Ecstasy (A Contemporary Romance) (16 page)

Like hell.
Jake would kill him
first.

Jake snatched the bottle from her hand.
“Here’s your beer. Time to let everyone else get a drink.”

He could feel Sophie frowning at him as he
pinned the guy with his hardest look. If she couldn’t pick good
from bad, he was going to have to save her. Whether she wanted him
to or not was irrelevant.

Although the guy flinched at Jake’s silent
promise of violence, it didn’t stop him from saying, “Be sure to
save a dance for me, gorgeous,” before he walked away.

Jake held on to his control by a very thin
thread. Nothing would feel better than to jump over the bar and
tackle the guy to teach him what happened when he flirted with the
wrong girl. A girl who was too sweet, too pretty, too damn perfect
for him to ever even think of touching one hair on her head.

“You’re not dancing with him,” he growled.
“Not tonight. Not ever.”

“I’m a big girl, Jake. I’ll dance with
whomever I want.”

Serving the customer always took priority.
But not this time. “Sammy,” he called out across the reception
area, motioning for his employee to take over the bar again. He
didn’t wait for Sam to make it to the bar before wrapping his hand
around Sophie’s wrist and pulling her out from behind the bar. He
didn’t stop walking until they were hidden behind a large storage
shed, just on the edge of the reception area.

“You are not getting within a hundred feet of
that guy again.”

Anger flared in her eyes. Eyes that had been
full of happy tears, full of pure joy, just a short while ago. “You
can’t tell me what to do.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

She yanked her arm from his and started to
walk away, but he couldn’t let her go. Not when she was bound to do
something stupid, like kiss a smarmy doctor. Furious at the picture
of anyone else touching Sophie, instead of just grabbing her wrist
or her shoulders, this time Jake wrapped his arms all the way
around her and pulled her into him. He held her tight, her chest
pushing into his forearms, her height matching his so that her hips
fit perfectly between his open legs, her soft hips pressing into
his groin.

“Let go of me.”

“
No.”

The word was muffled by her hair, so soft, so
silky against his chin and lips. And the truth was, he couldn’t
have let go of her for the world. Not just because he didn’t want
that other guy touching her...but because he’d never wanted to hold
anyone more than he did Sophie.

How long had he dreamed of holding her? Too
many years to keep count. And yet, he’d never had a clue just how
incredibly good she would feel in his arms, her dangerous curves
pressed into him, her chest rising and falling against his
arms.

“I’m not going to let you go until you
promise me you’ll stay away from him.”

Now it was her turn to say, “No.”

He shifted his hand enough to slip a finger
beneath her chin and turn her face so that he could look into her
eyes. “Promise me, Sophie. It’s for your own good.”

Sophie yanked her face away from his hand,
then her whole body, and when she turned to face him head-on, her
eyes were flashing. “I can’t believe
you
just said that!
Especially since you of all people have
no idea whatsoever
what’s good for me.”

“Wanna bet?”

His mouth was on hers before he could put the
brakes on his desire.

...Excerpt from I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU by
Bella Andre ©2012.

Buy
I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR
YOU

* * *

GAME FOR LOVE

Bad Boys of Football #3

© 2011 Bella Andre

In a relationship built on lies...the only
truth is their feelings for each other.

To fulfill his grandmother's dying wish,
linebacker Cole Taylor must find – and marry – a good girl. First
grade teacher Anna Davis fits the bill perfectly. Their deal is
simple: If she'll be his temporary wife, he'll give her more
pleasure than she ever imagined was possible.

Only, love is the ultimate game-changer.

Enjoy the following excerpt for GAME FOR
LOVE...

His eyes, still dark with desire, were fixed
on her and she felt as if he saw all the way into her soul. It was
too much, too soon. Anna tried to walk inside the hotel room, but
he grabbed her before she could take more than a step, and pulled
her against him.

“You don’t need to run from me, Anna.”

Her breath was rising and falling too fast.
“I don’t want to run, but I don’t know how to do anything
else.”

His mouth found hers and she tried to lose
herself in his kiss the way she’d been lost in all the others, but
panic was riding her too hard now to be able to let go. His hands
moved down her back, rubbing, massaging from shoulder to hips, but
instead of relaxing, she only tensed up more. He lifted his head
and she immediately said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong
with me.”

“No apologies."

Grateful that he wasn’t pressuring her into
anything—even though she was now his lawfully wedded wife—she said,
“I want—”

Oh God, she was such a novice at all of this
that she didn’t even know how to get the words out.

“You want to sleep with me."

Thankful that he clearly didn’t have the same
problem, she nodded.

“But something is holding you back?"

Again, she nodded.

“How many lovers have you had, Anna?”

She flushed at his question. “Two,” she said
in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. “But being with
them wasn’t like being with you.”

The words were out before she realized they
were coming and her flush flamed even brighter.

“You’re special to me, too,” he said softly
against her lips and this time when he kissed her, she was able to
sink into it a little more. “I want to give you pleasure, Anna,
more pleasure than you’ve ever known. Will you let me do that for
you?”

His heated words shot through her veins like
a drug. “I want to, Cole.” And she did. God, how she did. “But what
if I freak out again?”

“Will you trust me to make sure that doesn’t
happen?”

She had no reason to trust him, not when she
didn’t know any more about him than his name and profession. And
yet, there was something in his eyes, in the way he’d touched her
so far tonight, in the way he’d kissed her, that had her feeling
cherished.

Adored.

No one had ever made her feel that way
before. Not just the sexual part, which was way off any chart she’d
ever had, but the safety part.

Cole made her feel protected.

“What we’ve had so far tonight is only the
beginning. There’s so much more, sweet Anna. Let me show you how
good I can make you feel.”

She couldn’t hold back a shiver at his words.
His arms were still around her, light enough that she could walk
away at any moment, but she didn’t want to go. His erection
throbbed hard and thick against her belly even through his pants,
and she wanted what he promised.

Badly.

But now she knew for sure that she couldn’t
do it on her own. Not without him helping her. Guiding her. Leading
her.

Not without trusting him.

She’d thought a quickie wedding would be the
craziest thing she’d ever done, but now she knew she was wrong.
Sleeping with Cole, trusting him enough to give her body over to
him, letting him learn what gave her pleasure—learning it for
herself—was far crazier.

“I’ll trust you, Cole."

The relief that flashed across his features
was quickly replaced with a darker, deeper desire than she’d seen
yet and then he was picking her up and kissing her as he carried
her back inside.

Into his bedroom.

...Excerpt from GAME FOR LOVE by Bella Andre
© 2011.

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GAME FOR
LOVE

* * *

THE LOOK OF LOVE

Chase & Chloe – The Sullivans # 1

© 2011 Bella Andre

Chloe Peterson is having a bad night. A
really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that.
And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight
into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her
in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is
he?

As a successful photographer who frequently
travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful
women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven
siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase
thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds
Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley.
Not only has Chase never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out,
but he quickly realizes Chloe has much bigger problems than her
damaged car. Soon, Chase is willing to move mountains to love—and
protect—her, but will Chloe let him?

Chloe vows never to make the mistake of
trusting a man again. Only, with every loving look Chase gives
her—and every sinfully sweet caress—as the attraction between them
sparks and sizzles, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the only
exception. And although Chase didn’t realize his life was going to
change forever in an instant, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit
interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a
different fight altogether…for Chloe’s heart.

Enjoy the following excerpt for THE LOOK OF
LOVE...

Chase almost missed the flickering light off
on the right side of the two-lane country road. In the past thirty
minutes, he hadn’t passed a single car, because on a night like
this, most sane Californians—who didn’t know the first thing about
driving safely in inclement weather—stayed home.

Knowing better than to slam on the brakes—he
wouldn’t be able to help whomever was stranded on the side of the
road if he ended up stuck in the muddy ditch right next to
them—Chase slowed down enough to see that there was definitely a
vehicle stuck in the ditch.

He turned his brights on to see better in the
pouring rain and realized there was a person walking along the edge
of the road about a hundred yards up ahead. Obviously hearing his
car approach, she turned to face him and he could see her long wet
hair whipping around her shoulders in his headlights.

Wondering why she wasn’t just sitting in her
car, dry and warm, calling Triple A and waiting for them to come
save her, he pulled over to the edge of his lane and got out to try
and help her. She was shivering as she watched him approach.

“Are you hurt?”

She covered her cheek with one hand, but
shook her head. “No."

He had to move closer to hear her over the
sound of the water hitting the pavement in what were rapidly
becoming hailstones. Even though he’d turned his headlights off, as
his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, he was able to get a
better look at her face.

Something inside of Chase’s chest clenched
tight.

Despite the long, dark hair plastered to her
head and chest, regardless of the fact that
looking like a
drowned rat
wasn’t too far off the descriptive mark, her beauty
stunned him.

In an instant, his photographer’s eye
cataloged her features. Her mouth was a little too big, her eyes a
little too wide-set on her face. She wasn’t even close to model
thin, but given the way her T-shirt and jeans stuck to her skin, he
could see that she wore her lush curves well. In the dark he
couldn’t judge the exact color of her hair, but it looked like
silk, perfectly smooth and straight where it lay over her
breasts.

It wasn’t until Chase heard her say, “My car
is definitely hurt, though,” that he realized he had completely
lost the thread of what he’d come out here to do.

Knowing he’d been drinking her in like he was
dying of thirst, he worked to recover his balance. He could already
see he’d been right about her car. It didn’t take a mechanic like
his brother, Zach, who owned an auto shop—more like forty, but
Chase had stopped counting years ago—to see that her shitty
hatchback was borderline totaled. Even if the front bumper wasn’t
half smashed to pieces by the white farm fence she’d slid into, her
bald tires weren’t going to get any traction on the mud. Not
tonight, anyway.

If her car had been in a less precarious
situation, he probably would have sent her to hang out in her car
while he took care of getting it unstuck. But one of her back tires
was hanging precariously over the edge of the ditch.

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Get
in my car. We can wait there for a tow truck.” He was vaguely aware
of his words coming out like an order, but the hail was starting to
sting, damn it. Both of them needed to get out of the rain before
they froze.

But the woman didn’t move. Instead, she gave
him a look that said he was a complete and utter nut-job.

“I’m not getting into your car.”

Realizing just how frightening it must be for
a lone woman to end up stuck and alone in the middle of a dark
road, Chase took a step back from her. He had to speak loudly
enough for her to hear him over the hail.

“I’m not going to attack you. I swear I won’t
do anything to hurt you.”

She all but flinched at the word
attack
and Chase’s radar started buzzing. He’d never been a
magnet for troubled women, wasn’t the kind of guy who thrived on
fixing wounded birds. But living with two sisters for so many years
meant he could always tell when something was up.

And something was definitely up with this
woman, beyond the fact that her car was half-stuck in a muddy
ditch.

Wanting to make her feel safe, he held his
hands up. “I swear on my father’s grave, I’m not going to hurt you.
It’s okay to get into my car.” When she didn’t immediately say no
again, he pressed his advantage with, “I just want to help you.”
And he did. More than it made sense to want to help a stranger.
“Please,” he said. “Let me help you.”