His expression was unreadable. Jessa tenderly traced the strong line of his jaw with her fingertips. He caught her hand and kissed it.
“This is all I have,” Connor gestured to the bar.
Jessa eyed the jumble of tables and chairs, the bar, the shelves of liquor behind the counter, and offered him a warm smile. “This isn’t all you have, Connor.”
“It is, Jessa. There’s no long dead relative waiting to will me his millions. I don’t have a college degree to fall back on. I’m just an ex-convict.”
Jessa placed her fingers over his lips. “That isn’t what I meant.”
Connor lifted an elegant eyebrow in silent question.
“I just want you, Connor. The rest of it isn’t worth a hill of beans. Believe me, I should know.”
His face tightened. Jessa was struck by this sudden display of vulnerability. It was humbling that a man like Connor, gifted with such incredible physical prowess and a brilliant mind, could be so unassuming.
Jessa cupped his face in her hands. “You told me once that the past could be burned away. That we could rise from the ashes and be reborn.”
“The way we were meant to be,” he agreed.
She laughed, rocking against his hips. “Well, if memory serves, a Phoenix rises again and again from the ashes.”
Comprehension dawned in his hell black gaze.
Jessa moved again and then leaned down to whisper in his ear.
“You’ve burned a mark on my soul, Connor Archuleta. You’ve helped me to be reborn. Now all I’m asking is that you help me rise from the ashes again and again.”
It didn’t take any more convincing. Connor hungrily devoured Jessa’s mouth. Before she was consumed by the sexual storm of their mutual passion, Jessa had the wry thought that the cycle of death and rebirth would never grow dull with Connor by her side.
~ About the Author ~
Kaitlin Maitland is that person sitting in the corner, absorbing every detail about life. She often says she's an accidental author who keeps writing because, well, how could you not when there are just so many interesting stories to tell? A self admitted horse addict, Kaitlin loves spending time with her horse Mercy when not pounding out her next novel on the laptop.
Find out more about Kaitlin Maitland here:
http://www.kaitlinmaitland.com
http://www.facebook.com/KaitlinMaitland
http://kaitlinmaitland.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/KaitlinMaitland
~ Coming Soon ~
Verifiable Intelligence
© 2012 Kaitlin Maitland
~ Now Available from Kaitlin Maitland ~
Mr. Wonderful Lies
© 2011 Kaitlin Maitland
Sometimes the only wonderful thing about him is his lies.
Megan is tired of dating players. Despite the misgivings of her two closest friends, Megan finds her new Mr. Wonderful on the Internet. But the better things get with Mr. Wonderful, the worse things get with her friends, especially her friend Jared, the biggest player of them all. When things start to unravel, she can’t quite tell who’s playing whom, or just what to expect when Mr. Wonderful lies…
~ More Hot Romance from Etopia Press ~
Bondi Beach Boys
© 2011 Rhian Cahill
What's a girl to do with two sexy Aussie surfers? Ride the waves, of course…
After weeks of lusting over a couple of hot surfers, Piper Doyle has the opportunity to turn fantasy into reality. There’s just one problem—they’re her new clients. When the men offer a no-strings-attached affair, Piper has a decision to make, one her body made for her weeks ago when she first started watching “her boys.” She can’t risk the job that could make or break her career, but she sure as hell isn’t going to pass up this chance to live out her wildest dreams...
Sam Bridges and Nate Russo share everything, from their home to their business to the occasional woman. Even themselves. But they’ve never shared what they feel for Piper. What starts out as hot sex with a willing woman turns into something none of them expected—but what’s wrong with a few strings on a hot summer day at the beach...
Secretly More
© 2011 Lux Zakari
What if the one you love IS the one you’re with…
Jay Navarrete has been in love with his best friend Kimber York for years. When she ends her frustrating long-term relationship with an apathetic musician, he decides the time is finally right to tell her how he feels.
But Kimber has an agenda of her own, one that doesn’t include returning Jay’s feelings. Instead, she’s eager to make up for lost time by becoming more sexually adventurous. Her mission leads her to an upstairs bedroom at a wild party, where she agrees to be blindfolded and await a mystery lover. Although Jay knows it’s wrong, he’s unable to resist the opportunity to be with her.
But Jay soon finds himself in a complex tug-of-war between his integrity and his heart, one that threatens to ruin everything between Kimber and him—especially when she falls hard for someone else: her mystery lover.
By Surprise
© 2012 Alyssa Turner
Sex that's twice as good, love that's three times stronger.
When Jodi returned to Burlington after a nasty divorce, broke and without a much needed place to sculpt, she never expected to bump into Paxton, her best friend from growing up. With her unresolved feelings for him still smoldering, it was a shock to find him married—to a great guy. But when Paxton and Nicholas offer her a room for rent in their too-big, too-expensive Victorian, complete with a turret to use as her art studio, it seems like the perfect solution for everyone. Until Jodi overhears Nicholas and Paxton making love—and finds herself burning hotter than she ever imagined.
Nicholas always knew his husband Paxton was bi-sexual, but finding his forgotten stash of cheerleader DVDs makes him wonder if Paxton's been tamping down his old desires. As strong as their love is, he knows there are things he just can't give Paxton...or can he? He decides to get Paxton a very special birthday present—a night with a woman—a no-strings arrangement to grant him the fantasies Nicholas isn't equipped to fulfill. But when he meets Paxton's best friend Jodi, Nicholas finds himself facing new feelings of his own. If only he could stop imagining Jodi's body wedged between Paxton and him and figure out what to do...
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