She thought about it. “Touché.”
Smiling, he tapped her nameplate. “Are you really a Miss? Or is that just school-teacher licence?”
“Are you asking whether I wear nice underwear for a partner or whether I wear it for myself?”
He hesitated. Then he grinned. “Yes.”
“Then just ask, for God’s sake. I hate having to rummage around in people’s words looking for the true meaning behind them.”
He nodded. “Duly noted.”
She zipped up her laptop case. “I’m single. I happen to like pretty underwear.”
“So do I. So that’s two things we have in common.” Smiling, he pushed himself to his feet. “We’d better go. I think you’re getting the evil eye.”
Grace looked up, surprised to see they were the last two people left in the auditorium. Professor Michaels was standing in the doorway, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting to lock up. “Oh.”
“Come on. I’ll walk you to your car. It’s dark outside.”
She put the register and pen in her bag, slipped on her jacket and walked with him out of the auditorium, nodding to the professor as they passed and apologising for keeping him waiting.
“Jeez,” said Ash as they went out into the cool night air and walked down to the main road. “What a weird guy.”
“I know. Mia told me I was going to have swear-out-loud sex with the next guy who walked through the door. I was terrified it was going to be him.”
He stopped walking and looked down at her, smiling. “And instead you got me.”
She glanced up. She was five-feet-eight, hardly short for a woman, but he still towered over her. He was like essence of man. She was acutely conscious of the way his shirt sleeves stretched across his generous arm muscles. “You’re not Robert Downey Junior,” she said, a little breathlessly.
He smiled. “No.” His eyes glittered in the light from the street lamp.
“You are gorgeous, though.”
He gave a short laugh. “You really have no control over what comes out of your mouth, do you?”
“Not when I’m nervous. It lands me in heaps of trouble.”
“I kind of like it. I don’t have to worry about what you’re thinking.”
“I can see how that might be appealing.”
They studied each other for a moment. An impish smile gradually spread across his face. “Swear-out-loud sex, huh?”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Mia’s words, not mine.”
“It sounds like an interesting prediction.”
“I don’t believe in predictions.” She swallowed. His eyes had turned quite hot. “Or swearing.”
“You don’t swear?”
“Never.”
“Not even during sex?”
Her eyes widened. “Mr. Rutherford!”
“Yes, Miss Fox?”
“I…” For once, words failed her. He was a man who thought he could speak to dead people. He was certifiable, almost certainly delusional, and quite possibly an outright fraudster.
He was also the most gorgeous guy she’d ever met in real life, and the way he was looking at her made her knees go weak. She wrapped her arms around the laptop case as if it were a breastplate that could protect her.
“You’d be surprised how many predictions I’ve made that have come true,” he said, his deep voice husky.
She swallowed. “Well, for a start, Mia made up the stupid horoscope, and she’s usually about as accurate as a stopped watch.” Her voice was faint. “And secondly, there’s no such thing as the ability to see into the future. We exist at a fixed point in time. It’s not possible.” She lifted her chin determinedly.
He smiled. “Even a stopped watch is right twice a day.” His gaze had settled on her mouth. Ohmygod, he wants to kiss me.
She gave a little shake of her head. “You’re flirting with me.”
“Am I?”
“Men don’t flirt with me.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“I scare them off.”
He laughed. “Now that I can believe.”
“Don’t I scare you?”
He stepped a little closer to her. “Not in the least.”
She looked up into his dark blue eyes. Her skin prickled with his nearness. She desperately wanted to kiss him. But she knew she couldn’t. It wouldn’t end well. She couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in his eyes.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I’m not your type of girl.”
“Oh? And how do you know what type of girl I like?”
She moistened her lips with her tongue, not missing the way he watched her. “I know. I’m sure you like confident women, who’ve read the Kama Sutra from cover to cover and know massage techniques and own special equipment.”
“You mean like power tools?”
“Don’t make me laugh. I’m trying to be serious. I meant…” How on earth had she got herself into this conversation? She’d only just met the man, for crying out loud. “I mean, I’m sure the women you date are sexy and very good in bed and I’m…not.”
His eyebrows rose. “What makes you say that?”
“I…I’ve been told.” Her cheeks grew hot again.
He stared at her. A frown marred his forehead, and something like anger shone in his eyes. Then, gradually, his smile reappeared. “Maybe you just need more practice.”
“I’m a schoolteacher who dresses like she’s stepped out of the Victorian period. How good in bed do you really think I am?”
His smile widened. “Dresses on the outside.”
He was talking about her stockings again. She moistened her lips once more. “Silky underwear doesn’t make a woman sexy.”
He gave a small laugh. “Oh, I beg to differ.” He gave her a curious, amused glance. “You are an exceptionally sexy woman, Miss Fox. And I am sure that, given the right location, the right encouragement and the right man, you would be exceedingly good in bed.”
Sometimes a good girl just needs a little naughty.
Good at Being Bad
© 2012 Cathryn Fox
Boys of Beachville, Book 1
Public relations specialist Allison Cooper is more than ready to handle a career make-or-break assignment: to develop and market a charity calendar featuring hot men. Her only problem is Mr. July, a sexy cop who happens to be her ex-lover.
Trying to keep his image squeaky clean—a must for her promotion—raises all sorts of challenges, especially when this bad boy is throwing a little kink into her plan.
Image is the last thing on Carter James’s mind. He agreed to be Mr. July on one condition—that during his promo month, Allison never leaves his side. He wants her back, and to make that happen he needs her undivided attention to teach him good from bad. Unless bad is what the lady wants…
Warning: Contains frank language, hot sex on the beach, and illegal but sexy use of handcuffs. Author cannot be held accountable for aroused state of mind or ruined manicures upon completion of this steamy book.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Good at Being Bad:
His warm breath tickled her neck. “I’ve missed you, Ally.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but what could she say. She’d missed him too.
As lust overrode common sense and desire sang through her veins, she found herself melting into him.
His warm hand slid under her blouse and brushed over her stomach. His touch sent shock waves through her and unleashed her need. As she took pleasure in the feel of his strong hands on her body, and felt his hard arousal press against her back, some small coherent part of her brain warned that she was crossing a line, one that might not be so easy to come back from and would undoubtedly result in heartache.
Allison gulped. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
Carter spun her to face him. He wet his mouth as dark eyes full of passion searched her face. “Do you want me to stop?”
Her womb clenched as moisture pooled between her legs. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”
>
Carter brushed the soft pad of his thumb over her lips. “That bad feeling again?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, tell you what, sweetheart. Let’s not overthink this. Instead, let’s just do what feels good.”
She opened her mouth, but her words of protest were lost on a moan when his lips crashed down on hers. Warm need pulsed through her blood as he kissed her long and hard until her body throbbed with pent-up passion. When he deepened the kiss and she tasted the beer on his tongue, she knew she was utterly trumped.
God, it’s been too long since I’ve been kissed like this.
He abandoned her mouth and pressed his lips to that sensitive area on her neck as he pushed a knee between her legs to widen them. His lips felt like fire on her skin, and there was nothing she could do to stop herself from grinding her pussy against his hard thigh. Pleasure coursed through her, hot and heavy in her veins. She couldn’t deny that she wanted this, wanted him so much she ached. Her hands raced over him with aroused eagerness, tugging at his T-shirt.
God, I need…
When she whimpered, Carter looked at her. His voice was so intimate, so soft and full of emotions when he asked, “Did that feel good, Ally?”
She gave a slow nod, her breath labored, unsteady. With that, Carter tore off his shirt and pulled her close. She ran her hands over his hard back muscles, reacquainting herself with his strong, athletic body. His fingers found the buttons on her blouse, and he opened them one by one, until her hard nipples were exposed through her lace bra.
A low sound crawled out of his throat as he brushed his thumb over one distended bud. “How about this, sweetheart? Does this feel good?”
Instead of answering she let her lids fall shut, her body basking in the erotic sensations rolling through her.
Allison ran her tongue over her kiss-swollen lips as want burned a lazy path through her body. Carter pulled her bra cup to the side and lowered his mouth to her breast. That first, sweet flick of his tongue over her sensitive nipple had her arching into him and moaning in sensual bliss.
“Oh God, yes,” she cried out, and that seemed to be all the encouragement Carter needed.
He quickly removed her sweater, blouse and bra, leaving her standing there in nothing but her jeans. He took a long moment to look at her near nakedness, the heat in his eyes intensifying and warming her all over.
He stepped close, lightly caressing her arms as he dipped his head, his hair brushing her cheek. “You’re beautiful, Ally.”
Her gaze slid over him, need pumping through her veins. “So are you.”
He packaged her in his strong arms, and she could feel his cock press into her stomach. His eyes were dark, his gaze tormented. “Tell me you want this.”
As his primal essence completely overwhelmed her, she struggled to think, to rationalize. But her brain didn’t want to work, and her body only wanted to feel. In that instant she made the quick decision that tonight was too perfect to pass up. The combination of the full moon, the sand and surf, not to mention the half-naked man before her was more than she could take. She’d gift herself with this night in Carter’s arms, then tomorrow…well, tomorrow she’d get her head on straight and her life back on track.
But tonight…oh, tonight…
Seven Sexy Sins
Serenity Woods
The road to passion is paved with guilty pleasures.
Faith Hillman is in a bit of a pickle. She’s been commissioned to write a series of magazine articles on spicing up your love life. She’s got the theme—the “Seven Sexy Sins”—but there’s one major problem. She hasn’t experienced any of them.
Ever since Faith’s older brother gave Rusty Thorne a black eye for kissing her on her eighteenth birthday, he’s kept his distance, waiting for the right time to make his move. This is it. She needs a research partner? He’s the man for the job.
When sex-on-legs Rusty offers his services, Faith is all over it—with one caveat. The notorious heartbreaker must sign a confidentiality contract. Just to keep him safe from her brother’s wrath, of course…and her heart off Rusty’s long list of conquests.
As they work their wicked way through the list, the implications of the contract hit Rusty as hard as the handcuffs binding his wrists to the bed. It isn’t just Faith’s touch that rocks his world. It’s the way his heart likes it that blows his defenses out of the water. And makes him wonder, when the contract ends, if he can bear to let her go.
Warning: Includes rebellious hero who enjoys inserting Tab A into Slots B, C, and even occasionally D. Also includes highly inappropriate use of a Mars Bar.
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 coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Seven Sexy Sins
Copyright © 2012 by Serenity Woods
ISBN: 978-1-60928-957-7
Edited by Imogen Howson
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: August 2012
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
About the Author
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