After This Night

by Lauren Blakely

I am undone by her.

  My hands are twitching to touch her. I am aching to taste her lips.

  “Do it,” she breathes out in a voice so low it’s barely audible, but it’s all I need.

  I place my hands on her face and cup her cheeks, and she closes her eyes and sighs. Then my hands thread through her hair and I pull her to me, pressing my lips to hers again. I am unable to stay away from her.

  Her lips are soft and full and greedy. But I like to lead, so I kiss her deeply, possessively, twining my hands through her glorious hair, as I trace the soft underside of her lips with the tip of my tongue, eliciting the sexiest moan from her that I kiss away. I nibble on her bottom lip, and she gasps. “Davis.”

  My name alone sends me into another realm, and before I know it I am tugging on her hair and roaming my mouth down the gorgeous column of her neck, and right before I reach her shoulder blade, I press my teeth to her skin, lightly, but heavy enough to make the smallest of marks.

  “Ouch,” she says, but the word tapers off, and the next thing she says is more, in a breathy whisper that turns into a groan of pleasure as I give her what she wants. “Do you know why I want to have my hands in your hair?” I say in a hoarse voice.

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to pull on your hair as I fuck you. I want to bend you over and take you against the wall, and I want to gather all your hair in my hands and hear you cry out.”

  “Oh God,” she moans, and her mouth opens in a gorgeous, perfect O that sends my body spiraling further into such dark longing for her. “Do you think I’d like it?” she asks, playing along.

  “You’d love it. Because I’d always make sure it was good for you. And because you like it a little rough.”

  “I think I would too.”

  “And I think you’d want me to tell you what to do. To direct you.”

  “Yes,” she says, panting, as I bring a hand down to the little pearl buttons on her sweater. “I want to bite these off,” I whisper in her ear, my breath hot on her skin and making her shiver. “But I think you like this sweater. I think you wore it for me. Did you wear it for me?”

  I nibble my way down her neck to the hollow of her throat. She gasps out a yes, as I tug on the bottom of her sweater, making room for my hand to slide across her belly. God, her skin is so soft.

  “Were you thinking I’d like the way your breasts look in it? That I’d like you in red?”

  “Yes.”

  She grabs my shoulders, and slams me on top of her, her beautiful body against the floorboards.

  “This works too though,” I tease.

  She laughs, but then turns serious again. “What else do you want to do to me?”

  “I want to go down on you on the piano. I want to lift you up and put you on the baby grand, and push your skirt to your hips and tell you to spread your legs for me,” I tell her, and she responds by opening her legs, and grabbing my ass, so we are in perfect missionary except for that little problem of clothes.

  “Do you think I’d do what you say?” she says breathily, as she thrusts her hips against me.

  “Yeah,” I say confidently. “I think you’d spread your legs for me, and let me taste you.”

  “Do you think I’ll taste good?”

  “I bet you taste like sin and heaven at the same time. I bet you taste fucking delicious coming on my tongue.” I look straight into her eyes, and they are full of fire and lust. “And I’m going to find out right now, Jill.”

  TROPHY HUSBAND

  The stars twinkle and the night air is warm as we leave the Tiki Bar and walk slowly up Fillmore. At the top of the hill, I see my friend’s maroon Prius that I’m tasked with driving home tonight. I point to it.

  “These are my wheels.” I click on the key to unlock the car. Then I reach for the door handle. But it doesn’t open. I try again. Same thing happens. “Damn. What is up with these hybrids?”

  “They have to calibrate to your heart rate.”

  “Then how the heck am I supposed to drive it home?”

  “I know a trick,” Chris says.

  “You do?”

  “Want to give me the keys and I’ll show you?” he asks, holding open his palm for me.

  But before I can pull away, he closes his fingers over mine, gripping my hand in his. That’s all it takes. Within seconds I am in his arms, and we are wrapped up in each other. His lips are sweeping mine, and I press my hands against his chest, and oh my. He does have the most fantastic outlines in his body. He is toned everywhere, strong everywhere, and I am dying to get my hands up his shirt, and feel his bare chest and his belly. But if I did, I might just jump him right here because I am one year and running without this. Without kissing, without touching, without feeling this kind of heat.

  He runs his fingers through my hair, and the way he holds me, both tender and full of want at the same time, makes me start to believe in possibilities. Start to believe that you can try again, and it’ll be worth it. His lips are so soft, so unbearably soft, and I can’t stop kissing him. He has the faintest taste of Diet Coke on his lips, and it’s crazy to say this, but it almost makes me feel closer to him. Or maybe I feel closer because he’s leaning into me, his body is aligned with mine, and there’s no space between us, and I don’t want any space between us. I want to feel him against me, his long, strong body tangled up in mine, even though we’re fully clothed, making out on the street.

  He breaks the kiss. “I wanted to kiss you all night.”

  STARS IN THEIR EYES

  SNEAK PREVIEW

  COMING SOON

  AUGUST 2014

  The fifth book in the New York Times and

  USA Today Bestselling Caught Up in Love series

  Celebrity photographer-in-training Jess Leighton desperately needs to crash the wedding of the year. Snapping just one pic of the A-list Hollywood couple tying the knot will pay her way through school, but with security tighter than the bride-to-be's corset, she'll need more than her camera and smarts - she'll need help from her biggest rival, William Harrigan. Hot, motorcycle-riding Will is the last person Jess trusts, but he's her only ticket in. Good-looking, charming, and British, he's a triple threat. And he's got that sexy accent to boot. Soon, sparks are flying off-screen and in front of the cameras as they devise a plan to sneak into the ceremony. But when Jess' new celebrity client raises the stakes with a photo shoot of the maid-of-honor, she wonders if she's in over her head. Blackmail, botox, and the worst Breakfast Club remake in the world? It's all in a whirlwind week's work in Hollywood. The audience loves a happy ending, but in a town where everyone's acting and no one's playing on the same team, can Jess find her own ever after in time?

  * * *

  I pulled over to the curb in front of a one-story office building in West Hollywood, rolling past a scratched-up silver motorcycle that looked like it had seen its share of years. I bumped my scooter up on the sidewalk, jamming it into bike parking, then slid a thick and heavy lock through the tire and the pole and headed to J.P.’s office at the far end of the building. A trip to his office translated into cash, and cash fed those hungry bills on my kitchen table.

  I stopped near his door when I heard a voice I didn’t recognize.

  But once I instantly responded to. Delicious and British.

  “Right. I should be able to get you something, no problem.”

  Damn accents. They were my kryptonite. They nearly obliterated all my finely tuned control. And I was the kind of gal who liked being in control. All. The. Time.

  “Get me something good and I’ll have more for you,” J.P. said to him.

  “A challenge. I’ll take it,” sexy-accent-guy said with a confident tone to my boss.

  Please let him be ugly. Let him be a hideous troll.

  I walked in as he stood up.

  Damn. He wasn’t ugly from behind. He had a fantastic ass, and the perfect kind of jeans to show it off. Nice back too, firm shoulders, and hair that clearly needed to be touched.

  I t
ook a deep breath to steel myself. I prayed that he had bad teeth. Crooked, yellow, snaggly teeth that would make me run for cover.

  But when he turned around I was greeted by one of my favorite, and most frustrating, sights on the planet – that of a hot guy about my age – twenty-one. He wore jeans that hung nice and low on the hips, scuffed-up black boots, a blue tee-shirt that showed off toned arms, and a pair of gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses hanging on the neck of his tee-shirt. He had dark hair, a whole mess of it, and eyes like a very angry sky.

  Eyes that caught me surveying him from top to bottom.

  He tipped his forehead to me. “Hey.” Then gave me a quick once over, and a small grin. “I’m William,” he offered in the sexiest accent I’d ever heard.

  STARS IN THEIR EYES releases August 10 and is now available to pre-order on iBooks. If you'd like to receive an email when STARS IN THEIR EYES and my other new titles are available, please sign up for my newsletter.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to so many amazing people who helped me with this book. I am indebted, as always, to Cara. She is my ground zero for Clay, with her passion and insistence. In fact, there are three ladies who are the foundation of this book’s existence – Hetty, Kim and Cara are the reason the Seductive Nights series is in your hands. They believed in these characters and this story. Thank you. Endless thank yous.

  My early beta readers are indispensable and helped make the story better. Huge hugs and gratitude to Tanya Farrell, Kim Bias, Crystal Perkins and Jaime Collins. Each offered keen feedback and suggestions that were vital. As always, Jen McCoy rooted me on and assisted whenever I needed insight into particular areas. Wink, wink.

  Sarah Hansen designed a gorgeous cover. Ali Smith took a fantastic photo. Helen Williams makes amazing graphics. Jesse can format the heck out of a book. Kelley keeps the ship running. Dawn Robinson lent her eagle eye to the final draft. Lauren McKellar helped make the words shine. Michelle navigates the crazy.

  And my publicist, Kelly Simmon, is the best strategist there is. Tara Simone continues to guide me with her business wisdom, and my writer friends are my core group of support every day – Melody, Kendall, Violet, Monica, Jessie, Lexi and Sawyer.

  Special shout outs to: Kristen Guay, Kathy Quates-Gilliam, Olayinka Adeniyi-Bello, Теодора Кузманова, and Maria Poli.

  Thank you to early readers like Lara, Tiffany, Tiffany, Jennifer, Jamie, Reneall and Ginny for loving Clay.

  Big thanks and love to many amazing supporters including: Lexi from Book Reviews by Lexi, Jennifer Santoro, Darcey Smith, Kelley, Kristyn and Tracey from Smut Book Junkie Book Reviews, Jennifer Marr, Kenna Nauenburg, MJ Fryer, Tanya at After the Final Chapters, Jennifer from Jen’s Book Reviews, Tabby at Insightful Minds, Kristy Louise, Kara and Sandra from Two Book Pushers, Hetty from BestSellers & BestStellars, Jacquie Lamica, Tee From Kaidans Seduction, Yvette and Michelle from Nose Stuck in a Book, Vanessa Foxford, Valencia from Trulee V’s Spot, Kim Bias, Sara Howe, Brenda Howe, Retta Rusaw at Because I Said So, Patricia Lee from A Literary Perusal, Theresa Potter, Stacy Hahn, Jassie DC, Julie Jules, Gretchen from About That Story, Tori and Kat and Michelle and Mara from Give Me Books, Karen at The Danish Bookaholic, Crystal Perkins, Betsy from Book Drunk Blog, Tami Jo Schafer , Jennifer’s Taking a Break, Simply Kristen, Helen from All Booked Out, Tink Bell, and Jaime Collins at For the Love of Books by Jaime, Two Crazy Girls With a Passion for Books, Lyndsey Aaron at The Eyeliner Manifesto, Angelica Maria Quintero, Georgette Geras-Waters Georgette from G & Co Book Blog, Kanae Eddings at Pearls and Peacocks, Wendy Racine, Kayla Eklund from Kayla's Reads and Reviews, Julie Jules Nichols, Carolyn Isherwood, Geri Slavinsky, Jessica Adkins from Bottles & Books Reviews, and Marianna from A Lust for Reading.

  Last but not least, thank you to my loving family. They are my everything and I love them madly. Along with my dogs!!

  CONTACT

  I love hearing from readers! You can find me on Twitter at LaurenBlakely3, or Facebook at LaurenBlakelyBooks, or online at LaurenBlakely.com. You can also email me at laurenblakelybooks@gmail.com.