Passion and Scandal
Page 17
~Rendezvous
"A romantic portrait of two people who find meaning in their love for one another."
~Romantic Times
Faith sighed and closed her eyes, nestling into him as they swayed together on the dance floor.
Don't, he wanted to say to her. Don't trust me. But he folded his arms around her and lay his cheek against her hair.
Faith felt unutterably safe, cradled, oh so gently, in the hard circle of his enveloping arms. She felt his lips move against her temple, whisper soft, and she wanted more than safety and gentleness from him. She stirred restlessly in his embrace.
Jack's arms tightened around her. "Be still," he murmured raggedly, fighting for control.
Her answer was a plaintive murmur of dissent and the soft press of her breasts against his chest as she slipped her arms around his back and nestled closer.
Jack moaned in defeat and desire and bent his head lower, burrowing through her hair to press his face against the curve of her neck. His lips touched warm flesh and, helplessly, he opened his mouth to taste her.
Faith felt the dampness of his lips and tongue against her skin and shivered in response, unconsciously letting her head fall back to give him better access. "Jack," she sighed, her voice rife with longing. "Jack."
"Dammit, Faith, I'm no good for you," he growled, low, but his tone made the harsh words a caress. "I've done things and seen things you can't possibly imagine. I'm too old for you. I—Faith, dammit, open your eyes and look at me."
She lifted her lids, looking up at him through eyes made slumberous and heavy with desire. He stared down at her for a long moment, frozen with indecision and guilt. And then she parted her lips slightly, her tongue peeking out as if to taste the kiss he hadn't yet given her, and he was lost.
A low sound, half pain, half pleasure, rumbled in his chest. "I'll probably burn in hell for this," he growled, his voice savage, his mouth so close his lips brushed hers as he spoke. "But I can only resist just so much temptation. And you, Angel—Dammit, you I can't resist at all," he groaned, and took her mouth with his.
Lovers & Strangers
The Hollywood Nights Series
Book One
by
Candace Schuler
~
To purchase
Lovers & Strangers
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Candace Schuler's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/CandaceSchuler
~
Discover more with
eBookDiscovery.com
Complete your journey with an excerpt from
SEDUCED & BETRAYED
The Hollywood Nights Series
Book Two
Excerpt from
Seduced & Betrayed
The Hollywood Nights Series
Book Two
by
Candace Schuler
Bestselling, award-winning Author
SEDUCED & BETRAYED
Reviews & Accolades
"A poignant tale of tempestuous love that even time cannot defuse."
~Romantic Times
"...true-to-life characters who forge a bond strong enough to carry them into the future."
~A Little Romance
"A terrific love story..."
~Rendezvous
Hello, Zeke," she said, and put her hand into his.
It was a mistake.
She knew it the minute their palms touched.
The heat was still there, as strong, as vital, as tempting as it had been the first time he'd ever touched her. It sizzled up her arm like wildfire, heading straight to the hidden core of her. Thank God, there was no chance she would succumb to its lure this time, she thought, belatedly steeling her nerve endings against him. This time she would be strong. Invulnerable. Invincible. Immune. Because this time she wasn't a breathless, wide-eyed ingenue, eager to taste life and oh-so-ripe for the plucking. This time, she knew that heat and sizzle was all there was to Zeke Blackstone.
All right, not all, she amended grudgingly. In the years since they'd last seen each other, he'd matured into a brilliant actor and then into an even more brilliant director. But he'd been a lousy husband.
She forced her lips into an empty little smile. "It's good to see you, Zeke," she said, feigning a credible and convincing coolness as she withdrew her hand from his.
Without conscious thought, Zeke tightened his fingers on hers, holding her captive for a scant moment longer, silently demanding that she look at him—really look at him, dammit!—before he would let her go. He tried to tell himself it was just a test of wills, a power play, a game of one-upmanship. And, on one level, it was.
It was also a need.
An urgent, burning, utterly inexplicable need.
Loath to let him gain the upper hand, Ariel reluctantly lifted her gaze to his. Wide blue eyes met smoldering brown for the first time in years.
They both felt the pull.
It was primal.
Visceral.
Frighteningly real.
"Is it really good to see me?" Zeke murmured, his voice low and disturbingly intimate. It shivered along her nerve endings, as real and tactile as a touch.
"Yes," Ariel said, aghast to realize she meant it. Oh, God, I don't want to mean it! "Yes, of course it is," she added, managing to make the words sound offhand and casual, like a polite social lie one didn't really care if the hearer believed or not.
"It's good to see you again, too, Ariel," he said softly, surprised at just how much he meant it. And how much he wanted her to mean it, too.
Seduced & Betrayed
The Hollywood Nights Series
Book Two
by
Candace Schuler
~
To purchase
Seduced & Betrayed
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Candace Schuler's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/CandaceSchuler
~
Discover more with
eBookDiscovery.com
Candace Schuler is a writer with a multiple personalities. In her 20+ year career, she has written software user guides, various types of instruction manuals, marketing collateral, grant proposals, case statements, case studies, business profiles, newsletters, press releases, white papers, speeches, scripts, short stories, a cookbook—and 26 (to date) romance novels.
Candace credits her husband Joe and her love of travel with starting her career as a romance writer. It was his comments on a letter describing a trip to New Orleans that prompted her to try writing romance fiction.
She wrote her first novel Desire's Child by hand on 12 yellow legal pads. It was published by Harlequin Books in September, 1984 (after she typed it into a computer, of course). Her second book A Cherished Account was published by New American Library under the pen name Jeanette Darwin just one month later. She is also published under the name Candace Spencer.
Her books have appeared on the B. Dalton's and Waldenbooks bestseller lists and have twice been nominated by the Romance Writers of America for a RITA award in the Best Short Contemporary Romance category—in 1996 for Passion and Scandal and in 2003 for Good Time Girl. Good Time Girl also received the 2003 Scarlett Letter Award, presented by the Tampa Bay Romance Writers for excellence in sensual romance writing. Candace's books have also received three Reviewers' Choice Awards from Romantic Times magazine. In 1992, she was awarded the Career Achievement Award as Series Story Teller of the Year by RT.
She is currently in the process of digitizing her backlist for e-book publication.
Other stuff:
* Well and happily married to the love of her life
* Mom to two 70-pound Dobermans who think they are lap dogs
* Plants a garden every year in hopes of producing the perfect tomato
* Bakes a to-die-for chocolate cheesecake
* Is a Big Brother Big Sister volunteer
* Buys way too
many shoes
* Holds the Grant Professional Certified credential
* Is a member of Novelists, Inc.
You can contact Candace through her website: www.CandaceSchuler.com
Table of Contents
Cover
A Note from Candace Schuler
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Excerpt from ONE NIGHT WITH YOU - The Heart of the City Series, Book 1
Excerpt from LOVERS & STRANGERS – The Hollywood Nights Series, Book 1
Excerpt from SEDUCED & BETRAYED – The Hollywood Nights Series, Book 2
Meet the Author