If you saw last week’s post about my sister, Myla’s new release, That Voodoo You Do, you might have guessed something is in the works with my Alluring pals. And there is. Every week until Christmas, there will be a new release from every member of the Allure Authors. Be sure to check us out!

Here’s this week’s release from the wonderful Cathryn Fox! Is this cover not the most beautiful thing you’ve seen in a while? Click on the cover to purchase!

When a mermaid saves a drowning man she unleashes a tidal wave of passion that could destroy her very world.

Ella, a mermaid from Dualii, a kingdom deep below the sea, has returned to the quaint coastal town of Crystal Cove, Nova Scotia, a place where she’d once saved a drowning boy. Except when she sees the teenager from her past, she knows he is anything but a boy. He is a man, one who taunts her body and heart in the most inexplicable ways and has her questioning her very future.

As he stands naked beneath the full moon Ella knows she must have him—before she returns home and succumbs to her arranged marriage. Despite the rules set in place for her kind, rules to protect the identity of her people, she decides a blatant seduction is in order. With her body beckoning his touch, Ella lays herself bare as everything inside her urges her to experience his personal brand of lovemaking—just once—before she wipes his mind of their encounter and returns to her underwater world forever.

Except when the heat they generate hinders her abilities to strip his memories and everything in his touch stirs her soul, Ella knows she wants to turn fantasy into long term reality. But when she finds years of research papers, she understands that not only does his study of mythical creatures threaten their future, he is the one man who can destroy her very kind.

Waves of Seduction, Excerpt

After replenishing her life force, Ella returned to the boat house to climb back into the oversized shorts and t-shirt she’d borrowed from a stranger’s clothesline earlier that morning. Even though she hated to take things that didn’t belong to her, she couldn’t very well walk around town naked.

Once dressed she made her way back to the private dock, to await the handsome man from her past. Nervousness invaded her stomach when she finally spotted him coming her way, returning to his ocean-side cottage after a long, hard swim out to sea. Her mind raced with questions while her skin prickled with uneasy anticipation.

Would he recognize her after all this time?

Steeling herself she stood back and observed him as he gripped the dock and lifted his long lean torso from the sea. Water dripped from his magnificent body and when his glistening eyes locked on hers, she sucked in a sharp breath, the pull between them every bit as powerful today as it was all those years ago. Ella watched him and waited, anxious to see how he’d react to her.

He slowly climbed to his feet and when he reached his full height, towering a good foot over her, his brow furrowed in bewilderment, clearly taken aback to find someone on his dock.

Surprise on his face, he reached for his clothes. “How…who?”

“It’s been too long,” Ella murmured under her breath as she gazed at his nakedness. It made her want to shed her own clothes, to return to her natural form.

With his hand hovering over his pants, confusion clouded his eyes and he glanced at the distant houses dotting the dark cove. “Do I know—” then suddenly, before he even completed his sentence, his head spun back to her, his clothes forgotten as awareness dawned on his face.

Ella held her breath and waited.

He stood up, his gaze darting to her legs. At first surprise registered in his eyes—then perhaps a bit of disappointment when he glimpsed her land legs instead of her sea tail—but then…well…then something else seemed to take possession of him. As a very sexual being herself, Ella knew exactly what that something else was. Desire.

Instead of going for his clothes, his eyes leisurely trailed upward again, visually caressing her body in a way that made her tremble. She could feel his heat reaching out to her, caressing her and pulling her under like a warm, rogue wave.

“It’s you,” he whispered, his voice husky from both desire and amazement. “Jesus, it’s really you.”

As years of yearning for this man twisted her insides, she bit back a breathy moan, elated that he’d recognized her, but even more thrilled to hear the need lacing his voice. It was that need that spoke volumes and told her that he hadn’t forgotten about her either.

“Yes, it’s me,” she returned without regard for the secrets of her people, but knowing that come morning she’d wipe his mind of her no matter how hard it would be. She realized she wanted him to remember her, wanted him to reminisce about their time together after she disappeared beneath the sea, the same way she would think about every moment of this stolen night, when she was locked in a loveless marriage.

A low tortured noise sounded in his throat and pain haunted his eyes when he asked, “Where have you been?”

Ella took a tentative step closer, craving so much from this man. “All that matters is that I’m here now.”

His gaze moved over her face, assessing her. “I’ve been looking for you,” he murmured and she didn’t miss the tremor in his voice, the undeniable need lacing his words when he added, “I’ve been searching for so long now.”

Desperate to know more—everything—about him, she rushed out, “What’s your name?”

“Liam. Liam Jackson.”

“Liam,” Ella repeated thinking it was the most beautiful name she’d ever heard. “I’m Ella.”

His smile was slow, shaky when he admitted, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, Ella.” Just hearing him say her name for the first time and knowing he’d been thinking about her all these years filled her with a new kind of want.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either,” she admitted honestly and as her body beckoned his touch, she placed her hand on his shoulder in a means to hurry along the intimacy. She wanted him, had needed him for so long now that she didn’t want to waste one more glorious second of the night.

He stroked her arm and she shivered beneath his touch, the strange bond between them tremendous, even after all this time. “I never had the chance to thank you.”
Ella smiled, “Seeing you alive and here today is thanks enough.”

His brows furrowed and conflicting emotions passed over his eyes. “What took you so long to come back?”

Ella frowned, unsure of what to say. How could she tell him that meeting him like this was forbidden, and that after tonight, after she wiped his memory—something she should have done fifteen years ago, yet couldn’t seem to bring herself to do—he’d never remember her again?

He stepped back to examine her, his gaze heartily drinking her in. She could tell by the look on his face that he was still shocked to find her standing on his dock.

“You’re just as beautiful as I remember,” he whispered and everything in the way he studied her promised of something far more intimate. “Except now you’re all grown up.”

His beauty took her breath away and there was nothing she could do to stop her body from quaking, but she knew she wasn’t just reacting to him physically. Even though it wasn’t logical, and they were from diverse worlds, she wanted this man on a whole different level.

Her breath grew shallow as she looked at his nakedness. “So are you.”

He studied her face and suddenly seemed unsure. She could almost hear the wheels spinning as his mind raced with unanswered questions. “That day, that day you saved me, you took off before I had a chance—” She touched her fingertip to his mouth to silence him.

“Shhh…”

He closed his mouth, instantly understanding now was not the time for questions.

Another shiver moved through her and he must have mistaken it for something else. He stepped closer and gathered her into his arms like it was the most natural thing for him to do. Her body molded into his and she felt his blatant need as his cock pressed against her stomach.

His soft whisper covered her like a blanket and she could sense his trepidation when he asked, “Are you okay?”

As she looked up at him she feared she’d never be okay again, especially if she followed through with her plan to seduce him. But she’d come too far to back down now, and it was clear just how much—and for how long—they both wanted each other.

Taking care with her ankle, which pained less thanks to the sea water, she moved against his hard body, letting him know why she was here, what she really wanted, no needed, from him.

“Ella,” he whispered in a shaky voice, and everything in the quiet way he spoke her name brought them to a deeper level of intimacy. It was as if they’d known each other their entire lives. Then again, perhaps they had, perhaps the time they’d both spent thinking of the other helped counteract the time they’d spent apart and made this reunion feel all the more familiar to them.

Off in the distance the sound of laughter broke the silence of the night. Even though they were draped in darkness on his dock, hidden from probing eyes, it was still a reminder that they weren’t really alone. Without concealing his erection, Liam stepped back and gathered her hand into his.

His gaze panned her face, searching for answers and the intent look in his eyes spoke of such need and desire it made her insides quiver. “Can you stay?”

“For a little while,” she answered. “But then I—”

He didn’t let her finish. Instead he slid his fingers through her damp hair and dropped his mouth to hers. Her body pulsed with pent-up need as his warm salty lips met hers and stole her ability to think straight.

Giving in to her baser urges, she opened for him, granting him entry while she savored the incredible taste of his mouth. His kiss was so tender, so achingly gentle that it took her by surprise. His hands circled her waist to draw her in tighter, and when her body became pliable in his arms, letting him know in no uncertain terms what she wanted, a low growl of longing sounded in his throat.

Her nipples tightened with arousal and pressed against his bare chest, her body needing more—so much more…