Since You've Been Gone

by Elle Kennedy

  Jake once reveled in showing Bree how good it is to be bad. But convincing her he can be good for her is going to take some very special tactics…

  Warning: This book features a bad boy soldier determined to chip away at a good girl’s resistance with hot sex, hot sex, and…more hot sex.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Born to Be Wild:

  “Is that Bree?” Owen hissed, his head swiveling from the stage to his brother.

  Since his entire mouth had turned into sawdust, Jake simply nodded. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the woman up on the stage. And not just any woman—his woman.

  Shock spiraled through him. Fuck, even after twelve years, he still thought of Bree Lockhart as his.

  What the hell was she doing up there? He hadn’t even known she was back in town.

  “She looks fantastic,” Owen murmured.

  Fantastic? Uh, try absolutely fucking incredible. The Bree he’d known in high school had been pretty, but this newer, older Bree was even more tantalizing. Tall and curvy, with an X-rated set of perky breasts and a taut ass that made his mouth water. Her straight black hair was shorter, dancing just above her shoulders and layered so that it framed her heart-shaped face. Her skin was as pale and smooth as ivory, her eyes were bluer than he remembered, and her mouth…man, she still had those pouty, fuck-me lips.

  The memory of those lips wrapped around his cock flashed into his mind, and just like that, his dick strained against the zipper of his trousers like a bull frantic to burst out of a chute.

  “I know you’re all familiar with Bree Lockhart,” Mayor Price announced. “Now, I’ll admit, the Price and Lockhart families haven’t always seen eye to eye, but we can both claim the honor of being this town’s founding families.”

  Owen laughed under his breath. “And the honor of being this town’s biggest snobs,” he muttered.

  “Bree works as a junior partner at Lockhart and Associates, a prestigious law firm in Denver,” Price continued. “She’s an avid skier, volunteers at a local soup kitchen, and prefers quiet evenings at home to crowded restaurants. But she’s willing to make an exception—the lucky man who wins a date with Bree will join her in the private dining room of Carlotta’s tonight. A romantic dinner for two!”

  Looking uncomfortable, Bree stopped at the end of the runway and did a feeble little half-turn.

  Jake frowned, wondering how she’d gotten roped into this. She seemed totally ill at ease up there. The way she walked, how she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she turned back to the podium. Jake saw something very vulnerable in her smoky blue eyes, something fresh and appealing, something that made him want to march up on the stage and kiss that pink lip gloss off her luscious mouth.

  He’d never been able to resist the prim good-girl thing she’d had going on. Especially when he’d discovered she was oh so bad beneath the surface.

  “Didn’t you two used to…” Owen tactfully trailed off.

  Jake met his brother’s curious gray eyes. “Yep,” he confirmed in a hoarse voice.

  He and Bree used to do a lot of things. A lot of things. Even now, he couldn’t figure out what had spurred her to seduce him that night after the big game against Huntsville. A wide receiver for the Paradise Panthers, Jake had been coming down from the victory high after the team crushed their neighboring town in a rivalry game for the ages. Bree was on the cheerleading squad, but their paths had never crossed until that night.

  The night she demanded he deflower her in the back of his pickup truck.

  Which he’d done without a single protest.

  “So c’mon, fellows, let’s show Bree just how much you like her!” Mayor Price said into his mic.

  Right off the bat, a tall, brown-haired man in the front of the crowd bid two hundred dollars.

  Jake frowned. Cheap bastard.

  “Three hundred,” someone else piped up.

  “Four.”

  “Four-fifty.”

  The higher the bids climbed, the more annoyed he got. Up on the stage, Bree had started fidgeting with her hands. Her visible discomfort triggered something dark and protective inside him. Bree might have a secret wild streak running through her, but she’d always been shy, and Jake could only imagine the thoughts swirling through her pretty head right now. She was no doubt contemplating how to run off the stage without causing a scene.

  “Five hundred and fifty,” a deep voice called out.

  Jake glanced over, his shoulders stiffening when he noticed the bid had come from Dan Bradford, a guy he’d gone to high school with. Bradford had played linebacker for the team, and he was still as huge as ever—broad shoulders, barrel chest. The beer belly was new, though…

  The flicker of unease in Bree’s blue eyes told Jake that she wasn’t thrilled with the newest addition to the bidding war.

  In fact, if he recalled correctly, back then Bradford had constantly harassed Bree to hook up with him, even after she’d turned him down a hundred times.

  Jake’s jaw tensed and it took a few seconds before he could pry it open. When he finally got his mouth to work, the words that flew out of it stunned both his twin and himself. “One thousand dollars,” he yelled.

  Dead silence crashed over the room. His bid was the highest by far, but he didn’t regret it one damn bit. Screw it. One look at Bree’s silky black hair and big blue eyes, one glimpse at that body-hugging dress, and he knew that the only man she’d be having dinner with tonight was him.

  He was her best friend…until he became her fantasy.

  More Than Friends

  © 2013 Jess Dee

  Lucy Lawson’s got it bad. Bad as in stunned speechless by the situation she’s in, by the feelings sitting on her chest, ready to explode. She’s in love…with her best friend.

  Problem is, telling Sebastian Blackford could destroy the best thing in her life, but the longer she keeps her feelings under wraps, the stronger the need to spill her secret.

  The last thing Seb suspects is that his best mate is madly, wildly in love with him, or that he’s the star of her seriously dirty fantasies. Worse, he’s just started seeing someone he’d like to see again—and Lucy knows it.

  So why does her confession hit him like a runaway train? And why can’t he get her explicit description of her fantasies out of his mind? They’ve never been more than friends, but now that he knows how Lucy feels, everything is out of whack.

  Seb figures it’s up to him to get their relationship back on track. He’ll do it too, just as soon as he establishes which track is the right one.

  Warning: After reading this, you may just be tempted to jump your best friend. It’s recommended you keep your partner on speed dial or a toy with fresh batteries on standby.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for More Than Friends:

  “Okay, if you space out on me one more time, I’m going to start thinking it’s personal.”

  Lucy blinked and brought her attention back to the man sitting opposite her. Not that she’d ever lost her focus. Nope, her attention had been on him the whole time. Maybe just not on what he’d been saying.

  “Loo, that’s about the tenth time you’ve zoned out. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said in the last five minutes. You gonna tell me what’s going on?” He set his tea down on the table.

  She shook her head as she looked at his cup. “You realize you are the only man in Sydney, maybe in the world, who drinks Earl Grey?” The cup seemed small and dainty beside his strong, tanned hand.

  He shrugged. “I like it, as you well know. Now forget about the tea and tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Her gaze drifted from his teacup to his chest, and she admired the way his T-shirt sat snugly across his shoulders. How was it possible she’d never appreciated the broadness of those shoulders? Had his hair been so long it had hidden their extraordinary proportions?

  She sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you.”

  Seb shot her a strange look. “When have I ever not b
elieved something you’ve said?” He took a chip from their shared plate, dipped it into tomato sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then he repeated the process, only this time he popped the chip in Lucy’s mouth.

  It was all she could do not to close her lips around his fingers and trap them there. But then trapping fingers, a chip and a dollop of tomato sauce in her mouth was hardly sexy, now was it?

  She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed, desperate to open up with the truth and admit her feelings, yet paralyzed by the prospect. For the first time ever, she had trouble voicing her thoughts to Seb.

  “You know, I’m a pretty good listener.”

  She smiled, trying to keep the mood light while her insides were so heavy. “Then why do you always complain that I never stop talking?”

  He grinned. “Maybe because you never stop talking.”

  “I’m not talking now,” she pointed out.

  “Which leads me to believe there is something very wrong, ergo my willingness to listen.” He dipped another chip and offered it to her.

  She shook her head. Her stomach was queasy and trembling, and though she and Seb always shared a plate of chips after seeing a movie together, she suspected fried food would do no good whatsoever. “I’m full.”

  “Full of shit, maybe. C’mon, Lucy-Loo. Out with it. What’s bothering you? You fidgeted the whole way through the movie and haven’t been able to hold a simple conversation since it ended.” He gestured to the people sitting around them, enjoying a meal or a drink in the trendy little café in Newtown. “Everyone else here is chatting away. The only one not talking is you.”

  “Okay, so you talk to me. Tell me how your hot date went the other night.”

  The strange look was back on his face. “I spent the last five minutes telling you about it.”

  She stared at him, dismayed. “You did?”

  Seb nodded. “I did.”

  Lucy gave him an apologetic look, staring into his eyes, willing him to forgive her.

  Seb said something, but Lucy missed it, mostly because staring into his blue eyes dazzled her senses and once again took her breath away. A feverish flush seeped into her skin, heating her flesh. Just like that, Lucy was lost in a haze of desire, lost in the realization that her body was responding to Seb’s proximity. Being this close to him made her heart pound and her pussy clench. She wanted him fiercely. In a way she’d never desired another man. In a way she’d never desired a friend. In a way she had no place desiring a friend.

  She had to say something, had to tell him how she felt. She couldn’t exist like this anymore, couldn’t go on living this way with him. Forever friends, nothing more.

  “Lucy!” His sharp exclamation snapped her back to attention.

  “I love you, Seb.” It was out before she had a chance to think twice.

  “I love you too, babe, but if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m taking you to the closest medical center to have you checked out.”

  “No, I mean I love you. Like, really, love you.”

  He grinned his beautiful grin. “So you tell me every time you get trashed on red wine. You love me and you think I’m the bestest friend in the whole widest world.” He tapped her half-empty wineglass. “Although you surprise me tonight. You haven’t even had one glass. Usually you have to have three or four before you start getting this sentimental.”

  She bit her lower lip, sucking it into her mouth before releasing it. “I’m not drunk.”

  His grin told her how much he believed her.

  “I’m not,” she said again. “Truth is, I’m stone-cold sober. And the reason I haven’t been concentrating is because I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you how I feel.”

  Seb’s smile began to fade, and his blue eyes widened as he stared at her.

  “It’s changed, Seb. Everything’s changed. I’ve changed. My feelings for you have changed.” She took a deep, fortifying breath and the words tumbled out. “Y-you’re not just my friend anymore. You’re…more. I dunno what happened. And I dunno how I never felt this way before, but I…I…” She pressed her hand to her chest. “I have all these feelings for you, just sitting here, pressing on my heart, and I can’t ignore them. Can’t pretend they’re not there or they’re not real.”

  Sebastian’s jaw dropped open.

  Now that the words had started, she couldn’t hold them back. Didn’t want to. This was Seb she spoke to, and she could tell him anything. Had always been able to, and now was no different—even though everything was different.

  “I dream about you at night. And at work, when I’m not sleeping. Dirty dreams. Filthy, really. Dreams a girl shouldn’t dream about her friend, but there you have it. And when I see you, I wish, just wish, the dreams were real. I wish you’d kiss me the way you do in my imagination. Wish you’d tear my clothes off and do filthy things to me. I wish, wish that you felt for me what I feel for you, and we weren’t sitting here at this very moment, drinking red wine and Earl Grey tea.”

  Lucy paused to draw breath, her heart beating frantically, her cheeks burning.

  Seb just gaped at her.

  “I lay in the bath earlier, thinking about you. Fantasizing about you. I touched myself, wishing it was your hand. Couldn’t stop touching, until…until…” Lucy closed her eyes, mortified that she was voicing all of this, yet unable to stop. After months of keeping it to herself, the confession felt liberating. “I came thinking about you. And it wasn’t the first time. But the thing is, I don’t want to just fantasize anymore. Don’t want to just dream about you. I don’t just want to be your friend. Can’t be your friend, ’cause what I feel for you goes way beyond friendship. I’m like, wildly, crazily in love with you.”

  “Lucy…” Seb’s voice sounded hoarse, scratchy. He looked dazed. “Geez, I don’t know what to say.” He drew a shaky hand over his shaved head.

  Her breath caught in her diaphragm and she hiccupped. “Say you feel the same way. Or at the very least, tell me there’s a chance you could feel this way.”

  “I love you too. You know I do.” Again he drew his hand over his head. “You’re my gal, my friend, my mate. ’Course I love you. Just…”

  Lucy’s heart stopped beating. Or maybe her lungs stopped working. She couldn’t tell. “Just…?”

  His blue gaze held hers. “Just…not like that.”

  Since You’ve Been Gone

  Elle Kennedy

  What happens on the road can follow you all the way home.

  Welcome to Paradise, Book 4

  Austin Bishop is going home to face some difficult truths, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take the long way home. So rather than hop on a plane, he accepts a photography assignment that requires a cross-country drive.

  The road can be a lonely place, though, and when he spots a cute redhead leaning against a broken-down car, he stops to offer the stranded damsel a ride.

  Mari Smith has lost her job and her apartment, she’s moving back in with her parents, and now it looks like she’s without a car, too. When a sexy, dark-haired stranger stops to help, she’s utterly grateful. And utterly tempted to explore their sizzling chemistry.

  The fresh-faced Mari is so sweet, so smoking hot, so easy to be with, Austin finds himself spilling a shocking secret he’s been holding onto for the past year. But passion doesn’t fix everything. And Austin realizes he has some personal demons to vanquish before he and Mari can hope for a chance at forever.

  Warning: This book features a hero who knows exactly what he wants between the sheets and a redhead who isn’t scared to give it to him!

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidenta
l.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  Since You’ve Been Gone

  Copyright © 2013 by Elle Kennedy

  ISBN: 978-1-61921-475-0

  Edited by Jennifer Miller

  Cover by Kendra Egert

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: October 2013

  www.samhainpublishing.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  About the Author

  Look for these titles by Elle Kennedy

  Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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