Progress on Dark Realm book

Progress on Lockdown

Tomorrow, I’ll give away the first prize. So remember, you have to post to win!

The heroes in this trio of interconnecting stories are the #1, #2, and #3 reasons you will want to read this book. And I can’t choose which one you would say is first, second, and third, because they are all so different that they will connect with people in different ways. But I’ll start with the man in the very first story.

Brandon Tynan in “Wearing His Brand” is the straight-arrow kind of guy for whom honor and duty are paramount. So, when his best buddy is called away to war, he promises to keep his headstrong little sister out of trouble. Only problem is, Lyssa McDonough doesn’t want Brand to see her as an obligation. She does her best to make his job hard. Take a peek. Be warned! This is explicit!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brand walked around the front of the truck, rolling down his sleeves. When he’d closed the buttons at the cuffs, he raised his gaze to meet hers through the glass.

An expression transformed his features—something so primal and deeply masculine her whole body clenched.

Maybe tonight’s little drama had been overkill, but she couldn’t regret a moment. Brand had never looked at her like that before.

Like he’d won the right to do whatever he wanted with her.

When he climbed into the cab, the air crackled with tension. He twisted the key, set the truck in gear and hit the gas. The diesel engine growled like a cougar, filling the silence between them.

Several minutes later, Brand drew a deep, tense breath. “Did you like it when he touched you?”

She shot him a glance, wondering how she should answer. Whether she had the courage to ratchet his anger higher. She turned back to stare through the windshield afraid to push him harder. Still, he wasn’t past control.

Clouds obscured the moon and stars, blanketing the wide sky. The twin beams cut a narrow path through the murky darkness.

“Lyss! Did you like it?”

Lyssa cleared her throat and shrugged. “I guess.”

Brand swung the wheel sharply to the right and hit the brakes, sending a spray of gravel to rattle against the mud flaps.

So abrupt was his action, she didn’t have time to think when he slammed open his door and stomped around the truck. Her door jerked open, and steely fingers wrapped around her wrist, yanking her from the truck, straight into his arms.

“You guess?”

Brand’s expression was so dark, so intense, all Lyssa could do was shiver. Over the years of their long acquaintance, she’d seen him angry more than a few times.

Sure, his temper blew hot. Aimed always at the result, never the person. Completely fair. But it faded quickly once he’d dealt with whomever or whatever caused him to erupt.

This was different. Intriguing. And oh, so arousing. This time his anger built like rainfall gathering in arroyos that spilled into a dry creek until its crumbling banks overflowed.

Her mouth dropped open. She’d wanted to make him lose control—but had she pushed him too far? She quickly clamped her lips shut.

Shocked by his reaction, she didn’t know how to respond. Although she’d goaded him into this, she trembled beneath his hot glare and remained silent, deciding to err, for once, on the side of caution.
Brand’s hot breaths gusted against her face. His lips thinned; his nostrils flared. A wildness entered his expression, melting her insides like hot wax.

His heated glare raked her face, then dropped to her lips.

Desire liquefied her core, curling inside her belly, sending blood rushing south to pulse between her legs. Overcome, her lips parted and a thin moan slipped between them.
Brand bit back a soft curse, then dove. His mouth slammed into hers before she could suck in a breath to fill her empty lungs.

The kiss—a brutal, biting, mashing of teeth and lips—didn’t gentle, didn’t slow.

Brand backed her against the side of the truck, pressing his body against hers, grinding his thickening erection into her abdomen. His hands slammed against the metal on either side of her shoulders, and he leaned closer.

Lyssa took the kiss, opening her mouth to breathe, and then groaned when his tongue pushed inside, and he continued to ravage her mouth.

Every part of him was hard—shuddering, driving into her.

Her body reacted instantly, flooding her pussy with melting heat, sending a quivering excitement throughout her wilting, surrendering body.

The tension in his shoulders and rock-hard abs radiated rage, but his thick, guttural groans betrayed something else.

Frustration? Disappointment? Had she hurt him?

Her legs wobbled, and she felt herself sliding down.

Afraid that maybe she’d blown it, she began to sob, clutching at his arms to hold herself upright.

She’d been wrong. Selfish. Childish even. But dear God, she’d needed to break him. She hadn’t realized only a slender thread held his temper and his desire in check. Once he cooled off, would he push her away? Become disgusted with his reaction? Or worse, with her?

Brand jerked back his head, breaking the kiss, and eased away from her body. His hands, however, remained on the truck, bracketing her shoulders. His sharp gaze glittered in the darkness.

Lyssa’s swollen lips trembled along with her legs, and she relaxed against the truck, letting the moment stretch between them as she dragged in deep, harsh breaths.

Despite her trepidation, a languorous heat filled her. Her head fell back against metal, and her breasts lifted with her jagged gasps, jutting against the thin material of the insubstantial bra she’d chosen tonight.

Brand’s head dipped. Expecting another kiss, she nearly slid to the ground when his nose and lips glided along the neckline of her tank top, his tongue sweeping out to lick at the sweat gathering between her breasts.

Then his mouth grazed over the fabric, giving her shielded bites that had her straining upward, until at last, his lips closed around a beaded nipple.

Warmth seeped through the fabric. His teeth nipped at a tightening bud. Lyssa reached up and thrust her fingers though his thick hair, trying to press her breast deeper into his mouth.

A low growl ripped through him, and he reached up and dragged her hands from his hair, his fingers biting into her wrists. Then he quickly turned her, forcing her against the truck.

His head bent close; his breath feathered her cheek. “Did you like it when he touched you?” he rasped.

So aroused now, Lyssa couldn’t gather the remnants of her pride, couldn’t summon her wits to find the answer she needed to disarm him. “N-noooo!” she moaned brokenly, a soft sob vibrating through her body.

His hands slipped between her and the truck, sliding over her breasts, cupping them, squeezing, then gliding lower.

Another sob shook her, and she struggled against his unhurried touch as he smoothed down the outside of her hips, then up again.

Dragging the hem of her shirt out of her pants, he shoved the fabric upward, bunching it beneath her arms.

When his palms flowed around her belly and upward to slip beneath her bra, she didn’t resist as he pushed it up, eager for his spreading fingers to cup her naked breasts.

The rasp of his calloused palms on her engorged nipples was electric. She cried out, stiffening, pushing her breasts deeper into his palms.

“God, Lyssa. You’re driving me out of my mind,” he groaned, clasping her breasts hard.

Suddenly, his hands dropped to her hips; he leaned back and jerked her against him. Her head fell against his shoulder and she grabbed the sides of his thighs to steady herself.

Brand didn’t give her a moment to regroup. He flung open her belt, flicked open the button at the top of her jeans, and tugged down her zipper. Then his hand thrust into the opening, his fingers sliding between her legs, straight into her slick folds.

Her knees trembled at his invasion, and her hands plucked at his jeans. The scrape of his fingers as they entered her triggered a gush of liquid. She cried out, and her knees began to crumple.

“This what you wanted?” he asked hoarsely, the hand still gripping her hip the only thing holding her upright. “You want someone, any man, inside you?”

Lyssa reached behind her, her hands sliding around his neck, as she arched her body into his and widened her stance.

His fingers slid deeper inside, thrusting, twisting into her entrance.

“Yesssss…any man, Brand,” she lied, quickly growing frantic. “God, fuck me. Please.”