Cover Reveal: Dirty Angels by Karina Halle

Title: Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels #1)

Author: Karina Halle

Release Date: Spring / Summer 2014

For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive.

When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move.

Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible.

As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.

That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her.

Unless she ruins him first.

***WARNING*** This book deals with drug cartels and as such it contains a lot of sex and violence and some violent sex. It can get pretty ugly, pretty dark and pretty crazy. There is drug use, abuse, a bit of torture and dubious consent. The hero is not a hero and the villains...well, they're even worse. If this sort of thing bothers you, please do not read. This ain't no cupcake farting unicorn kind of book***

Excerpt

There was a strange moment of silence and I concentrated hard, trying to hear more than the obvious. They were all waiting. Waiting for the order. Waiting for the man in charge to speak.

He did.

It came from the left of me. His voice was cool, calm and collected. I didn’t have to see to know who had taken me. The man I’d heard so much about. The man I’d been taught to fear.

“Gentleman,” he said and I could almost feel his infamous eyes on my body, “remove the bag.”

There was a rustle and my face was immediately met with cool air that seized my lungs and bright lights that blinded me. I scrunched up my face, afraid to look, to see. Now it was all so real and I wanted to stay in the dark.

“Who did this?”

Suddenly cool hands were at my swollen cheek and I flinched.

“Who did this?” my captor repeated, an edge to his level voice, his cigar-laced breath on my face.

“Sorry,” Franco mumbled. “It was the only way to quiet her.”

A heavy pause filled the room like deadweight. Finally the fingers came away from my skin and my body relaxed momentarily. I felt the man stand in front of me, bending over so he was in my face, the spicy scent of tea and tobacco emanating off of him.

“Look at me Luisa Reyes.”

Chavez, I thought to myself, I will always be Luisa Chavez.

“Darling, aren’t you curious to where you are?”

“My name is Luisa Chavez,” I said. I opened my eyes to see golden ones staring right back at me. It was like looking at an eagle. “And I know where I am. I know who you are. You are Javier Bernal.”

He raised his brow in amusement and nodded. I’d seen his picture before, on the news. There was only one and that was his mugshot but even in that photo, his eyes made an impression on you. They saw right into your depths and made you question yourself. He was one of the men whom Salvador feared, even though Salvador had more power. He was the one I had been told to watch out for, the supposed reason why I’d always been locked in the compound or escorted by the local police to go shopping.

And yet here I was, tied to a chair in a cold, leaking basement with nothing in it except five cartel members, a video camera and a knife that lay on top of a stool in front of me.

All of that for nothing. I could escape Salvador but I could never escape the cartels.

I had asked for this fate.

“You know why you’re here,” Javier said with deliberation, straightening up in his sharp black suit. He walked over to the stool, swiping up the knife, and glancing at me over his shoulder. “Don’t you?”

I could only breathe. I wanted to look at the others, at Este, at Franco, at the two other mystery men, but I was frozen in his gaze like a cow in headlights.

“What is the knife for?” I asked, my throat painfully dry.

“You’ll find out after,” he said. “It is for your husband. For your Salvador.” He stepped to the side and waved his arm at the camera. “And this is also for him.”

He eyed someone over my shoulder and gave a sharp nod. I heard a rip from behind and a piece of duct tape was placed over my mouth. I squirmed helplessly and the lights in the basement dimmed. The men stepped to the side while Javier went behind the video camera. A white light came off the front of it and bathed me in an eerie glow.

Javier cleared his throat, his face covered in shadow and said loudly, projecting to the camera, “This is Luiza Reyes, former beauty queen of the Baja State and property of Salvador Reyes. Salvador, we have your wife and we have a long list of demands, demands which I know you can meet. I expect full cooperation in this matter, or she dies in the next seven days. If she’s lucky. I’ll give you some time to think about what you’re willing to give up for her. Then we’ll be contacting you. Good bye.”

The light on the camera switched off but the rest of the room remained dim.

“I hope your husband checks his emails often. It would be a shame to have to put this on YouTube.”

There was a smirk on his face at that as he slowly walked toward me, the knife glinting in his hand. His eyes burned through the shadows, then grew somber.

He held up the knife. “I think it’s only going to hurt the first time.”

My eyes focused on the silver of the blade but the terror inside me grew too strong and my urge to breathe through the duct tape became too difficult. My lungs seized in panic, pulsing dots appeared in my vision. I felt a hand on my collarbone, gripping the edge of my blouse and then everything went black.

About the Author

With her USA Today Bestselling The Artists Trilogy published by Grand Central Publishing, numerous foreign publication deals, and self-publishing success with her Experiment in Terror series, Vancouver-born Karina Halle is a true example of the term "Hybrid Author." Though her books showcase her love of all things dark, sexy and edgy, she's a closet romantic at heart and strives to give her characters a HEA...whenever possible.

Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup.

Karina is represented by Scott Waxman of the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.

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Release Day Blitz: Scream for Me by Cynthia Eden

Nothing is deeper than the desire they can’t fight—or deadlier than the evil they can’t escape.

They were only supposed to have a professional relationship, but FBI agent Kyle McKenzie has been fantasizing about his sexy partner, Cadence Hollow, from the moment they first moment. It takes the darkest case of their careers to finally bring their hidden desire bubbling to the surface. Once they’re in each other’s arms, though, they swear that nothing short of death will part them. The Night Hunter—a cunning stalker whose four-state, fifteen-year abduction spree began in Paradox, Alabama, with Kyle’s sister—may be only too happy to oblige.

In the small town, Kyle must confront the painful past he’s been hiding from Cadence. Kyle vows to put the Hunter behind bars…or in the ground. But the one thing that obsesses Kyle more than his sister’s grim fate—his furious love for Cadence—is the weapon the Hunter will use to lure his pursuers into the mouth of a murderous trap

Excerpt

“We can’t do anything else out here,” she said. “Not tonight.”

She was being so careful with him. Too careful.

“Don’t,” he bit out as he stalked toward her. The others weren’t close enough to overhear, so he could lower his guard and let some of his fury out.

Cadence shook her head. “Don’t what?”

He wanted to wrap his hands around her. To pull her close.

No, I just want to touch her. To feel her.

“Don’t handle me with your damn kid gloves, Cadence.” The words were snapped. “I’m not some victim you have to coddle.”

He’d rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt—like that had done much good. He was covered with grime and sweat and plenty of insect bites.

I fucking hate summers in the South.

Insects were chirping all around them, and he’d had to dodge snakes in the bushes for most of the evening.

“I never thought you were a victim.” Cadence turned from him and headed for the car.

She knew he’d follow her. Wasn’t he always trailing after her?

Wasn’t he the one who always kept the need in check? The desire he damn well knew they both felt.

After today—after this hell—why couldn’t they turn to each other for some comfort and release? Let that desire burst free?

Replace death with pleasure.

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About the Author

USA Today Best-selling author Cynthia Eden has written over twenty-five novels and novellas. She was named as a 2013 RITA^® finalist for her paranormal romance, ANGEL IN CHAINS, and, in 2011, Cynthia Eden was a RITA finalist for her romantic suspense, DEADLY FEAR.

Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings.  She has always wanted to write (don’t most authors say that?), and particularly enjoys creating stories about monsters–vampires, werewolves, and even the real-life monsters that populate her romantic suspense stories.

Cynthia’s foreign sales for her books include translations to Japan, Germany, Thailand, Greece, and Brazil.

(Back in the day…) Cynthia graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama where she studied Sociology (because people interest her) and Communication (because she likes to write about said people).  Cynthia has worked as a college admissions counselor, a teacher, and as an editor. But now, Cynthia is thrilled to be spending her days making up stories.

          

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Book Spotlight: Lussuria by S.J. Molloy

 

'Lussuria',  (Lussuria being Italian for Lust)

An emotional erotic heart-wrenching story of lust, love and light

Alexis Evangeline Robertson is young, insecure and daunted with painful memories from her dark, tortured childhood.  She has rules, and she has boundaries.
She never lets anyone too close.Lucca Caruso has the most mesmerising crystal azure blue eyes and a heart of gold.  When Lexi meets this Italian God, she doesn’t expect to see him again.But fate intervenes.While on vacation at a Villa in Val D'Orcia, near the Chianti hills outside of Florence, she is more than surprised to see Lucca arrive at the very same villa.  Lexi begins a journey of self-discovery, helplessly folding, melting and crumbling to the temptation of her heart’s desire.  After the desires of lust ...And the sweetness of love ...Lexi will spread her wings towards the light ...

This is the story of one girl’s destiny to find her light from her sinister, dark and harrowing past and the one man who can take her there. 

Excerpt 

“Do you trust me?” he asks.

I can’t believe we are having this conversation.  

“It’s complicated”.  

“That’s not what I asked, and you know it, just answer the question Lexi do you trust me?” He demands.

I pause then tell him the only thing I can, I tell him the truth…

“I don’t trust anybody” then look down at my hands. I have said too much and offended him.  

“I am sorry Lucca, I don’t mean to hurt you, it’s the truth, and you said you wanted to know what’s on my mind”.  I feel the need to justify my answer.  Lifting my chin up, he stares into my eyes, contemplating what I have told him.  

“Are you upset with me?” I ask pitifully.

“No I ‘m not upset, now we are getting somewhere if you are telling me the truth, the trust thing is something we will just have to work on” he says with compassion.

“Do you still think of me as a stranger?” he asks.

“Kind of” I say shyly,

“Kind of…?  Well we will just have to do something about that and become more intimately acquainted” he grins with that sexy dimple smile before claiming my mouth showing me just how he intends to get to know me better,

Sweet Jesus… his expert tongue assaults mines with lustful passion, carnal hunger and intense seduction.

Fuck File P for Panties will be dropping just directly…

About The Author

SJ Molloy, first time British Author of ‘The Luminara Series’ was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. As a young child, her family moved and raised her in Lanarkshire, Scotland where she currently resides with her husband, two daughters and her energetic, hyperactive loving gun dog who is utterly spoiled.

SJ is a qualified Fitness Instructor and Health & Fitness Motivator of various fitness styles and disciplines. Music and dance aerobics have always been a pleasure and passion for her. SJ will sporadically make up dance style routines at any hour of the day when a move comes to her or piece of music moves or inspires her.  Currently not teaching classes she is focusing her time into nurturing her yearning passion for creative writing, exchanging one visualization for another.

As a child, SJ loved to write in journals and make up short stories and has a flare for all things creative. With an overactive imagination at times, SJ adores to make notes, visualize scenes and settings to create characterizations.

While on holiday with her family one summer reading book after book, she had a flash of inspiration and has had various ideas whirling around in her mind ever since. It was not until she pulled back on teaching classes that she found the courage, time and insight into actually bringing these ideas to life.

In February 2013 she decided to bring that imagination to light by beginning her writing  journey with ‘Lussuria’ the first installment in ‘The Luminara Series’ available from late October 2013.

Being a self-confessed book junkie, she loves nothing better than to get lost in an emotional and moving book. A true romantic at heart, her guilty pleasure is reading heart-warming, passionate stories and falling in love with her favorite fictional characters.

With five books already mapped out in ‘The Luminara Series’, SJ’s busy creative mind has already planned two more fictitious novels, both stand-alone romance books and very different in their own right.

When she is not writing or reading, spending time with family and friends or exercising and walking her dog, SJ loves all things practical and creative. Dancing, music, cooking, travelling, good food and wine and painting are her favorite past times along with laughter, lots and lots of laughter.

Author Links

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*Please note, website is work in progress, still being worked on just now but all live

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Promo Post: Excerpt of Rotten by JL Brooks

Growing up on the outskirts of Las Vegas as the daughter of notorious strip club owner, Stephen Knox, and a mother who abandoned her at birth, life was less than kind to a young Antoinette.

After a failed teenage suicide attempt, Toni hit the road in search of a life free of undeserved cruelty and any resemblance to her past. 

Years later, Toni is lost in a dead end marriage and makes a painful confession that sends her back to the one place she always wanted to escape. But can she really right the wrongs that haunt her? Toni soon finds that the only place where things stay the same is in your mind.

When her path crosses with David Stark, childhood playmate turned one night stand, she cannot deny the spike in temperature she feels every time he's near or the scorching dreams that flood her at night.

Digging through the years of heartache, Toni soon finds herself torn between the man she is committed to and the one who has always held her heart. As each layer unfolds before her, she discovers the root cause of her pain. Always believing the source was external, nothing could prepare her for the truth.

*This book contains sexual content and adult language. Intended for readers 17+.

Excerpt

As I cracked the old bathroom door open, steam rushed out in vapor clouds before me. David looked up as I approached him in nothing but a towel. Still not saying anything, I used my ankle to kick his knees apart. He looked at me oddly until the towel dropped to the floor in a large heap of cotton. Crawling up onto his lap, I used the palm of my hand to push his forehead back into the fabric of the sofa and pressed my naked body into his chest.

“Are you going to run away again?” I whispered.

His hands tentatively caressed the damp skin on the back of my thighs while licking his lips. “No ma’am.”

Click Me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JL Brooks is a former columnist turned novelist. What started as a bet changed her entire course in life. With a passion for adventure, she believes everyone has a story to tell. Chances are she will try to convince you to tell yours.

            www.facebook.com/thewenchlab

www.twitter.com/authorjlbrooks

www.authorjlbrooks.blogspot.com

              authorjlbrooks@gmail.com

Previous works: Distractions, Stories for Amanda (Contributing Author)

Bloggerversary Part 6: Q & A w/ S.C. Stephens

'Sup peeps! Today is day 6 of Bloggerversary week. We have a special interview with the fabulous S.C. Stephens!!!!! She shot into notoriety with her book Thoughtless, in 2009. That's the year I graduated high school! I wish I heard of S.C. earlier. I just finished Thoughtless after putting it off for so long and whoa! I was glad I read it. I'm halfway into the second book and I love it so far! Be sure to enter my Bloggerversary giveaway for 3 different prize packs! ♥ click here!

~*~Q & A with S.C. Stephens~*~

CR: As an erotic romance writer, do you find the stigma of erotica or “mommy porn” hurtful to your career? To you personally?

SC: No, I’ve read a lot of hardcore stuff, and I don’t feel like my books venture into the “erotic” part of the genre. But that’s just me. They may be really graphic for some readers, not graphic enough for others. It’s all subjective, so I try not to worry about it. I just write the way I’m comfortable writing.

CR: Which character of the Thoughless trilogy do you relate to the most?  

SC: Kiera. We’re very similar in a lot of ways, although, I’m not as quick to blurt things out as she is. I clam up a lot more.

CR: Did you encounter any challenges while writing Thoughtless?

SC: Oh yeah, there were days when I wanted to scrap the whole thing, but I just kept plugging away at it, and it eventually worked itself out.

CR: The angsty love triangle is something that draws a lot of readers, but it also annoys us when the heroine can’t seem to pick one or the other. Did you find yourself rooting for Kellan or Denny?

SC: I fell pretty hard for Kellan, but I had a super soft spot for Denny, so it was hard because I loved them both, but in different ways.

CR: Despite the fact that she has the attention of two hotties, Kiera had a lot of self-doubt and confidence issues, in my opinion. Where does this come from?

SC: It came from being raised with a perfect ten sister that she never felt she lived up to looks-wise. Even though it was never a conscious thing on her parents’ part, Anna was praised for her looks, Kiera for her brains. That left a mark on Kiera’s self-esteem. And she’s just naturally more shy than Anna.

CR: The final book in the trilogy was published a while ago, but do you have any plans to continue the universe in a spin-off version or a novella?

SC: I’ve thought about writing Thoughtless through Kellan’s eyes, or doing an Anna and Griffin spin-off, but we’ll see if that happens.

CR: Do you read the reviews of the people who didn’t like your book? 

SC: For a long time, I read all of the reviews, but after a while, it just got to be too much. It was affecting my desire to write, so now I don’t read them very often. I mainly glance through them to see if there is a common complaint, something I can work on in the future.

CR: If the Thoughless series did get optioned as a TV series (or a movie), what actor would you like to see play the parts of Kiera, Kellan, Denny, etc?

SC: Oh boy. They are so specific in my head, that I have no idea, although, I’m certainly enjoying all of the fan videos featuring Devin Paisley. Very yummy.

CR: I have to ask…what’s up with the band’s name? The D-bags?

SC: I have the sense of humor of a thirteen-year-old boy. I pictured Kellan saying it to Kiera and it cracked me up, so I kept it.

CR: Will your new series be just as heart-wrenching?

SC: No, Conversion is a much lighter story. I wrote it right after Thoughtless, and I needed a break from the angst. It’s a much different story, but packed with just as much love.

~*~Lightening Round Questions~*~

CR: Favorite food?

SC: Pizza

CR: Favorite drink?

SC: Coffee

CR: Favorite guilty pleasure?

SC: A long bath with a good book and a glass of wine

CR: Favorite kind of music?

SC: I like it all—alternative, pop, rock, top 40, and recently, country.

CR: Favorite fictional boyfriend?

SC: Edward Cullen. Always and forever.

;)

CR: Favorite cereal?

SC: Post Great Grains. The one with pumpkin seeds! Yummy!

CR: Celeb you’d like to meet?

SC: Chester Bennington or Dave Strauchman

CR: Did you ever have a fan girl moment?

SC: Yes! Recently, I went to a private performance for OneRepublic and was thisclose to Ryan Tedder. And did I say, “Your music helped inspire the character that completely changed my life?” Nope. I said, “Hey.” Lol. Fan fail.

CR: Yoga or jogging?

SC: Yoga. I’m not a runner. ;)

CR: Ice cream or gelato?

SC: Ice Cream.

CR: Cats or dogs?

SC: Goldfish. :)

CR: Biggest pet peeve?

SC: Lately, it’s people driving ten miles below the speed limit in the middle or left lane. Please move over. I’m begging you!

CR: Craziest fan reaction?

SC: I don’t get crazy fans. They’re incredibly nice, patient, and thoughtful! Sometimes nervous, but always sweet. The tattoos inspired from my books blow my mind though!

I am giving away a set of ebooks for the Thoughtless trilogy. One winner will get all three. Open to USA residents only.
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About the Author

Me and S.C. at the LA Author Event :)

S.C. Stephens is a bestselling author who enjoys spending every free moment she has creating stories that are packed with emotion and heavy on romance. Her debut novel, Thoughtless, an angst-filled love triangle charged with insurmountable passion and the unforgettable Kellan Kyle, took the literary world by storm. Amazed and surprised by the response to the release of Thoughtless in 2009, more stories were quick to follow. Stephens has been writing nonstop ever since. In addition to writing, Stephens enjoys spending lazy afternoons in the sun reading fabulous novels, loading up her iPod with writer’s block reducing music, heading out to the movies, and spending quality time with her friends and family. She currently resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her two equally beautiful children.

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Bloggerversary Part Deux: Excerpt: Revealing Us by Lisa Renee Jones

Welcome to Part Deux of my Bloggerversary week! Today we have a sizzlin' excerpt from the lovely Lisa Renee Jones!!! Just last week her book Revealing Us was officially on sale and I can't wait to get my copy in the mail. If you haven't read any books from the Inside Out series, there is a link below where you can get the first book for free! At the end of the post are the rafflecopters for special giveaways. One is for an ebook set of books 1, 2, and 3 of the Inside Out series. This giveaway is for residents of the US only. The other giveaway for for 3 different prize packs and it's open internationally.

The third installment in the sexy Inside Out erotic romance series—in the seductive tradition of Fifty Shades of Grey.
You've discovered Rebecca's secrets. You've discovered Sara's secrets. Now Sara will discover "his" deepest, darkest secrets...but will those secrets bind them together--or tear them apart?

~*~Book Links~*~

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

As a special bonus for Revealing Us being published, book 1 If I Were You is FREE!

Get it here for 30 days: 

http://xoxoafterdark.com

~*~Excerpt~*~

The elevator opens and he waits for me to enter, and I do. With fast steps, I rush inside and whirl around to confront him. He stalks forward, and this time he doesn’t avoid looking at me, his expression etched with pure determination and some raw, dark emotion I cannot fully name. I don’t get the chance to try. 

Before a word is out of my mouth, and I have many intended, the bags he’s holding hit the floor and Chris has pressed me back against the wall. My purse tumbles from my arm and his powerful thighs encase mine; his hips mold my hips. I gasp with the rough tangle of his fingers in my hair and the blaze of his eyes as they capture mine. I am angry with him. I am aroused. And when his mouth claims my mouth, his tongue slicing past my lips with a delicious lick followed by another, demanding my response, I am at his mercy. My fingers curl around his t-shirt and I push away the tiny space between us, molding myself against him. He owns me and, considering how the past thirty minutes have gone, this terrifies me, but I’m all in with Chris. I decided that long before Paris. I am his to command, moaning with the taste of him, sultry and male, on my tongue. 

His hand sweeps up my side, fingers flexing over my ribs, palm covering my breast. My nipple tightens in anticipation of the tug that follows and I moan, my need to touch Chris almost unbearable. I reach for his shirt, intending to push beneath, but he doesn’t let me. 

Chris’s fingers close around my wrist and I know he is in that dark place, where he doesn’t let me touch him—but I am in a dark place, too, on edge, ripe with my anger and unwilling to be submissive to him. Challenging his silent message of control, I reach for his shirt with my free hand and he shackles my wrist as well and tears his mouth from mine. Our eyes lock, the sound of our heavy breathing filling the air and the motion of the elevator. I didn't even know was moving swaying our bodies. The floor vibrates slightly beneath our feet and I sense, rather than see, the doors behind Chris slide open, but still we stand there, still we stare at each other. 

“They don’t get to tell you who I am,” he says. His voice is a rough growl, low and tight. “I do. I tell you and I show you so you get the truth, not their fabrication of it.” A muscle in his jaw flexes. “Understand?”

My anger and fear dissolve instantly. He’s not pulling away from me. He’s angry that Amber and Tristan might taint my view of him when he’s already convinced I’ll hate him before this discovery process is over. 
“Do you understand?” he demands when I apparently don’t answer fast enough. 

This time I don’t fight the bark of his order, understanding the desperateness beneath its surface. “Yes. Yes. Chris, I—”

His fingers tangle in my hair again, tugging my head back in that deliciously rough way he does. Dark Chris calls to me and I no longer fight answering. “Do not go there without me again.” His voice is gravelly; raw like the emotion I’ve seen in his face and tasted on his lips.

“Me going there wasn’t what you think it was, Chris.” 

His eyes flash with disapproval. He is not pleased, or accepting, of what I’ve said, and his mouth closes down on mine, punishing, controlling. His tongue thrusting and tasting, before he repeats his words, his fingers stroking my breasts, teasing my nipple. “Do not go there again without me, Sara.”

“I won’t.” The words come out a hoarse groan as his hand strokes a path up and down my side, and back over my breast. His touch is heavy, the air thick, and I’m certain he isn’t convinced. “I won’t go back without you.”
His fingers curl around my neck and he stares down at me, searching my face with such intensity it feels as if he’s seeing straight to my soul. And I welcome the invasion. I welcome him. Seconds tick by, and I have no idea what he sees or doesn’t see in me, but he drags my mouth to his and kisses me. 

The silky hot stroke of his tongue is a shot of adrenaline and desire that spikes through my body and creates a tingling sensation from head to toe. I shudder with pleasure and drink him in, tasting the bittersweet hunger in him, the anger and torment. I burn to touch him beyond where my fingers rest on his chest, to feel hard muscle flex beneath my fingers. But control is his outlet of choice when there is no whip, no pain. And I am no longer angry, no longer rebelling against his demands. No longer fighting his need for an outlet I have long ached for him to know he has with me, in me.

I tremble with the caress of his hand over my waist, traveling to my hip, and curving around my backside to firmly pull me hard against his thick erection. His palm skims upward to the small of my back, and flattens, molding me even closer. I moan into his mouth and he groans in response, his tongue delving deeply, hot with growing demand, with a palpable urgency. And his hands are everywhere, touching me, stroking me, caressing me, driving me wild and, before I know what’s happening, he’s shoving my jeans down my legs. I blink and my boots are gone and I’m half-naked in an elevator with the doors locked open.
I might have protested our location, asked to move to another room, but Chris turns me to the wall and his hands slide, slow and firm, possessively down my waist and over my hips. Feeling his gaze rake over my body, I am wet and weak in the knees. 

He cups my cheeks from behind and steps forward, pressing his lips to my ear. “Tonight, I want to spank you, but I won’t. Not when it would be punishment. I won’t ever do that to you. But don’t think that means I won’t want to.”

I understand Chris. I don’t know how or why but, deep in our souls, we connect, and I know what he is doing. He’s showing me a hard exterior but all I see is vulnerability, a need that tonight has sparked, to show me a darker, more dangerous side of himself, and have me not run for cover. “You can’t scare me away, Chris. So throw all the words you want at me. I’m still here. I’m still not going anywhere. And in case you forgot, I liked it when you spanked me.” 

His hand finds my stomach and then presses deeper between my legs, until his fingers tease my clit. “Maybe this time I’ll tie you up and flog you.” 

“Do it.” His fingers stroke into the silky wet V of my body, and I am panting, barely able to speak, but I swallow and somehow finish my challenge. “The more you push me, the more I push back, Chris.” 

He nips my earlobe and I can feel him unzipping his pants. “So you say,” he murmurs. 

“So I know.” Throwing caution to the wind, I press onward, trying to unleash the pent-up energy in him he bottles until it later explodes. “Only one of us is running. Only one of us is afraid of what I have yet to discover, Chris.” 

The air crackles and his hand goes to my waist, fingers flexing into my flesh, and I revel in the certainty I’ve succeeded in taking him to the edge. “You think I’m running?” he demands. 

“No. I think you’re trying to make me run so you can blame me if we fail.”

His cock presses between my legs. “Does that feel like I want you to run?” He enters me, driving hard inside me without any prelude. “Does that?” And then he is thrusting, reaching around me to meld his hand to my breast, holding onto it, and me. He thrusts again, burying himself, with a fieriness that outreaches pure physical need. Oh yes, I have made him angry and I am glad. I want this side of him, I want all of him. And damn it, he just keeps trying to deny me. He keeps trying to hold back and, yes, he keeps trying to make me run. 

I press my hand to his hand where it’s melded to my breast, teasing me, holding him there, holding on and not planning to ever let go. Pleasure splinters through me with each thrust of his cock, each moment he’s buried deep inside me. Sensation after sensation begins in my sex and rushes through nerve endings. I am lost in how he feels, how I feel, and I arch into him, my muscles clench around him, and then I cannot breathe. My orgasm takes me by surprise, enveloping me, consuming me. I rise to the top of it far too quickly and come down far too hard and fast, but just in time to feel Chris shudder, his body tensing with his release. He stills, burying his face in my neck, and his body slowly relaxes. For several moments he holds me there, and I’m not sure either of us breathes, let alone speaks or moves. I am not sure what to say or what to do next.

Abruptly, he pulls out of me, and I don’t know why, but an unusual sense of complete, utter emptiness washes over me. The “why” is answered when I start to turn to find him already headed out of the elevator. I stare after him, knots balling in my stomach. Maybe I pushed the wrong buttons. Maybe I pushed him to far or too hard. Maybe I made a mistake. 

~*~About the Author~*~

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT TRILOGY which has sold to more than ten countries for translation with negotiations in process for more, and has now been optioned by STARZ Network for a cable television show, to be produced by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland).

Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 30 books with publishers such as Simon and Schuster, Avon, Kensington, Harlequin, NAL, Berkley and Elloras Cave, as well as crafting a successful indie career. Booklist says that Jones suspense truly sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.

Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her through her website and she is active on twitter and Facebook daily.

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