Anne Rainey: Tasting Candy

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Snippet Saturday--Fears

When I saw the theme today is 'fears' I knew I wanted to share an excerpt from Tasting Candy. Candice Warner was date-raped and as a result she has a major fear of men. In this scene, a couple of guys flirt with Candice, not realizing that their attention brings out her worst fears possible...in comes badass Blade Vaughn to the rescue. :)

In a few long strides, he yanked two of the huge men away from Candice. He slammed them both against the opposite wall, then glared at the third man, promising bodily harm if he so much as blinked. "You three hassling the lady?"

They all stammered at once. Blade was about to hit one of them when Lacey arrived. "Let them go, Blade," she pleaded, but he wasn’t in the mood to be accommodating. "It’s okay. I don’t think they meant any harm."

Blade wasn’t so sure. Keeping his eyes on the three idiots, he asked, "Candy, are you okay?"

"I-I’m fine." Candice’s reply was so small he barely heard her. He released the two Casanovas and watched as all three men hurried off. When he turned around, Candice was red as a beet and breathing erratically. Even more puzzling, his sister was helping her back toward the private workout room.

"Lacey?" he asked, feeling like an intruder. Lacey’s stern expression forced him to hold all his questions for later. A sense of helplessness settled in his stomach as he followed behind the two women, blocking curious patrons. He might not know Candice well, but he realized she was probably embarrassed. Candice was shy and she wouldn’t appreciate the gawking stares.

Once they were back in Lacey’s private workout area, Blade closed the door, effectively shutting out prying eyes. Lacey seated Candice against the wall on the floor, then ran to fetch a bottle of water.

Blade stood back, watchful and unsure what to do to make the shell-shocked expression on Candice’s delicate, oval face go away. She breathed easier, but now her cheeks were deathly pale. Her huge, dark blue eyes appeared to stare at nothing. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists. He was afraid she’d hurt herself if she continued to dig her fingernails into her palms.

What could the three men have done to make her panic? It didn’t appear as if they’d done anything more than talk to her. Hell, there hadn’t been time for more than that, but why would she get so upset over a little harmless flirting? Answers. Blade needed answers and he wouldn’t get them by playing guard duty.

He closed the distance between them. Candice blinked and stared up at him, then smiled. God, she was pretty when she did that. There was such a sweet innocence about her. Every time Blade was in her presence, he felt out of her league.

He crouched in front of her and took her fists in his hands, then gently uncurled her fingers and smoothed his thumbs over the little crescent moons she’d created with her nails. "If those assholes hurt you, I’ll kill them. Just say the word, Candy."

She blinked as if dazed. "No, but thank you, Blade. They didn’t do anything wrong. I just had a panic attack, that’s all. And my name is Candice, not Candy." His sister returned and handed Candice the glass of water, then fussed over her, breaking the fragile connection between them.

"Why did you go out to the main floor?" Lacey asked as she started to fan her with her hands. "You know how busy it gets on weekends, hun."

Candice shrugged. "I wasn’t thinking. I only wanted to give you two some privacy and I thought if I could just get to the bathroom and back I’d be okay, but…" Her words trailed off and she peeked at him again, making it clear that she wasn’t about to discuss the strange episode in front of him. He wanted her to open up to him, but every time the opportunity arose, she managed to wiggle away again.

Lacey massaged her arm in a soothing gesture, and a pang of envy shot through him. He wanted to be the one massaging Candice’s smooth, ivory skin.

"I think we better quit for today, don’t you?" Lacey said, "You should get home and take a nice warm bath. Try to relax and forget about all this."

Candice nodded and started to rise, and just that quick, Blade was there, grabbing the opportunity to touch her again. He helped her to her feet, but she stepped back as soon as she was upright. He was forced to release her or look like an idiot.

"I’m fine now, really. I’m sorry you had to take your time searching for me, Blade. I know you’re a busy man." When he started to tell her he hadn’t been put out, she talked right over him in that soft way she had. "I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were there to help me with those guys. Thank you."

She smiled one last smile and walked away. She retrieved her gym bag and left out a back entrance, leaving Blade to stare and wonder what the hell had just happened.

Buy From: MBaM | Kindle | Nook |
***
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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Snippet Saturday--Sexy!

The theme this time around is 'sexy'. I knew I had to pick a scene from Tasting Candy. I just LOVE Blade Vaughn. Yum! :)

Also, the winners of my giveaway are:

Joanne
Jewel
ClaudiaGC
Deana
Mai

Please email me (annerainey11 at gmail dot com) with your mailing address so I can get the books to you. Thank you ALL for commenting!

Blade woke when Candice started to shuffle out of bed. "Where you going, baby?" he asked in a sleep-roughened voice as he grabbed Candice’s arm to halt her escape.

"I need a hot shower." She looked at him a moment, a pretty, content smile lighting her drowsy eyes. "You may be used to all this…activity, but I’m not."

Blade smiled with possessive delight. "Yeah, I know. Pleases the hell out of me, too," he said, starting to get up with her. "Come on, we’ll shower together."

"Together?"

Candice sounded scandalized by the idea. Amazing after all they’d done together, she still blushed over the idea of him seeing her wet. He’d never figure out the female mind, not as long as he lived.

"Together," he reiterated, then proceeded to drag her cute, naked body from the room.

"Blade, I’m not entirely sure about this."

She frowned, biting her lip and trying to cover her breasts with her one free hand. Which wasn’t really working out too well for her. He stopped in his tracks as a horrible thought occurred.

He lifted her chin with the side of his fist. "Are you sore, baby? Was I too rough?"

Candice’s expressive blue eyes grew large. "Oh, Blade, it was wonderful. You were wonderful."

"That doesn’t answer my question. Are you sore?" he asked again, with more force this time.

She shrugged and stared down at the floor. "A little."

He was an animal. Scum. The lowest form of scum. "Shit, I should have left you alone after the first time."

Candice quickly shook her head. "Don’t you even think it, Blade Vaughn. Every minute, everything you did was worth some soreness this morning."

He stared another second, then visually scanned her. He didn’t see any bruises, and considering how vigorous he’d been that was amazing in and of itself.

"I’ll wash you," he stated. Candice blushed. Her modesty had him smiling. He moved behind her and kissed the delicate skin below her ear. "Real gentle. It’ll feel good, I promise, baby."

Just the idea had his usual morning erection going harder. He seemed to sport a permanent woody around Candice.

Blade gave her a nudge, spellbound as her ass swayed while she moved the rest of the way down the hall. It was a sight he could get used to.

Once in the bathroom, Candice bent and turned on the overhead spray. Blade couldn’t resist a quick feel. He reached out and slid two fingers over the silky seam of her bottom, causing her to jump and screech.

"Blade!" she yelped.

He chuckled shamelessly. "Well, you stuck it right out there for me. What’s a guy supposed to do? Besides, you do have the sweetest ass, sweetheart." Blade growled.

"Oh."

He chuckled at how naïve she was to her own sex appeal. The woman had set his blood on fire the night before and yet she still acted like a virginal school girl around him.

Blade kissed her forehead, enjoying her more by the minute, then gave her butt a swift swat, ordering, "In you go, Candy girl."

He waited for her to step into the tub before moving in behind her. "Which soap?" he asked, perplexed by the countless bottles that littered every flat surface of the tub.

Candice had about five different scents from what he could tell. What was it about women that they thought they needed to be all smelly? It was the feminine scent they were born with that a man liked best.

"How about this one?" She held up a short, fat bottle with some sort of milky stuff inside.

He popped the top and sniffed for himself. "Mmm, yeah, I like this."

She beamed at him, apparently pleased by his comment. "Milk and Honey. It’s my favorite."

"Ah, I see. Well, let’s find out what it smells like on, shall we?" he asked with wicked delight.

Washing a woman, washing Candice Warner, would undoubtedly be on his top ten list of favorite things to do.

Blade located a peach-colored puff and squirted some of the milky liquid onto it. He squeezed it, watching the bubbles appear and started on her arms. He moved downward, washing each finger with great care before moving on to her back and finally her feet. She had cute toes. Her middle toe was somewhat crooked, and Blade found it adorable. She giggled, and he looked up from his kneeling position to see her holding back a laugh.

"Ticklish?" he asked with mischievous intent. Candice squinted suspiciously down at him and gave him a petulant shrug.

Seeing that little movement as pure challenge, Blade purposely washed the soles of her feet, loving the laughter that spilled out of her. He kept up his gentle torture until she cried uncle.

Candice was becoming so free with him, it turned his heart to mush. Damn, he was in love with her. It was as plain as the impish nose on Candice’s face. An easy sort of contentment washed over him.

He moved up her strong calves, past her knees to her soft thighs. Candice’s laughter died, giving way to fast breathing and languorous eyes.

"Spread your legs for me, baby." When she did as he asked, Blade dropped the puff and poured the soap directly into his palms. Nothing was getting in the way of his hand and her flesh.

Tasting Candy

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