by Ruby McNally
They’re still looking at each other when Doc calls out to Taryn from across the bar, engaging in a series of exaggerated pantomimes that translate roughly to I need to pee and you should too. Falvey rolls her eyes. “Duty calls,” she tells him, sliding off her barstool. She nudges her warm thigh against his before she goes. By the time she gets back Lynette’s made herself at home beside Nick, going on about the new Italian place in Stockbridge—her husband’s out of the doghouse, apparently. Nick watches Falvey size up the situation, then follow Doc over to a table with some of the other rookies.
So. That’s the end of that, he guesses.
For a girl who was waiting on him she sure stays far away the rest of the night, beating Doc’s boyfriend at Buck Hunter and nursing a pint of Sam Winter, laughing like she hasn’t got a care in the breathing world. Nick can feel her though, this weird awareness of where she is in the bar at any given moment, like she’s giving off some kind of hum only he can hear. He orders another beer, minds his own business. Taryn doesn’t. At around eleven he comes out of the bathroom and finds her waiting, leaning against the wall next to the ancient pay phone like there’s no place she’d rather be.
Nick blinks. “Hey,” he says. There’s the narrowest strip of skin showing between her waistband and her shirt. “Where you been?”
Taryn smirks. “Like you weren’t watching.”
Halfway between Audra’s age and his, Nick reminds himself. Still. “How d’you figure that?” he asks, leaning in to prop an arm against the wall, close but not close enough to crowd her. It’s private here, a long, dim hallway snaking around the back of the bar, but Nick feels compelled to leave room for the Holy Ghost anyway. All these stops and starts have made him cautious. “Been watching me watch?”
Falvey tips her chin. “Just a hunch,” she supplies, shrugging with the easy grace of a person who knows she’s not wrong. Her pale cheeks are flushed, the beer or the stuffiness or both. “Anyway. Could be I need that ride now.”
Nick isn’t ready to let her off the hook. “Could be, huh? You don’t know for sure?” He’s been waiting on her, is the truth—normally he would have left an hour ago.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to interrupt your evening.” Falvey shrugs, uncrossing her arms and pushing off the wall like she intends to lead the way to the parking lot. Only then she stops short.
“God, seriously, are you ever gonna make the first move?” she asks, one hundred and ten percent out of the blue. Her laugh is unexpectedly nervy. “It’s been my turn twice.”
Nick’s eyebrows damn near hit his hairline. “Your turn—Christ, Falvey, this isn’t a game of Go Fish.”
Taryn smirks, mirroring his expression, but underneath the clowning she looks nervous. “So? Tell me to get lost then.” She’s still standing inside the cage of his arm.
It’s easy to make the first move when you’re as sure of the other person as Falvey is of him, Nick reminds himself. He ought to tell her that and walk away.
He doesn’t.
Her mouth tastes like Sam Adams and medicinal lip balm. Nick fists his hand in her messy red hair and holds on. “There you go,” he says finally, pulling back. God, she’s only been broken up with Pete a couple of weeks. “First move.”
“Mm-hmm.” Taryn blinks at him, those green eyes taking on a gold tint in the dim light of the hallway. Nick can hear the sounds of the bar drifting around the corner, Springsteen and a spray of Jerry’s horsey laughter. “Congratulations.”
Nick blows out an irritated sigh. He knows he got to her, the slightly labored way she’s breathing and the blush that’s crept down her chest. But fine. If she wants to be a pain in the ass, then she can be a pain in the ass. “You want me to drive you home, or what?” he asks.
Taryn’s pale eyebrows lift. “In a minute.” Nick’s dropping his hand from the wall when she grabs it, lacing her fingers through his. “I told you,” she says, when he looks at her curiously. “I did it twice.”
She did it— Christ, Nick’s pretty much had enough of fucking around here.
Maybe Falvey has too, because she kisses him right back this time, letting him lick his way into her mouth and press her up against the wall. Nick can feel her everywhere at once. When she nips along the edges of his tongue, he lets out a growl before he knows he’s going to do it, hips pressing hers back into the plaster. Taryn gasps.
“Good?” he asks, then doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead he tucks one hand against the nape of her neck underneath that waterfall of hair, back where the skin is so hot and so soft it’s all he can do not to turn her around and set to sucking, not to haul her into the bathroom and pull those tight jeans down around her thighs. Taryn grins a cheeky grin against his mouth.
“Knew you had it in you,” she murmurs.
Nick catches her bottom lip between his teeth and tugs. “You’re a brat, you know that?” One thigh slides between hers to investigate, pressing up. She’s warm there too, all these secret pockets of body heat.
Taryn keeps smiling. “You have no idea.”
Sea, air, land, the bedroom...this SEAL is always in command.
As Hot as it Gets
© 2014 Elle Kennedy
An Out of Uniform Story
After watching his teammates settle down one by one, Navy SEAL Jackson Ramsey is ready to say goodbye to the single life. He’s even met a woman who intrigues him, challenges him, and turns him right on—Mia Weldrick, the funny and beautiful gardener he can’t wait to get to know better.
Except Mia isn’t interested in dating him, which means it’s time for Jackson to unleash his Texas charm and do some serious wooing.
With a teenage brother to raise, two jobs, and, frankly, a complete disinterest in sex, Mia has no room in her busy life for a six-foot-five SEAL with a naughty streak a mile wide. But one hot kiss from Jackson has her imagining all the dirty ways she could fit him in.
It isn’t long before their no-string fling transforms into something more. As desire unearths emotions and deeply buried secrets, Mia has to decide whether to give love a chance to grow, or let it slip it away.
Warning: This Southern gentleman is wickedly ungentlemanly in the bedroom. He likes it rough and kinky, and he’s not afraid to make his sexual demands known. Anal, spanking, voyeurism, and other surprises await you in this last and dirtiest Out of Uniform installment.
Enjoy the following excerpt for As Hot as it Gets:
By the time Jackson paid the bill and helped her out of her chair, Mia was ready to flee. She couldn’t get caught in the spell he was attempting to cast on her. As wonderful as he was, seeing him again wasn’t an option.
But clearly her date had other ideas.
“So, when can I see you again?”
Mia stifled a groan and walked through the door he held open for her. When they stepped outside, the late-evening breeze snaked beneath her hair and cooled her warm cheeks.
“Jackson…” He was so tall she had to peer up at him to meet his eyes. “I had a good time. Seriously, I did. But this doesn’t change anything. I’m still swamped with work and taking care of Danny. I don’t have a lot of free time.”
“I’ll take whatever you can give me,” he replied in a cheerful voice. “One dinner a week, lunch every other week, I don’t care, darlin’. I just want to keep seein’ you.”
For Pete’s sake. The man truly was tenacious. She’d told him that she was pretty much a single mother, confessed her indifference to sex, and he still wanted to see her again?
“I’m not looking for a relationship,” she said feebly. “Or a fling.”
“I know that.”
“Then what’s the point? Why bother spending more time together if it won’t go anywhere?”
“Because I want to. Because you want to.”
She fiddled with the little brown pocketbook she was using as a purse, snapping it open to retrieve her keys. “It won’t work. I’ve got too much on my plate to commit to anything more. And besides, I feel bad getting
your hopes up about, you know, potentially getting jiggy, because it probably won’t happen.”
“Why, ’cause you think you won’t like it?”
Because I know I won’t.
She bit back the words before they could slip out. Truth was, she’d completely underplayed the whole sex thing during their discussion earlier. She found sex so boring and unsatisfying that she’d even raised the subject with her old therapist. For a long while she’d thought there might be something wrong with her, like maybe she was an asexual weirdo who’d never be able to function like a normal sexual being, yet the fact that she could give herself wild, breathless orgasms without any trouble contradicted that.
She was just so apprehensive about getting intimate with anyone again. She’d slept with four men in her life, and each encounter had been more disappointing than the last.
“Y’know what, I’ve got an idea,” Jackson said before she could respond.
She shot him a questioning look, but rather than elaborate, he took her hand and started leading her toward the side of the building. The warmth of his fingers seeped into her palm and made her feel achy again. God, she didn’t understand this effect he had on her. At all.
But although she was incredibly tempted to explore it further, she didn’t want to set herself up for any more disappointment. It wasn’t as if she’d never experienced arousal before. She did, all the time. The second she acted on it, however, the sensations seemed to dull. And forget about achieving orgasm. Only one lover had made her come before, and getting there had been a struggle, to say the least.
“What are you up to?” she asked warily.
He practically dragged her into the small parking lot behind the restaurant, which was packed with cars. Jackson scanned the lot, then broke out in a grin. “Look at that,” he drawled, “even our vehicles know we make the perfect couple.”
Mia followed his gaze, groaning when she noticed the black pickup truck parked right beside her blue one. “Let me guess—that’s your pickup?”
“Sure is.” Still grinning, he led her toward the trucks, then let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Here’s the deal, sugar.”
“There’s a deal?”
“Yup. I want to go out with you again. You’re being difficult. So here’s what I propose.”
“Gee, I can’t wait to hear this.”
He ignored the sarcasm and swept his tongue over his bottom lip, an act so sexy she shivered.
“I’m goin’ to kiss you.”
Her breath hitched. “What?”
“I’m goin’ to kiss you,” he repeated. “And if you like it, then you have to agree to see me again.”
Damned if her heart didn’t start pounding. The heat in his whiskey-colored eyes seared right through her clothing and sizzled her flesh, making her feel hot and dizzy.
“You’re nuts,” she stammered.
“Maybe, but that’s the deal, sugar. You claim that nothin’ gets you goin’, not even a kiss. You also said you had a good time tonight, did you not?”
“I did, but—”
“The reason you don’t want to pursue this is because you think I’ll never be able to turn you on—”
She felt herself blush. “That’s not what I—”
“—so it stands to reason that if I can prove to you I’ve got the moves, you’ll have no choice but to give this a shot.”
Mia’s mouth closed. His reasoning was certifiably wacky, but she couldn’t seem to argue with it.
“Do we have a deal?” he prompted, shooting her an adorably crooked smile.
It was sheer curiosity that had her nodding.
“Good. Then here goes—prepare to have your world rocked.”
The laugh that flew out was cut short by the feel of Jackson’s mouth on her neck.
Her neck?
Surprise jolted through her at the same time a flurry of shivers danced across her skin. His lips were warm against the side of her neck, his dark hair tickling her chin as he bent his head to latch his mouth on to her bare flesh.
“Um…is this what you…consider a kiss?” she murmured between shivers.
“Quit distracting me. I’m busy,” came his muffled voice.
Mia’s neck was on fire as he trailed soft kisses along its column. The rasp of his stubble scraped her flesh, leaving tiny pricks of pleasure in its wake.
“You smell so dang sweet, Mia.” His breath tickled her ear.
Jesus. What was he doing to her? She could barely stay upright, and he hadn’t even kissed her mouth yet.
With a soft rumble of approval, he buried his face in the crook of her neck, then kissed his way up to her ear and enclosed the delicate lobe with his lips.
Mia shuddered, stunned by the shockwaves that surged through her. Her knees wobbled as he sucked gently on her earlobe, hands trembling so bad she had to rest them against his chest to steady herself. And oh boy, touching him was a bad idea. His chest was rock solid beneath her fingers, his muscles so defined they may as well have been carved out of stone.
Chuckling, Jackson slid his hands down to her waist, and the next thing she knew, she was being led backward to the shadowy strip of gravel between the two trucks. Still grasping her waist, he backed her up against the side of her pickup, then moved one hand to her face, his thumb sweeping over her cheek.
“Close your eyes,” he said gruffly.
Her eyelids fluttered obediently. She stood there, eyes shut, heart pounding. Waiting.
The rustling of his clothing hinted that he was moving closer, and then his body heat surrounded her and the most intoxicating scent filled her nostrils. God, his aftershave was addictive. A hint of spice and lemon, with a woodsy fragrance thrown into the mix.
When his lips finally touched hers, she almost keeled over. His mouth was gentle, a featherlight brush against her trembling lips. His fingers traced the line of her jaw as he moved his mouth over hers again, firmer this time.
“C’mon, sugar, let me in.” The tip of his tongue skimmed the seam of her lips, coaxing, teasing.
When Mia parted her lips, that wicked tongue slid inside without delay. Her core clenched the second their tongues met, a painful squeeze of lust that pulsed in her clit.
Oh my God.
She was turned on. She was insanely turned on.
“Oh, Mia, you taste like heaven,” he rasped, pulling back slightly.
Her eyes were wide as she looked at him, her heart pounding even harder when she glimpsed the raw desire burning in his whiskey eyes. His handsome features were taut with passion, and she could see his pulse hammering in the hollow of his throat. He wanted her. There was no denying it.
And there was no denying that she wanted him just as bad.
Singe
Ruby McNally
Their slow burn could build to a five-alarm…or go up in smoke.
Lights & Sirens, Book 2
Addie Manzella does her best to keep her complicated personal life separate from work. But after the funeral of a colleague who died in an arson fire, things come to a head. She goes tequila shot for tequila shot with fellow firefighter Eli Grant—a contest that ends in the bedroom.
Sure, the sex is great—okay, it’s the best of her life—but Eli clearly isn’t a long-term kind of guy. Though his post-divorce antics read more goofball than player, he’s a complication she doesn’t need.
Bold, brassy Addie is a serious threat to Eli’s determination to hide a dark history. Not even his ex-wife knows the whole story behind the burn scars on his body. Yet he can’t resist the challenge of pursuing Addie—especially since she clearly likes being chased.
The fire that took their friend, though, isn’t the last. As more buildings—and more lives—go up in flames, Eli’s past comes roiling to the present. Threatening to send their fledgling romance up in smoke.
Warning: This book contains two wicked-hot firefighters, a dark secret, sex in semi-public places, and a smidge of Catholic guilt.
e
Books 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
Singe
Copyright © 2014 by Ruby McNally
ISBN: 978-1-61922-078-2
Edited by Christa Soule
Cover by Kanaxa
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: July 2014
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
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
About the Author
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