“I do, tesorina mia. I always will.”
How she’d managed to slip past the defenses of his weary, cynical heart, he’d never know, but he’d be grateful forever. After Francesca and Tess, Erin was the last person he’d ever have imagined loving, but he did. Against all the odds, he did. Any sane man would have run from her as if his ass were on fire, but she’d captured him the moment he’d met her. He’d never even had a chance to run. Thank gods.
He kissed her, needing to taste her, feel her, remind himself that she was alive, she was his and she’d believed in him when she had every reason to hate him. She’d saved him, in more ways than one.
She leaned back and gave him a sassy smile. “So, about that bubble bath. Want to share it with me?”
“I want to share everything with you, cara mia.”
“Good answer.”
No matter what the future held for them, good or bad, he was never letting her go. And for the first time in his life, he truly believed that the woman he loved would never let him go either. Nothing had ever felt so good.
There was only one thing left to do.
“So, Erin, I think we should finally go shopping for that sapphire you wanted.”
About the Author
Crystal Jordan began writing romance after she finished graduate school and needed something to fill the hours that used to be eaten away by homework. Currently, she serves as a librarian at a university in California, but has lived and worked all over the United States. She writes paranormal, contemporary, futuristic and erotic romance.
To learn more about Crystal please visit www.crystaljordan.com. Send an email to Crystal at [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Crystal! groups.yahoo.com/group/crystal-jordan
Look for these titles by Crystal Jordan
Now Available:
Demon’s Caress
Wasteland: The Wanderer
Treasured
Forbidden Passions
Stolen Passions
Fleeting Passions
Unbelievable
If You Believe
Believe in Me
Make Me Believe
In the Heat of the Night
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Big Girls Don’t Die
It’s Raining Men
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Destination: Desire
Vegas Vacation
What happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.
Vegas Vacation
© 2013 Crystal Jordan
Destination: Desire, Book 1
It’s spring break, and a group of teachers from Half Moon Bay Middle School are planning to cut loose. History teacher Meg Phillips hadn’t planned on being one of them—Vegas isn’t really a town for a bookworm—but somehow she let her friend Anne talk her into it.
Though honestly, she’d rather indulge in some poolside reading than co-star in an R-rated edition of Teachers Gone Wild.
It took some major arm twisting for Finn Walsh to convince his fellow gym teacher, Anne, to do whatever it took to get Meg to Vegas. For over a year he’s been looking for the chance to get to know her outside of work. He’s drawn to her quiet beauty and intelligence—and the hint of fire beneath her understated exterior.
When he finally gets the opportunity to peel away those layers, the result is far more explosive than he ever fantasized. Now to convince her that the week isn’t a wildly out-of-character mistake, but the start of something amazing…
Warning: Two good teachers doing very naughty things to each other while on vacation in Sin City. Hey, everyone deserves a chance to cut loose, right?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Vegas Vacation:
Frustrated tears stung in her eyes—or maybe it was the alcohol fumes rising from her shirt.
“What’s going on?” Finn appeared out of nowhere, ducking down so he could look at her face. “Meg?”
“I don’t want to be here.” Her voice actually wobbled when she spoke, and a flush scorched her cheeks. Emotional meltdown in front of the hottest guy she’d ever met. Yep, it really was possible for this trip to get worse. She blinked fast and glanced away. “They don’t have a room ready for us yet. Looks like the rest of the group got to the ones they had.”
Anne stomped up, fire blazing in her eyes. “Well, they’ve given us a free dinner at one of the hotel restaurants for the inconvenience, but there are apparently no rooms to be had right this second. At all. They’re booked. What the hell? No rooms in Vegas?”
“It’s a fight weekend. Heavyweight boxing.” Finn shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Some of the guys got tickets.”
“I’m going too,” Anne said. “I just didn’t think it would suck up all the rooms in town.”
Meg spoke through clenched teeth. “Goody for you.”
“I’m not one of the people going. I have other ideas for my time here.” Finn’s tone was so virtuous it made her snort. He looked her over and winced. “Sorry Ed got you with the whiskey, too. I was all the way in the back of the van, so I couldn’t grab him in time. Why don’t you bring your stuff up to my room, use my shower, and change clothes?”
Meg sighed. The promise of a clean outfit made it the most appealing offer she’d ever had. Naked in Finn’s shower was weird, but she’d take what she could get. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. “Sounds like a plan.”
What might have been triumph flashed in his gaze, and his smile was dazzling. “Great.”
Anne stepped in front of her, her expression concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Do you have a better option?” Meg held her arms out and gestured down at her ruined garments. “Tracking anyone else down takes time, where I’m still gross.”
“True.” Anne ran her hands through her short hair. “Want me to come with you or let you do your own thing?”
“I love you, honey, but as few people as possible would be awesome right now.” Meg waved her off, wishing for nothing more than to be somewhere quiet. “Go have fun with Carla. Keep her from drinking and gambling her next paycheck away.”
Anne grimaced. “Will do.”
It didn’t take long to get to Finn’s room, which worked for Meg. The sooner she could shower, the better she’d feel. And she’d really love to get some lunch. “I’m starving.”
“Me, too.” He opened the door and motioned her into the room. After setting her suitcase on the luggage rack for her, he shrugged out of his backpack and dumped it on the end of the bed. “Once you’re showered, we can find the gang and get some food.”
She wrinkled her nose, unzipping her bag to root around for some clean clothes. “They’re probably eating right now. After they hosed me down, the jerks. Remind me to never, ever go anywhere outside of work with this bunch again. You all seemed so normal when we were at school, but now?”
“Hey.” He caught her shoulders in his strong hands, frowning at her. “Don’t go lumping me into this bunch. I’m trying to help, not off partying.”
Tingles broke down her arms at his touch, and she swayed toward him just a little. She tried to inject some teasing into her tone. “My hero. Thank you.”
His lips curved in a small grin, but he didn’t let her go. “You’re welcome. I just don’t want you to think I turn into a jackass who ditches my friends the second the chance to drink and gamble comes up.”
“I don’t imbibe much, which is probably why this makes me even crankier.” She made a face. “I didn’t even get sloshed and I still got sloshed all over.”
Somehow, he was even closer, and she didn’t know if he had moved or if she had. His heat wrapped around her, and it felt far too nice. A masculine scent filled her nose, the smell that was uniquely Finn. He dropped his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry this has sucked for you so far. Maybe I can make it up to you.”
“I don’t think anything could make this trip better. It was a mistake to let Anne talk me into thi
s. They ganged up on me, Anne and our two other best friends.” She shut her eyes, sudden exhaustion hitting her, and she let herself lean into his solid strength. Just for a minute. He felt good, comforting, even though it was foolish to acknowledge it.
She sighed when his lips brushed over hers. It was soft and sweet, a light caress. He sipped at her mouth, and slow heat unfurled within her. She set her hands against his chest to push him away, as she knew she should. But she couldn’t make herself do it. Not yet. Her fingers itched with the need to stroke, to explore. The fabric of his T-shirt was soft, clinging to the hard planes of his muscles underneath.
Their second chance generates a dangerous kind of heat…
Unconditional
© 2013 Lauren Dane
A Cascadia Wolves Story
As a cop, Michelle Slattery is familiar with the dark side of human behavior, but this case is way above her skill level. Mages have been scouring the country kidnapping witches, draining their energy, and leaving their broken bodies behind.
With Michelle’s best friend among the missing, she appeals to the Owen witches, who send her to the last place she’d thought she’d see a familiar face. The werewolves.
When a witch seeking help shows up at the Pacific Pack headquarters, Josh Neelan gets the shock of his life. She’s none other than his high school sweetheart, the one he left behind when he was bitten and turned. Their intense sexual chemistry still sizzles for a reason—she’s his mate.
As they begin to work through their issues, their rekindled romance quickly flames red hot. But the closer they get, the more dangerous the outside world becomes. And they realize magick-thieving mages are just the tip of the iceberg.
Warning: Bossy alpha wolves, witches who take no guff, sexytimes, bad words, and some violence.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Unconditional:
She double-checked the address before heading inside the building in downtown Portland. Allie had been missing for twenty-four hours now. Each minute that passed, the chances of finding her alive were lower and lower.
The contact at Clan Owen had sent out a call for help. They were feverishly working on several fronts on these disappearances and something else the witch she’d spoken to had only hinted at, but sounded pretty bad. He’d been sorry not to have been able to rush down and assist on the case, but he’d done what he could, which was to hook her up with Others who could help.
Which had worked out because she’d followed a few leads of her own—a blue SUV that had been sighted at the apartment complex with Washington plates had also been seen at two rest stops on I-5 heading north, and when Michelle had gone to them she’d found that same mage energy signature she’d caught at Allie’s apartment.
Michelle was on the right track, but the track itself was pretty narrow and faint and she was terrified of fucking up and missing something.
So there she was going through the revolving doors of the Pacific Werewolf Pack headquarters to seek their help with tracking. They had some sort of relationship with the clans now and heaven knew they had better noses than she did and there was the added plus that they knew the area.
She walked through one set of doors where two very large men stopped her. One raised a brow at her. “You’re armed.” His voice was a rumble she felt over the surface of her skin.
“I’m Michelle Slattery. Roseburg PD. Gage Garrity from Clan Owen sent me here to request some assistance in an investigation. My credentials are in my pocket if you’ll allow me to retrieve them?”
Eyebrow appeared to relax a little. “First things first. The weapon needs to be put in the bin. We don’t allow anyone in the building armed.”
She reached, slowly and totally within view, to remove her weapon from her under-arm holster. She popped the magazine out and made sure the chamber was empty before placing it all in the bin they’d indicated.
“Thank you. Credentials?”
Slowly, so he knew exactly what she was about, she pulled out her badge, handing it to him. He looked it over and turned his gaze and attention back to her, apparently satisfied with her documentation. “I haven’t been told about anyone coming in, but I only just started my shift a few minutes ago. What’s your business here?”
“I’m investigating the disappearance of a young woman.” She looked around and lowered her voice. Wolves were out to the humans, but witches were still debating the whys, whens and hows of revealing their existence. “A witch. I believe she was taken by the mages.”
He stood up straighter.
“I’m here to appeal for some help in tracking them. Gage said you had some sort of cooperative agreement thing with them.”
“You smell like magick.” Eyebrow gave her a once-over, clearly interested in more than the way she smelled. It was more admiring than leering. Novel and, well, nice. She wasn’t used to being found attractive in connection with being a witch.
She smiled, blushing. She didn’t know a whole lot about shifters, but she did know they had an affinity with witches. It wasn’t a blow to her ego, or her libido, to be standing in a lobby bursting with all that earthy magick wolves carried. They were sexy and that they found her sexy? Well that was sexy too.
And interesting. “What does my magick smell like?”
“Always a little vanilla. Like from yellow cake.” He paused and then nodded. “Yes, you smell like yellow cake.”
“I really like yellow cake.”
“Who doesn’t?” He grinned. “If you want to hang on a sec, I can call up to see who is available to meet with you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that very much.”
She moved to the mini-reception area he’d indicated and checked her messages while he did whatever it was he needed to do.
“Do we have a problem here?”
She froze before turning slowly to face none other than Josh Neelan.
Josh tried not to gape at the witch whose ass he’d just been admiring. But it wasn’t her ass that stunned him into long silence as he took her in from the tips of her sensible work boots, up shapely legs, the nip at her waist, the swell of her tits—he remembered those quite well—and into her face.
“Michelle?”
She blinked and he scented her blush. His wolf pushed at the human in charge. He’d wanted her back then. More than he should have. Apparently his wolf agreed about wanting her now.
“Josh?”
Well now. A hundred years’ worth of memories fell down all around him at the sound of his name on her lips.
He sucked in a breath and it was filled with her. And with her magick. Fuck. She was a witch?
“I take it you two know each other?” Shaun, one of his wolves who had the door shift that afternoon, spoke, his brow rising.
“Yes. Michelle and I are both from Roseburg. She used to be a cheerleader.” He smiled at that memory. Her in tight sweaters and short skirts. Christ.
Shaun looked her over. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Josh did not like it one bit that Shaun looked at his Michelle that way. He gave the other wolf a look, but Shaun wasn’t cowed.
But the amusement he’d expected to see in her features wasn’t there. Just hurt and devastation and most likely he’d put it there.
“You’re here because you need our help?” He took her upper arm and moved her toward the elevators, keying in his code.
She nodded and disentangled herself from his hold.
“Let’s go up to my office to talk.” He led her into the elevator and punched his floor number and his code before turning back to her. “Damn, it’s really good to see you.”
He pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her neck. His entire system went wild at her scent as he dragged it in. Her body felt good against his. He’d thought he’d forgotten her, what it was to have her in his arms. But he’d been so, so wrong.
He pulled back as they arrived on his floor, his wolf displeased that she hadn’t relaxed into the embrace.
“This way.” He led her throu
gh the halls, finding himself having to stop from touching her. His wolf was agitated, pressing against his human skin, fighting for supremacy because it wanted contact with her.
He was better than this. He shoved the wolf back as he indicated a couch near the windows. “Sit. Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?”
“Gage Garrity from Clan Owen sent me to ask for your assistance. My best friend was taken from her apartment by mages yesterday. There were signs of a struggle. I followed what little bit of a trail I could find up here. You guys are great trackers. I need your help.”
Mages. Great. He poked his head out of his office, speaking to his assistant. “Can you get us some coffee and sandwiches?”
“I don’t need to eat. I need to find Allie.”
He sat next to her on the couch she perched upon, and she edged away a little, pressing against the arm to keep her distance.
“This is dangerous. More dangerous than you probably know. Of course I’ll help. I need the facts first so we can figure out what’s happening. You’re a witch. You never told me?”
“You weren’t around to tell. And I know it’s dangerous. That’s why I’m so worried.”
“I need to explain. About leaving Roseburg, and you.”
“Don’t bother. That’s long past. Very ancient history and all that jazz. You moved on. Looks like to a far better life. I’m not here for that anyway.”
He didn’t want her to think it was about her. He hated that part. He’d left for his sanity, for the safety and security of those around him. He’d left to step into a new life and he didn’t regret that part. Still, it agitated him that she was upset in any way. And she was. She could say all the right words, but he could feel it in the tension of her body, hear it in the tone of her voice. Could scent the acrid burn of her emotions.
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