“This is not what I was asking for.”
“Sometimes what we need isn’t what we ask for, but if you let me finish maybe you’ll get both.”
“You’re a very pushy man.”
He shrugged. “Guess you found a flaw.”
She smiled at that. It was the first hint he was winning so he plunged forward. “You were faced with two enemies at one time and were brave enough to pull a gun on them. You didn’t freeze. You didn’t hide. You didn’t run.
“Damn, Grey. I’ve never been more terrified than I was that night when I came to in the kitchen.” It still pissed him off that Jessup had knocked him out, but he refused to dwell on it. “I’ve never been more fucking proud either.”
Her eyes widened. She swallowed.
“You have faced the worst I think life will throw at you, and look at what you’ve walked away with.”
She shook her head.
“You told me you wanted a tight circle of friends rather than a large group of acquaintances. They may be smothering you right now, but you have those friends. You wanted to be a part of something special.”
She nodded.
He took her hands in his, facing her. His throat burned with the importance of what he needed to say. “I like to think what you and I have is special. I’ve never wanted to be with someone more. Even when you’re yelling at me or lecturing me. Especially when we’re in bed curled close.”
Her tears spilled over and slid down her cheeks. He kissed one away, but he didn’t release her hands. “You want kids. A family. I can give you that, even if we have to adopt or become foster parents.”
“Liam.” She sighed jerkily. “Why do you want these things with me? I’m damaged goods.”
“I want these things with you, Grey, because you’re my wife. More importantly, I want these things with you because I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment you jumped me in Vegas.”
She laughed. “How is that possible?”
“Because in that moment, I saw a woman with an inner strength that meant she’d never be a victim. In that moment, I saw a woman who loved and valued life enough to fight for it.” He lifted his hand, keeping hers prisoner, and wiped away a tear. “You jumped me, which jumpstarted my heart, and then you laughed when you realized your mistake. God. Your laugh is magic, Grey.
“You asked why I wanted you to stay. It’s because I love you. You were surprised I was willing to go into WitSec with you, even hypothetically. It’s because I love you. You’re my family and I would do anything to make you happy.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.” He wiped away more tears from her cheeks. “Even if that’s getting you the hell out of here.”
Her lips curled into a real smile and she blew out a shaky breath. “Thank you.”
She couldn’t get outside fast enough, and as soon as they did she drew in a huge swallow of air. When they were back in the car and her breathing had returned to normal, she turned her head on the seat. “Liam.”
“Yeah, Grey.”
“I’d really like it if you’d make love with me again. It’s been too long.”
“Name the time and place. If you’re up for it, I promise I am.”
“Now. Home.”
“Everyone’s still there.”
“We don’t have to talk to them, though I’m willing to bet your mom has cleared them out.”
He was laughing when he started the car to head back home. He turned around to back out of the spot. She leaned in and kissed him. “I love you the same way. I love being your wife.”
Eyes locked with hers, he slipped the car back into Park. His heart stopped beating. The world went silent. His lungs stopped. When life penetrated the haze, it came in a flood that rained from his eyes.
There, in the parking lot of the shop that had set her on the path to him, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. She’d become his wife two years ago to the day and she’d just given him the most perfect gift.
About the Author
Heart-stopping puppy chases, childhood melodrama and the aborted hangings of innocent toys are all in a day’s work for Nikki Duncan. This athletic equestrian turned reluctant homemaker turned daring author is drawn to the siren song of a fresh storyline.
Nikki plots murder and mayhem over breakfast, scandalous exposés at lunch and the sensual turn of phrase after dinner. Nevertheless, it is the pleasurable excitement and anticipation of unraveling her character’s motivation that drives her to write long past the witching hour.
The only anxiety and apprehension haunting this author comes from pondering the mysterious outcome of her latest twist.
Nikki loves to hear from her readers. She can be found at all the predictable online places.
Twitter: @NDuncanWriter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NDuncanWriter
Website: www.nikkiduncan.com
Look for these titles by Nikki Duncan
Now Available:
Sensory Ops
Sounds to Die By
Scent of Persuasion
Illicit Intuitions
A Killing Touch
Tulle and Tulips
Tangled in Tulle
Twisted in Tulips
Handcuffed in Housewares
Whispering Cove
Wicked
Burned
Serenades
Her Miracle Man
Coming Soon:
Whispering Cove
Fiery
Tulle and Tulips
Debauched in Diamonds
Sensory Ops
Cyber Illusions
Some couples just click. Others require a hard hat and a stud finder.
Handcuffed in Housewares
© 2013 Nikki Duncan
Tulle and Tulips, Book 3
Monday mornings have a reputation for sucking, and today is no different for Burton Anderson. One year ago, his “perfect” life full of prestige, money, success and travel crumbled in the glaring light of betrayal.
This morning? This close to making his new construction business a success, a date gone awry has left him handcuffed to a toilet in a housewares store. Naked. And the first customer of the day is coming down his aisle.
Planning and shopping for other couples’ Big Day is about as wild and crazy as buttoned-up Leigh Schyuler gets. Until she gets an eyeful of Hearth and Home’s daily special. He’s definitely a “designer” temptation while she’s “off the rack”.
But there are risks, and then there are risks. Burton isn’t sure he can once again trust his heart to a woman who holds the power to ruin him. And Leigh discovers too late that indulging in a little no-strings sex is tying her dream of Devoted Love into hopeless knots…
Warning: Contains a hard-hatted, hard-bodied hero who’s good with his hands, and a woman who’d like him to build a bridge over her sexual boundaries. Nuts and bolts never had it so good.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Handcuffed in Housewares:
I enjoy working with my hands. Leigh stood in Burton’s office, the place where he planned his jobs and made business decisions. Dark furniture and cream-colored walls with gorgeous sconces that offered a soft light. An efficiently organized set of shelves and file drawers backed the masculine desk. A large window overlooked the immaculately landscaped and solar-lit lawn. The space was appealing enough to let her know she’d thought of the right man for Jace’s project, but as appealing as the room was it didn’t appeal to her as much as the man who’d created it.
“You accomplished a lot in a month.”
“I’m efficient when I’m not locked to toilets,” he said with a wink.
He was kind, fun and funny, but there was a hesitance in him. Something that held him back from completely opening himself up, even as she suspected he was opening himself up more with her than he normally did. He was a mystery she wouldn’t mind trying to solve.
“So you plan on buying, fixing up and selling house after house?”
“Th
e idea’s occurred to me.”
She sat on the edge of the large executive desk that held only a laptop, phone, notepad and pen all precisely placed to be within easy reach. “You don’t want to put down roots?”
“I have roots in family.”
“Are they around here, or did you move around a lot as a kid?” That could explain his detachment to a house, because most people formed an attachment when they invested as much time and effort in a place as he already had.
“They’re here. How about you? Where are your roots?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out. My foster family is here, and I know how I fit with them, but…” She took a long drink and sat the beer beside her.
“But?” He sat his mug on the desk. His arm brushed hers as he moved back to lean against the wall across from her. “There’s something still missing?”
His eyes, piercing and soulful, met hers and silently encouraged her to share her innermost feelings. She’d talked about her professional dreams with Lori and the other planners. Misty knew some of her past because they’d been in college together for a while. She didn’t normally talk about personal stuff with people.
“But, I…” She wasn’t entirely sure what her dreams were, but somehow, facing Burton, she suspected he’d play into her figuring them out. “Do you ever feel like you haven’t found your place? Like maybe you’re close, but haven’t quite gotten there?”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Ever figure out what’s missing?”
“Nope.”
All evening he’d been talkative and fun. Now, when they were alone and she especially wanted to know what he thought, he grew quiet… Then he stepped forward. “I’m beginning to wonder, though…”
The spanning distance between them was minimal, but he closed each step with determination and strength.
“Wonder what?” Energy pulsed along the air. The headlights from a car turning the corner shafted through the open blinds, illuminating Burton even more than the soft light coming from the wall sconces.
“If maybe you’re part of what’s been missing.”
Leigh’s heart jumped with the dull thud of each of Burton’s footfalls. It soared with the suggestion in his tone.
Burton stopped with a foot still separating them. He scooted his feet across the hardwood floor until the toes of his shoes bumped the toes of hers. Leigh straightened off the desk so she stood before him, her pulse pumping harder.
He reached out and pressed his palm against her cheek. The pressure of his palm was as light as the brush of his thumb beneath her jaw and as intense as the look in his brown eyes. She swore she felt him touch her soul with the look. Then, with the softest hint of flexion he pulled her to him.
Neither of them blinked or shifted their gazes as he lowered his head and rested his forehead on hers. Staring. Breathing.
His breaths brushed her lips with a silent encouragement to part for him. Resistance, like breathing steadily, was almost impossible. Her regular breaths became tiny inhales and with each burst of air the oxygen built up in her lungs until she feared the expulsion.
“You’re so beautiful.”
She’d never thought of herself as overly pretty. Her hips were too wide and no matter how closely she watched her calories or how many crunches she did she couldn’t get rid of the bulge in her tummy. The way he called her beautiful, intently and intimately, and the way he looked at her, steady and starved, had her believing him.
“I thought you were attractive the moment I saw you.” His thumb brushed rhythmically along her jaw. “Then you rescued me and saved my reputation, though you were clearly against how I ended up where you found me.”
Her skin heated beneath his touch. She angled her chin a little higher, rubbing her forehead against his and wishing he would kiss her. Freedom was something she’d never felt with a man, especially not a man she barely knew. That she didn’t feel the need for guards with Burton, that he aroused a sense of security in her, was enlightening and scary all at once. “It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“It was to me. So much so I hated that I regretted not finding out how to contact you.”
“Then you found me in the hardware store.”
“And realized you’d told your friends about me.” He rubbed the side of her nose with his.
If he was trying to draw out the tension, to make her want him more, he was succeeding. Her belly fluttered and then coiled with excited tension.
“The idea that one of them would know Mark as well as you and that they’d say something terrified me.”
“Are you still worried about that? Because they’ll keep your secret.”
“No. I know that now.” Burton buried his free hand in Leigh’s hair and with a gentle tug had her bun falling from the carefully placed bobby pins.
She exhaled a shaky breath of relief when the pin that had shifted and been pinching a hair too tightly fell to the floor. The weight of her hair tumbling around her shoulders was a luxury she only allowed herself in the privacy of her home. It made her feel sexy. He made her feel sexy.
“They’ll give you crap every chance they get, though.”
“Does that mean I’ll be around them more? That you want to see more of me?”
“I think I’d like that.” He had to have heard the squeak in her voice, just as he had to know she wasn’t referring to another date.
His fingers massaged her head, moved to the base of her scalp to the spot the bobby pin had been pinching. His touch, so heavenly, had her arching her neck. Her lips pressed against the soft flesh just below his mouth. It seemed to be all the encouragement he needed.
Burton stooped lower and kissed her. He didn’t push or dive or plunder. It was a simple moment of lips against lips. In the simplicity rested a liberty she’d only known in her dreams. Emboldened, Leigh cupped the back of his neck and urged him to take the kiss deeper.
He needed no more encouragement. With his right hand he continued to massage her head. With his left, he applied a smidge more pressure. She parted her lips, allowing deeper access.
An image of him gripping her hips and planting her more firmly on the desk before plundering snapped into her mind. Instead, heartbeats stretched into long moments of exploration. She moved her hands to his neck and hair. He shifted so both hands framed her face.
Time vanished as the intricacies of Burton’s kiss entwined Leigh. She shifted on the desk and spread her legs. He stepped in, never breaking the kiss. As much as she enjoyed kissing him, and she really enjoyed kissing him, she wanted to discover more. She wanted to discover the boundaries of her new freedom. Its sustainability.
Releasing another reservation, Leigh put her hands at his waist and untucked his shirt. Her pinky touched his side and he shivered. His shiver thrilled and encouraged her.
She slipped her tongue between his lips and slid it along his. On a moan that vibrated from his throat and moved through Leigh, he moved his hands to her hips.
Another car rounded the corner. Its lights shining into the room reminded Leigh that the blinds were open. With the inside lights on anyone who passed could see them. She’d never had sex outside of her bedroom with the blinds and windows closed.
“Burton, do you have a bedroom?”
“Yeah.” Holding her immobile, he molded his body to hers until she had little choice but to lay back. “We’ll go there next time.”
For a woman he can’t touch, he’ll turn Hell inside out.
The Innocent
© 2014 Shiloh Walker
FBI Psychics, Book 2
There’s only one reason Jay Roberts would set foot in a middle-of-nowhere town like Hell, Georgia. She’s got a bone to pick with her sort-of boyfriend. They only met online, but things got hot and heavy before their cyber link went silent.
She’s here to get in his face for an explanation. But no touching. Her psychic abilities make physical contact…complicated. Yet something about this relationship made her think things would
be different. She’s not in Hell twenty minutes before bad vibes have her skin crawling.
Corruption has stained the very fabric of Linc Dawson’s town, and now it’s stolen something very dear to him. The last thing he has time for is nursing Jay’s broken heart.
But Jay isn’t going anywhere. Not only because she’s not giving up on him, because she’s got access to the kind of backup nobody wants on their bad side. And Linc discovers the woman who’s afraid to touch him could actually be his best chance. At salvation, at hope, at life. Maybe even love…
Warning: This book contains a not-so-naive virgin, a pissed-off former cop, lots of frustration, if you know what I mean, and more trouble than either of them know what to do with.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Innocent:
“Linc…”
Her voice was soft, sad.
The sympathy in her eyes practically tore him open.
When she lifted a hand to touch his cheek, the very last thing he needed to do was stand there, let her touch him when he was feeling so raw.
Her fingers brushed his skin and he caught her wrist, twisted it behind her back and glared down at her. “Don’t,” he panted, pressing his brow to hers. “Don’t stand there and look at me like that if that’s why you’ve come.”
“It’s not.”
Her voice was steady, gentle as a soft summer rain, but the truth was stamped on her face. “I came down here to have it out with you, the way you went and dumped me, you big ass.” She shoved his shoulder with her free hand, then her hand curled into his shirt, her fingers kneading at him like a little cat. “I didn’t even know you had a daughter.”
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