by Bella Andre
She tried to say yes, but all she could get out was, “You already know the answer.”
He shook his head, just as she'd known he would. He wasn't the kind of man you could fool. He was too smart. Too quick.
“I want to hear you say it, Janica. I need to hear you say it.”
His need rocked through her. She couldn't say no to him. Just as she couldn't say no to herself, to her own desperate need.
She licked her lips. Opened her mouth. Finally whispered, “Yes.”
That one small word was all it took for him to take over. His hands moved so fast from her back to the low neckline of her short black dress that her breath caught in her throat.
Through the thin fabric she could feel his hands on the curves of her breasts and her nipples beaded almost painfully. Because she was small enough to let the built-in bra in the dress do the work of keeping everything in place, her nipples jutted out at him, silently begging him to touch her.
A split second later, he ripped the front of her dress open, fully exposing her breasts to his hungry eyes.
She gasped in shock. Who was this man, she wondered as she instinctively moved to cover herself.
Before she could, his hands came around her wrists to hold her arms at her sides.
“No. Let me see you.” His chest was rising and falling hard. “I've waited so damn long.”
His eyes burned her skin, causing a flush to travel all across her breasts. But the heat did nothing to stop her nipples from hardening further.
“My God, you're beautiful.”
No one had ever looked at her this way, like she was absolutely, impossibly perfect.
“So beautiful, Janica, I can't believe it.”
She tried to say something but she still couldn't catch her breath. Not with her dress ripped open to her waist. Not with Luke's eyes drinking her in. Not with those wonderful things coming from his mouth.
Not with her wrists immobilized by his strong grip.
And then he was bending his head down and she felt the first flutter of his soft hair against her collarbone as he lowered his mouth down over one breast.
A low, uncontrollable moan of pleasure shook her throat. She wanted to put her hands on the back of his head, hold him there forever against her, but he wouldn't let her go.
All she could do was stand there and let him taste her.
Oh my god. His tongue. And then—yes, yes, yes!—his teeth were lightly scoring her sensitive flesh.
“Luke.”
His name was a plea. For mercy.
Or maybe, for the exact opposite.
And that was when she realized he understood her better than she did herself, because instead of letting up, instead of giving her a chance to catch her breath, he shifted his dangerous attention from one breast to the other.
The touch of his lips, his tongue, the dark stubble on his jaw, stroking across her untouched skin, sent another jolt of pure desire through her, head to toe, strong enough that she didn't know how her body was managing to hold it all inside without breaking apart.
She arched into his mouth to get closer, every cell in her body focused on three square inches. His jaw was covered in rough stubble and she loved the way it felt as it scraped and scratched against her skin.
And then his mouth was traveling up over the small curves of her breasts, across her collarbone, settling in the hollow. His tongue tasted her there, and it struck her that feeling Luke's kiss on her shoulder was one of the most erotic moments of her life, outranking every orgasm she'd ever had with anyone else.
She wanted to taste him too, wanted to run her hands and mouth over every inch of his beautiful body. But he was still holding her too tight.
She tried to pull herself out of his bonds and his hands tightened on her wrists.
He pulled his mouth away from her skin. His eyes were dark, dangerous.
“Don't fight me. Not tonight.”
It wasn't just the sensual spell he had wound around her or the look in his eyes that had her giving in. It was the fact that those five words, said in such a commanding voice, held not only more desire than she'd ever known, but also more pain.
Luke needed her.
She'd never been the kind of woman who looked for broken men to try and heal. But Luke wasn't just any man. He had always been special. Even when she wished he wasn't.
She'd been waiting for five years – no, a decade or more - for this moment to come to fruition. And now that it was here, she would willingly walk down whatever path he wanted to lead her down.
Deep down, she knew that Luke Carson was destined to give her great pleasure. Bigger and better than she had ever dreamed was possible.
And, if dreams really did come true, maybe he'd give her even more than pleasure.
Maybe he'd give her love.
...Excerpt from LOVE ME (Take Me sequel) by Bella Andre ©2010. To read more visit:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003U6ZK06/?wwwbellaandre-20
ECSTASY
Candace, a newcomer to writing erotica, is thrilled when Charlie, a veteran of the industry, agrees to be her mentor. But neither of them ever expected that Charlie's lessons on new positions, using toys, varying locations and role playing would spiral from verbal instruction into hot, hands on education. Unfortunately, Candace's deception about the new erotic romance she's writing--where Charlie plays the starring role--is about to threaten their one chance at true love.
“A wonderful story filled with lovable characters and steamy sex. Anyone looking for a funny and intelligently written read should definitely give this book a try!” ~ Romantic Times Magazine, 4 ½ stars
Enjoy the following excerpt for ECSTASY...
Candace walked into Charlie’s foyer and tried not to betray her nervousness by giggling, babbling, or checking to see if her hair was out of place. Instead, she plastered a big smile on her face and squeezed past Charlie and through his front door. He hadn’t moved aside very much to let her into his house, but she had to admit she didn’t mind rubbing up against him, not one bit.
He was just as gorgeous as he had been at the conference, with the highlights in his blond hair picking up the sunlight, that streamed in through the windows. She took in the snug fit of his well-worn jeans and his thick denim long-sleeve shirt. She couldn’t keep her eyes from straying to the light brown chest hair that peeked out through his shirt. Salivating at the thought of seeing his chest—which she knew she’d never get a glimpse of in this lifetime, but a girl could dream, couldn’t she?—Candace wished he had left a couple more buttons undone.
Charlie’s bare feet were the icing on the cake. Candace had never seen such sexy feet before. She had never even known feet could be sexy. Until now. His feet were tan, with well-manicured toenails and a light dusting of hair. Suddenly, she saw herself naked and ready for him, straddling his big toe and…
No! Candace stopped herself from taking her daydream any further. What was happening to her, she wondered, as she swallowed past her dry tongue. Her mind was turning into an X-rated pay-per-view channel.
Trying to force her thoughts away from the incredibly dirty things she wanted to do to each and every part of Charlie’s body, and wishing he would just say something already, she tuned into the details of his house. It was crazy, but Candace felt that Charlie was even more potent, even more intoxicating when he was within the walls of his private environment. His home, like the man himself, was masculine and yet warm all at the same time.
“So,” she said in a bright voice to break the awkward silence, “this is your house, huh?”
As the words left her mouth, Candace turned pink and had to fight the urge to run out of his front door, down his steps and back into her car. Could she have sounded any more like an idiot?
Charlie’s eyes seemed to refocus in on her and he said, “Yup. Sure is. Glad you could come. I’ve set things up in the guest room. Follow me.”
She followed him out of the kitchen and down the hallway. When he opened
the door to the guest bedroom she was overwhelmed with the potent scent of roses. Her heart started to beat double time so she joked, “Are we going to write a story about the florist and—”
Her words stopped altogether as she rounded the corner and stepped fully into the room.
She gasped. “This is amazing!”
Candace wanted to rub herself on all of the luxurious fabrics draped across and above the bed. She wanted to feel the rug under her toes. She wanted to wrap herself in rose petals.
Turning to Charlie, she said, “Did you do all this for me? For our lesson? You shouldn’t have gone to all the tr—”
He smiled at her and cut her protest off. “You know what? I really enjoyed creating this room. And now that I’ve seen the effects of if myself, I think I’m going to leave it as a nice surprise for my house guests. Although, I probably won’t see much of them ‘cause they’ll be so busy going at each other.”
Candace forced a laugh and started worrying in earnest as Charlie sat down on the chest at the foot of the bed and motioned for her to sit next to him.
“I think you need to take off your shoes and socks to fully appreciate this room.”
She knew he was right and she was certain that he wasn’t the least bit interested in her, so she set her wine glass down on the mantle of the fireplace, then sat down next to him and removed her shoes and socks.
Playfully she said, “Should I take anything else off?”
Charlie’s eyes got wide for a moment and then he grinned wolfishly. “I suppose you’d better, otherwise, how are you going to write about the feel of the material brushing across your heroine’s skin?”
“Oh, do you really think I should?” Candace said, some panic creeping into her voice. But then, as she looked around the room at the candles and the fire and saw the velvet and silk beneath her, she decided, what the hell. Not giving herself the chance to think, she pulled her v-neck sweater over her head, leaving only a skimpy tank top covering her torso.
“Okay,” she said impishly, vowing to let herself be carried away by the mood for once in her life. “I’m undressed.”
Charlie looked her up and down. “I’m not sure I’d call you undressed, but it’s certainly a start.”
Suddenly, something inside Candace clicked into place. Or broke down completely. She wasn’t sure which. But the new voice inside her was loud and clear.
She spoke quickly, before she lost her courage. Before she came to her senses. “Charlie, you know how we agreed that everything that went on during on mentoring sessions was going to be strictly professional?”
“Yeah?” he said, drawing out the word as a question.
“Well, it has just occurred to me that it’s one thing for me to appreciate this room as a writer.” She paused and then said, “But it’s another thing entirely for me to experience it as a woman.”
She saw Charlie’s Adam’s apple move in his throat and clenched her hands into tight fists at her side. She didn’t know how she was going to manage it exactly, but she wasn’t going to be a wimp and back down. Not here. Not now.
For the first time in her life, Candace was going to go for what she wanted. She reached for the button on her jeans and Charlie’s hand shot out to grab hers.
“What are you doing?”
She half-grinned at him, but she knew she was far too nervous for it to look like a smile. More like she was baring her teeth at him. “I’m taking off my clothes.”
He blinked at her in confusion. “Oh.”
Candace tried not to let his utter non-reaction to the idea of her taking off her clothes bother her. She wasn’t here because he thought she was a sexy woman. She was here to learn about the art of erotic writing. And if she had to do it on her own, by god, she was doing it.
She stood up and unzipped her pants. As she lowered them to the ground and pulled her legs out of each pants leg one at a time she looked up at Charlie, who was still sitting in stunned silence on the edge of the chest. “The fact is, I have never experienced the sensation of silk sliding against my skin. I’ve never lain naked in front of a roaring fire. I’ve never rubbed my nipples against satin.” She looked at him imploringly. “These are all things that I have to do or I’ll never be able to write about characters who know what these physical sensations feel like. Can you understand that?”
She stood in front of him in her skimpy tank top, knowing her nipples were jutting out and she forced herself not to flinch, not to run, and not to cover up. She hooked her thumbs into the thin straps of her silk thong undies and said, in a soft but firm voice, “I won’t pressure you into joining me, Charlie. I’m sure this is all pretty old hat to you, but it’s all brand new to me. So I could sure use some help if you were willing to instruct me.” Lowering her eyelashes to cover her eyes, she licked her lips and then made eye contact with him again. “In a purely professional way, of course.”
“Whatever happens inside the classroom stays in the classroom?” he asked in a calm, detached voice.
A little shiver worked itself up Candace’s spine. Trying to sound as unaffected by her near-nakedness in an incredibly romantic room with the most potent man she’d ever met, she said, “You got it.”
In the blink of an eye, Charlie replaced her hands with his on the sides of her thong.
With a new gleam in his eyes he pulled her closer to him, so that her muff was mere inches from his mouth.
“Let the lessons begin.”
...Excerpt from ECSTASY by Bella Andre ©2010. To read more visit:
http://www.amazon.com/Ecstasy-Contemporary-Erotic-Romance-ebook/dp/B003BIGFZW/?wwwbellaandre-20
* * *
CANDY STORE
© 2010 Bella Andre
On the verge of losing her candy store, Callie Moore decides to blot out her troubles with a tall, dark, handsome stranger. Derek McNear isn't about to turn down a cute, curvy blonde who offers sizzling-hot sex in a commercial refrigerator at his best friend's wedding reception. But the next day, when Callie discovers that Derek is the consultant she has hired to save her store, they find it difficult to concentrate on business. Especially when giving and getting pleasure in each other's arms is so much more fun!
Enjoy the following excerpt for CANDY STORE...
Callie's Candies didn’t open until 11 a.m., Monday through Friday, but Callie always had plenty to do in the morning.
The best was making fudge or coating truffles in coconut and peanuts. The worst was going through her inventory and doing her orders for the week.
This was inventory day, of course. Callie sighed with dismay. Today of all days, she could have used a long, therapeutic session with some caramel and nougat.
“Figures,” she muttered, as she walked into her small office at the back of the store and put her purse down. She took off her suit jacket and laid it across the back of her desk chair. Unbound by the jacket, her breasts felt free and immodest in the white lace camisole, reminding her yet again of her wanton behavior at the wedding.
“Forget about it. You’ve got work to do,” she lectured herself and got straight to it, intent on ignoring the new sensual sensations her body was sending her.
Picking up her clipboard and supply spreadsheet, she went to her dry storeroom first and noted what was low. Moving to her walk-in refrigerator, she checked materials off her list from the top shelf first. The bottom shelves were deep and she had to get on her knees to count cocoa bars. The position was awkward, with her rear end pointing straight up, her hands and knees sprawled unladylike on the floor.
Squirming around, trying to get comfortable in her clumsy position, she said, “One, two, three, four,” aloud as she counted stacks of the finest imported cocoa bars.
Immersed in her counting and in the painful crick that was building up in her neck, she was surprised by footsteps coming up the short hallway and then stopping at the doorway to her storeroom.
“We’ve got to stop meeting in refrigerators like this.”
* * *
She froze in place, unable to get her limbs to work. She couldn’t believe that Derek’s first image of her outside of her client's wedding was like this—could she be any less sexy, she wondered dejectedly—in her own damn commercial refrigerator.
Her face, she was sure, was going to be flushed a deep shade of red when she finally stood up, considering that the man she had been lusting after for the past twenty-four hours had walked into her store unannounced, just in time to witness her pawing through her shelves on her hands and knees with her butt sticking straight up in the air.
“On second thought,” he said, his voice washing over her like hot caramel, “I think I like it.”
For a millisecond, Callie considered trying to crawl onto the shelf, hoping that Derek would just go away. Then again, she thought, she hadn’t invited him to her store. In fact, she hadn’t even told him she had a store, so how could it possibly be her fault that he had found her looking less than ideal?
Trying desperately to rouse up some anger—otherwise she was stuck with embarrassed and horny, and that was a terrible combination—Callie crawled backwards and stood up, brushing invisible specks of dust off her knees and skirt.
Her arms folded across her chest, she said, “What are you doing here?”
Derek was leaning against the door, looking more gorgeous than any man had a right to in his pin-striped shirt and well-tailored coat and slacks.
He grinned and Callie wanted to smack the smile from his lips.
She also wanted to kiss him senseless, of course, but she was going to have some control over herself if it killed her.
Which it probably would.
“This is Callie’s Candies isn’t it?”
Callie nodded, keeping her lips firmly pressed together, forcing herself to back up into the refrigerator shelves, rather than jump Derek’s bones.