Nine Inches of Snow and the Ebony Princess (10 page)

The Matchmaker, Book 2

Beneath the Surface : Terms of Surrender : Manifest
Destiny

Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage as she is…whether they want her to or not.

Note: Each book is written to stand alone.

Terms of Surrender

Slany Breeze has been in control, of herself and her family, since she was an early teen when her mother was killed in a tragic accident and her father retreated into himself, a broken and lost spirit.

But Slany's tired of being the strong and responsible daughter and the dependable and inspirational big sister. Just once, she'd like to give over the reins of control and let someone else take care of her every need and want. Wanting, however, and admitting her secret longings to the one man willing and capable of satisfying them, are two different things.

Nick Vega has come a long way from his bad boy, rebellious childhood when a learning disability was the bane of his disappointed father's existence.

Once he discovers Slany's submissive nature and the stalker from his past that threatens her, he will do whatever it takes to protect his new claim and woman.

Sensuality Rating:
Scorching

Genre:
Contemporary Paranormal/ BDSM/ Interracial/ Suspense

Length:
Plus Novel (~94,000 words)

STORY EXCERPT

TERMS OF SURRENDER

The Matchmaker, Book 2

By Gracie C. McKeever

Copyright © 2006

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slany's spicy-sweet woman's musk sent his salivary glands into overdrive, and his cock stood at attention under his desk.

"Are you listening to me, Nick?"

"Of course I am."

"Then what did I just say?"

"Something about your ad beating the jocks off of mine in the split run."

"Lucky guess." She smirked.

Nick chuckled. "If it's any consolation, they're both great copy, each playing on basic semiotics." He waited for her retort, remembered how she'd reacted to his "Everwell…our name says it all," compared to her "Quality and longevity is in our name."

They'd argued the merits of each catch phrase through most of that first day working together. Slany thought his slogan oversimplified, that it sacrificed clarity in the name of cleverness.

Nick insisted it was clear and clever enough, despite its simplicity.

They'd finally settled on a split run, competitive to the bitter end, and may the best director win.

"It isn't," Slany murmured.

Nick arched a brow. "Isn't what?"

"Isn't any consolation."

"Don't like bones, huh?"

"Bones are for dogs."

"Care to make it interesting?"

She stared at him long and hard, then finally asked, "What do you have in mind?"

"A little wager. Loser takes the winner out to dinner." He figured even if he lost, he still won. The luxury of Slany's company was enough assuagement for any man's wounded ego. He could see Slany figured the same as he did, that she resented his manipulation.

She stood up straight, hands on her hips in what was becoming an achingly familiar pose of defiance that made his cock throb in his pants with longing.

Loose-fit designer chinos had never been as uncomfortable on him.

He glanced up at her from his seat and goaded, "Don't have any faith in your text?"

She marched from behind his desk at this and planted herself in front of it, putting a nice slab of hard wood between them as she seethed.

Smart girl, because he'd been about to do something that probably would have warranted a slap, or arrest for lewd and lascivious behavior by the laws of at least several states.

Nick was sure there actually were some archaic regulations on the books that outlawed several of his favorite activities to do in bed, two of which he could see doing with Slany in his office this minute if he could get away with it.

Slany stared at him for a long moment, finally sighed, and dropped her arms to her sides, as if in resignation. "I don't even know why I let you stress me out."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Stressed out.”

"I'm slowly getting there."

Nick laughed as he stood and came from behind his desk, aware of the bulge in his pants and not caring if she noticed, especially since she was the one who'd put it there.

Slany eyed him warily, but didn't retreat as he approached, stopping a foot in front of her.

"You know what they say is the best stress reliever?"

Her eyes widened ever so slightly, but she remained silent as she stared up at him, plainly anticipating his next move.

He had news for her, because the ball was in her court.

Your move, Breeze.

She didn't disappoint him, slowly ran the tip of her tongue over her luscious lips, igniting his imagination and making him wonder what that organ of taste would feel like wrapped around and stroking his hard cock.

"No. Why don't you tell me?"

If he picked up the gauntlet she'd just thrown down, he knew there would be no turning back for either of them, and no longer cared about the consequences. Hell, he barely remembered they were at their job, in his office, the door unlocked.

Nick took a step closer, paused as he stared at her, giving her a chance to fall back.

She didn't, simply looked up at him with a curious heated expression.

Good girl. Stay with me.

He tilted his head to one side as he leaned in to take her mouth, closed his eyes and saw skyrockets blasting off when their lips converged.

He pulled back for the second it took him to murmur, "Open for me, Slany," surprised when she did. He thrust his tongue against hers before sweeping past it altogether and into the hot depths of her eager mouth to thoroughly devour.

In that instant, he knew. Slany was a submissive!

ADULT EXCERPT

TERMS OF SURRENDER

The Matchmaker, Book 2

By Gracie C. McKeever

Copyright © 2006

He reached between her legs and gently opened her folds with his thumbs, bent his head to lick her wanting clit, slowly sucked and nibbled the engorged flesh to vibrant life. The flesh bloomed like a berry on the vine, ready to burst in his mouth.

She moaned, arching her hips to bring his mouth closer, and when he plunged his tongue inside her, deeply, hungrily, she screamed, struggling against her shackles.

She needed to touch him, hold him!

Slany bucked her hips to meet his thrusts, mindless of whether she was hurting him, would bruise or smother him.

He caught her hips and held her in place against the firm mattress as he worked in earnest, lapping at her as if she were his first and last meal.

Her uterus contracted and expanded, heat flaring in her center, rising up and through her body, simultaneously bathing her limbs and nerves in cold heat, every sensation intensified by her restraints, by his masculinity and superior strength.

She felt perspiration beading her forehead and upper lip, climax overtaking her like a masked bank robber, sudden and violent, body spasming inside and out.

Slany opened her eyes several seconds after her body finally stilled and watched Nick sitting beside her, gaze drifting over her body with stimulating intent as he caressed her with one hand from head to foot.

She licked her lips, tongue sluggish like her eyes she could barely keep open, like her body paradoxically heavy with satisfaction and need. "Please, I want to see you."

"You want to see me, what?"

"Master." It shocked her that the word left her mouth so effortlessly, almost automatic, as if she had been saying it, addressing him thus, for years.

Nick silently reached for the buttons of his designer shirt, slowly unbuttoning each one before drawing his arms out of the sleeves.

Slany squirmed on the bed, his movements taunting her with the view of his well-muscled torso, abdomen hard and sectioned like a swimmer's, and almost as smooth but for a small sprinkling of dark hair between his pectorals, light trail arrowing down beneath the waistband of his slacks. The sight made her more anxious to feel him, made her want to follow that trail of hair with her tongue.

God this was so unfair! She'd never felt so helpless, so needy and vulnerable before, and she wasn't sure how much she liked it.

Her fingers automatically flexed with the need to run up and down his body, feel his velvety skin and hard muscles beneath her palms. Slany watched him stand, slowly unzip his slacks and drop them to the floor. She was finally gifted with a banquet of long, lean legs, his calves and thighs athletic, tightly corded like a runner's, but not overly bulky like a weight lifter's.

She had a brief second to glimpse his round, masculine ass covered in a pair of navy boxer briefs and swallowed hard at the idea of cupping each firm cheek in her hands.

Nick stepped out of his pants, leisurely strutted back to the bed.

His movements were unruffled and nonchalant, as if he were unaware of her focus or didn't care about it one way or the other.

He sat beside her, gaze heated and attention rapt as he ran the back of a hand down one arm, from shoulder to wrist.

It killed her to just lie there unmoving, unable to reciprocate and only watch him. Her legs itched to wrap around his waist, eager to feel him between her thighs as he rode her hard.

She peeked at his lap, where the cotton material of his boxer briefs hugged his hard penis, barely able to contain his large size.

"I can tell you're not used to this, not being in control."

She licked her lips, vagina wet and weeping with wanting him.

No, she wasn't used to it, but she could get used to it very quickly.

"Every muscle is tight. Relax, Slany. I'm only going to make you feel good. Nothing you have to brace yourself for, no reason to be tense."

The hell there wasn't. There was every reason to feel tight and tense and on edge. She was at a disadvantage. She was at his mercy. "I want to see you," she whispered.

He spread his arms. "This isn't enough?"

"To tease me, maybe."

"Tease and please and torment." He leaned in to suckle her throat, making her shiver beneath him as he dragged his mouth along the column of her neck up to her chin. He licked the cleft in the middle, taking his time moving up to her lips. He nibbled the bottom one before lazily dipping his tongue into her mouth, reacquainting himself with her taste, as if he hadn't just taken the most intimate sample of all with his previous kiss below.

Slany writhed beneath him, turned on by her piquant taste on his mouth. She held in a moan, didn't want to lose control too early, didn't want to lose it at all in front of this man who prided himself in keeping control. But she knew control was no longer hers, something she could not claim in Nick’s presence.

"Now, Slany," he murmured against her ear, "tell me how you want me to fuck you. Slow and easy," he said, running a palm up her leg, tickling the edges of her vagina with his fingers, light butterfly caresses setting fire to her clit and labia, "or hard and rough?"

She didn't
care
. Any way he wanted, she would take it. Take him, his cock. She would take him beneath her, on top of her, inside her—oh, God.

She swallowed, gasping for breath, unable to form the words, unable to form a comprehensive thought as she stared into his honey eyes.

She'd waited most of her life for this moment, this man, and couldn't find a more intelligent way to express it than shamelessly bucking her hips at thin air, out of her mind with desperate need and want. Hunger. No man had ever done this to her before, ever made her feel so wild and wanton and reckless, so strong at the height of her subjection.

"Let go, baby, just let go." He circled the shell of her left ear with his tongue before plunging it in, simultaneously stroking her sides with both hands before moving to her breasts, where he slowly rotated her nipples with his thumbs.

Slany bit her bottom lip, vibrating beneath him as she closed her eyes tight.

Nick lowered his head to her breasts, the nipples already puckered and hard from his previous manipulations, standing at attention now, begging for more, begging for his mouth, his tongue, his teeth.

He straddled her, then suddenly sat back on his haunches to stare down at her.

Slany's eyes flew open, and she looked at him taking her in, like a diner at a mouth-watering buffet. All-you-can-eat, and from the looks of it, Nick intended not to leave a crumb.

"Take me, Nick. Please…"

"Are you sure?"

She frowned, stared at him. "Of course I am."

"Any way I please?"

She pitched her hips up, and her pubic bone collided with his balls. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she should think twice before answering him, but no longer cared about appearances and boundaries and roles, despite the tiny warning bells going off at the mysterious tone of his voice. She just wanted him inside her, whatever terms. "Yes. Any way you please. Just take me now…please…"

REVIEWS for
Terms of Surrender, The Matchmaker
2

"Gracie McKeever as always delivers heartwarming, empathetic characters, coupled here with an intriguing mystery and a plot line throbbing with both sensuality and danger. Her character delineations are excellent, and few readers won't simultaneously be enraptured with both Nick and Slany and their personality conflicts disguising their true attraction. Angela is a winning personality of her own and any reader would be thankful to have a big sister with love for the extended family, such as her.
Terms of Surrender
is a story well worth reading, and works as a stand-alone novel, but reader, don't do yourself the disservice of missing the entire The Matchmaker Series.
4.5 Kisses
" —
Frost,
TwoLipsReviews