Chapter Twenty-Three
Meanwhile, back at Gemma Jansen’s ranch…
“You always make me do the shitty jobs,” Channing half-complained.
“That’s part of learning the ropes and working on the ranch.
Somebody has to do them.”
“Yeah? I wish you would’ve told me this before I packed up and moved here.”
Gemma leaned on the pitchfork, her face serious. “Do you have some regrets about shucking life in the city for shucking corn?” Even covered in horse shit and hay dust Channing couldn’t hold back a big grin. “Not a single one.”
“Good.” She pointed to a mound of golden hay. “Spread that around.
I’ve got to make a call. I’ll be right back.” While Channing shoveled hay, she considered the idea that she might have some regrets.
After she’d left Colby in the hospital, she’d flown home. It’d taken less than a week for her to realize she couldn’t fathom spending her life living up to someone else’s expectations. Contrary to her parents’ accusations, she hadn’t changed. She was finally ready to accept that who she was on the inside was who she wanted to be on the outside. All the time. Not just for a week during rodeo season.
So Channing had quit her job before she’d even started it. She’d sold the few things she’d owned—including her BMW—bought an old Dodge truck, packed up and had driven across the country to the wilds of Wyoming.
242
www.samhainpublishing.com
Long Hard Ride
It’d been the best decision she’d ever made, besides hooking up with a sweet rodeo cowboy who made her laugh, made her mad and made her scream. The last time she’d seen him, lying in that hospital bed, he’d made her cry.
So far her only regret was that she hadn’t found the guts to personally visit that cowboy. The couple of times she’d called his folks’
place, his father had said Colby was resting. She figured she’d give him another week of recovery time before she took a road trip and tried her hand at wooing him face to face, Western style.
Gemma kicked a stall door shut on her way back into the barn.
“Who’d you call that put you in such a bad mood? Cash?”
“Why in the world would I call Cash Big Crow when I haven’t seen or heard from him in over two months?” Gemma’s face turned bright red whenever Cash’s name was mentioned.
Channing shrugged. Not her business. They’d either figure it out, or they wouldn’t. It made her sad to think that Trevor was too much of a chicken to buck his family’s expectations and had let Edgard go back to Brazil alone. “Hey, you want to shoot some pool tonight at the Lantern?”
“Nah. We’ve got too much to do. Let’s stick around here.”
“Great.” Channing quit leaning on her pitchfork and got back to work.
An hour and a half later, Gemma disappeared again while Channing finished in the barn. She heard a vehicle zooming up the driveway and gravel crunching as it came to an abrupt halt. A metal door slammed.
“Channing Kinkaid, get your butt out here right now.” Colby? Was here? She tossed her leather work gloves on the wooden tool bench.
“That was your first warnin’, shug,” he yelled.
Channing sucked in a deep breath and stepped into the sunshine.
She shaded her eyes with her hand and caught a glimpse of Colby hunched over a pair of crutches beside a dirty black pickup.
www.samhainpublishing.com 243
Lorelei James
Her heart absolutely soared with joy. He was a little battered, a little thinner, but he was there.
And mad as the dickens.
“What in the hell is wrong with you? You’re livin’ in Wyoming now?
Less than two goddamn hours away from me and you can’t be bothered to let me know?”
Channing swallowed the lump in her throat. “I did let you know. I called out to your parents’ place a couple of times and talked to your dad.” She froze about twenty feet from him when the truth hit her. “He didn’t tell you I called, did he?”
A muscle in Colby’s jaw flexed. “No. He didn’t. I’ll deal with him later.
Right now I wanna paddle your behind for thinking I’d ever—” She held up her hand. “Stop right there. I thought when we saw each other again you’d at least sweet-talk me a little, cowboy. Seeings you’re so good with that silver tongue. But instead—”
“Instead I’m standin’ here like a dumbass because I can’t run to you and scoop you up in my arms where you belong.” She paused and stared at him, her heart in her eyes. “How about if I run to you?” she said softly.
“Oh God, darlin’, please. I’m dyin’ over here.” Channing ran.
He caught her on his right side and hauled her against him. Colby kissed her, not like he wanted to devour her, but with pureness.
Gentleness. With his heart and soul wide open. Like he was giving them a memory to reflect on for the next sixty years when they looked back on this moment. She drank him in and filled him back up, sharing, drowning in everything they freely gave to each other.
She buried her face in his shirt, inhaling the warm intimate scent of him. “I missed you, Colby. God. I was so worried about you.”
“You were?”
“Yeah. I wanted to die when you got hurt. And in the hospital I realized I would wither and die if I didn’t have you in my life.” 244
www.samhainpublishing.com
Long Hard Ride
“So that’s why you left me?”
Channing butted her head against his stubborn chin. “Temporarily. I had things to get straight in my own life first. And you had other things to worry about than me. We both know you wouldn’t have wanted me around those first few weeks while you were recovering.”
“True. I’ve been grumpier than an old bear. Been in a lot of pain.
Been kind of an ass to everyone, if you wanna know the truth. But a big part of that was because I didn’t know where you were, shug.”
“I’ve been here. Waiting for you.”
Colby’s big, gentle hand shook as he wiped away her tears. “You know I would’ve been here sooner, had I known? Nothin’ would’ve kept me from you, Channing.”
Channing kissed his palm.
“So whatcha been doin here the last six weeks?”
“Learning how to ride a horse. Learning how to take care of livestock.
Learning how to cook. Learning everything I can about life on a ranch.”
“Why?”
Her eyes twinkled. “See, I’ve got my eye on this hot ranching cowboy…”
Colby grinned. Dimple and all.
She melted.
“Yeah? Well, there are a couple of things expected of a proper ranch wife that Gemma can’t teach you.” He frowned. “At least, I hope to hell she ain’t been tryin’.”
“You’re the only man for the job.”
“Always. Forever and ever amen. I don’t share what’s mine.”
“You made that crystal clear a couple of times.” Channing looked him dead in the eye. “I love you, Colby McKay.”
“I know.”
Her jaw dropped.
www.samhainpublishing.com 245
Lorelei James
Colby closed it with his finger and kissed her. “You told me once, and it was enough to stick in my head forever. Although, it kinda seemed like a dream, but I remember you comin’ to see me in the hospital. I heard what you said. It’s what got me through, the idea that a sweet, sexy, sophisticated woman like you loved a roughneck like me. Loved me enough to tell me you’d be waitin’ for me. No matter what.” He brought the back of her hand to his mouth. “I’d get on one knee, but I’m still pretty beat up. So I’m just gonna ask you outright. Will you marry me, Channing Kinkaid?”
Without hesitation she blurted, “Yes!”
“Hot damn.” He readied his crutches. “Get in the truck. You’re drivin’.
We’re goin’ to the preacher right now before you change your mind. Then I’m takin’ you home where you belong.” She almost forgot her list of demands after Colby said home where you belong. But this was too important. “Ah-ah. Hold it right there. If I take you on, there’ll be conditions.”
His eyes narrowed. “Should I be afraid of these conditions?”
“Maybe.” Channing grinned. “One: You’ll be in my bed. Every night.
No boring, once a week missionary style vanilla sex. I expect you and I will both work to keep our sex life as hot and titillating as it has been.”
“Titillatin’, huh?” He grinned. “I’m down with that.”
“Two: I wanna have kids. Lots of kids. But not right away. I want you all to myself for awhile.”
“Same goes, shug.”
“Three: Between you still recovering from your injury and me being a novice at living on a ranch, we’ll have to be patient with each other. Your family will have to be patient with me. I’ve been an outsider in my own family for my whole life, Colby. I don’t want to be an outsider in yours, too.”
Colby leaned on his crutches and stared directly into her eyes. “You are my family now. Besides, Mama already loves you because I told her all about you.”
Channing didn’t have to feign surprise. “You did?” 246
www.samhainpublishing.com
Long Hard Ride
“Yep. And she’s gonna kick my dad’s butt when she finds about him not tellin’ me that you called, ‘cause she knows how I’ve been pining by the phone waitin’ to hear from you.” He smiled evilly. “So I think I’ll let her handle him. She can punish him way worse than I ever could.”
“Good. Because I’m in for the long haul. I don’t want little picky stuff to tear us apart when the big picture is so promising.” She smoothed her fingers along the dogged set of his jaw. “Any questions?” Colby kissed the inside of her wrist. “One.”
“Shoot.”
“Is this where I tell you I love you?” Channing’s eyes filled with tears and she nodded.
“I love you, Channing Kinkaid. You make me the luckiest, happiest man in the world. Life on the ranch ain’t always gonna be rainbows and butterflies and the heart-poundin’ excitement of rodeo, but dammit, it will be our life. I’ll spend every wakin’ hour makin’ sure our life together fulfills your every fantasy.”
Deliriously happy, she snagged his hat and plopped it on her head.
“Is this where we ride off into the sunset, cowboy?”
“Yep.” Colby kissed her. Long. And hard. “I’d much rather ride you, but hey, I can adapt to anything you throw my way.” www.samhainpublishing.com 247
About the Author
To learn more about Lorelei James, please visit
www.loreleijames.com. Send an email to [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Lorelei.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoreleiJamesGang
Look for these titles by Lorelei James Now Available:
Dirty Deeds
Running with the Devil
Beginnings Anthology: Babe in the Woods Coming Soon:
Running on Empty
Friendship crosses boundaries and love becomes a triangle. Can Jana learn to trust—through submission?
Lisa’s Gift
? 2007 Mackenzie McKade
When opportunity knocks, Jana Ryan knows it’s time to face her demons and return to the city she ran fast and far away from. Her homecoming isn’t exactly what she expects—she finds Lisa, her best friend, in a rather erotic position with the one man Jana has dreamt of since high school.
The redheaded beauty is everything Lisa promised Nicolas Marchetti.
Jana is sexy and exquisite and he can’t wait to sexually dominate both women. The triangle with the gorgeous redhead and beautiful blonde is every man’s fantasy. Yet there’s something about Jana that makes him want her and her alone. His attraction to her is unsettling—it goes beyond the physical.
Only by conquering the trials ahead of them, can Jana and Nicolas find their way into each other’s arms. Forever.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Lisa’s Gift: Jana glanced back at Nicolas. He was staring at her. “What?”
“Do you want me to tell you what I see in you?” From the hungry look on his face she would rather not.
“No.”
Again, he leaned back in the booth. That mischievous grin she remembered back when she used to watch him with his friends slipped across his face. “Scared?”
Hell yes she was scared. She had always wanted this man. The years hadn’t changed anything. “Not interested.” She played indifferent,
reaching for her wine and taking a sip. Then she released a heavy sigh to drive the point home.
A light danced across his features as his grin grew. “Liar.”
“Whatever.” She brushed him off with a tilt of her head. But if she thought that her impassive behavior was going to stop him, she should have thought again as she took another drink of her wine.
“You are scared—scared of the attraction between us.” When his foot slid up her leg, Jana choked on the alcohol that chose that moment to go down the wrong way. Air. She needed air as her windpipe closed.
Within a heartbeat, Nicolas was by her side. “Gentle breaths.” He patted her back. “One and then another.” I’m dying. She wheezed in a breath that went nowhere. She inhaled again, making a rather unbecoming sound like a cross between a snore and an asthmatic attack. The whole time Nicolas was there, talking, touching her softly.
It took a moment, but finally Jana could breathe again. Her eyes were misty and nose running as she excused herself and hurried toward the bathroom.
What the f*ck! She leaned against the counter and stared at herself in the mirror. It was no mistake that Nicolas was coming on to her. And there was no mistake that Lisa didn’t mind. How Jana wished she could deny that he made her body burn. She had fantasized about being with him since she was just a teenager. What would it be like to make love to Nicolas Marchetti?
She couldn’t—could she?
Nah… She shook her head. It would be weird. He was Lisa’s boyfriend. But the fact was, she needed to feel the touch of a man. She wanted to find someone to love.
Nicolas just wasn’t the man for her.
Jana grabbed a tissue, dabbed her eyes, then blew her nose with a loud snort.
She needed a plan to get through dinner and then go home alone.
Concerned, Nicolas watched the bathroom door, and was relieved once Jana exited. He stood as she approached. Her eyes were swollen, her adorable nose red. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Sitting at one end of the crescent-shaped booth, she refused to scoot over, forcing him to sit at the other side. “The wine just went down the wrong pipe.” Picking up her glass, she hesitated then set it back down.
He slid clear around on the semi-circular seat until he was within touching distance from her. Her mouth went dry. She glanced at him, feeling her palms start to sweat.
The salad had arrived in her absence, and he busied himself tossing it, mixing the dressing and cheese, before placing a generous helping on her plate.
When he attempted eye contact she glanced away. She had grown distant, not that she had previously been warm by a long shot. He was back at ground zero.
Serving himself a heap of salad, he picked up his fork. “Where were we? Ah… Yes. I was just about to tell you what I see in you.”
“I wish you wouldn’t,” she said, looking down into her plate as she stabbed at a piece of lettuce.
“Strength,” he offered the single word.
Her head shot up. “Strength? ” Their eyes met and he felt her surprise.
Obviously she’d expected something superficial. Like how her eyes sparkled beneath the light like two crystals, or perhaps how silky her hair looked draped across her shoulders like a red curtain.
The salad was good, fresh and crisp, the dressing not too tart he noticed as he took a bite. He would have to remember to compliment Antonio later tonight.
Nicolas let her think about what he said before he continued. “Look at what you have achieved in such a short period of time.” He picked up the basket the waiter had set before them and offered her a breadstick, but she shook her head. “You’ve been alone since you were eighteen.
Moved to a different state. Started a new life where you had no friends or family to rely on. You have a college degree and have a brilliant career ahead of you. How many people can say that?” A warm sensation filled him when she smiled. “A lot of people have degrees.”
“True. But not all of them have put themselves through school,” he countered taking a sip of his wine.
She stabbed another piece of lettuce with her fork, but didn’t put it in her mouth. Instead she shrugged. “I was given a scholarship.”
“You earned that scholarship. Even so you did this by yourself—
alone.” He placed his hand over hers. “Jana, Lisa says you are a strong, beautiful person. I know she’s right.” A soft expression fell across her once-tight features as she extracted her hand. “Thank you.” She grinned, dropping her gaze once again to her salad plate.
“What?”
Continuing to smile, she met his eyes. “You’re not exactly what I thought you were.”
He pulled his brows together. “What did you think I was?”
“Well, arrogant for one.”
Nicolas feigned surprise as he flinched at her words.
She giggled, the sound like bells swaying in the breeze. “Superficial and a whoremonger.”
He pressed his palms to his heart. “I’m hurt.”
“As if,” she said. Her eyes danced with laughter for the first time that night.
“Well perhaps whoremonger is accurate, because I sure want to taste your lips right now.” An ache began between his thighs, tightening and pressing against his black slacks. His sight was riveted on her full lips.
How soft would they be against his? Would she whimper softly beneath his attack?
“Nicolas. I’m sorry, but I’m simply not attracted to you.” She swallowed hard, giving away the fact she lied. “If I’ve done anything to mislead you, I apologize.” Her hands left the table.
It was a challenge he couldn’t ignore.
“The thought of me pressing my lips to yours, of my tongue delving between them doesn’t make your nipples hard?” He waited only briefly before saying, “Tell me your breasts aren’t heavy. That a slight tingle hasn’t begun slowly filtering through them, aching for me to stroke them? Place my hot…wet…mouth on them?” He trapped her gaze with his and paused. “Tell me you’re not moist just thinking of how my hands would feel caressing your body, stroking the flame that burns in your belly, building it into a raging wildfire.
Because that’s exactly what I would do to you.” With his last words her eyelashes lowered halfway, the thick fringe hiding how her eyes had grown steamy. The increased rise and fall of her chest was a dead giveaway that he had aroused her.
He continued.
“I would touch every inch of your body with my hands and mouth. I’d make you scream for me to take you. Then when every nerve ending grew so raw that your skin was alive, I would enter your p-ssy slowly until you tossed back your head and screamed my name.
“Nicolas,” he said his name in a whisper. “Your orgasm would explode as I filled you.”
“Stop.” She breathed the word.
What the hell had he done? His cock was rock hard. His palms itched to touch her. His mouth watered to taste her. This was torture and he had driven himself to this unbearable point. He couldn’t find the strength to release her from the hold he knew he had on her.
“Stop? Or do you really want me to lay you on this table in front of all these people? Grab your ankles, slowly parting your legs, before I bury my face between your thighs, licking and sucking your *?” Jana gulped down a gush of air. “F*ck.” She squirmed in her chair.
“Oh, doll, I will do more than f*ck you,” he promised, the idea sending his hormones into a frenzy of desire.
“No. I didn’t mean— Oh shit! Just stop, Nicolas, stop.” She pressed her palm to her mouth. She mumbled through her fingers, “This isn’t right. You’re sleeping with Lisa.”
Nicolas’s hand slipped beneath the table. He cupped his hard erection as his eyelids grew heavy. God, I wish this was your hand, doll.
“Lisa and I have an agreement.” He ran his fingers across his engorged cock. “There is no commitment between us.” He reached for her hand, removing it from her full lips, and she didn’t fight him. Instead her hand trembled. What would she do if he placed her hand between his legs, showed her how she affected him? He scooted closer to her.
Jana was almost his. He could feel her surrender in the softness of her skin, the way her fingers intertwined with his.
The server arrived with their main course and the moment was lost.
She jerked away from his touch. A light blush crossed her cheeks as her spaghetti was placed before her.
Damn!
But the evening was still young and Lisa had promised to stay away the entire night.
There’s nowhere to run and no place to hide from old wounds and demons for the vulnerable woman behind the bawdy attitude.
Tamara’s Spirit
? 2007 Nicole Austin
How ironic to be captured by an Indian when not one of the Shooting Star Ranch cowboys is available to race to her rescue.
City girl Tamara Dobbs lives on the ranch to be close to her friends and even closer to her gorgeous cowboys, but still she feels discontent, fragmented. From the minute she runs into the new guy—sexy, unflappable equestrian, Dakota Blackhawk—she runs from the intense emotions he evokes.
On first sight, Dakota knows nothing will stop him from claiming the brazen little princess as his own—heart, body, and spirit. He’ll accept nothing less. While he would gladly take on the fight for her, she must face her own battle to become whole. Taking her out of her element is the only way he can help the sexy, stubborn woman.
Tamara may survive the emotional roller coaster ride, but she still must conquer the ultimate challenge…forgetting what others want her to be and becoming true to herself.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Tamara’s Spirit: With a deep sigh he moved behind her, boxing her between the fence and the steel bands of his arms as his hands held a firm grasp on the top rung. The warmth of his big body enveloped her. Tamara felt a heated flush rise from her breasts and over her neck to settle high on her cheeks. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep from leaning back against him, luxuriating in his presence surrounding her.
His breath created a hot caress against her ear as he leaned forward and began speaking. The sexy, raspy baritone slid over her skin like heated molasses, slow and sensual. “Watch them, princess.”
The firm caress of his lips brushing against the shell of her ear made her breasts feel heavy, achy, her cunt warm and wet. The whisper of his breath over her neck made her body shudder.
F*cking need to get laid. And soon!
“You can tell the female is ready to be mounted. Her cunt is swollen.
See how her hot juices slide from her vagina in anticipation of taking the stallion’s big shaft. She wants him. Every muscle is tensed as she waits for him to come to her, to fill her up.” Oh shit! How about filling me up, stud? She had no problem imagining how the horse felt. Tamara was reacting the same way as Honey—flesh quivering, p-ssy lips swollen and dripping—wet and ready. If only she were able to have an enjoyable experience with one man, but she knew better. For her, orgasm required more stimulation than one cock was capable of delivering. All of her attempts at one-on-one sex in the recent past had left her frustrated. She was not able to get off anymore without at least three big cocks f*cking all her orifices at once.
Her body readied itself anyway, betraying Tamara and confusing her jumbled thoughts. Her breasts were so full, needy. It took all her self-control to keep her hands on the fence rail and not rub the small globes or tweak her peaked nipples. Dakota’s heady, masculine scent enveloping her made her * pulse. The silky material of her panties flooded with her cream, the scent of arousal rising on the heated air between them.
“She wants this, weeps for it.” Dakota whispered the words against her ear.
Tamara watched as Brock walked the big stallion into the corral at a measured pace, keeping the horse under his rigid command. She tried to keep the animals at the center of her attention instead of the big man behind her. She made a concerted effort to keep her breathing steady so he wouldn’t know how much his words and actions affected her, but a knot of sexual need twisted her stomach as she watched the horse pace close behind the mare.
She felt Dakota moving, the heat of his body warming her back, intense sexual energy crowding her closer to the fence. Tamara was certain his actions would mirror those of the stallion’s cautious yet eager approach to the filly.
“You can feel the stallion’s anticipation of shafting the mare—see it in the trembling of his body. He can smell the scent of her need as her body prepares itself for him. He knows she is wet and all he has to do is mount her from behind, sliding his huge cock into her slick, ready passage.”
Hell f*cking yeah, she screamed within her head.
Tamara stifled an inward groan as Dakota’s thick erection pressed against the crevice of her ass, hot and insistent. He was so wonderfully hard and long. Her legs became weak as he rocked against her. She couldn’t resist pushing back into the harder-than-steel length of his questing shaft or take her eyes off the scene taking place in the corral before them.
Brock led the stallion toward the mare at an angle, not allowing the horse to mount right away. He kept the stallion far enough away from the mare so all the horse managed to do was extend his neck over and nuzzle her genitals.
F*ck! That had to feel good.
Dakota continued to speak against her ear, sending tingling currents of electricity through her entire body. Right then she would have risked everything to feel his mouth teasing her wet folds, his tongue lapping at her inflamed *.
“First he will taste her desire, let it roll around on his tongue and fill him with her essence. He’ll lap up as much of that sweet cream as he can, teasing the mare. Make her long for what only he can give her.” The wet swipe of the stallion’s big tongue over Honey’s sensitive folds had the horse screaming out in need. Tamara felt an echo of the same need ooze from her sensitive skin as Dakota continued to rock his erection into the crease of her ass.
He felt better than good. He felt like something she needed with a desperation bordering on obsession. She wanted nothing more than to drop her jeans, spread her legs and impale herself on his thick length.
Have every hard inch filling her all the way to her empty heart.
“See the way Honey’s muscles ripple beneath her skin as she anticipates Rowdy’s long cock ramming into her? She wants to feel him pounding into her hot cunt, stroking her sensitive walls.” Hell yes she saw it. She shared Honey’s eagerness to experience such a glorious impalement. Dakota created a longing in her well beyond anything in her experience. It burned through her body with an incomprehensible molten desire.
They watched as Zeke braced the mare, providing a bit of physical support as the stallion mounted her, his forelegs and chest resting over her back. The stud looked downright primal, single-minded in his desire to mate. He rutted around until he was properly aligned with the mare then slid forward, driving his shaft into her body, his teeth nipping at her neck. Animal grunts and cries of passion rose in the air.
At the same time, Dakota thrust his cock against her ass, his teeth capturing the tender flesh where neck and shoulder meet. Tamara’s eyes clamped shut as carnal wants flooded her system. The words he spoke between swipes of his tongue over the pulse point in her neck were lost in her lust-fogged mind. She dissolved into a mass of quivering, hypersensitive nerve endings.
Time lost all meaning for Tamara. She had no idea how long she stood there with the big stud rocking against her ass. All she knew was she desired him more than she ever had any other man. Yet desire wasn’t quite right. This reaction was much more, reaching toward becoming an all consuming requirement. She needed his cock filling her, making her complete.
She was astonished to find watching two horses f*ck, combined with Dakota’s words, was turning her on so much. More than any porno flick ever had. As the stallion groaned out his satisfaction, Dakota’s moan filled her ear.
“I want you so much, princess.”
Hell yes!
Taking a ride on the wild side is a dangerous proposition Running With The Devil
? 2007 Lorelei James
Drug dealer? Hooker? Blackmailer? Kenna Jones was the last person to have contact with a murdered federal informant and DEA Agent Drake March goes undercover during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to find out just what her relationship to the dead man was. One problem—from the moment Drake encounters the gorgeous, hot-tempered chameleon—he doesn’t trust her—or his immediate attraction to her.
Kenna’s situation can’t get worse. Posing as arm candy for rich bikers is a humiliating way to earn tuition. But the financially strapped grad student has no choice. And it appears too-sexy for his badge Agent Drake March isn’t giving her a choice either. He threatens to have her arrested if she refuses to cooperate in his investigation.
But bullets fly and Kenna’s life is in danger from an unknown threat.
Drake’s protective instincts kick in when he realizes sweet Kenna is innocent—and in far over her head.
Lust, fear and desire make for a volatile combination in the hedonistic atmosphere, leading Drake and Kenna into taking a dangerous ride on the wild side—with explosive results.
With their lives at stake, will they learn to trust each other before it’s too late? Or will the devil come calling and finally get his due?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Running With The Devil: Drake braced himself against the wall while he toed off his boots.
Wallet, leather pouch and keys landed on the bed.
Kenna dropped her duffle by the door and flopped on the bed closest to the window. She yawned and flipped back the covers. “I’m wiped.”
“Aren’t you changing into pajamas?” Visions of sexy nightgowns teased him; a frilly baby doll barely covering her gorgeous ass. A black silk nightie highlighting her dangerous curves. Or his personal favorite: nothing but fire flashing in her eyes and a “do-me-big-daddy” smile.
“No. I don’t wear paj—”
“Even better. That way I know you won’t be sneaking out.” She propped herself on her elbow and scowled at him. “Here’s where you threaten to tie me to the bed.”
Drake grinned. “Only if you ask me real nice.” He yanked his T-shirt over his head and pitched it toward the chair.
“Don’t hold your breath.”
The barb didn’t hold any sting when Drake noticed her eyes were glued to his chest. Hmm. No matter what her smart mouth said, her body didn’t lie. Seemed she was the one having a hard time catching her breath.
He stretched, flexing the muscles in his biceps and contracting his abs. At the stunned, hungry look on her face he decided the hours spent in the gym were well worth it.
“What are you doing?” she croaked.
“Getting ready for bed.”
Drake sighed, dropping his hands to his waistband. His fingers fiddled with the top button.
Then he unbuckled his belt.
Her gaze zoomed to his fly as he oh-so-slowly lowered the zipper.
Damn if his cock didn’t appreciate her rapt attention and offer an enthusiastic, hopeful salute.
She swallowed hard as he began to slide the jeans down his hips, inching them over his muscular thighs and past his knees.
“Enjoying the show?”
“God, yes,” she responded eagerly before she caught herself. A faint blush stole across her cheeks, highlighting her freckles. She abruptly turned on her side.
Drake shucked his jeans completely off and stood there, feeling like an idiot with a hard-on pressing out of the top of his black boxers.
“What? No goodnight kiss?”
“You can kiss my ass,” she retorted.
“Careful, hot stuff. I might consider that an invitation.”
“Go to sleep, perv. On your own side of the room in your own bed.” He laughed softly. “Goodnight, Kenna. Sweet dreams.” Kenna slowed her breathing, pretending to be asleep. Drake would probably start snoring any minute. Wouldn’t that blow her fantasy of him straight to hell?
Oh yeah, he was man enough to fill a hundred fantasies.
She squeezed her eyes shut, but it was no use. Her brain insisted on reliving his sexy, impromptu strip tease. Over and over again until she’d memorized every damn detail.
His body boggled her mind. Long, lean and hard, muscled in all the right places—he definitely looked long and hard where it counted. Sweat beaded on her brow thinking about touching and tasting that tanned golden skin and corded muscles. Sifting her fingers through his unruly black hair. Taking his big cock in her hands. In her body. In her mouth.
She suppressed a moan, but her body launched a rush of moisture south anyway.
Hell. She’d never get to sleep now.
A deep masculine grunt. Followed by a heavy sigh. The bed squeaked and the polyester covers rustled as he rolled over.
She stared at the warped pine paneling surrounding the window, then at the brownish water spots on the ceiling. Think of something not sexy.
Rocks. She smiled to herself and began to recite the geological periods. In order. By the time she reached the Paleolithic age, she’d relaxed enough to drift off.
Her sultry voice drifted to him in the dark.
“You asleep?”
Drake went absolutely still beneath the thin sheet.
She laughed softly. “I know you’re awake, Agent March. I’ve heard you tossing and turning.”
He sighed. No use pretending.
“Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Is it hard to sleep with an erection?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you had a pretty impressive hard-on before you crawled in bed. I imagine you’re still hard as a rock, aren’t you?
“Kenna—”
“Can’t be comfortable with that big thing poking you in the stomach.
And I doubt you want to touch yourself with me in the room.”
“Why—”
“Although you could sneak in the bathroom and jack off in the shower and I’d never know.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” The bedspread crinkled as she shifted on the mattress. “Every time you get in the shower, I’ll think that’s what you’re really doing. Slicking your hands up with soap. Sliding up and down your shaft.” She paused. “Who do you think about when you’re stroking yourself?”
He didn’t answer.
“An old girlfriend? A famous actress? Or a model? Think any of them know how to give a decent hand job?”
His heart started to pound. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want to know what you’d do if I wasn’t here.” Jack off in the shower. Thinking of you the entire time.
“You really think I’ll answer that?” She might talk tough but he doubted she could handle his answer.
“No. But since I am here I can give you the relief you’re dying for.” He must have misunderstood her. He was so focused on how the fringed curtains stirred whenever the air conditioner kicked on that he didn’t realize she’d moved until she’d slid beneath the sheets next to him.
“Kenna. I don’t think—”
“Ssh. Don’t think. Let me do this.”
Her bare breasts were pressed on either side of his spine and her nipples were stiffened to hard points. When had she gotten naked? She plastered herself against him and he felt the curls covering her sex grinding into his ass. He groaned. His body was so hot it felt feverish.
And the coolness of her silky skin against the heat of his nearly made him come right then.
She indulged in teasing nips along his shoulder until her naughty mouth connected with the curve of his neck. Her tongue flicked the fine hairs at the base of his skull. Sweet, warm breath drifted across his skin.
Drake shivered.
“Do you want me to stop?” Her delicate fingertips drew an idle path from his hip, up the ticklish bend in his waist to trace his pectoral.
Circled his nipple. Trailed back down. While driving him insane with fleeting caresses on his overheated skin, she writhed against his back.
Did the thought of him exploding in her hand make her hot?
“Drake? What’s it gonna be?”
“Don’t stop.”
“Mmm,” she hummed against his shoulder blade. “I like the way you smell.” She walked her fingers over the edge of his hipbone to his groin.
No tentative touches. Kenna wrapped her hand around his rigid cock and pumped from root to tip. “I like the way you feel.” He arched his hardness into her soft hand.
“Do you want me to tease you? Make it last longer?” Those wayward fingertips delved into the hair covering his sac. She rolled his balls
between her fingers and used her thumb to stroke the pulsing vein running up the length. Then she circled the base of his cock with her forefinger and thumb and squeezed. “Well?”
“No. Don’t tease.”
Her breath cascaded over the sweat gathering on his spine. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Kenna slid her hand back up, tightly curled her fingers around his thickness and began to work him.
Pure unadulterated pleasure flooded his brain. “Ah. Jesus that feels so f*cking good.”
She kissed the spot below his ear. “Imagine how good it’ll feel when it’s my wet mouth on you instead of my hand.”
“You really want to make me come fast, don’t you?” A confident feminine laugh. Then she started a blissfully brisk rhythm that made him groan and thrust higher to meet her masterful strokes.
Twisting up to the tip. Down to the root. Over and over. No change in the pace. Her touches were oddly familiar. Kenna seemed to know exactly what he liked. How hard she could pull on his dick without making it painful. How much he craved the pad of her thumb circling the plump head with each upstroke. Each tug brought him closer to the edge. He held his breath. Clenched his ass cheeks, bumping his hips and closed his eyes, readying himself to burst in her hand.
God. It was right there. That ultimate rush of relief…
Then she started snoring.
He froze. His cock twitched at the sudden loss of friction. What the hell? How could she fall asleep at a time like this? When he was so goddamned close?
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
It’s all about the story…
Action/Adventure
Fantasy
Historical
Horror
Mainstream
Mystery/Suspense
Non-Fiction
Paranormal
Red Hots!
Romance
Science Fiction
Western
Young Adult
www.samhainpublishing.com