by Tina Donahue
“He wanted her.”
Cait nodded. “The sultry atmosphere of the temple didn’t help. The rites of Min were thought to be quite explicit.”
Grant leaned closer again, and Cait floated on the heady scent of his cologne. She smiled when he loosened his tie and wondered if the rest of her tale would have a greater effect on him.
“The warrior took up his post outside of Nayari’s room as he’d been instructed. Only a woven screen covered the doorway, so he could hear what went on inside. The women returned to bathe her, and his imagination ran wild. By the time he encountered Nayari again, he was half out of his mind with desire.”
When the female acolytes returned, they brought a bowl of perfumed water, cloths to bathe her, and a tray of bread and roasted meat.
Nayari helped herself to some of the food while the women unlaced her sandals and removed her belt. She sighed as they bathed her feet and legs, and the glorious scent of jasmine enveloped her and calmed her rattled nerves. She lay back against one woman while the other opened the top of her dress and rubbed a fine cloth over her arms and her breasts.
“Ammonptah will be pleased,” Nayari murmured, trying to keep her thoughts centered on her master. It was difficult, with the sensual feel of the cool cloth riding over her skin, to think of her master’s touch. His hurried movements during the times she’d been called to his service always made her wonder if he truly enjoyed coupling, or if it was more of a chore for him, as it often was for her.
If Ammonptah had ever touched her like this, bathed her, smoothed her hair, she might long for him now, not as the man who owned her and had the power to send her back home where she belonged, but the man she loved and wanted. Once again, unbidden, her thoughts turned to the warrior. His hands were twice the size of Ammonptah’s, rough from hard work and dark from days spent under the sun. Together his hands could span her waist, and she had no doubt his arms could lift her without effort to settle her over his cock. He could hold her hips in his hands, his long fingers inching between her buttocks as she rode him—
“You’re trembling,” one of the women said with a light laugh. “And look, Min calls to you.”
Nayari’s face burned when she realized her nipples stood hard and erect. She hastily pulled her dress up around her. “Leave me. I’ll await Ammonptah alone.”
“Of course.” The women bowed and left with knowing smiles. They took the bathing water with them, but left the remains of the food. Nayari stared at it and willed herself to take another bite, but her appetite had fled.
Perhaps someone else might want the food. It would only attract flies if left in her room all night. Carefully, she lifted the heavy tray and padded barefoot across the floor. She turned and let herself out of the room, backside first to push the reed mat out of the way. When she collided with a warm body, she nearly dropped the tray.
She whirled around and glared up into the face of the warrior. He gave her a curious shrug. “The food isn’t to your liking?” he asked.
“I…was going to give it to the oxen.” She raised her head in defiance of his tone, but then shifted her arms to cover her chest, aware that her strange excitement still showed in the hard peaks of her nipples that raised the thin fabric of her dress. A cool current of air stirred the hem of her skirt, and a tingle raced up her legs to her inner thighs.
“The oxen have plenty of food,” he said. His voice rumbled in his chest, and he stared over her head as if he wished to avoid looking at her.
“Then perhaps you would like it.”
“The priests have brought me food.”
Nayari sighed. “Then take it away before it rots.”
Now his gaze dropped to hers, and she held herself still under his blazing scrutiny. “I am not a maidservant,” he said.
“Neither am I.”
Their gazes held, battled for a moment, and Nayari swore a faint smile lifted the corners of his lips. “I’ll alert the acolytes. Go inside and wait for them to return.”
Nayari wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. She leaned back against the cold stone wall and looked up at him. With his arms crossed over his chest and his brows lowered over those onyx-colored eyes, he looked far more imposing than a god. She should have cowered in fear, but instead he made her feel strong and defiant. She had absolute certainty he would never harm her, even if she provoked him.
“Where is Ammonptah? Please tell me.”
“I do not know.”
“Yes, you do!”
“No, I don’t. He merely—”
Nayari stepped forward, craning her neck to meet his gaze. “He what?”
“Gave me instructions to follow, and that’s what I will do. That and nothing more.”
“Tell me your name.”
“No.”
Annoyed beyond reason, Nayari whirled around and flung herself back into her room. She plunked the tray onto the shelf and fell into the bed, which creaked under her meager weight. The musty odor of it crawled into her nose, pushing aside the sweet smell of flowers that had lingered on her skin since her bath. How would that do? she thought. To smell of mold when Ammonptah came to claim her would be unseemly. He would be angry with the priests and acolytes for not taking proper care of his property.
And that last word echoed in her mind. Property. I belong to Ammonptah, and I’m bound to do as he wishes. She fell asleep with that thought battling with visions of the warrior, naked, his skin hot and sweaty, holding his thick, hard cock in his hand and writhing to the beat of the ceremonial drums.
Love. Is it providence, or just a lump on the head?
Turbulent Passions
© 2008 Anne Rainey
Sapphire Demas and her twin brother have a secret. Since the awful day their parents were killed, they've been in hiding, fearful the same fate will befall them. Now she’s grown tired of living a half-life, tired of lying. She wants something just for herself. When she stumbles across an unconscious man while hiking through the woods and brings him home to heal, she knows she’s found it. Even if he’s a dangerous outsider.
Investigative journalist Adam Richton trusts only one thing—his nose for news. He’s never failed to get a story and doesn't intend to start now. Until a beautiful and mysterious woman rescues him. In an instant, he forgets all about his career. Now all he wants is Sapphire, any way he can get her.
Then he witnesses something extraordinary that puts his reporter instincts back on full alert. Something that exposes Sapphires secrets, challenges him to believe the unbelievable…and to trust in something way out of his comfort zone: love.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Turbulent Passions:
So she wasn’t wearing a two-piece and she didn’t plan to skinny dip, but the bright pink one-piece wasn’t anything to sneeze at, either. Full, round breasts filled out the top half, and long shapely legs tempted him beyond reason. He wanted to pull the straps of her suit down her shoulders and watch her pretty tits spring free. His mouth watered as he imagined tasting her soft skin and sucking on her perky nipples.
As he stood in the grass and concentrated on not getting a hard-on, Sapphire slowly descended into the water. The surrounding trees and wild flowers made the little round pond seem more like a private oasis. They were completely alone. Anything could happen.
“Come on,” she enticed him, “the water’s just right.”
He walked to the very edge and was about to step in when she splashed him a good one. He sucked in his breath as the cold water hit his bare chest. “Damn, that’s freezing!”
She splashed him again, before ducking under the water and out of sight. Adam took the plunge and dove in. When he resurfaced, she was staring at him, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
He stalked toward her, noting the way she firmed her shoulders. Her nipples were stiff little peaks that he wanted to nibble on for hours. Her dark, wet hair was smoothed back, giving him a good view of her oval-shaped face and those mesmerizing blue eyes. Adam all but drooled. “You’re a little
minx.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
Within inches now, Adam made a grab for her, just barely catching her upper arms before she ducked under the surface again. He drew her against his chest, aligning their curves. Damn, she felt good against him.
“If you aren’t careful, you might get more than you bargained for, baby,” He growled as he kissed her. He teased her lips and coaxed her to open for him so he could play with her tongue. She tasted like warm chocolate, creamy and sweet and much too addicting.
Adam pulled his lips from hers before ducking under the water. He grabbed her ankle and tickled her foot, careful not to irritate her cut. She squirmed and tried to wiggle her foot out of his grasp. He took pity and released her. When he resurfaced, the sound of her laughter filled the air. She made an attempt to swim away, but he caught her easily. “You want more or do you surrender?”
“I surrender,” she said in a husky voice, sending a very clear signal to his cock that she was aroused.
Adam attempted to tame the beast and released her. She put a few feet between them, he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “This place is like a small oasis,” he said as he took in the Black-Eyed Susans and mature walnut trees. “It’s so quiet, as if we’re the only people on earth. Do you like living out here, away from everyone?”
Sapphire drifted closer to him, her hands moving back and forth just below the surface. “I get a little stir-crazy sometimes, but for the most part I don’t mind the solitude.”
“I’m so used to having neighbors. Hell, I don’t know what I’d do with all this quiet.”
“I know what you mean. In college I lived in a dorm. It was noisy twenty-four hours a day. Moving here was a serious adjustment.”
Adam moved closer, enjoying the sexual tension growing between them. “I’ve never lived anywhere but the city. I think I might need to change that some day. For now, living a few minutes from my work is handy.”
“I can understand. I miss the city some, but I don’t think I could go back now. I’m too used to having my privacy.”
Adam was close enough now to touch. He reached out and played with a wet curl. “You and I started something last night that we never got to finish.”
“I wanted you desperately,” she admitted. “I couldn’t sleep for the ache.”
“Sending you away wasn’t the easiest thing to do, baby.”
“Why did you?”
“I wanted to get to know you a little first and I didn’t want you to wake up regretting sleeping with me.”
“I wouldn’t have.”
As much as he wanted that to be true, Adam wasn’t sure. He didn’t think Sapphire was the type for casual sex. “I don’t sleep around,” he confessed. “I’m no virgin, but I’m no player either. I want you to know that.”
Her fingers trailed over his chest and Adam had to suck in his breath when her thumb teased his nipple. “I’m not a virgin either, Adam. I’m a grown woman and I know exactly what I’m doing. Stop protecting me.”
“My stay isn’t permanent,” he reminded her. “I can’t offer permanent, Sapphire.” He didn’t want her seeing things that weren’t there. Again he was reminded of the real reason he’d come to Waverly, the real reason he’d been on their land. He pushed down the guilt slowly eating away at him. He’d tell her. Soon. And while he worked to convince her this thing between them would be a casual summer fling, he wasn’t sure he was buying it himself. The thought of leaving, of never seeing her again, already didn’t sit well.
“I know. It’s okay, I’m not asking for permanent.” Her fingers moved below the surface, just barely grazing the waistband of his swim trunks. “I need you. I ache for it.”
Adam’s control snapped. He swung her into his arms, licked a droplet of water from her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Hmm, we certainly can’t have that, now can we?”
“No, it could prove very inconvenient.”
He held her close to his chest as he left the water and covered the distance to the house. He entered through a back door and took the steps to the upstairs bedroom two at a time. Her lips caressed his throat and his knees nearly buckled. Hell, falling down the stairs really wasn’t the way to impress a woman. He forced his feet to keep moving even as her tongue teased his skin. She was so open and uninhibited. It was all he could do to make it to the bed.
He placed her carefully on top of the yellow quilts. The soft light from the lace-covered window illuminated the room. He let her watch as he stripped out of the black swim trunks she’d let him borrow. Her eyes, those magnificent sapphire pools, ate him up. His cock flexed, eager to sink inside the little beauty.
“Come here,” she coaxed, a smile curving her lips.
The outline of her pussy lips and the tempting bud of her clitoris beneath the wet suit had him starving for a sip of her tangy juice. Her succulent tits spilled out of the top half, and Adam’s hands itched to fondle and squeeze.
He moved closer, unable to deny her sensual request. “What are you planning to do with me, sweetheart?”
“I think I’d rather show you what I want to do,” she purred as she leaned forward and kissed the head of his cock.
The Yearning
Tina Donahue
To break this curse, they’ll have to turn the heat up. Way up.
Jasmine Dante prowls Key West’s nightlife, fighting a losing battle against a jealous rival’s curse that forces her to seek carnal pleasure, no matter the danger. Weakened from lack of sleep, driven by insatiable lust, she spots a man who stirs her desperate craving, and begins yet another dance of seduction.
Except the dark stranger who returns her direct stare is no ordinary lover. Inside his powerful body lies a raw sexuality that just might be enough to break her curse. There’s only one way to find out: imprison him in her bed and feed on his passion.
Former U.S. Marshal Mike Stearn is many things, but he’s no woman’s sex slave. The deadly telekinetic power he ruthlessly suppresses comes alive again at Jasmine’s touch. Beneath her bold, potent sensuality he senses vulnerability and desperation. He may be in handcuffs, but she’s the one who’s enslaved.
As Mike resurrects his power to free himself so he can find the curse’s source and defeat it, Jasmine revels in his masterful rule. Her ravenous yearning evolves into rapture as she surrenders to his hunger, her darkest needs—and the emotional connection that lies beyond. Unless the curse takes her life first…
Warning: Tons of steamy sex, smoldering passion and a to-die-for love story with a hot Alpha hero who finds himself imprisoned by one sultry and desperate babe.
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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 coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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The Yearning
Copyright © 2011 by Tina Donahue
ISBN: 978-1-60928-352-0
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
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: February 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Ch
apter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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