoughts. “I need to get out of here.”

He continued to press against her, his body telling an entirely different story—he wanted her in his bed as much as she wanted to be there.

She wasn’t sure about the demons that haunted him or why he’d want to deny himself what his body craved. But now that she had him right where she’d always wanted him, the rebellion from her youth had turned into fierce determination and she wasn’t about to let him flee again.

With her body beckoning his touch, she pushed her hips into him. In a voice full of invitation she said, “If you need to go somewhere I have a room upstairs.”

He exhaled slowly. “I’m pretty sure that’s not going to help me cool off.”

“You can take a cold shower.” She ran her hands through his hair, went up on her toes and purposely put her mouth to his ear when she added, “Or a hot one.”

“Gems,” he murmured, his hands circling her hips. Once again as sexual tension hung heavy. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I want you.” She ran her hands over his lapels. Even though the tough soldier cleaned up nicely and looked rather dashing in his suit, underneath the clothes he was still that same rough and rugged, fiercely protective guy who hung out at her family’s ranch. “I’ve always wanted you.”

“Gemma—”

She molded her body against his, aware of the explosive heat arcing between them. “Why don’t you sneak me to my room like you used to do when we were younger, and instead of lecturing me, I think you should strip me naked and spend the rest of the night in my bed, inside me.”

Feisty

Mackenzie McKade

As the campfire dies down, one couple’s desire is just heating up.

Whispering Cove, Book 10

Sun, sand, water and cold beer is just what construction worker Devon Taylor is looking for. The first beach party of the season means fun pickin’s for a bachelor, especially when a volleyball-playing, redheaded beauty in a teeny tiny string bikini captures his attention. 

When he learns she’s the sister of a soon-to-be-married friend, in town two weeks early to help with the wedding, his hopes for a wild night locked in her arms are dashed.

Real estate developer Sahara Caan is a woman not to be ignored. She knows what—or rather,
whom
—she wants, and tonight she is hell bent on getting the sexy bachelor out of his swimming trunks and into her bed.

What can Devon say? After all, he’s just a man.

Their night spent together is earthshattering. Who knew that a laid-back construction worker could so thoroughly turn her world upside-down? But when their different lives clash and good intentions turn sour, it will take a miracle to keep their love nailed together.

Warning: Contains one sworn bachelor and a career-minded woman who refuses to deny their bodies’ desires. Sparks could rival Fourth of July fireworks, so protective eyewear is recommended.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Feisty

Copyright © 2014 by Mackenzie McKade

ISBN: 978-1-61922-104-8

Edited by Tera Kleinfelter

Cover by Lyn Taylor