Unleashed #4 (20 page)

Footsteps, I could hear
them behind me. Turning right once I hit the street, I broke into a
run, weaving between a couple people, crossing onto the other side. I
made it around the corner, quick, and saw it: lions, gargoyles, the
building had once been grand but now looked dusty, old and in
desperate need of repair. A public library. Perfect. I couldn’t
remember the last time I’d set foot in one. Had I ever? Time to
give it a try.

Bounding up the stairs
two at a time, I yanked open the huge front doors and dashed behind
the first thing I could find, a large, wooden desk. Huddled there, I
realized I wasn’t alone. Next to me were a pair of long, sexy legs
in black tights laced into a pair of boots with just enough heel to
suggest saucy. My gaze kept traveling on up to a simple black dress
that ended mid-thigh. Up and up I caught a glimpse of soft, rounded
breasts and long, shiny light brown hair I wanted to stroke and
touch, maybe knot in my fist.

“Excuse me?” Huffy,
indignant, the woman looked down at me full-on stern librarian. With
sweet, full parted lips perfect to taste, lick, and bite. At her
neck, her dress had a rounded white Peter Pan collar, fussy and prim.
Why did I suddenly have a raging hard-on picturing undoing that dress
and easing her on out of it?

“What are you doing?”
She knelt down slightly and I caught a scent of her, light and
vanilla.

“Hey,” I spoke in a
hushed whisper. “I’m trying to hide out for a sec.”

Her eyes widened as she
looked at me and realized. “You’re Ash Black.”

Before I had a chance
to work my magic, take that intro and make it all happen, the library
door opened with a cacophony of voices. They’d found me.

“May I help you?”
My mystery woman rose up to her full height, not so large or tall but
still, she commanded an impressively haughty tone. With her boot, she
nudged me slightly and I eased myself further under the desk. She
planted both feet directly at my side, helping to hide my spot.

“Yeah, we’re
looking for—”

“A book?” she
offered. She was a librarian, I realized. That’s why she sounded
and looked like one.

“Is he here?”
another voice asked.

“I swore I saw him
come in here,” another answered.

“He could be down the
other side. I’ll go check.”

“This is a library,”
my heroine declared. “I’m happy to help you find a book. But if
you’re looking for something else—”

“You seen Ash Black,
sweetheart?” one of them asked. I didn’t like him calling her
sweetheart.

“Why would you come
in here looking for him? That’s ridiculous.” Man, she needed a
pair of dark-framed glasses with that tone of voice. So stern. She
had a great pair of legs. Her boots ended at her calves, and then her
legs just kept going and going, long and lean.

More hustle and bustle,
more gusts of cold wind blasting in from the outside. I could tell a
small crowd was forming. I didn’t want a crowd. I wanted some time
alone, just me and this prim little librarian.

“He’s around here
somewhere,” a deep, guttural voice insisted.

“Librarians only
behind the reference desk!” She stopped them in their tracks. I
liked this one. I couldn’t help it, I’d never been able to stop
myself from unwrapping a present right in front of me. I brought a
hand up to her leg and stroked her lightly around the start of her
thigh, right above her knee. Nothing too naughty, just my thumb
grazing the inside of her leg.

She cleared her throat,
loudly, took a step away and clamped her feet firmly together. It
made me smile. I couldn’t remember the last time a girl had denied
me access.

“C’mon, some guy
saw him head into a store down the street.” I could hear them start
to retreat.

“If you’re from the
press, I have a story for you here,” she called after them.

“What’s that now,
honey?” I could tell from the tone of his voice, the guy answering
already wasn’t interested.

“This library branch
may have to close due to lack of funds. Why don’t you do a story on
that?”

“Some other time.”
I heard the sounds of the door opening and their footsteps leaving.

“If you cared half as
much about children learning to love books as you did about stupid
celebrities the world would be a much better place!” she called
after them.

Yeah, you tell them.
Except, wait, did she say stupid celebrities? The door closed behind
them.

“Vultures,” she
muttered. That was better.

“Is everything OK,
Miss Ana?” a child asked.

“Of course,” she
offered reassurance. “You go sit tight and I’ll be over in a
minute.” She turned her pretty face back to me, entirely
displeased.

“The next time you
pick a place to hide,” she hissed, “please don’t choose my
library. That was very disruptive.”

My face broke into a
wide grin. “Are you a librarian?”

“Yes, I’m a
children’s librarian.” She looked so proud of it, eyes flashing
with indignation.

My grin got even wider.
“Are you married?”

“No.” She flushed
and turned slightly from me, then murmured, “That’s a strange
question.”

A single,
goody-two-shoes librarian. Pretty as a picture with a goddamn Peter
Pan collar on her dress. Had I told my agent that I didn’t know any
good girls? Hold the phone. She was fucking perfect.

Flashing her my most
devastatingly sexy Ash Black smile, I set Operation Image Rehab into
play. I gave her my trademark smoldering gaze and whispered, “Hello,
gorgeous.”

She rolled her eyes and
started straightening papers on her desk. Yeah, I liked this one. I
liked her a lot. Now I just needed to get her to like me back.

I wound a hand around
her calf, brushing her slender leg with my fingers. She frowned at me
and stomped her foot like I was a fly she was trying to shoo away. I
smiled up at her, all wicked sin and temptation. I got a blush.

She looked good when
she blushed. I wanted to see it on her again. One month together,
that’s what my agent had suggested. Now I liked the idea a whole
lot.

“Is the coast clear
for me to come out?” I asked. “Or would you rather come down and
hide under here with me?” I caught her eye and gave her a naughty
wink. There was that blush again.

This was going to be
one fun month.

Thank you so much for
reading!

Thank you thank you to
my family and friends for their love and support. I am so grateful
every day for each of you!

A huge thank you to
Lauren Blakely for her advice, encouragement, humor and friendship.
You blow me away with your generosity!

Jada D’Lee Designs
designed the amazing covers for all four volumes of
Unleashed
.
Thank you for the attention to detail. You are a pleasure to work
with!

A big thank you to
helpmeedit.net for proofreading, and to Jesse Gordon for formatting
the book so well.

Thank you also to Emily
and the team at Gossip Girls PR and to Kylie and the rest of the
group at Give Me Books, for all of their help and support.

Thank you to all of the
fantastic, entertaining writers I adore reading.

And so much love to all
of the amazing book lovers! You make it fun to write! You make it
possible to write as an indie author, so thank you thank you! I so
appreciate each of you taking the time to read my books.

I love hearing from you
so get in touch! You can find me on Facebook at CallieHarperBooks, on
Twitter
@CallieHarperBks
,
or you can email me at
[email protected]
.
And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at
http://eepurl.com/bHtVnT
!