Excerpt from Taken | Excerpt from Say Yes

Excerpt from Taken

The heat swelled within him until he thought he’d explode, with lust. This wasn’t what he’d expected, wasn’t what he’d planned on. Her nipples stiffened under the gentle abrasion of his rough fingertips and Virginia groaned, thrilling him, turning him inside out with need. She twined her fingers in his hair and said with a touch of desperation, “Please.”

Dillon felt the silky smooth, pliant flesh of her breast, heard her choppy breathing and soft plea, and he forgot his purpose. He forgot that he had ulterior motives, that he wasn’t actually attracted to this woman.

“Dillon…”

“Shh. It’s all right, honey.” And it was, better than all right. It was incredible.

He pushed her coat farther out of his way and shoved her blouse higher. Her breast, full and firm and heavy, nestled against his palm, and more than anything, he wanted her naked. He wanted to see the color of her nipples by the scant moonlight coming through the windshield, to see the pleasure in her exotic hazel eyes, eyes that were usually hard with determination and arrogance but now were soft with pleasure and desire. For him.

He pressed open-mouth kisses to the smooth skin of her throat and breathed in her unique scent. He’d never noticed before that she had a unique scent. He’d never noticed how sexy she was, or imagined how hotly she would respond to his touch. She gasped and he whispered to her, soothing her as his fingers plucked at her nipple, rolling and teasing. As her entire body trembled with need, she moaned and he wanted to moan, too. This wasn’t right, but it felt too damned right.

What had started out as necessary seduction now seemed amazingly like blind sexual need. There was no way he could deny his enjoyment of this little rendezvous, or the way his blood surged through his body to settle into an insistent throb in his groin. He was as hard as stone, hurting with it, and Virginia was far too astute not to notice.

The car was cramped, but it didn’t matter, and even though it was a miserably cold night, they were cozy, sharing the warmth of the heater and their combined sexual heat as the wind whistled around them. He knew that inside the mansion, the party was still going full blast. Lights shone from every window, sparkling across the snow-covered lawn, and the rumble of music drifted on the air. What he did, and where he did it, was dangerous, but he finally had her alone and he wasn’t about to lose ground. He needed to push forward; too much time had been lost already.

For thirty-six years he’d been a mean, determined bastard - traits his father had instilled in him, insisted upon. He never forgot his purpose, never wavered from his course. Tonight, though, right this minute, he couldn’t seem to force the plan to remain uppermost in his mind.

He wanted Virginia lying naked on the narrow seat, wanted to fit himself between her plump thighs and slide deep, deep inside her. He wanted to ride her hard until she made those sweet little sounds again, until she begged him to give her what she needed.

“Dillon, wait.”

Her tone wasn’t authoritative now. It didn’t carry the sharp cut of command it normally did. Instead, her voice was low, overcome with need, and purely feminine. As a man, he relished the thought of proper balance with this particular woman who didn’t act the way he expected a woman to act, the way he needed her to act.

She whispered his name again, and when he ignored her, she tightened her strong fingers in his hair. Taking her reaction as one of encouragement, he worked her bra aside, nuzzling with his lips. Her breasts were extremely sensitive and he liked that. He imagined how it would be to make love to her, to find all her sensitive places with his hands, his mouth, his tongue and teeth. He wanted to taste her, to draw her deep into the heat of his mouth, to suck her gently and then not so gently devour her.

He smoothed a hand over her soft, slightly rounded belly and heard her sharp groan. He needed to touch her, all of her. His fingers pressed lower, slipping between her thighs, seeking, provoking, feeling the throbbing heat.

Suddenly, she jerked away. “Dillon, no.”

He heard her gasping, heard the trembling in her tone. She pressed her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

Reality started to nudge his lust-fogged brain. She couldn’t do this? He was the one who’d been forcing himself for the sake of his plan - at first. His sole purpose in coming to Delaport City, Ohio, had been to seduce her, and in the process gain answers. Reluctance was in no way the proper response from her to his lovemaking. In fact, it was so far out of line with his original intention that he scowled. “Virginia…”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, this isn’t right. Hiding out here with you as if I’m ashamed. I shouldn’t treat you so shabbily. Just because you work for the company and I have the authority to fire you, doesn’t give me the right to treat you with less than full respect.”

As she spoke, her voice gathered strength and she straightened her silk blouse, pulling it down over her breasts. He tried his damnedest to catch a glimpse of that taunting nipple he’d wanted so badly to taste.

Then it sank in. She thought she was treating him badly because they were sneaking? They had to sneak, or his plan would never work.

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Excerpt from Say Yes

It was the loud, shrill scream of rage that drew Gavin Blake’s attention, along with the frantic shrieks that followed. Gavin stared down the middle of the narrow street, blinking hard to make certain he wasn’t hallucinating. But no. There was his usually calm, very friendly neighbor Sara Simmons, her dark curly hair bouncing out behind her as she ran hell-bent after Karen, his used-to-be girlfriend. He hadn’t seen Karen in months, not since their breakup, and the sight of her now wasn’t what fascinated him. No, it was gentle, sweet, passive Sara - who at the moment held a rake which she wielded with all the force and efficiency of a massive war club. And each time she swung it, punctuating her efforts with low, threatening growls, Karen wailed in fear.

A disbelieving smile twitched on his mouth as he heard Sara issue a rather lurid, improbable threat. So far as Gavin could tell, Sara hadn’t even touched Karen yet, but it was a close thing. Karen’s shirt was open, but her efforts were all centered on escaping the woman bent on retribution, not on covering her half-naked chest. As they neared the entrance to the garage where Gavin stood, he tried to get himself out of the way. But Karen made eye contact, and evidently, even though they were no longer involved, she decided he might be her savior.

Hah! Sara behaved very much like a woman scorned - or a woman who had caught her fiancé intimately involved with another woman. And knowing Karen as he did, that assumption wasn’t unrealistic. He’d learned some time ago that Karen would never be a faithful, devoted, loving partner. Which was why he’d ended the relationship and sent her on her way months ago.

But as the two women ran straight for him and he saw the fury - and the hurt - in Sara’s eyes, Gavin knew for a certainty Karen had been up to her old tricks. He decided to stay out of the matter and let Sara do her worst, knowing she wouldn’t actually hurt Karen. But the women had other ideas.

They tried to use him as a maypole.

He dropped the file he’d been holding and saw the approved plans for another subdivision scatter across the garage floor. He struggled to maintain his balance with Karen trying to shield herself behind him and Sara trying to go straight through him. He bent to retrieve a floor plan being mangled under furious feminine feet and was promptly shoved away and onto his backside. Having just come from the office, he was unfortunately wearing dress pants. He started to grumble, but then Karen made a dive for the house, and Sara followed, climbing right over the top of him.

There was another loud screech, and Gavin couldn’t help but grin. He’d known since first meeting Sara that she was a passionate little thing, filled with energy and an abundance of emotion. But this was the first time he’d seen that emotion really set free. The jerk she’d planned to marry would never have made her happy. Gavin supposed, in a way, he owed Karen his thanks for showing Sara just how big a jerk Ted really was.

Then he heard the sound of breaking glass and decided he’d have to intervene after all. Knowing Sara, and he’d come to know her very well since she’d moved into one of the houses he built, she’d hate her loss of control once she calmed down.

He wondered briefly if she’d allow him to console her.

Coming up behind Sara, he was just in time to duck the rake as she took another swipe at the cowered, screeching Karen. Gavin snatched it out of her hands, and when she rounded on him, he pulled her close in a careful bear hug. “Just calm down, honey.”

He tried to keep the satisfaction and good humor out of his tone. Little by little, the enormity of the situation was sinking in, and he was starting to feel damn good. He’d now see the end of Sara’s fiancé - and without a guilty conscience. He’d held back, keeping his personal interest to himself, unwilling to involve himself in a set relationship, even though he knew the relationship was doomed. Sara was much too good for Ted, she just hadn’t seemed to realize it.

But with these new crimes against him, Sara would surely send Ted packing. Finally, they would both be free of ties, and he’d be able to pursue her the way he wanted to.

Sara growled, and he had to admit, the menacing sound was very effective. “Let me go, Gavin.”

No way. She felt damn good in his arms, too good. He looked down at her rigid expression, her bright eyes, and had to fight to keep from kissing her. This was the first time he’d ever been able to actually hold her, and he liked it - a lot. She growled again and he saw that slightly crooked front tooth, the one that always taunted him, made him want to touch it with his tongue. He tightened his hold just a bit more, relishing the feel of her small body tucked up against his, and breathed in her gentle fragrance. Sara always smelled of sunshine and softness and woman. He lowered his mouth to her ear.

“I think you’ve made your point, honey. Karen understands the error of her ways.”

She struggled in his arms. “You don’t know what they…They were in my house, in my bed!”

He did know. The house meant everything to Sara, but very little to Ted. In fact, Sara had bought the place herself, no small feat for a woman alone with a moderate income. And not a day went by that she didn’t tell him what a wonderful job he’d done building that house. She made him feel as if he’d given her the moon.

“It won’t happen again, Sara. I promise.”

He had a hell of a time controlling his elation. And when Sara peeked up at him with energy and emotion blazing in her eyes, he couldn’t help himself. He smiled.

Very slowly she looked around. A lamp lay broken on the floor and Gavin saw her wince. When her gaze landed on the shattered picture, she closed her eyes as if in pain. Color flooded her smooth cheeks.

Behind him, he heard the sounds of Karen slinking away. No doubt she planned to make a strategic retreat. Gavin ignored her. In the three months she’d been gone, he hadn’t missed her once. “Sara? Are you okay now?”

“Let me go.”

Cautiously, making certain she wouldn’t bolt after Karen again, Gavin lowered his arms. She stood there, her eyes still closed, her cheeks pulsing with heat. She said in a strangled whisper, “I’m sorry.”

Gavin touched her cheek, swamped with tenderness and a real healthy dose of desire. “Hey, don’t be sorry about it. After a boring day in the office, I needed a little excitement.”

She drew in a long, slow breath, then opened her eyes, but didn’t look at him. Instead she surveyed the damage. “I didn’t mean to break anything.”

“Karen would probably disagree.”

Her gaze shot to his face and her hands curled into fists. “I don’t want her anywhere near me ever again.”

She was such a ferocious, impassioned little thing when duly provoked. “Don’t worry. I think Karen has learned her lesson. Besides, I wasn’t the one who invited her here.”

She scowled. “No. Ted apparently did.”

“What will you do?” He was very curious, but he held no sympathy for Ted. In fact, he wanted to rub his hands in glee over Ted’s folly. The idiot.

Sara lifted her chin, then slowly stepped around the broken glass on the floor. “I’ll take care of Ted.” Gavin watched her stiff posture as she walked away, and he wondered if he should accompany her home so she wouldn’t have to face Ted alone. Then he thought better of it.

Ted didn’t stand a chance.

Besides, Sara was private, with a streak of dignity and pride a mile wide. She wouldn’t want an audience when she gave Ted the boot. At least he knew enough to realize how important old-fashioned values were to her. Possibly because they were important to him as well.

She’d talk to Ted, listen to his lame excuses, then toss him out on his miserable can. She’d be hurt for a while, but she’d get over it, just as she’d get over Ted. Gavin was willing to give her some time.

And then it was finally going to be his turn.            

HOUSE FOR SALE BY OWNER.
Stunned, Gavin slowed his truck until he came to a complete stop. Sara had been avoiding him. The friendly talks in the yard had ceased, as had her spontaneous visits to the construction sites. It used to be that Sara couldn’t keep away when she saw the crew working on another house on her street. She loved the process of seeing a house built, of everything coming together to make a home, almost as much as he did.

But lately, her pride and embarrassment had caused a wall he was damn tired of beating his head against.

And now she wanted to sell? Like hell.

Cursing to himself, he put the truck in Park and climbed out. He glared at the stormy, cloud-filled skies, then glared even harder at the For Sale sign. Stomping over to her yard, he ripped up the sign and threw it into the back of his truck, then brushed his hands off in show of satisfaction. Try to sell, would she? Without a single word, without giving him the chance he’d been waiting for? Ha!

He’d been patient too long, that was the problem. He had a plan, and it was time he put it into motion. He wanted Sara, had wanted her for a long time. And starting right now, he was done with waiting.

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