Snippet Saturday--Winter

I'm sorry I'm late. It's been a busy few days and I plum forgot about posting today! Duh!

The theme is 'Winter'. I hope you like this excerpt between Jonas and Deanna! :)

“Even though it’s winter and that dress is clearly not designed to keep a body warm, you sure are heating me up pretty damn fast.”

At his words, Deanna jumped and screamed. Jonas shot out of the chair and grabbed her by the shoulders in time to keep her from tumbling off the porch. “What the hell, Jonas? You scared the crap out of me!”

Feeling like an idiot, he mumbled, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She shoved out of his arms and slapped his chest. “Why are you lurking in the dark? Are you spying on me?”

Her eyes flashed fire and ice at the same time. How did she do that? It captivated the hell out of him. “Who’s spying? I just came for a friendly visit.”

“You know very well you’re spying.” She bit the words out between clenched teeth.

He leaned close, inhaling her floral scent. Lilacs. She always smelled like lilacs. Delicate and gentle. Two things Jonas didn’t know shit about. If he had any decency at all, he’d leave.

 

“A visit, Deanna.” He stepped back and let her pass. “I’m not allowed to visit?”

She pulled open the screen door and shoved her key into the dead bolt. “No, you aren’t. Now go away. I’m tired.”

Her voice had lowered to a quiet, husky tone. It snaked up Jonas’s chest like a caress. It pissed him off that she could get to him so easily. “Is that why you sent your date home? Because you’re tired?”

She pushed her door open, then turned to him. “That’s none of your business.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Go home, Jonas.”

Jonas closed the distance separating them. “Let me come inside, Deanna. We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t,” she gritted out, her voice not quite as steady as before. “You need to go home and I need to sleep.”

His temper flared. “Why won’t you give me the time of day?”

Deanna shook her head and looked away.

Jonas cupped her cheek and forced her back around. He wouldn’t let her hide from him. Not ever. “This isn’t all one-sided,” he whispered. “This desire, you feel it too. I know you do.”

On a sigh, Deanna closed her eyes tight. “Just because there’s an itch doesn’t mean we should scratch it.”

Damn, her skin was as soft as flower petals. He stroked his thumb over her lower lip and found it plump, inviting. His dick hardened beneath his jeans as he imagined those full pink lips wrapped snug around his cock.

“An itch, huh?” he growled. “Is that the way you see it?”

She opened her eyes and stared up at him. The angry glare she shot him wasn’t at all what he expected. “You had your chance once. You blew it.”

Genuinely confused, Jonas dropped his hand. “Chance? You’ve shot me down at every turn, Deanna.”

She squinted and pointed her finger at his chest. “You took my brother’s side.”

He shoved a hand through his hair and prayed for patience. “Wade?”

“Yes. At Gracie’s apartment. When we were there helping clean up the mess that freak left behind. You sided with Wade. Some stupid nonsense about the sister code. Remember?”

Ah, it was all coming together finally. Gracie had been a client of his and Wade’s investigation business, but she’d quickly become the love of Wade’s life. Unfortunately, she’d been having trouble with a deranged stalker. When the creep had broken into Gracie’s apartment and tore it all to hell, they’d all rallied together to help Gracie put things back in order. Once again, Jonas had seen a chance to ask Deanna out, but she’d shot him down. Then Dean and Wade, her two overprotective brothers, had gotten involved. Jonas and Wade were not only business partners but also friends—an annoying little fact that forced Jonas to back off in his pursuit.

“Wade is like a brother to me,” he explained, “and he reminded me of that. It’s not cool to chase after your friend’s baby sister, Deanna.”

She quirked a brow at him. “And yet here you are.”

“Yes, smart-ass, here I am,” he said softly. “I talked to Wade. He’s still not crazy about the fact that I’m hot for you, but he’s not going to stand in my way either.”

If anything, her frown turned darker. “You asked for his blessing?”

“Uh, something like that, yeah.”

“He’s not my father, Jonas. I’m a grown woman. Wade has no right to interfere in my personal life.”

“Right or wrong, Deanna, Wade will always look out for you. Dean, too, for that matter.”

She sighed. “And let me guess, Wade threatened to castrate you if you hurt me. Is that it?”

Jonas propped a fist against the doorjamb, then wrapped his other hand around her waist to keep her from bolting through the open door. “The last thing I want is to hurt you, Deanna.”

Deanna’s slender fingers gripped onto his forearm. “No,” she whispered, “you just want to get me into bed.”

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And check out these other winter excerpts!
Lauren Dane
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Selena Blake
Jody Wallace
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Alison Kent
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels




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Southern Comfort by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon

The talented writing duo Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon have a brand new book coming out. The latest in their Compass Brothers series, Southern Comfort releases TOMORROW, July 12! Isn't that a hot cover? This series is awesome, folks. You don't want to miss it. Here's the series page in case you haven't read the first one.

Caught between desire and a promise…

Compass Brothers, Book 2

Seth Compton knew from the first that his boss’s daughter was all wrong for him. She was too feisty, too damned independent and, at six years his junior, too damned young. When she comes home with a college diploma and fiancé on her arm, though, he can’t quite remember all the reasons he held her at arm’s length.

It’s not just his jeans-tightening reaction to her all-grown-up curves. Something doesn’t feel right about her impending marriage, and he won’t rest until he’s stopped her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

The morning after her wild bachelorette party, Jody expected a hangover. The surprise—waking up tied to a bed with sexy-as-sin Seth. He’s got some wild idea about proving they belong together, but she’s not buying it. Besides, she has a promise to keep that’s too close to her heart to risk, not with a man who, until now, made his disinterest plain.

No one ever said Seth backed down from a challenge. She’s going to make him work for it? No problem. Luckily for him, he has plenty of rope…

This story contains a bondage lovin’ cowboy who kidnaps and hogties a cowgirl to his bed and does all sorts of naughty things to her. Fun, right?

Excerpt:

“Welcome home, Jody.” He stepped forward and bent down to give her a hug. Her shoulder-length chestnut-brown hair smelled like honeysuckle. He had to force himself to keep the embrace quick and brotherly. His cock stirred, and he closed his eyes briefly, trying to ignore the usual arousal that accompanied her arrival. She was the boss’s daughter and even at twenty-one, she was too damn young for him.

She’d been a tomboyish twelve-year-old when he first came to work on the ranch and the other hands had given him shit when it became obvious the young girl had a crush on him. Her infatuation hadn’t abated until last Christmas, when he’d foolishly kissed her under the mistletoe and then shoved her away.

Since then, the easy camaraderie and innocent flirting they’d engaged in since her graduation from high school had evaporated. She’d only been home once since Christmas, but he could see in her face she was still angry with him. He was determined now that she was back to stay, he’d make things right again. He’d been thinking about her return a lot lately. Things were about to change between him and the little wildcat. He grinned at the thought.

“Thanks, Seth. Good to be back.”

“Didn’t get the impression you were staying,” Thomas muttered.

“Daddy. Don’t you think you were kind of rude to Paul?”

“Paul?” Seth asked.

“I mean we only just got here and told you our good news.”

Thomas frowned. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

Jody’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, it is. Didn’t you tell me you wanted me to find a nice man and settle down?”

“What the—” Seth crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly worried about the direction of this conversation. “You were pissed as shit when Thomas gave you that advice. Said women these days didn’t need a man to be happy and you didn’t plan to ever get hitched.” The fight she and her father had had at the end of last summer was epic. Seth had tried to stay out of it, mind his own business, but when Jody and Thomas went toe to toe, it was hard not to hear. Neither of them understood the concept of inside voices.

Jody glanced at him and gave him a small smile that seemed too sad to be genuine. “Turns out I was wrong.”

Seth fought to restrain a growl from escaping his chest. She’d brought home a man? Paul? Seth’s fists clenched at the thought. “How so?”

Thomas shrugged, the helpless gesture at odds with his legendary ability to handle anything. Of course, now that Seth thought about it, Jody was the exception to her father’s confident approach to life. Her mother had died when she was five, and Thomas had struggled to understand and raise his daughter since then.

Jody lifted her left hand, flashing a diamond the size of Dallas in his face. “I’m engaged.”

“The hell you are.” The words left Seth’s mouth before he could catch them. While Thomas laughed at his reply, he could see he’d sent Jody’s temper into orbit.

She retracted her hand and studied the ring, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Really? I’m not engaged? Because I think this ring and the fact Paul got down on one knee and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ sort of proves that I am.”

“Who the fuck is this Paul character?” Seth took two steps toward the main house, ready to confront the asshole who’d dared to propose without even bothering to meet her family first, but Jody stepped in front of him, stopping him.

“Back off, Seth. You know perfectly well who Paul is. He’s been my best friend since freshmen year of college.”

“That Paul? What the fuck? I thought he was gay. Hell, he spent his entire last visit here flirting with the ranch hands.”

Jody closed her eyes and took a deep breath. But long before a ten count, she replied, through gritted teeth, “Obviously, he’s not gay.”

“Since when?”

“Since he fucking proposed to me. Why am I even having this conversation? This is none of your damn business.”

He bent down until his face was mere inches from hers. “Is that right? Well, I beg to differ.”

She leaned closer, and he could detect the slight scent of chocolate on her breath. Jody clearly hadn’t lost her sweet tooth, though he was beginning to wonder where she’d misplaced her common sense. “You are not my boyfriend and you are not my brother. Hell, you’re not a part of this freaking family at all. You are my father’s foreman, which means my decision to get married is none of your damn business.”

He struggled to keep his hands on his hips, rather than reach over and prove to Miss Jody Kirkland how very wrong she was. His fingers were itching to take her over his knee and spank some sense into her.

She’d made herself his business the very first day he’d come to work here and she’d climbed atop Coy, her father’s newest addition to the stable. The far-from-tamed horse had taken exception to its rider and bolted across the yard, jumping a fence and sprinting across the lower pasture. Seth had chased her on Charlton for close to a mile before managing to catch up and pull the fool girl off the runaway roan.

He could still recall the way she’d trembled in his arms and looked at him like he’d hung the moon for rescuing her. By the time they’d returned to the stable, they were laughing like old friends and his position at the ranch had been solidified. As he looked into her blue eyes now, he missed the admiration and wished to hell he could get rid of the anger that had crept in instead.

“Jody,” Thomas broke in. “You know full well I consider Seth a part of this family. If he takes exception to your asinine engagement, then perhaps you should listen to why.”

Jody released a furious breath. “You can’t object to a man who’s been my friend for years.”

Seth leaned back a bit. “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that one minute the guy’s gay and the next he’s not?”

“He never said he was gay.”

“That’s not something we needed to be told. It was kind of obvious. Is he bi?” Seth could understand bisexuality. He’d seen glimpses of it in his older brother, Silas, when they were growing up and he suspected now that his brother was back home in Wyoming, Silas would be acting on some of the feelings he had for his best friend, Colby.

Jody sighed loudly. “No. He’s in love with me. Just me.”

Seth knocked his hat against his jeans in frustration. “Never heard you talk about him like he was your boyfriend. You were home for Easter, Jody, and you didn’t say one word about dating him. When did this so-called love affair start?”

“It turned into something more than friendship recently.”

He tried to beat down the twinge of jealousy that accompanied the thought of her being more than friends with any other man. She was right. He had no claim staked on her. But it sure as hell felt like he did. “So why the rush? If you’ve only started dating, I don’t see why—”

“Because I want to. I don’t need any more reason than that.”

“Just like that?” Seth tried to understand what the hell was going on inside her pretty head. The only thing missing from her haughty proclamation was for her to stamp her foot on the ground like a three-year-old. She wasn’t like this. She’d never been a spoiled girl, never been prone to temper tantrums or selfish demands. She’d been a fun-loving tomboy who’d grown into his laughing, easygoing friend. This angry woman was a stranger to him, and he missed the real Jody.

“That’s right. And we’re not waiting. We came home to have the ceremony performed here.”

“When exactly?”

Thomas cleared his throat. Bewilderment crossed his boss’s face. He was sure the same confusion resided on his. There would be no help from that camp. “They plan to bring the justice of the peace out to make it official here at the ranch in two weeks.”

Hell to the no! Seth would see her married to some stranger only over his dead body. He started to say exactly the same thing, but the argument that came out was much different than what he’d intended. “What about love, Jody? Do you love him?”

His softly spoken question seemed to jar her a bit and for just a second, he saw the trace of his old friend before she disappeared again behind the indifferent, cold woman who’d replaced her.

“What kind of question is that?”

Thomas leaned against the horse stall and crossed his arms over his chest. “A pretty valid one, if you ask me.”

Jody turned to look at her father and shook her head. “You two really are a matched set, you know that? Way to gang up on me.”

“Answer me, Jody,” Seth persisted. “Are you in love?”

She studied his face and a glimmer of pain shone in her eyes. Then she nodded, turned on her heel and walked out of the stable.

It wasn’t until she disappeared around the corner that it began to sink in. Seth had missed his chance with her. He’d pushed her away for too long.

“You realize you made a mistake there, right?” Thomas asked.

Seth nodded sadly. Mistake was putting it lightly. He’d fucked up. Big time. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

Thomas studied his face and then chuckled. “Think we’re talking about two different things. Of course, maybe not. She may be in love, son, but she didn’t say with who.”

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Cell Phones with Remote Start

So, today is usually my Thursday Thirteen, but I'd like to talk about cell phones instead.

Once upon a time, phones were used for talking. For instance, you could call your cousin who lives three states away and have a nice with her/him. Phones were used for emergencies. If your child fell and broke her/his leg you could call 911 and have an ambulance there in a jiffy. Then along came car phones. Remember the first ones? The big bulky black box and cord? Companies tweaked and tweaked until now we have a small device that fits in our palm. We can still call our cousins and dial 911, but that's minor compared to what else cell phones are used for.

For instance, you can download ebooks. Have a boring doctor's visit? Bring your phone and read the latest hot romance story instead of those boring outdated magazines doctor's offices always carry. You can connect to the internet and chat with your Facebook/Twitter buddies. You can search google and do some online shopping. Not sure where you are? Just bring up your navigations system on your phone and get directions in the blink of an eye. Is it cold outside and you don't want to trek out there to start your ice-covered car? Just press a button on your handy dandy cell phone and voila! The car starts all by itself!

As I was watching an ad for the latest and greatest Droid, I had to ask myself, 'what did we ever do without cell phones?'

So, I'm curious. What sort of phone do you have? My husband just got a Droid and he loves it. Hell, I love it! I want one! My phone is old and outdated and I'm ready for a new one. But I'm not sure which one to get. Any recommendations?

In other news--

Two fo my fellow International Heat authors have brand spankin' new releases today. Get over to Ellora's Cave and grab your copies!

Shifting Gears by Jayne Rylon is out:    http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8723-shifting-gears.aspx

&

Doing Logan by Rhian Cahill is out: 
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8774-doing-logan.aspx

Happy reading,

A Little Bit Naughty--out now!

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Shifting Gears by Jayne Rylon

Yay! It's Friday! Anyone have fun plans this weekend? I'm personally hoping to get caught up on some reading. I have two Lora Leigh books to read as well as "Crescendo" by Becca Fitzpatrick.

And now I have "Shifting Gears" by Jayne Rylon! It just released today and it looks like a scorcher!

Read Excerpt | Buy

From Jayne's website:

A standalone book in the Cougar Challenge series, this book picks up the story of Mark Rossi (introduced in Driven). Books in the Cougar Challenge series do not have to be read in order to be enjoyed.

Mark envies his friend Sebastian and the Cougar who tamed him. For years he’s had his eye on a sexy, older, married woman. Despite his and Bastian’s sexual adventures, he refuses to poach outside his steamy fantasies.

Sloan travels with the race car drivers as the league’s publicist. Living abroad can be lonely, especially when touring somewhere like China—where beautiful landscapes surround them but language and cultural barriers are high. Until she meets Lynn, who shares her love of erotic romances. In Lynn, she gains more than a friend because sexy-as-sin navigator Mark is never far from the Cougar and her fiancé, making Sloan wonder if it’s time rejoin the dating scene after a nasty divorce.

When Lynn notices the chemistry between Mark and Sloan, she issues the Cougar Challenge. Sloan never imagined she might grant her younger lover the strength to explore the sexual tension that has been building between him and his friend since their Cougars entered their lives.

Four friends, two couples, one night none of them will forget.

Reader Advisory: Novel contains a f/m/m/f ménage.

Read Excerpt | Buy

And now a few hunks. I told Lucy I'd offer dessert since I served up breakfast, lunch and dinner on Wednesday. So, here's dessert! Enjoy!

A Little Bit Naughty--out now!
http://annerainey.com