Highland Fling (17 page)

About the Author

Shelli is a New York Times Bestselling Author who read her first romance novel when she snatched it off her mother’s bookshelf at the age of eleven. One taste and she was forever hooked. It wasn’t until many years later that she decided to pursue writing stories of her own. By then she’d acknowledged the voices in her head didn’t make her crazy, they made her a writer.

Shelli currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her daughter where she writes various genres of romance. She’s a compulsive volunteer, and has been known to spontaneously burst into song. Find her online at
www.shellistevens.com

Look for these titles by Shelli Stevens

Now Available:

Trust and Dare

Theirs to Capture

Four Play

Foreign Affair

Savage

Savage Hunger

Savage Betrayal

Savage Revenge

Seattle Steam

Dangerous Grounds

Tempting Adam

Seducing Allie

Chances Are

Anybody but Justin

Luck be Delanie

Protecting Phoebe

Holding Out for a Hero

Going Down

Command and Control

Flash Point

T
he McLaughlins

Good Girl Gone Plaid

Kilty Pleasure

Loch and Key

Taking her captive could prove his innocence…or make her a target.

Savage Revenge

© 2013 Shelli Stevens

Savage, Book 3

Agent and Alpha Nathan Larson has fled his pack, his agency and Washington State on a life-or-death mission to prove himself innocent of a savage massacre he’s pretty sure he didn’t commit.

So far he’s covered his tracks, but it’s only a matter of time. He needs a place to hunker down under the radar, and he intends to make it happen. No matter who becomes collateral damage.

Sage Christensen knows every shifter in this small California town, and the darkly attractive, brooding alpha attempting to flirt with her stands out like a flea on a white cat. She quickly realizes she was right to be wary when he follows her home and holds her captive.

Despite her refusal to be a compliant victim, she can’t deny their chemistry. Or the gut instinct that maybe he really is innocent. But with the trail of dead women growing longer, Sage begins to wonder if it was a mistake to trust her safety, her body—and her heart—to a man who has no idea how deep his dark side is buried.

Warning: This book has an Alpha male on the run, and a quirky novelist destined to be his captive. There will be bloodshed, lovemaking, and excitement aplenty.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Savage Revenge:

Sage had the door open, with one foot out, before he reached her and snagged her around the waist.

“Son of a bitch,” he roared. “How in the hell did you get free?”

He lifted her back into the house and slammed the door.

She was apparently done being complacent, though. She squirmed, kicked and hit before he finally had to drop her to try and get a better grip.

But it wasn’t that easy, because in an instant she had scurried away and grabbed any kind of makeshift weapon she could get her hands on.

He ducked from the remote control that flew at his head and lunged toward her. He missed.

“How did you get yourself untied?” he roared.

“You seriously underestimate me.” She darted past him, throwing a small lamp at him in the process.

It clipped his shoulder before crashing to the floor. “Clearly.”

A growl of fury erupted past his lips as he threw himself at her full speed.

He took her down linebacker style, rolling them both on the hardwood floors.

“Get off me.”

She slapped at his shoulders, trying to free herself, and he caught her wrists in one hand to get her under control.

Her expression morphed from frustration to pain, and her sharp cry had his anger vanishing. Had he hurt her? He hadn’t realized his grasp was that tight.

A quick scan of her body, though, and he dropped her wrists from his grasp after seeing the raw, red cuts there.

“Jesus, woman, what the hell did you do to yourself?”

She winced and gently cradled one wrist. “I cut them while freeing myself.”

He leaned down and slid an arm around her waist, helping her to her feet. “You mind filling me in on how you even got free?”

“I rolled myself off the bed and cut the rope on the metal frame. There’s a sharp corner that I’ve cut my foot on more than once while climbing into bed.”

Smart girl. “So when I found you on the floor and scooped you back up, you were probably already halfway through your ropes?”

“Pretty much.”

He grunted and steered her toward the kitchen. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m a shifter—it’ll stop fast.”

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt you to wash the cuts. That frame might be rusty and why risk any slowed healing?”

“Does it matter? I have a feeling you wouldn’t mind seeing me suffer.”

Christ. This again. “It’s not my intent to hurt you, Sage. I can’t stress that enough.”

“Then what
is
your intent?”

“I just need a place to lay low. To figure out a few things.” He turned on the sink and gently pulled her wrists under the water. “And you’re going to help me with that.”

She winced as he added soap over her raw but already healing wrists. “Not exactly willing here.”

Their heads were close and he was suddenly all too aware of her as a female. The wrist he held was delicate and soft, and the scent of her shampoo mixed with the citrus soap he was using to wash her wounds.

“It would be a little weird if you were,” he finally agreed.

Her gaze lifted to meet his. Searching. “Are you really a P.I.A. agent?”

“Yes. And not just an agent. I’m also the commander of my unit.”

She shook her head, her breathing not quite as steady now. Was it from the information he’d just divulged, or their proximity?

“You sound as if you should be one of the
good
guys. What did you do?”

He was a good guy. Or so he’d used to think. He shrugged, not quite ready to answer that. Not quite sure he could.

So he changed the subject instead.

“This could’ve been so much easier on both of us, Sage. At the bar last night I was trying to make you fall for me. Trying to gain your trust so you’d willingly take me home.”

“I’m sorry I was so uncooperative.” Her sarcasm ran rampant. “And I don’t take men home.”

When he glanced up at her, her gaze had slid to his mouth.

Interesting
. Maybe she was a more aware of him than she cared to admit. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and everything primal inside him responded.

He turned off the sink and maneuvered her against it, straddling her legs with his own.

“Well I guarantee you if I’d been the one kissing you outside instead of your pretty musician, you would’ve taken me home.”

She swallowed hard and met his gaze once more. The amount of defiance there was outweighed by excitement.

“For a criminal, you’re awfully full of yourself. It would take more than a kiss for me to have brought you home.”

“Careful, Sage,” he warned softly and leaned in closer. His breath mingled with hers. “Because that almost sounds like a challenge.”

He heard it then. The slow thud of her heart that had become a pounding thunder. She didn’t reply to his statement, and the wolf within him rose to the surface in an instant.

Was he right? Was she as physically drawn to him right now as he was to her?

Maybe he was going about this wrong. Maybe if he tried to seduce her mind—her heart—he’d have her cooperation. She’d stop trying to escape and break his skull in.

Or maybe, you just want to charter the inside of her mouth with your tongue.

Whatever it was, the primitive side of him was far too close to the surface to be denied now.

He lowered his head and lightly touched his lips to hers—waited for her to pull away. She was so soft. Wonderfully sweet.

She didn’t move, though her shoulders tensed. A moment later she gave a stiff shrug. “See? That did noth—”

He didn’t let her finish that thought before he’d crushed his mouth on hers again. Not gentle this time, but with the sole intent to explore that amazing mouth deeper. To conquer and take.

She whimpered in shock before he effortlessly pierced her compressed lips with his tongue, determined to taste the soft warmth inside.

For a moment, she tried to push him away, her hands shoving against his bare shoulders, but as he gentled his kiss—switched his intent from conquer to seduce—she grew pliant in his arms.

As he flicked his tongue against hers in teasing, gentle strokes, she began to answer back. The hands that had tried to push him away a moment ago now kneaded and stroked the bare skin of his shoulders.

The control that he always prided himself on—that had been so tightly wound—began to unravel. His thoughts grew hazy, and for a moment he couldn’t be sure who was actually in control. Who was seducing who.

He reached down and caught her ass, lifting her easily onto the edge of the sink and stepping between her thighs.

Her legs wrapped around him and the intimate heat of her body cradled the now rock-hard flesh of his dick.

Christ, he was losing it, but he couldn’t stop.

The shifter inside him was near the surface and riding the rush. If the basic human male’s instincts were to eat, fight and fuck, then the shifter male’s instincts for those were twice as strong. Nathan had managed to scratch eating off the list, but the other two were long overdue. There was adrenaline running through his blood, and fighting Sage wasn’t remotely an option.

But maybe fucking her was.

Delving his hands into the damp curls of her hair, he tugged her head back and pulled his mouth from hers.

He trailed slow kisses down her jawline. Exploring. Tasting. Feeling her heart beating in the pulse beneath his tongue.

“Nate…” she whispered, sounding almost drugged, and making no move to stop him now. “Is…
oh
…is Nate really your name?”

“Nate. Nathan. Larson. Sir. I get them all.” How was she still able to talk? Maybe this was a good time to try and get information out of her. “You’re a writer?”

While waiting for her to answer, he teased the wildly beating pulse in her neck again with is tongue.

“Oh…yes.” She made a soft, fluttery sigh. “Romance novels.”

Nice
. He hid a smile but was all too aware of the curve of a full breast that was just inches from his chin. The need touch it—to taste it—was so fierce and blatant he felt like a horny teenager.

But even as he moved his hand to touch her, he flashed back to last night and the way the musician had groped her. The way she’d flinched and drawn back.

Slow down, asshole. Remember, this is about seduction to gain her cooperation, not about getting your rocks off.

He trailed his kisses lower, to the curve of her breast above the sleeveless cotton dress. Then he paused. Waited to see how she’d react. If she’d push him away, freeze up or…

The whimper she made was husky and needy, and her back arched just slightly to lift her breast higher toward his lips.

It was the only invitation he needed to tug down the dress and thick fabric of her bra and bare her to him. Her breast spilled free, so milky white and full. The strawberry-colored tip was already hardened.

Shit. If he’d had even the slightest bit of control left before, it had just disappeared.

When it comes to programmed assumptions, the heart is definitely not an easy hack.

Debauched in Diamonds

© 2014 Nikki Duncan

Tulle and Tulips, Book 4

At work, Darci Drummond, aka The Bunny of Bling, shines as bright as her trademark tie-shaped diamond necklace. Her dating life is a bit more tarnished. After getting hurt by a string of boyfriends, she takes solace in helping other women shine on their special day.

She wouldn’t complain if she found someone to give her a few simple pleasures—and zero strings. Just not that nerdy computer programmer working upstairs.

Victor Green’s idea of a great Saturday night—any night, really—is a Starbucks and a code-filled computer screen. Yet somehow, at the relentless begging of his baby sister, he finds himself walking the runway at a bridal show where he meets a stunner sporting a tie-shaped necklace. The next thing he knows, he’s thrust into a matchmaking scheme with wedding bells in the background.

Tricked into a date with Victor, Darci finds herself embroiled in an affair with a man who’s nothing like he seemed. And as her resistance crumbles, she wonders if it’s time to let someone get closer than skin deep…

Warning: If you’re opposed to a man who forgets to clean and a woman willing to tolerate his quirks… Wait, isn’t that real life?

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Debauched in Diamonds:

Her lips curled into that way of hers that was becoming a temptation the more he saw it. “You don’t like mysteries do you?”

“We work on sensitive stuff up here. It’s important to know the material is secure.”

“It’s secure. And for the record, you’re not the only one on this floor tonight.”

Trevor. He’d let her up and was staying in the apartment off his office. So the matchmaking didn’t stop at the Tulle and Tulips ladies. “Pass the chicken parm.”

They settled into an easy pattern of conversation, much like they’d experienced during their lunch, as they passed the containers back and forth, eating more than half the food. Amazed at how little they had left over, at how healthy of an appetite she had given how thin she was, he helped her pack up the leftovers.

“Do you have a fridge in here?” she asked. “I suspect you’ll need the leftovers sometime soon.”

“Yeah, and thanks again for the delivery.”

“I hate to see a hot guy starve himself into nothing.”

Victor leaned forward, easing closer to her. “You think I’m hot?”

“At least when you put on a tux.”

“No.” He leaned closer still, wanting to test the limits of the spark he’d found with her. “You called me hot.”

“You gonna let it go to your head?”

“Maybe.” He traced a fingertip along her neck, brushing back the hair that had fallen over her shoulder. “Or maybe I’ll just kiss you.”

Darci leaned back against the cushions and met his gaze. “If you must.”

Smiling, he traced the necklace with one hand. He rested the other along the edge of her jaw. His fingers and palm tingled. His heart raced. The craving to feel her lips against his was almost tangible, but he couldn’t close the remaining distance.

He could only stare into her eyes. She rested a hand on his chest, flexing her fingertips against him. The pressure, ever so light, filled him with warmth.

“I thought you were going to kiss me.”

“Yeah,” he whispered as he closed the remaining distance. The moment he placed his lips against hers, she curled her fingers into his shirt.

Soft and pliant, she tasted of calamari, garlic and marinara. She tasted of the kindness she’d shown by delivering him dinner. She tasted of the passion she’d shown by indulging her healthy appetite.

She placed a second hand on his neck and pulled him in. He accepted the invitation and deepened the kiss. When she opened for him, he eased his tongue into her mouth and explored the depths.

Lips and teeth and tongues moved, brushing and gliding. Satin slipped beneath his fingers as he lowered a hand along the collar of her blouse. She dropped her shoulders, rolling them back. The move pressed her breasts out, shifting the opening of her blouse the smallest bit.

Dipping a finger in, he traced the edge of her bra. She gripped his shirt tighter and released the tiniest of moans into his mouth. A caveman roared inside, demanding that he haul her to the floor and strip her bare. He’d never exchanged more than a handshake with a woman in the workplace. That they didn’t work together made no difference. Making out at work was unprofessional, but damn if he didn’t want to keep going.

Darci slid her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck. Shifting closer, she pulled him deeper. He’d discarded his jacket and tie and loosened his shirt collar hours ago. He still felt constricted by his slacks and shirt.

He eased back and feathered kisses along her cheekbone. “You’re a distracting woman, Darci.”

Her voice was a mumble as she arched her neck, angling closer. “I’m taking that as a compliment.”

“I meant it as one.” He shifted deeper into the corner of the couch without stopping the movement of stroking the line of skin just beneath her blouse.

“This goes against all my rules. You’re a client.” Her grip on his shirt released and she pulled back before standing and facing him.

“Lindy has her jewelry; our business is concluded.” Irrational fear filled the emptiness she left. Victor wasn’t ready for her to go. He wanted to get to know her better, to understand why she intrigued him so fully.

“Lori said basically the same.”

“You’ve been talking about me.”

“Lori’s been talking about you.” She smiled as she placed a knee on the cushion and lowered so she was sitting facing him. With a hand braced on the couch arm she leaned across him. “I’m not in the habit of showing up at a man’s door late at night with dinner and dessert.”

He glanced around her, looking pointedly at the table and then back at her. “Dessert?”

“I failed to buy anything. We may have to improvise.”

Her breasts brushed his chest with each breath, she was so close. His mind fogged with desire. He brushed his thumb along her bottom lip. “I could be open to negotiations.”

“I didn’t realize that fell under the description of a programmer’s job.”

He placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I work with the toughest negotiator of them all. Trevor.”

“Do you ever win?”

He kissed the other corner of her mouth. “All the time.”

“So what are we negotiating?”

“The terms of a relationship feels like a crass answer.”

“We’re busy business people.” She turned into his mouth’s caress, pressing her lips gently against his. “Knowing the expectations before we start anything seems logical.”

“You’re good company, so I’d like shared meals.” Victor trailed kisses along her jaw and down the side of her neck. “And better desserts.”

“I can do meals.” Darci slipped the first button of his shirt free. “And dessert. I don’t have time for jealousy and I have no tolerance for violence.”

Her fingers brushed his skin, sending volts of electricity down his core and straight to his groin.

“Ditto on both.” He moved to the other side of her neck, reveling in her openness. “And I’ll add clingy. I don’t like clingy women.”

“Are we setting a time frame? I’m on the pill. And clean.”

“Until it’s not working.”
Or one of us meets someone better.
He didn’t say it, but they both knew the truth. They weren’t interested in a long-term relationship or the complications that came with them. “My condoms are at home, but I’m clean.”

“Then I’m good. So it’s just shared meals and sex for as long as we’re enjoying ourselves.” She unbuttoned the next button and twirled her finger in a circle over the next area of skin she exposed. “No hurt feelings if we want a night away from each other or if we aren’t available for a date.”

“No expectation of romance in the way you women typically define it.” He bit gently at her neck. She moaned.

If she agreed, he could give in on any other terms she may have, because without the possibility of a woman’s wrath if he forgot a date and didn’t provide flowers and candlelight, he’d just found himself in the perfect relationship with an amazing woman.