Haleigh’s Ink Book Trailer and GIVEAWAY

It’s almost here! Haleigh’s Ink releases on Feb. 28^th and I can’t FREAKING wait. It’s the 2^nd book in the Members Only Series and the third to release (seriously long story) and the premise behind this book is unbelievably special to me.

It’s written in honor of my best friend’s mom who lost her battle with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in 2012.

The story is personal, and sweet, and rough and real and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

In honor of it almost being out I’ve made a book trailer and it’s up on YouTube. Yea! Here’s the link…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRWH9NaR-mY

And yes I did mention a giveaway! I’m going to be giving away one shiny new e-copy of Haleigh’s Ink to a lucky poster and you have two chances to enter. All you have to do is post a comment on the video’s YouTube page to enter, and for a second entry leave a comment below and tell me what part of the video you liked the best!!

Hope you fall in love with Haleigh, Scott and Kyle and the rest of the crew at The Library. There’s a little piece of me in each of them. ***GRINS***

Members Only, Book Two

Ink.

A three-lettered word that means different things to many people. Pictures and words that might stand as a reminder of love, loss, rebellion, or camaraderie. For Haleigh Grace, it meant freedom.

Walking through the doors of the tattoo parlor, Inkfluence, marked the start of taking her life back. Making it what she wanted it to be. No one was going to tell her she couldn’t. Not ever again.

Little did she know that behind those doors stood Kyle Muse. He was her best friend, who had walked away years ago without a backwards glance. The one man she fantasized would someday be her knight in shining armor. The one she saved herself for.

But, he has a knight of his own. Tall, dark, and dangerously sexy, Scott Preston. The owner of the very shop Haleigh has an appointment with at midnight.

Feelings long buried rise to the surface and the three find themselves bound by more than just ink…

A Romantica® ménage BDSM erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Buy Links:
Ellora’s Cave – https://www.ellorascave.com/haleigh-s-ink.html
Members Only, Book One – Together in Cyn
Members Only, Book Three – A Very Ménage Christmas

Jennifer Kacey is a wife, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

Hello Readers!

Thanks so much to Delilah for hosting me. I love dropping by her blog and chatting it up with the readers here! I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been so wrapped up in watching the Olympics that I’ve let so many things sort of sneak up on me. The laundry—that might be the worst one yet. I’m pretty sure it’s about to grow legs and attack me… If I don’t show up to chat in the comments, send help. I’ve probably been drug off under the bed by a ferocious pair of yoga pants.

Sometimes the best things in life happen when we aren’t paying attention or looking for them. This last week I got some good news I wasn’t expecting. I met my boyfriend when I’d just decided to remain single. I got the phone call of a lifetime when I was looking for a reason to procrastinate. All sorts of things happen when you just don’t think anything of note is going to crop up in the next couple of days.

I think my favorite stories of how my friends have met their significant others go much the same way. They were out for groceries for a girl’s weekend and bumped buggies with this cute, geeky guy. They were focused on getting this great part in a community play and wound up practicing their lines to the man they’d marry. They were broken down on the side of the road and a really cute girl stopped in her pick-up truck and jack. Yes, all of those are real life stories. And I love them for their quirkiness, the uniqueness of how unexpected they are.

Sometimes it’s a little hard for me to decide how to—ah—encourage my hero and heroines into meeting. I don’t want things to be unbelievable, but the stories of happenstance are just the ones that tug at my heart.

I love books with meet cutes that make me laugh. I think Victoria Dahl takes the cake with that one. If you haven’t read her books, I highly suggest them. I really dig the powerful, immediate connection Nalini Singh’s changelings have. Then there are the instances where the characters lay eyes on each other and someone’s man/lady bits start doing funny things. I’m a fan of the show, Millionaire Matchmaker, and she calls that reaction your “picker”.

Some people have a pretty accurate picker, and some people just pick the wrong. That’s where a lot of the bad boy tropes come in. A girl just has to pick the one bad guy out of the bunch… until the bad guy she picks turns out to be a good one in disguise. I’ve never had a particularly good picker myself, so I empathize with my fellow poor-pickers. I like to chalk it up to interesting life experiences to fuel writing.

I’m giving away a copy of my latest release, Picture Her Bound, to someone who can either a) recommend a book with a really great meet-cute or b) share a story about how they met a significant other.

I’ll share my story first!

Christmas 2012 I was bound and determined to stay single. I went to a Christmas party where my friends wanted to introduce me to a couple single guy friends. I thanked them, but I was both newly out of a relationship and healing from surgery, so really uninterested. They made the introductions anyways. I shook my current boyfriend’s hand, said hello and walked away as fast as I could. I knew he was trouble—and I was right. But I kind of like his trouble, so we get along just fine.

Picture Her Bound, Bayou Bound 1

Officer Odalia Foucheaux is a desperate woman. Incriminating photographs of her after-hours job as a fetish model have been stolen, and she’s willing to break rules to get them back. Standing in her way? The very dominant bounty hunter Jacques Savoy.

Jacques has been watching out for Officer Foucheaux. He wants her safe from harm as much as he desires her body, her soul—and her submission. Odalia’s in trouble and struggling to walk the line of the law. His solution? Work together to find out who stole her pictures, what the thief wants and how to stop him. And if they find a pleasure unlike any other along the way, well, laissez les bons temps rouler.

Let the good times roll. Read the rest of this entry »

Olympic Obsessed

Hello, my name is Sharon Cullen and I am addicted to the Olympics.

Summer, winter, it doesn’t matter to me. I love everything about it from the pageantry of the opening ceremony, to the bittersweet closing ceremony. You’ll find me attached to the TV during the whole thing.

My youngest daughter, who isn’t as Olympic obsessed as her older sister or me, asked me why I love the Olympics so much. I thought about that for a minute then realized its because I love seeing the athletes realize their dream. I love seeing their stunned excitement when they win a medal. I’m so proud for them and of them.

I love seeing their excitement, their anticipation, the stars in their eyes. These athletes are kids. Some of them the same age as my kids. How utterly cool is that, to be on the world stage due to your hard work and dedication?

The stories about the athletes are also one of my favorite things. They are poignant and inspiring. It makes me want to go workout at the gym. LOL. Or at the very least to get my butt off the couch and do something that makes a difference.

My favorite event is probably the downhill and followed in no certain order by snowboarding, moguls, luge and bobsled.

So, do you watch the Olympics? If so, what are your favorite events?

About Sharon:

Sharon Cullen is the author of the historical romance, The Notorious Lady Anne, Loving the Earl and Pleasing the Pirate. She’s also published in romantic suspense, paranormal romance and contemporary romance.

Her other job descriptions include chauffer, laundress, cook and mediator to her three very busy kids, her husband and two dogs. She lives in southwest Ohio with her brood although her dream is to someday retire to St. Maarten and live on the beach.

If you’d like to find out more about Sharon and her books, you can visit her website. She’s addicted to social networking so you can find her on Facebook and Twitter. Friend her! Like her! Follow her! She’d love to hang out with you and talk about her passion—books.

Two hearts are wrenched between love and duty in Sharon Cullen’s tale of a ruthless pirate and the Scottish lass who fills him with desire for something greater than plunder.

With her clan’s crops burned and their property confiscated, Mairi McFadden is desperate to free her brother from imprisonment so that he can take his rightful place as chief. Her only hope is the fierce English pirate Phin Lockwood, but the buccaneer laughs at her meager funds. His roving eyes, however, tell Mairi there’s something else he’ll take in exchange for her brother’s rescue. Though she burns with hatred for the English, she’ll do anything to save her clan.

The crown has made it clear that Phin has two choices: bring in a certain Scottish traitor or hang. And he’s not about to let a tiny, whiskey-eyed woman get in his way, even if she is pointing a gun at him. When Phin learns that Mairi’s brother is the very man he seeks, he’s more than willing to use the lass as bait. But as the moment of capture draws near, Phin is surprised by his feelings for the courageous beauty who has him considering risking his life—for someone besides himself.

Buy Links:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Random House

Where to find Sharon:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-Cullen-Author/243329341691
Twitter – https://twitter.com/SharonCullen
Website – https://sharoncullen.net/

The Rebel, The Soldier, and The Investigative Reporter…

No, they don’t walk into a bar. Wait… Do they? No. I don’t think they do. Sorry. I digress. The rebel, the soldier, or the investigative reporter, which would you fall for? Rebels are sexy because they’re standing up for a cause. They’re willing to fight the status quo to bring about change. The solider is a natural protector. They put their lives on the line every day to protect our freedoms. And the investigative reporter is determined to learn the truth. They feel the need to shine a light on the dark areas that both groups want to keep hidden. So which is it?

That’s where I was when I started writing Hostile Intent. The heroine is a soldier. She’s a fighter pilot who has complete faith in her military and her missions. But she’s been in a long-term, not-quite-but-almost relationship with Michael, the investigative reporter of this equation. It was a relationship built on a mutually beneficial exchange of information. Through the years, however, it’s grown into something she’s not ready to deal with. And when an under-cover rebel, Sans, gets thrown into the mix the unlikely tri has to chart their own course.

So would you choose? Why not come check out Hostile Intent and fall for all three?

Universal Defiance, Book Four

A few hours of passionate, meaningless sex is all Renee needs to take the edge off before her next reconnaissance mission. And the dangerously handsome stranger she meets on the space station docks is more than happy to give it to her.

But her quickie turns out to be a Coalition soldier who’s been ordered to kidnap her. Adam has no idea how tempting his new mission will be or how quickly his intended victim will work her way under his skin. And when someone tries to kill her, he must decide where his loyalties lie.

If they’re going to survive, they’ll need help from Renee’s longtime lover. As an investigative reporter, Michael has the contacts and access to information they need. He also has a raw sexual chemistry with women and men alike, and Adam can’t resist.

Inside Scoop: This ménage features some scorching male-male action.

A Romantica® sci-fi erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Want to know more? You can read an excerpt on the Ellora’s Cave website, or  download a sample on the Amazon page.

Hi Delilah! I want to ask you and your readers–Are you a fan of the Fated Mates trope?

Mostly, I am.

I adored, adored, adored the book The Time Traveler’s Wife, and while not strictly a “fated mates” story, the way Henry and Claire’s lives crisscrossed in time gave it that feel. It’s not a romance novel, but it is one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read.

One of my all-time favorite paranormal romances, with one of most memorable openings, is A Hunger Like No Other, the first book in Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series.  In the first scene, the werewolf hero, who has been chained up and burning in a magical fire for something like two hundred years, smells his mate above ground on the streets of Paris and finally finds the strength to break free.  There are a lot of great, fun, sexy moments in that book—an ideal fated mates story, in my mind.

Obviously, the rules of paranormal worlds vary a lot, and they change the dynamic of the fated mates trope quite a bit. Do you they only ever get one mate? How do characters physically react to meeting their mate?  Can a person find happiness apart from the mate?  Only reproduce with their mate?

These can be some of my favorite romances, or some of my least favorite.  Sometimes the rules of the world constrain the romantic relationship in my mind—this happens sometimes in sequels, when the world was built around the first book and the subsequent conflicts fall short.

In a way, a fated mates story grants the characters the same knowledge every romance reader already assumes: these characters MUST end up together.  Sometimes this works brilliantly, as the characters rail against their fate or one determines to sway or seduce the other.

The fated mates trope does go well with another of my favorites, enemies to lovers.  Cole as lots of these in the Immortals After Dark series. And my new release, Blood Reunited (Book Three in the Blood Vine series) is also one of these stories.

I honestly didn’t understand romance tropes well enough to know what I was doing when I first conceived of the premise of this book years ago, though now I see I stumbled upon a great set-up.  I had invented a brash ancient female vampire as a secondary character, and also made one of my vampire patriarch’s sons a vampire halfling without entirely figuring how one becomes a halfling.  All I knew was he was old and he drank bourbon, not blood.

Holy cow.  This parenthetical note turned out to be a whole paragraph: (I expect half of the writers reading this blog will have a heart attack to hear me say I write this haphazardly, and the other half will nod knowingly and feel solidarity.  It works for me. I write myself into a puzzle, or a corner, and storytelling my way out of it is the source of a lot of my creativity.  I don’t think I could publish a serial like Suzanne has, because my writing style requires a lot of mid-story revisions.)

In the epilogue of Blood Vine, when my brash vampire-ess sent a message to the Kastel Estate Winery, Bel was less than pleased to hear from her.  I didn’t know why, so I had to investigate, and what I learned made me cackle with the kind of sadistic glee only authors feel toward their characters (you know, that peculiarly loving kind of sadism, because WE know what’s best for them).

Vampire biologist Bel had been investigating the mystery of his existence for his whole life. Vampires can’t have babies, so how the hell was he conceived?  The answer lies in an ancient and secret method which Uta helped his mother undertake.  What Uta did not know was that her help would cause a blood bond between she and the baby, making them mates, fated to love one another without any choice in the matter.

Uta feels guilty, Bel feels trapped.  Deeper than that, they love each other in every cell.  He is stubborn, brooding, and determined to use his scientific expertise to free them from the bond, once he’s saved all the vampires from wasting disease.  She is stubborn too, and her brashness covers an Atlas-like sense of responsibility for all that’s wrong with the world. And truly, I’ve never had more fun writing than with this story of these enemies and fated mates wading through the secrets of their past and working together to save the vampire world.

Blood Reunited: Book Three in the Blood Vine Series.

Brooding vampire halfling and biologist Bel Maras is determined to create a cure for the wasting disease that plagues his vampire family. His work becomes essential as the Hunters intensify their global and bloody campaign. When Bel’s cure fails, only his ancient and estranged godmother Uta Ilirije can help. But seeing the ice-cold Uta reveals something shocking–she is his bonded mate. Read the rest of this entry »

There are times that, for no good reason, I decide to write a little story. It niggles and picks away at my brain until finally I just write it down and get it out. I thought that while I was visiting today I would share my latest little story with you.

****

It’s not every year that your boyfriend picks you up in front of your house in a horse drawn carriage. I nearly fell over. I was expecting nothing more than a dinner and a little late night romance to fill the rest of the evening. But we rode cuddled together. The snow was lightly falling and I was glad we had a blanket to cuddle under.

We headed to a very nice restaurant. I ordered a tender filet mignon lightly seasoned with salt and pepper accompanied by a colorful medley of mixed vegetables. Even though he loves seafood my boyfriend decided that he would be kind enough to sustain tonight. He knew that I didn’t care for the smell and even kissing him after would cause my allergies to flare.

For some reason he started acting a little ‘squirrelly’, which wasn’t totally off for him, but he normally didn’t act like this in public. His hands were nervously wringing and he kept looking over his shoulder. He caught the eye of the piano player and they both nodded, I was just a tad confused. But when our song started playing I knew something was up. I turned back to my boyfriend and smiled.

The next thing I knew he was down on one knee. “The first time I looked at you from across the crowded classroom, I knew I was in love. You had your hair held back with a pen, and you were scribbling notes in your notebook. I knew right then that you were the girl I was going to marry. So baby, please make my dreams and wishes come true and be my wife.”

Tears streamed down my face and I choked back a sob. “Of course I’ll marry you you fool. Now get up and kiss me,” and boy did he ever. We didn’t even hear the patron’s light applause as we kissed. After time started again, he and I sat down and the waiter brought over a molten chocolate cake, the cake of love, because I LOVE chocolate.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do to beat that Valentine’s Day gift this year; I think I might get him a t-shirt. I’ll never match that.

****

OK, I know it’s a little corny, but I couldn’t help it. If you’d be interested in reading something of mine that has a little more spice in it than that, today is your lucky day. If you stop by my publisher, you can get your very own copy of my book Forgiveness for FREE! What a great Valentine’s Day present to me that they gave me the opportunity to share my story with you. (https://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=136)

Here’s a brief excerpt for your reading pleasure…

It seemed more and more lately that no matter how hard she tried, he looked right through her. It was infuriating and heart breaking. She’d had enough heartbreak during the past year to last her a lifetime. Her mother had been sick battling cancer all last year. Unfortunately she’d lost the battle. She’d made sure to pass on information to Mary while on her deathbed though.

Something Mary had never seen coming. She was adopted. Her world felt as if she had lost all control.

The adoption information that her mother had left with her will quickly found its way into the trash. Why would she want to find someone who didn’t want her? She had enough instances of that in her own home. She did wonder, after a year, if she had reacted too rashly. You never know when you’ll need family, and if she met her biological mother maybe she could figure out who she was, inside and out.

Mary plopped herself on the bed and let out a huge rush of air. There was no way Joe hadn’t noticed her outfit. She had bought it specifically for their ten-year anniversary night.

She remembered how she had anxiously awaited this evening and decided that she would make it perfect no matter how she was feeling. Every year on this day, they left the house at four twenty five and drove to the lake where he had romantically declared his undying love and proposed to her. He always hired a horse drawn carriage. The prancing steed would take them from the lake to a lovely candlelit dinner for two. After having one too many glasses of wine and a wonderful meal, they would enjoy a leisurely stroll to the theater. Wicked was currently playing on Broadway, and she couldn’t wait to hear the music that made her soul dance and her heart soar. Re-reading the book several times had her excited, and she knew the night would be perfect.

Then reality reared its ugly head.

Carefully she unlaced her corset and tossed the silky white thong in the corner; it still held the dampness from her unquenched desire.

“I can’t believe I wasted my time and effort on this. Sometimes my husband is such a jerk.” When she took a look around it dawned on her that she was talking to herself. Another deep breath and swish of hair and she mused, “I guess it’s okay to talk to myself as long as I don’t answer back, huh CC?”

She slipped her silk robe on quickly and snatched the cat from his slumberous repose. He squirmed to free himself but Mary kissed his little nose first. “Don’t be like your daddy, at least notice I’m here.” She placed the cat gently on the bed and started her morning ritual. Getting ready for work was the last thing she was interested in.

****

I’d love to talk to you all on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ajbestwrites
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ajbestwrites
Web: www.ajbestwrites.com
Email: ajbestwrites@gmail.com

Thanks, Delilah, for the opportunity to come say hi on your blog!

As a native Angeleno, I spend an awful lot of time in my car. The other day as I was driving home late from work, I found myself engaging in unexpected and somewhat inappropriate behavior, especially for someone stuck in L.A. traffic.

I was enjoying myself.

For some reason, the sunset sky was extra beautiful that evening. Pink clouds lashed with deep purple drifted west toward the horizon and the light that shone through my windshield was golden. If there hadn’t been all that traffic, I would’ve been content to speed right past all that beauty without looking up.

Second, a really good song came up on the radio. It was Dierks Bentley’s “Come a Little Closer,” a sexy country song about making amends. Here are some of the lyrics.

Come a little closer, baby
I feel like layin’ you down
On a bed sweet surrender
Where we can work it all out

There, in the middle of rush hour gridlock, I found myself actually smiling. The song reminded me of Cowboy Cocktail, a story I had just finished about two broken-hearted people trying to put themselves back together. Wanda is a busy single mom and Tom, the owner of the local cowboy bar, is her ex-husband’s brother. The attraction they feel is complex, forbidden, and hotter than a blast furnace.

Music is important to me when I write, so for fun, I’ve compiled a short list of sweet, mellow songs that I like to listen to when I’m working on a cowboy romance. Pour yourself a cowboy cocktail—which I’ve been told is whiskey and soda, hold the soda—and turn up the volume. You’ll be smiling in no time, I promise!

1. “Come a Little Closer,” Dierks Bentley
2. “When You Say Nothing at All,” Keith Whitley
3. “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” Dwight Yoakam
4. “Here Comes the Rain,” The Mavericks
5. “Always on My Mind,” Willie Nelson
6. “The Grass is Blue,” Dolly Parton
7. “Springsteen,” Eric Church
8. “Gettin’ You Home,” Chris Young
9. “Remember When,” Alan Jackson
10. “Neon Moon,” Brooks & Dunn

I’d like to give away an ebook copy of Cowboy Cocktail to a random commenter below. Please answer this question: What music do you listen to when you unwind?

Here’s an excerpt from Cowboy Cocktail by Mia Hopkins, available now on Amazon.com. Connect with her at her blog, miahopkins.blogspot.com.

Wanda always assumed that Tom had been sleeping in the back room of the Silver Spur among the empty kegs and stacks of bar towels. As she sat at his table, she looked around in awe. With its wood paneling, recessed lighting, and thick oriental floor rugs, his bachelor pad was downright classy.

“How do you like you eggs?” he called from the kitchen.

Fertilized, she thought. Then she shook her head. That’s Tom, you pervert. Cut it out.

“Scrambled is fine,” she said.

“You sure? I can do all the fancy eggs, no problem.”

“I like ‘em scrambled. Save your fancy eggs for the fancy ladies.”

She stood up and walked around the clean, cozy living room. Tom had thrown his cowboy hat on a sofa of caramel leather. The sofa sat alongside a matching armchair draped with a wool Navajo blanket and lit with a copper reading lamp. A huge wooden shelf filled with books stood behind the chair. There was a brand new flatscreen TV on one wall, which Wanda had expected to see, and a happy, healthy houseplant on the coffee table, which she hadn’t.

Wanda sat back down, deeply impressed. The smell of cooking bacon wafted out of the kitchen and completed the effect: this man had his shit together.

Tom came out of the kitchen and set the plates down in front of her. He went back into the kitchen and brought out silverware, napkins, and two glasses of orange juice. Before he sat down, he poured a little ketchup heart on her eggs with a squeeze bottle.

“There you go,” he said. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Aw,” she said, smiling. “Is this what all your fancy ladies get in the morning?”

He took his seat and waggled his eyebrows at her. “Sure. But they get something else first.”

She swatted him with the back of her hand, then picked up her fork and took a bite, feeling the warmth spread through her body from the inside out. She hadn’t been up past midnight in a long time and having a late-night meal felt oddly like naughtiness. She looked up at Tom, who to her surprise was looking at her.

“What?” she asked, automatically wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me,” she said.

He leaned forward. She blinked slowly, trying not to ogle the long line of his broad back. “Why do you waste your time with ridiculous men?” he asked.

“You mean like your brother?”

“Yeah. Like Sean.”

“Well,” she said, frowning. “I didn’t know Sean was ridiculous until much, much later.” She cleared her throat, dislodging all the insults she usually kept in reserve for her ex-husband and swallowing them down for now. “But that other guy, today,” she said with a sigh, “I suppose I knew he was ridiculous from the start.”

“Then why waste your time?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

It was Tom’s turn to blink. He shook his head slowly and slid his eyes over her. Suddenly feeling naked, she reached down and tugged the hem of her dress down over her thighs. Her skin tingled warmly against the touch of her own hand. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly gone dry.

“The hell you say?” Tom said softly. “You’re certifiable. There’s nowhere on this green earth you’d be classified a beggar, woman.”

“So…what am I?” she said. “A chooser? I don’t seem to have chosen this life, Tom.”

“Maybe not. But you’ve risen to it.”

She frowned. “Then I’m a…”

“Riser.”

Wanda considered it. “I like that. A riser.”

“Yep,” he said, “and you sure as hell get a rise out of me.”

She froze mid-bite and put her fork down slowly. She looked up at him and didn’t flinch, even though her knees were trembling under the table. It had been a year and a half since she’d slept with Sean. Her body was betraying her, getting fired up over Tom—Tom, whom she’d known forever, her ex-husband’s brother. Tom, who hadn’t touched her or even made a pass at her.

Or had he?

She took a breath and broke eye contact, pushing her chair away from the table. “I’d better go,” she said, standing up. Her brain was mighty proud of itself, but her body was furious, throbbing for contact and release.

Tom was quick. He took her forearm; his grip was warm and firm. She gasped but didn’t pull away.

“Fucking hell,” he whispered, closing his eyes. The pain in his face mirrored the deep ache in her bones. He lifted her hand to his mouth and traced his lips slowly across her palm. With incredible gentleness, he pulled her arm toward him and pressed a warm kiss to the pulse on her wrist, his breath washing over the delicate skin and casting a spell as bottomless and dark as shame.

She stared at him, awestruck. He opened his eyes and seared her with irises the color of a high sierra lake.

“Tell me I’m not crazy, Wanda,” he rasped. “I want you so bad I can’t breathe.”

She was so close to him she could smell the musk of his skin, a combination of aftershave, laundry detergent, and clean sweat that suddenly made her tongue ache to know what he tasted like.

When she pulled her hand out of his grasp, she could almost feel his heart collapse in his chest. His guilt was palpable.

“Jesus Christ,” he murmured. “I’m sorry, Wanda. I didn’t mean to—“

Before he could finish the sentence, and before she could second-guess herself, she stepped into the space between his legs, put her hands on his rigid shoulders, and pressed her lips to his.