River Bound: Bound and Tied, Book 3 (12 page)

“Come, Katherine.” Jake held the blanket for her as she walked into it and let him wrap its warmth around her curves.

“My name is KC.” Her words shook with the force of a mighty shiver snaking down her spine.

“I’m not going to ravish your body.” He grinned. “At least not until you’re thawed out.”

Her lips pressed together. “Have I told you I’ve been known to throw a two-hundred-pound calf down in twenty seconds?” She lost some of the threat in her voice with the sound of her teeth clattering together.

Jake laughed out loud, the movement rumbling against her back. “I’ll be sure not to bawl like a calf.”

His laughter made the frown loosen on KC’s forehead. The man was almost human when he smiled. Still, she held tightly to her anger at the entire situation, while knowing she had to live up to her end of the ill-fated bargain.

A shiver shook his frame and he hugged her back to his front, fitting the curve of her bottom against his thighs.

Rosalyn took the other blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, then she stood behind Jake, enfolding him into the warmth of her dry arms. They huddled together beside the fire, letting the blaze warm them.

As KC’s body began to relax, she could feel other parts of Jake’s body stiffen. Her breath quickened. How soon would he demand the ultimate payment? Would she be ready? Would it hurt?

Rosalyn’s hands moved around Jake and bumped against KC’s back, skimming down over her to her bottom. “It works better if you get skin to skin, KC.” She tugged at the blanket.

“Don’t push me, Rosalyn.” KC refused to let go.

“Fine. Have it your way.” She handed Jake the blanket and moved around to KC’s front, where she forced her to open up and let her slide into the circle of her arms.

With her breasts pressed against Rosalyn’s, KC’s blood heated infinitely faster. The previous night’s lessons came back to her in sordid, blood-stirring detail.

Jake left KC’s back, wrapping himself around Rosalyn’s naked backside, circling his arms around them both, crushing them closer. “Ah, Katherine, now I can see you. Did you know that your face tells me everything?”

“Wonderful.” KC frowned. “What is it telling you now?”

“KC…” Rosalyn warned. “You have a bargain with this man.”

“Thank you, Miss Rosalyn.” Jake winked at KC.

Her stomach flipped. The man had a way of making her insides stir, and KC didn’t want her insides stirred over the man who’d bought and paid for her body like she was a whore.

Not to mention, this entire situation was foreign to KC. Her world was working cattle, tending stock and taking care of a ranch. She’d never stood naked in the woods with another man and woman…total strangers.

The backs of KC’s hands rubbed against Jake’s furred chest. His muscles were taut, rock solid like she’d imagined when she’d been studying his shoulders on the ride up the mountain.

His gaze captured hers over Rosalyn’s shoulder.

Holding the blanket’s ends didn’t give KC the freedom of movement she’d hoped for. If she tried to feel more of Jake’s body, she’d drop an end and the cold air would chill their skin all over.

Rosalyn laughed. “You two are trying too hard to avoid what’s obvious.”

“And that would be…?” Jake pressed closer, his arms tightening around the two women.

“You’re attracted to each other.”

“I am not!” KC sputtered. “I’m only living up to my end of the bargain.”

Jake’s smile dimmed. “That’s right. I paid for her. And she was damned expensive.”

“Oh, pooh.” Rosalyn shook her head. “You two are fooling yourselves. Give in to the feeling and warm your bodies at the same time. Here, let me show you.”

“Is she always this bossy?” Jake asked KC.

KC smiled for the first time since she’d left Idaho Springs. “Yes. But she’s a fine teacher.”

“Damn right. So shut up and follow my lead.” Then she ducked out from between them, and with a hand on Jake’s back and one on KC’s, she shoved them together.

Jake’s naked chest bumped against KC’s naked breasts, knocking the breath right out of her. Not with the force of the blow, but with the attack on her senses.

She’d never been naked with a man. His rock-solid, angular body was completely different from Rosalyn’s curves. Her hands pressed against his chest. Instead of pushing him away, she juggled the ends of the blanket while running her fingers slowly over his skin, studying the different textures, comparing them to Rosalyn’s. Where the other woman had soft, smooth mounds with rosy brown nipples, Jake’s hard muscles were scattered with crisp hairs, the dark nipples buried in the matting. She had to search to find them, but when she did, they stiffened into tiny little peaks.

“Let me hold that.” Rosalyn stepped behind Jake and took his blanket. She flipped it around behind her and pressed her naked body to his back. “There, that ought to get you warm.”

“Oh, honey, I’m getting warm, all right.” His cock jutted straight forward, nudging against KC’s belly.

The decadence of it all made KC’s neck and face burn. She glared at Rosalyn.

With his hands free, Jake could do anything he wanted to her and all she could do was stand there holding the ends of the blanket. Exactly what Rosalyn had planned, no doubt.

And he went right along with her plan.

Handing over the reins is hard. Handing over his heart…damn near impossible.

Gideon

© 2011 Beth Williamson

Devils on Horseback, Book 5

Gideon Blackwood is on the run—from Tanger’s meddling matchmakers. With no intention of following the rest of the Devils down the aisle, he heads for the hills to reassess a life spent leading and caring for others…and runs smack into the business end of a shotgun. At the trigger: a curmudgeonly woman with a broken axle and a load of responsibility.

In Chloe Ruskin’s experience, men take what they want and leave a mess of trouble behind. The safety of two orphans and her granny is at stake, and the last thing she needs is Gideon’s “help”. This time, though, she has no choice but to allow the big cowboy to fix her wagon.

As they work into the night, grudging admiration grows into attraction—and desire. Gideon finds he can’t dig his boot heels in hard enough to avoid falling for the opinionated little female.

When Chloe’s family disappears, her suspicion threatens to destroy any spark of love before it catches fire. Gideon finds himself making promises his pride won’t let him break—even if it costs him the love of the woman who owns the missing half of his soul.

Warning: Beware of a strong hero with a stubborn streak a mile wide and a heroine with enough gumption to fill the entire state of Texas. Discover love, hot sex and an amazing, dangerous adventure.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Gideon:

Gideon was furious. Not only had he allowed the stranger to keep them tied up and captive for a good portion of the day, but Chloe had changed their circumstances instead of him. It was his job to be the one doing the rescuing and planning, not hers. Yet he had hesitated to do what needed to be done because he was afraid she would get hurt.

Now the idea made him nearly snort. She was not only fearless, she was smart and quick as hell. They’d been tied together, yet she’d managed to injure the peddler woman, maintain her balance and give him the opportunity to disarm their enemy. It was damn embarrassing, frustrating and impressive.

After they were far enough away to be safe for now, he climbed up into the wagon and sat beside Chloe. He set the shotgun in front of them on the floor and held out his hands. She just raised one brow.

“What makes you think I’m gonna let you drive?”

Gideon gritted his teeth. “Because I’m the man here.”

“I’d say we’re equal partners, Blackwood. We were a team back there, and you’re gonna have to let me hold the reins now and again.”

It made sense, of course. Logic over emotion and all that, but he didn’t give a shit about logic. He just wanted to feel as if he was in control, even if he wasn’t.

“For right now, just hand it over.”

She must have seen something in his expression, because she sighed dramatically and gave him the reins. Gideon wondered if she were humoring him but didn’t want to take that thought any further. Right now he would focus on the trail ahead of them and getting back to where they had been as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the team was old and plodded along slower than he thought possible. They would need some fresh blood to pull this wagon, or they would never catch the people they chased.

They moved along at a snail’s pace, the sound of the merchandise in the wagon behind them clanking and banging together as the wheels hit dips in the trail. It was a strange kind of music—one he did not want to get used to hearing. He planned on getting rid of the wagon as soon as they found the Ruskins. For now he would endure it and its hideous stench.

“Do you think we can find our way back to the packs we left behind?” Chloe’s voice was surprisingly calm.

“Maybe, but with all the shit in this wagon, we don’t need any supplies.”

She murmured something he didn’t quite catch. Five minutes later, she apparently could not control her tongue any longer. “I want that pack back. It’s likely all we have left of our things, and I don’t want to show up on my aunt’s doorstep with nothing but dirty drawers and bugs in my hair.”

“This is the same trail we followed west. If we keep going, we’ll end up where we were this afternoon.” He could almost feel her grinning at him. “But there’s no guarantee we’ll find the exact spot, and we can’t afford to be poking around in the woods.”

She nodded. “I understand that, and I would probably say the same thing. But in this case, I can find the spot.”

“How is that possible? It was a bunch of trees with no distinguishing landmarks.” Gideon thought maybe she was trying to trick him into searching for the packs. There was no chance she could find a bush in the middle of the thick woods they had left them in.

“Distinguishing landmarks? You sure do talk fancy.” She shook her head. “I cut an X in the tree bark.”

“You did what?”

“You heard me. I marked the tree with my knife when you was getting captured.” Chloe sounded so damn smug, his annoyance notched up further.

He told himself not to react, to let her have her moment of triumph. Overall, Gideon was the better soldier, even if she’d been the one who freed them from their captivity. She was a young woman, cocky and sure of herself. There was no reason for him to get riled up.

But damned if he didn’t.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Gideon dropped the reins and yanked her close to him for a bruising kiss. It was a clashing of lips, teeth and tongue, different from their midnight sex. This was primal, elemental and overwhelming. Perhaps it was because they had faced danger together and escaped. He knew he was lying to himself, but thinking wasn’t an option at the moment.

In fact, he could hardly breathe.

The salty taste of her lips gave way to the sweetness of her mouth. The hot, wet recesses beckoned him until he was so deep he couldn’t distinguish where she ended and he began. His dick hardened in an instant, pressing against his trousers, eager to find release with Chloe. To his shock, her hand started pulling on the buttons to free him. He was about to stop her when she spoke.

“Please, I need. Now.” It was a fractured thought but one he understood.

He yanked at the offending buttons until the evening air hit his overheated skin. Her hand surrounded him, and he groaned into her mouth. Thank God she wore drawers with a slit. The ugly dress bunched around her hips. Chloe straddled him, never breaking the kiss, and soon he was poised at her entrance, which was already wet with arousal.

It was wrong, it was foolhardy, it was loco. He couldn’t stop if someone put a gun to his head.

Gideon had never been as aroused or as hard as he was at that moment. She sank onto his length, inch by inch, her tightness surrounding him, embracing him. He gripped the seat beside him until the wood almost splintered under his fingers. It was only through sheer force of will he did not come in the first five seconds. She was perfectly made for him, as if someone had engineered her tiny body to accept, welcome, enclose his.

“Ohhhhh,” she breathed against his lips. “It’s even better than last night.”

Damn straight it was. Gideon guided her up and down a few times, and then she took control again. Her pace increased quickly until all he could do was hang on to her hips and try not to find his release too soon. Blood raced around inside him until his heartbeat became the only thing he heard.

The sounds of the forest around them ceased, and the air became still. The world held its breath as Gideon and Chloe moved together as one being in an ancient rhythm, hearts thumping, breath catching. Sliding against one another, their moans echoing softly into the dense forest.

She vows to protect her heart…until love burns away her resistance.

The Courtesan’s Bed

© 2010 Sandrine O’Shea

Régine Laflamme rules as the Queen of Fire, the Paris demimonde’s most notorious and accomplished courtesan. Wealthy men shower her with riches and vie to become her next conquest. Respectable women shun her. Other courtesans envy her.

No one knows she was once an innocent young governess, ruined and turned out by a cruel lord. And now, years later, she spies her seducer’s son—a man who never answered her frantic pleas for help.

Darius, Earl of Clarridge, has never stopped searching for the woman who haunts him. He doesn’t expect her to believe that her letters never reached him. No, he will regain her trust in a way she understands—by promising to give her more pleasure than she’s ever known.

In spite of her misgivings, Régine is intrigued and takes Darius up on his boast. To her surprise, he conquers not only her body, but captures her very heart.

Yet beyond the haven of her boudoir, two men scheme to possess her for their own. When one of them kidnaps and enslaves her, she clings desperately to a new hope—that this time Darius will find her before it’s too late.