Lie to Me (43 page)

He squeezed a fraction tighter, then let them both go. “How about some lunch? There’s a great little seafood restaurant down on the wharf.”

“Oooh.” Sasha answered. “I’m craving shrimp! Will you share some with me?”

Alexei barely contained a grimace. He despised shrimp. They made his stomach churn just looking at them. “I thought the doctor said you weren’t supposed to have shellfish?”

Sasha shook her head. “Shrimp is fine, it’s cooked. I can have it in moderation. I can’t have
raw
shellfish.”

Joy.
So much for getting out of this easily. He swallowed tightly.

His mother grinned at Sasha. “Would you believe I raised him by the sea and he can’t stand the smell of seafood?”

At the slight sinking of Sasha’s shoulders, Alexei hurried to interject, “Yes I can. I’m fine with shrimp.”

Maybe not
all
the lies. But before they left London, he’d witnessed Natalya in the middle of a hormonal meltdown, and he’d learned a valuable lesson. He risked less chance of suffering bodily harm by keeping his pregnant wife happy. Somehow he’d choke down a shrimp or two and make Sasha pay for the sacrifice later. When they were back at their hotel, where he could indulge in the sweetness of her body, and her moans of pleasure filled his ears.

Before his cock could latch onto the idea and harden any more than it already was over the mere thought, he looped his arms around both women’s shoulders and ushered them through the door.

TORI ST. CLAIRE
grew up writing. Hobby quickly turned into passion, and when she discovered the world of romance as a teen, poems and short stories gave way to full-length novels with sexy heroes and heroines waiting to be swept off their feet. She wrote her first romance novel at seventeen.

While that manuscript gathered dust bunnies beneath the bed, she went on to establish herself as a contemporary, historical, and paranormal author under the pen name Claire Ashgrove. Her writing, however, skirted a fine line between hot and steamy, and motivated by authors she admired, she pushed her boundaries and made the leap into erotica, using the darker side of human nature and on-the-edge suspense to drive grittier, sexier stories.

Her erotic romantic suspense novels are searingly sensual experiences that unite passion with true emotion and the all-consuming tie that binds—love.