With a big smile she reached up and pulled his head down, and despite the lateness of the morning, aching muscles, and tired everything, they made love in the semi-dark. He wanted it that way, so he could see her expression as he brought her to that first shattering climax. Her head thrown back, her body shivering, her cry high and quaking with unmistakable pleasure. As he sank within her, he found a special heaven he understood he’d never known until now. In her arms was where he belonged.
Colorado Springs. Lasting Images Studio. A year and a half later.
As six o’clock came around, Lucy snapped off the air conditioning in her studio and made sure her security alarm was set. Time to go home. As she always did though, she looked around her studio and the numerous wedding photographs gracing her walls. She smiled. To date, since she’d moved to Colorado Springs a year and a half ago, she’d built a thriving business even faster than she’d expected. Jake, Marisa, Freddie and Keith had transferred to Fort Carson not that long after Vic. She’d found a contentment in life she’d once never knew existed. What else was there other than a career she loved, great friends and a wonderful home?
Love. Of course. More than any of those things, she couldn’t forget love. She smiled.
Her cell phone rang and excitement jumped inside her as she rushed back to the counter and reached for her phone tucked away in her purse. The screen held the name she wanted to see the most.
A huge smile broke over her face as she answered. “Vic!”
“Hey, babe. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Where are you?”
“On my way to you.”
She sighed with mock indignation. His flight in to the airport wasn’t due for another two hours. “That doesn’t explain where you are, silly man. I’m just heading out to Fort Carson now.”
“Don’t bother.”
“What?” Worry struck her.
“I’m right outside your door, love. We got an early connection back, and I wanted to surprise you.”
She swung around and there he was outside the studio, waving at her from the window. Wearing his Army Combat Uniform, or ACU’s as people in the military called them. His soldier’s bearing sent a primitive need through her body, but his dear face and wonderful smile took her breath away. She let out a squeal of joy, clicked off the phone, placed it on the counter and ran for the door. She couldn’t get there fast enough. When she did, he grabbed her up, stepped into the store and slammed the door.
His eyes were bright with love, and she hugged him as close as she could.
“God, baby,” he whispered close to her mouth. “I missed you.” He kissed her.
Their kiss went on so long she almost considered dragging him into the back room and having her way with him. Instead they lingered, only releasing the kiss after an eternity.
They stayed in each other’s arms. Vic grinned and pushed her hair back. She’d grown it to that lengthy, black tangle from high school. “Lucy, I can’t believe how long it’s been.”
“Six months of emails and video chats just isn’t enough. Promise you’ll stay home for a long, long time.”
He lifted her left hand, stared at the princess cut diamond nestled between antique diamond ring guards. They’d found the wedding set a year ago right before their simple, elegant ceremony. He held up his own left hand, displaying the white gold, plain wedding band that never left his hand.
He kissed her fingers. With a wicked grin, he said, “Only forever, my love. Only forever.”
And Lucy knew he meant it.
About the Author
Romantic Times Book Reviews calls Denise A. Agnew’s romantic suspense novels “top-notch”, and she’s received their coveted TOP PICK rating. Denise has written paranormal, romantic comedy, contemporary, historical, erotic romance and romantic suspense. Archaeology and archery have crept into her work, and travels through England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have added to a lifetime of story ideas. A newly minted paranormal investigator, Denise looks forward to exploring the unknown. Visit Denise’s website at www.deniseagnew.com.
Look for these titles by Denise A. Agnew
Now Available:
Marshall’s Law
Dark, Deadly Love
For A Roman’s Heart
Hot Zone
Male Call
Unconditional Surrender
Private Maneuvers
Close Quarters
Intimate Alliance
Coming Soon:
Before The Dawn
First impressions can be dead wrong.
Close Quarters
© 2008 Denise A. Agnew
Hot Zone, Book 4
Neena Williamson is positive the man who just walked into her favorite café is all wrong for the local charity’s new hot male calendar. For starters, he’s wearing the most butt-ugly Hawaiian shirt on the face of the earth. He doesn’t fit anyone’s image of a smokin’ hardbody, even if her friend insists he’s perfect for Mr. December.
When a gunman robs the café, Mr. December proves that underneath his bad taste in clothes, he knows how to bring it.
Clarksville, Wyoming is the perfect place for Mitch Gilroy to hide in plain sight. He enjoys his low-key handyman job, and no one pries into his former life. But in an instant, Mitch is forced to remember everything he’s tried so hard to forget.
Thrown together by sudden violence, Neena and Mitch quickly discover how tangled their emotions can become. And the only way to banish the monsters that haunt them is to do the one thing they fear most. Become vulnerable—to each other.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Close Quarters:
Mitch unlocked the screen door and front door, eager to lead Neena inside and discover how quickly he could bring her into his arms and taste her delicious skin under his tongue. He ached; his cock had been hard as a rock for what seemed forever.
Rain pounded on the porch as thunder rolled and tumbled. Another flash of electricity followed close behind. Mitch fumbled with the keys before he jammed the right one into the lock. He couldn’t remember the last time nerves had caused him uncertainty with a woman. Last time he’d been nineteen and losing his virginity. God, why did he think about that now? Neena probably wasn’t a virgin—she’d kissed like a woman who’d experienced passion before, and although her responses had been hesitant at first, once she did respond, she’d heated like a firecracker ready to ignite. He wanted her in his arms again. If he’d thought they wouldn’t get caught, he would have taken her there in his car. He would have unfastened his pants, tore away her pantyhose and panties and found her heat and wetness. Would have allowed her to slip down over his cock until she swallowed him whole. He almost groaned imagining it, and his erection got even harder, if that were possible.
No. He didn’t keep condoms in his truck, and he never had sex without a condom. Never. He wouldn’t take that risk.
“Fuck,” he murmured softly as he wrestled with the doorknob.
She squeezed his shoulder. “Having problems?”
“Yeah.” He finally opened the door and they went inside. He relocked the door.
He tossed his keys on a table beside the door and turned to her. Her hair, once artfully arranged atop her head earlier in the evening, lay in tumbled disarray across her shoulders. One thin strap of her red velvet gown had slipped down her shoulder. He almost groaned remembering what her nipple had felt like against his fingers. Tight. Aroused. Ready for the lash of his tongue, the sucking heat of his mouth. The curve of her bust, the smallness of her waist, and the roundness of her hips called to him on the most primitive level. Her gentle smile held questions. Her dusky eye shadow gave her eyes a mysterious allure.
His cock hardened a fraction more. He had to get inside her or die. Plain and simple. Yet the last thing he would do was frighten her. She looked too much like a woman who hadn’t committed to the next move. A woman on the threshold of deciding, of reversing the confident answer she’d given him in his car not so long ago. He burned to mak
e love to her, but he didn’t want her hesitation and uncertainty.
He started undoing his clothes, slowly. He tossed his tux jacket on the same table where he’d placed his keys. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No. I’m good.” Her voice was gentle and soft.
She walked toward him, and to his surprise, helped him undo his shirt buttons. She stared into his eyes and he allowed her to open his shirt and bare his chest. Her eyes widened a bit, and her attention glided over his muscles. She licked her lips, and his cock throbbed.
Screw subtlety.
“If you look at me like that…” he started to say.
“What?”
“I’ll have to do this.”
He leaned down and did away with his shoes, tossing them aside. They skidded across the foyer. As she propped her back against the closed front door, he placed his hands down on either side of her about shoulder-width apart. Neena’s pupils dilated a little, and he smiled. Oh, yeah. She was still interested. But would she admit it?
“Do you…?” She swallowed hard. “Do you still want me?”
He laughed softly, and because he couldn’t stand it any longer, he drew her hand to his cock. Through the fabric he was still hard as granite. Her fingers moved under his, caressing his length. Oh, Jesus.
Her lips parted. “I guess that was a stupid question.”
Social butterfly and a soldier in the Special Forces—a match made in…bed.
Jimmy
© 2010 Cat Johnson
Red Hot & Blue, Book 3
Special Forces gave Jimmy Gordon the undercover skills of a chameleon, but nothing prepared him for Amelia Monroe-Carrington, the governor’s hot, redheaded daughter. She thought she was seducing a banquet waiter, and he let her.
His next assignment pulled him from her bed and into the worst six months of his life. Images of Lia were what kept him alive imprisoned in Kosovo, and even now he’s home and recovered, she’s still in his head.
For her father’s political career, Lia has always done the appropriate thing, right down to dating a senator’s son. Her one rebellious act, an incredible night with a totally inappropriate man, ended when he disappeared. And then never called.
When they unexpectedly meet again, the pull between them is stronger than ever, tempting Lia to stop sacrificing her own happiness for the family dynasty.
This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.
Warning: Contains incredible one-night-stand sex hot enough to withstand time, distance, and some really nasty terrorist torture.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Jimmy:
“Hello?” Her sexy voice sent a shiver right down from his ears to his toes and everywhere in between.
“Hey, darlin’. It’s Ji…uh, James.”
“Hello there, James. Where are you?”
“In my car outside the party. We just got off.” Oh yeah. Judging by the sexy purr of her voice, he had a feeling he was about to get off all right.
“Meet me at the Hilton in ten minutes. Ask for the private elevator that leads to the presidential suite. I’ll leave your name at the desk so they’ll let you up.” Jimmy heard a click and then she was gone.
Holy crap. He didn’t know what to be amazed at more. The fact he was going to get lucky with the hottest woman he’d ever laid eyes on, or the invitation to the presidential suite at the Hilton. Meanwhile, there was no way he could drive back to base, check in and then get to the hotel in ten minutes, and Jimmy had a feeling Lia was not the kind of woman who responded well to being kept waiting.
The mission had been uneventful. Maybe no one would notice if he didn’t check in tonight. His decision made, he drove directly to the Hilton so fast it was a miracle he didn’t get pulled over for speeding. He stopped only long enough to grab a box of condoms and breath mints at the twenty-four-hour convenience store across the street from the hotel.
Jimmy remembered to unstrap his leg holster and secure his weapon in the glove compartment. He even remembered to lock his parked car, but that was about the only time his mind strayed from thinking about what was about to happen up in that suite.
Inside the massive marble lobby, he gave his name to the man standing behind the front desk, thinking there was a good chance he’d be thrown out on his ass. Lo and behold, he wasn’t. Instead, he was ushered by another uniform-clad employee into a brass and mahogany-lined elevator car with only two buttons inside. They read Lobby and Presidential Suite.
As the valet, or whatever he was called, rode up the many floors to the top with him, Jimmy finally allowed himself to stop thinking this whole thing must be some kind of a joke. That was something he knew for sure when the elevator doors opened onto the eerily quiet, private hallway on the top floor of the building.
The hotel employee held the door open with one arm and dismissed him with a nod. “Have a good night, sir.”
“Thanks.” He stepped out onto a marble floor. With a swish, the doors swept shut behind him and he was alone facing a single, massive white door.
Jimmy ignored the erratic pounding of his heart and raised his hand to knock. When the door swung wide a moment later, Lia stood before him wearing nothing but a black strapless bra, lacy thong underwear and mile-high heels.
He didn’t question the state of her attire. Her intentions were clear enough, so he simply walked in and blindly slammed the door shut behind him. Never a man to beat around the bush, Jimmy grabbed her head with one hand and her waist with the other and sank his tongue deep into her warm, welcoming mouth. He explored down the silky warm flesh to land on her ass cheek and discovered she felt as good as she looked.
Lia let him enjoy both her mouth and body for long enough to make his hard-on start to throb as it pressed against the zipper of his pants. Then she pulled away. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”
A woman who answered the door half-naked shouldn’t talk about how fast he was moving.
“Darlin’, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He ran his hands one more time over her firm curves with a groan.
Enough with the standing. Time to get horizontal. He glanced around the large space. It was decorated like a living room with a sofa and a huge flat-screen television that he might enjoy at another time when he didn’t have a raging hard-on and a willing woman beneath his hands. His gaze swept quickly over the kitchenette and dining area and landed on a partially closed door. Bingo.
She let out a small squeak as he scooped her up and headed for the adjoining room where he hoped to find a bed. A really large one if he was lucky. What he had in mind was going to take more than a little bit of time and a whole lot of space. When he pushed the door open wider with one foot and saw the king-sized mattress with the bedding already turned down for the night, it looked as if he was blessed enough to get what he wanted.
He dropped her on the bed and began tearing off what remained of his uniform. He’d long since ditched the jacket back in the car, so all he had left was the button-down shirt and pants.
She watched each piece of clothing fall to the floor, including his underwear, and then stared at his naked body. “Nice.”
Jimmy didn’t miss the gleam in Lia’s eye as she said that. Damn right, it was nice. He worked hard enough to get this body. About time he put it to use for something other than practice maneuvers and fighting bad guys.
“Glad you approve, darlin’.” He pulled her panties down with both hands and spread her legs. He ignored her surprised intake of breath and settled himself eyelevel with her creamy thighs and a whole lot more. She was totally bald down there except for a tiny neat triangle of red curls. The rest was smooth and hair-free. It was different and really hot.
He must have been staring for quite a while, because she finally reached down and grabbed his head in both hands, raising his face so he could see hers.
“What’s the matter, handsome? Don’t your waitress girlfriends believe in Brazilian bikini waxes?”
So that’s what it was called. He’d have to remember that. But hot as she was, and as incredible as her Brazilian bikini wax looked, he didn’t need any more of her smart-ass waiter comments. He was betting she was a talker, and he wanted quiet so he could fully enjoy himself.
There was one sure-fire way to make sure she stopped talking.
Hot Pursuit
Denise A. Agnew
It’s make or break time…
Hot Zone, Book 5
Betrayal seems to follow Lucy Creed wherever she goes. With visions of her military-issue boyfriend kissing another woman dancing in her head, she stomps into a local bar, ready, willing and—hell, yeah—able to hook up for New Year’s Eve.
The first man who brings her inner wild thing to attention is one delicious hunk with “perfect one-night stand” stamped all over him. He also turns out to be the all-grown-up version of a young man she blew off in high school. And damn it, he’s the one thing she’s sworn off: military.
In Major Vic Moore’s mind, Lucy is the one that got away. Now that she’s popped up on his radar, the temptation to let their mutual desire burn is too intense to ignore. It also sends up red flags—he’s fresh from a relationship that almost ruined his career.
Yet their scorching chemistry is too strong to ignore, and Vic finds himself going all out to change her well-entrenched ideas about military men. But as their secrets spill out, the weight of the past may be too much for their fragile trust to bear.
Warning: This title contains a hot military man guaranteed to melt the ice around even the most frozen heart.
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Hot Pursuit: Hot Zone, Book 5 Page 11