Sweeter Than Honey (7 page)

“But what about mine?” The low rumbling voice brought everyone to silence.

Honey closed her eyes for a moment and then looked over her shoulder. Joe stood in her doorway, his shirt only partially buttoned, exposing most of his naked chest. And he was bootless. Anyone looking at him knew by his state of undress and the thick stubble shadowing his jaw that he’d been up to no good. His expression didn’t give much away, but his gaze was piercing, maybe a little possessive, when it landed on her.

Honey melted. This proud, handsome man stood on her stoop, looking so well-pleasured and debauched—and she was responsible for that. She didn’t much care what anyone else thought. She felt pride in the fact she’d held his interest all through the night, that she’d sparked his passion and taken all of his rough loving.

In fact, she didn’t much care if she followed him back inside and started all over again. They could all damn well watch and listen.

“What about my reputation, Honey?” he asked, stepping barefoot to the ground, his dark gaze holding hers. “Won’t you do right by me?”

“You mean marry you?” she asked faintly. Oh, she wanted to, but not at his expense. And not because he felt he had to. She straightened her shoulders. “I thought a man’s reputation was only enhanced by his conquests.”

“Only a bastard thinks like that,” he said, walking toward her.

“Still, none of this is your fault.” Her gaze clung to his tall frame, to the carved features of his face. Could he see how sorry she was? “You were entrapped.”

“You think I couldn’t have walked away if I’d wanted to?” he said softly. “I could have had my hands out of those ropes at any time. Someone used slip knots.”

“Sonuvabitch,” Letty muttered.

They both gave her a quelling glare.

When Honey turned back, she laid her palm alongside his whiskered cheek. “Joe, I’m not blaming you for taking what I offered. I gave freely, no strings or ropes attached.”

He raised his hand and cupped her cheek. “And if I don’t want to be set free?”

The temptation to lean into his hand and accept his comfort was so strong tears welled in her eyes. “What are you saying?”

“What I’ve been trying to say to you since I woke up with you snuggled up next to me, woman.”

Sighs from the women standing next to her couldn’t draw her gaze from Joe’s fierce scowl. She held her breath, knowing he was going to say it.

“I love you,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Feeling as though the rest of the world had faded away, she stared at him while her heart felt full to bursting. If he could be that brave, so could she. “I love you too.”

“Whoo-ee, we got us a double wedding, Daisy,” Letty said. “And you just got yourself out of a spankin’.”

Honey caught Daisy’s wince as Letty slapped her shoulders.

Daisy turned scarlet and glanced back at her husband, who gave her a wink. “Letty, remind me never to confide in you again,” she muttered.

Grinning, Letty slapped Joe’s back. “Saddle up, cowboy.”

Joe’s gaze stayed on Honey. “Miss Cafferty and I both need to clean up. How about we follow you in a little while?”

Letty grinned. “Don’t make me come lookin’ for you. I might forget to knock.”

Joe pulled Honey flush with the front of his body and encircled her in his arms.

Honey shook her head. Her head still reeled from his declaration. “Do I get any say in this?”

“Of course you do,” he said, grinning, “so long as the words are I do.”

Although warmth spread to fill the empty hollow of her chest, she narrowed her eyes. “You think you’re always going to boss me around?”

“Only when you want me to.”

Her lips parted on a sigh. “I’m not wearing any underwear,” she whispered.

“I heard that,” Letty said. “Think she whispers about as well as I do.”

“Letty,” Honey said, giving her friend a killing glare, “I wanted to make sure you knew that it’s time for you to head on down the road.”

“Let’s leave them alone to
clean up
,” Daisy said, leading Letty away by the arm.

Honey’s body burned everywhere Joe’s pressed close. His rigid cock nudged her belly. “Think we have time?”

He bent and whispered in her ear. “You too sore?”

Gazing up into his handsome face, she licked her lips. “I was thinking about stretchin’ my lips…”

His gaze narrowed, dropping to follow her tongue. “I’m thinking you have a nasty little mind.”

She pouted her lips, teasing him. “You made it that way.”

“I’ve got no regrets.”

His solemn gaze stole her breath. “You promise?”

“I promise. Forever. No regrets.” Then he ducked and shoved his shoulder into her belly and draped her over his shoulder like a shirt.

Honey guessed that meant he was done talking. Before she could catch her breath, he’d lowered her to the bed and had her skirt shoved up to her waist. “Will you always be this eager?”

“Just get those lips ready…” His hands disappeared from view beneath her rucked-up skirt.

She gasped when his fingers rimmed her opening. “I thought I was the one who was going to do all the work.”

“I don’t want you changing your mind.”

Honey smiled. “You do want to marry me.”

“Do you think I’m this eager with every woman I’ve bedded?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

With his fingers swirling, encouraging her pussy to melt and moisten, he leaned over her and brought his face over hers. “That’s not your fault. This is happening too fast. I know I’m not going to change my mind, but I don’t want you pining for the road someday.”

That surprised her and she canted her head. “You think I want to live like this?”

“Don’t you? You have everything you need,” he said, his forehead wrinkling with the beginnings of another fierce frown. “This wagon’s a comfortable little nest. You have exciting places to go, new people to meet.”

“Joe, all I’ve ever wanted was what everyone else has. A real home.”

He studied her expression for a long moment and then dipped his head. “We can give that to each other. Home’s not a house, it’s family.”

“It’s love?” she asked, wanting to make sure she understood.

“You don’t think it’s too soon? To know, I mean.”

“Do you?”

He gave a slow shake of his head. “I’ve never felt this way about another woman. I don’t want to lose this or you.”

“I fell in love with you that first day when you smiled from the edge of the crowd.”

“I watched you thinking I was looking at stardust and moonbeams and didn’t think I could ever hold you.”

“I’m not leaving,” Honey said. “I’ll be yours.”

Joe’s gaze dropped between them and he stroked his fingers deeper. “To do with as I please?”

She rolled her hips to take him deeper. “I like what pleases you.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “Thank God.” Then he gave her another of those fierce scowls that made her melt into a puddle. “Now, about stretchin’ those lips…”

Honey grinned and rolled with him, coming over him and scooting low. She trailed a fingernail down his shaft and watched it jump. “I don’t think he needs any old elixir to encourage him,” she murmured.

“There’s only one elixir of love this man needs,” Joe growled.

As she bent over him, she wondered if
Señora
Garza had cast a spell over more than her bottled potions. Somehow, all her dreams had come true. In this one man lay all her big brass-band kind of dreams.

“You’re thinking too much.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Getting nervous?”

“Getting thirsty. I haven’t had anything to drink since your sweet cream.”

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

“We are well matched.”

Honey was through playing. “I want you inside me.”

“I want your tits in my mouth.”

Smiling, she crawled back up his body and into his arms. When she’d filled the ache between her legs with his strong cock, she leaned over him. “Give me fireworks.”

“Sweetheart, I’ll give you the whole damn Fourth of July.”

About the Author

Delilah Devlin is a
New York Times
and
USA TODAY
bestselling author of erotica and erotic romance with a rapidly expanding reputation for writing deliciously edgy stories with complex characters. She has published over a hundred thirty erotic stories in multiple genres and lengths. She is published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Montlake Romance, Running Press and Samhain Publishing. In May 2014, she added Grand Central to her list of publishers.

You can find Delilah all over the web:
Website
,
Twitter
,
Facebook Fan Page
, or email her at:
[email protected]
.

Look for these titles by Delilah Devlin

Now Available:

Saddled

Stone’s Embrace

Undeniable

Lone Star Lovers

Unbridled

Unforgiven

Four Sworn

Breaking Leather

A Four-Gone Conclusion

Reined In

Delta Heat

Five Ways ’Til Sunday

Fournicopia

A Perfect Trifecta

Twice the Bang

The TripleHorn Brand

Laying Down the Law

In Too Deep

A Long, Hot Summer

Beaux Rêve Coven

Once in a Blue Moon

Firehouse 69

Burnin’ Up Memphis

Coming Soon

Beaux Rêve Coven

Under a Blood Moon

Firehouse 69

Hotter With a Pole

Some things never change. And some things change everything.

In Too Deep

© 2013 Delilah Devlin

TripleHorn Brand, Book 2

Gabe Triplehorn can think of no better getaway from his heavy responsibilities at the ranch, than to go back to a time and place where he didn’t have a care in the world. When there was just a campground, a river and a girl.

When he gets to Red Hawk Landing, the campground and the river are still there. He just never expected the girl would still be there too. Only now she runs the place.

Lena Twohig can think of no better place to raise her young son than the family owned campground that holds so many memories. Especially the romance with Gabe that lit up one long-ago summer like a wild electrical storm. Now he’s back, with a ranch-hardened body she knows she shouldn’t want so badly.

No amount of lies or the years that have passed can tame this tidal wave of passion.

Warning:
Contains a flash flood of passion between a cowboy who knows how to pitch a tent and a woman who isn’t afraid to get a little dirty.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
In Too Deep:

Gabe listened to the rustle of clothing being shed and her quick, excited breaths. When water splashed behind him, only then did he turn to acknowledge her presence. He didn’t betray any emotion over the fact she’d dumped propriety on its ass to join him—deliciously nude.

Only her breasts were visible, floating just beneath the surface of the water. The cream-colored globes were naturally full. The tips were tightened little buds. The areolas were a little larger than he remembered but still cotton-candy pink.

His cock hardened, pulsing as he imagined gently chewing on a stiff bud while her legs writhed around him.

She swam closer, but not so near he could sweep out a hand to bring her against him. She was ready to flirt but still held on to a little caution.

Gabe struck out for the first rocky ledge, and pulled himself up to sit while clear river water sluiced around his body. His cock was prominent despite the blurring stream. No way could she pretend not to be looking where she was.

Her gaze was caught, her pupils growing large as she stared at his erection.

He patted the rock beside him. “Why not join me?”

Her eyes widened, but she firmed her mouth and swam nearer.

He held out a hand, which she accepted after giving him a long, searching look. He pulled her up beside him to rest on the ledge. With her knees pulled up against her chest and her body curled, she hid most of her interesting bits. Her shyness amused and enchanted him.

That same combination of boldness and reticence had excited him as a youth. He’d wanted to make her blush with embarrassment one moment and with searing passion the next. In the end, she’d given him both.

“Tell me something,” he said softly. “Something about you.” He hoped she’d answer the questions abounding in his mind. Like why was she still here? Had she finished college? Or given up? Why was she still wearing that cheap promise ring he’d given her all those years ago?

She gave him a sideways glance. Her body still folded tightly, she wrapped her arms around her knees to hide herself.

Not that she looked anything but completely sexy. The long expanse of her back was golden and smooth. The sides of her breasts a creamy white.

She slicked back her wet hair then set her cheek against her knee as she stared back at him. “There’s not much to tell. I run this place in the summers for my grandfather.”

“And during the rest of the year?”

She lifted her shoulders. “I teach art in middle school.”

She’d wanted to study graphic design and work in a marketing firm. What the hell had happened to that dream?

“What about you?” she asked.

“I’m in cattle.”

Her eyelids dipped, and she glanced away. The tiny catch in her breath made him wonder if she was remembering a boy who’d been a rancher’s son.

When testing an enemy for weaknesses, prepare for things to get hard.

Once in a Blue Moon

© 2014 Delilah Devlin

Beaux Rêve Coven, Book 1

Bryn Cavanaugh and her coven like that the community they live in is isolated thanks to a storm that destroyed the bridge between them and the outside world. Now the state wants the bridge rebuilt. When the construction crew checks into the inn, Bryn begins to suspect something about the crew’s boss isn’t quite…human.

Bridges are Ethan Thorne’s thing—after all, he’s a troll—so building a simple span over a remote canal in backwater Louisiana shouldn’t be this much of a problem. When he follows the pretty little innkeeper to a midnight rendezvous, he discovers why his crew keeps running in to trouble. Bryn and her coven are casting spells in the moonlight.

As a troll, Ethan feels the sting of his low place in demon hierarchy. But finding an unprotected coven of witches in the middle of the bayou could lead to all sorts of adventure. And it’s better to keep your enemies close...

Warning
: Contains a handsome troll (Hey, it can happen!) who’s skilled at building sexual tension with his hands—and several other body parts, as well—and a witch who’s determined to protect her home, but forgets to shield her heart.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Once in a Blue Moon:

Ethan Thorne leaned his elbows on the rail as the rickety ferry boat made its way across a canal deep in a sleepy bayou. A place nearly out of time. Unchanged except for the slow drone of the boat’s engine. Trees draped in moss. Murky water. The sounds of insects buzzing and chirping and bird calls were an unending cacophony of sound.

They were headed across the expanse where he would build a bridge to the dock on the far side. A dock that wasn’t a dock. It was simply a road that had sunk into the swamp, the tarmac brittle and broken. The little community on the other side was in sore need of a bridge, so why had they protested for so long?

As the boat drew nearer, he noted a couple dozen people gathered on the sunken road. Most were dark-haired with dark complexions and appeared to be related by the similarities of their features. However, one group of five women standing in a half-circle to the side seemed out of place.

For one thing, their features weren’t large-nosed and their skin was pale. And each of the women was stunningly beautiful. How had a small backwoods place like Bonne Nuit produced so many delicately boned, beautiful women? Two were brunette, one was blonde and one red-haired. The one that drew his eye had hair the color of midnight with a slight bluish sheen.

And they dressed differently from the rest. Not a one wore a tee or tank or well-worn jeans and boots. These women wore long skirts, sandals or bare feet, rows and rows of stones around their wrists and long necklaces with pendants resting between their breasts.

At second glance, their skin wasn’t merely pale, it was luminous.

Realization of what they were hit him with the impact of a blow to his solar plexus.
Witches.
His gaze scanned the far bank. Where were their guardians?

He straightened and purposely dragged his gaze from them. He didn’t need to incite a war with whatever group of demons lurked out of sight.

“You see them?” Renner murmured, coming up beside him and smiling, his expression at odds with the intensity of his unearthly sea-blue gaze. In direct sunlight, his irises reflected the light, glinting like sunlight on a calm blue pond.

“I count five,” Ethan said. “And no sign of Others.”

“Perhaps they haven’t been claimed.”

“How is that even possible?”

“The isolation? The fact they’re banded together?” Renner raised a brow. “How interesting.” He pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and slid them on. “No need to announce our presence just yet.”

It being daylight, Ethan had no worries his eyes would give him away. “Guess that means I’m staying in the town.”

“Until we find out what’s happening here, yes. Brother, we may have struck the mother lode.” He flashed a grin and turned toward the bank.

Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, instinctively barring his heart to suppress the urge to pounce the moment the ramp dropped to the tarmac. Witches explained a lot. The string of bad luck that had plagued the company the moment the contract for the construction project had been awarded, although seized engines and workers’ accidents were behind them now. Witches also explained how this project had been placed so far down the list that the state’s budget had nearly excluded this last bridge.

Which might confirm his suspicion these witches were truly alone. If they’d been mated, there’d be no need to continue their isolation. Bound, they were protected. For a troll, a lesser demon on anyone’s hierarchy, the thought of five witches, the most exalted feminine prizes in the demon kingdom, the opportunity was too ripe with possibility to ignore.