Calculated Risk (20 page)

“You are wearing those panties,” he
quickly lowered them as she pushed his briefs down. He lifted her
hips and merged their bodies into one perfect unit. “I think we get
extra points for joining the mile high club.”

Stevie wrapped her arms tightly around
his neck, savoring the feeling of him deep inside her. “Well…I knew
you could make the earth move, but the heavens too…”

The end

Meet Elaine Raco
Chase

I love reading. And that’s how I became
a writer. It started in high school with a serial for the
newspaper, then I moved on to writing radio/TV programs and
advertising copy. I was sure short stories would be perfect for me,
because I could create the most vivid scenes in under 60
seconds!

But – I found I needed more time to
write compelling characters and their stories – be it romances or
mystery/thriller and suspense novels. Whatever genre I write, my
stories are funny, sarcastic, and loaded with fast-paced, bantering
dialogue. My books feature confident, strong women – who have a
wicked sense of humor and aren’t really looking for a man – until
the perfect one appears.

I have published eighteen novels and
non-fiction as well – all of the novels hitting assorted
bestsellers lists – and have over 4 million books in print, in the
US and 27 other countries and 17 languages. It’s been
fun!

Now, I’ve entered the world of eBooks
and am delighted to be acquiring new readers and renewing
connections with previous fans. All my books have been updated, but
as one reader wrote – “wow, they are just as fresh today as when
they were first written.” That’s quite a compliment.

I’ve always believed in love
at first sight. Well…maybe not quite
love
but instant attraction. Why?
Because my dad told me he fell in love with my mother while she was
chasing her dog down the street! I told him that was impossible, he
hadn’t even talked to her. He just grinned and said, “sometimes you
just know.” They were married for 57 years…and their lives were
full of love and laughter. My husband claims he was ‘intrigued at
first sight…maybe with a bit of lust thrown in.” Well we’ve been
laughing and loving for the last 42 years!

I also teach of creative writing – and
do online classes. I have some very talented students that I know
you’ll be reading quite soon.

Right now, I’d like to introduce you to
some sexy, funny excerpts that are even more fun when read together
– because love and laughter make perfect bedfellows!

Enjoy!

An Excerpt from
Double Occupancy
– coming
to an eBook in July.

She smiled to herself, thinking of the
half-finished page of the manuscript she had left in the
typewriter. It was smoother and more polished than before. It
flowed more naturally. It..it was covered with a series of blue
editing marks, of changed punctuation and spelling
corrections!

Her forehead puckered and a lump formed
in her throat. She hadn’t made these corrections. It must have
been: “Matt!” Casey turned, her wet, braided ponytail bouncing
against her bare shoulders, and ran across the living room to push
open the door to the other bedroom.

Sunlight slanted through the tops and
sides of the half-closed drapes, clearly illuminating the outline
of a long body contentedly snoring beneath a thin cotton sheet. All
that was visible was the back of a dark head and half of a bare,
muscular back.

Casey’s feet silently moved across the
blue tweed carpet. She reached out and laid a cool hand on his warm
shoulder. “Matt,” she called softly, gently shaking him. “Why
didn’t you wake me when you arrived last night?”

He made a grunting sound and rolled
over. Instead of looking into Matt Granger’s familiar gray eyes,
Casey found herself staring into a pair of sleepy, sherry-colored
eyes and a face decidedly unfamiliar!

The stranger’s hair was as black as
Matt’s was but that was where the resemblance ended. This man was
in his late thirties with strong, carved features – a face more
interesting than handsome. The white sheet had fallen, revealing a
broad muscular chest covered by a light mat of dark curly hair.
Casey had the distinct rather unsettling impression the sheet was
the only thing covering the man.

The hairs on the back of her neck
prickled with a silent message of warning and her pulse accelerated
in alarm, but she was more curious than panic-stricken. She cleared
her throat and attempted to speak, only to be halted by the man’s
slow smile and the deepening grooves on either side of his mouth.
She simply stared at him in paralyzed, fascinated
silence.

At first, he thought she was standing
on an impossibly tall pair of platform sandals, but a cursory
glance showed bare feet with ten poppy-red toenails wiggling
uncomfortably amid the carpet fibers.

His alert golden eyes belied their
lazily drooping lids. Slanting his head, he leisurely eyed every
visible inch of her – the long shapely legs, the gently rounded
hips and slender waist, the full breasts that the damp teal green
maillot revealed with tantalizing near-transparency. He made a slow
assessment of her face, roaming over her softly rounded cheekbones,
pert nose, and an ever-widening pair of emerald eyes.

He was actually smiling, a wide wolfish
smile that made Casey shift uneasily and wonder where her
confidence had gone.

“You must be the surprise I was told to
expect,” he murmured suggestively, his tone husky with
sleep.

“I…I thought you were Matt.” Her own
voice came out a disgusting squeak.

“No, I’m Travis, but I’m positive you
won’t mind the substitution.” His eyes glittered with amusement and
confidence.

Casey felt a desperate need to turn and
run, but she found her legs refused to move. Travis’s left hand
snaked out and captured her right wrist, is free arm slid around
her waist and pulled her off balance onto his chest before he
pulled her down on the wide bed.

A muffled cry caught in her throat. She
twisted her head, her lips ready to deliver a violent protest, only
to find his mouth lowering to take possession of her half-parted
lips. His hard tongue probed the moist sweetness of her mouth,
their breaths became as one in a long, sensuous kiss that made her
feel dizzy and weightless. She felt drugged, her rigid muscles
relaxing and weakening under his masterful touch.

His fingers spread across her smooth,
bare back and moved down her spine, following the thin material of
her bathing suit that covered her curving buttocks.

The weight of his powerful body pressed
her farther into the downy comfort of the mattress. His hands
expertly caressed her hips before sliding over her flat stomach to
gently cup a full breast. He had succeeded in trapping her hands
and arms between the crush of their entwined bodies and she was
powerless to stop his intimate exploration. His cheek and jaw
nuzzled against her neck, the rough stubble of his beard scratching
the smooth, sensitive skin he found there.

These unaccustomed sensations of
intimacy spread a warm lassitude through Casey’s lower limbs. Her
body seemed unafraid, arching instinctively against his hardening
length, encouraging his hungry caresses.

Casey’s brain, however, was not totally
anesthetized. When she felt his fingers trying to disengage the
metal clasp that held the bathing suit’s halter straps together,
she knew that unless she took immediate action, the situation was
going to be totally out of her control.

A sudden burst of adrenaline mixed with
a heady combination of excitement and danger launched her into
action. She managed to wiggle one arm free and slam her elbow into
his solar plexus. The result was an instantaneous release from her
captor and a sweet sound of a groan of surprise.

Casey wedged her forearm against this
throat and used her long, athletic body to pin him against the
mattress. “All right, buster,” she growled forcefully, “what the
hell are you doing here?”

“It’s not buster,” he automatically
corrected, “its Travis.” She caught the flash of white teeth and
knew he was laughing at her.

“Whatever,” she returned gruffly.
“You’ve got some questions to answer, and don’t get any ideas
because I’ve got a black belt,” Casey threatened and pushed her arm
tighter against his Adam’s apple.

Enjoy the first chapter of
Video Vixen
– available now!

Chapter One

The three main topics of
conversation among the luncheon crowd in Maxwell’s Plum were the
current price of gold, Wall Street’s noontime rally and yesterday’s
fifteen inches of snow that paralyzed Manhattan, closing both
LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. Of course, all that changed
when
she
walked in
wearing the now notorious coat.

The fur was mink –
boot-length, double-breasted, and cut like a man’s jacket.
Luxurious black pelts, lined in
her
shade of scarlet silk, that rippled and flowed
over the tall, well-proportioned woman cocooned inside. The wide
shawl collar and oversized black mink beret framed an equally
notorious face.

Elbows nudged elbows, gazes left their
windowed study of snowplow architecture, and stock market advice
ceased to be bantered back and forth. The famed restaurant’s
excellent cuisine was abandoned. Appetites were piqued but not by
the food. Hungry patrons let their eyes feast on an infinitely more
interesting entrée.

Jerry Corry was the only man
in the room not watching
her.
And why should he? He knew
her
intimately. From the long,
luxuriously wavy chestnut hair with its distinctive widow’s peak,
the high, smooth forehead, the straight nose, crystal-clear blue
eyes that pierced a man’s soul, full lips and slightly square jaw
all sitting atop a full-breasted yet supple five foot eight inch
frame.

With his shoulders relaxed against the
leather-backed chair, Jerry viewed the diner’s reactions with
supreme satisfaction. When she stopped at his table, he rose,
kissed her on one winter-flushed cheek, and heard a chorus of
envious masculine sighs.

“I know you don’t have much time, so I
took the liberty of ordering: French onion soup, salad niçoise, and
limed mineral water.” He watched as the mink was shrugged off,
revealing a black knit dress with a vivid red Chanel jacket. His
brown gaze shifted to study her face. “You look tired.”

One precisely defined eyebrow arched
and a smile lifted the corners of scandalously scarlet lips. “I did
have an exhausting morning.” Her throaty voice purred a subliminal
message. “I seduced my virginal eighteen-year-old stepson in the
hot tub while my crippled husband played grateful voyeur. Then I
posed for a revealing fashion layout. Now I’ll take care of you and
later –“ thick black velvet lashes lowered demurely “— I’m
scheduled to ravish the local minister who has been making quite a
nuisance of himself.”

Laughter and a pleased expression
etched Jerry Corry’s angular face. “Victoria Kirkland, at last you
are enjoying the role of Vixen Mallory!”

“You’re giving me no choice!” Came her
tart rejoinder. Vikki leaned forward; one scarlet-coated fingernail
tapped the crystal on his gold watch. “Hundreds of eyes are boring
into my back this very minute. Hopefully they’re all talking about
the billboard featuring this mink coat that was unveiled in Times
Square yesterday.”

“Hopefully they are
discussing more than that gorgeous gigantic ad and the stunning
woman in the mink,” Jerry corrected her. “Hopefully they are
discussing what fifty million other Americans talk about every day.
The program that has made twelve thirty to one thirty
the
lunch hour for
businesses, homemakers, and college students.

“I’m betting my job as PR
man on the fact that everyone in this restaurant is whispering
about
Always Tomorrow
, Garner Broadcasting’s cable-TV entry into the daytime soaps
and currently number one in the ratings against all the major
networks combined.”

“Number one!” Vikki’s kohl-rimmed eyes
widened. “I – I hadn’t realized the ratings book had come
out.”

A Cheshire-cat grin spread
Jerry’s mouth; his arms crossed complacently over his chest. “I’m
going to tell the entire cast and crew later this evening after the
final taping. Only eighteen months on the air and courtesy of a
super satellite, number one in the country whether it’s daytime or
primetime! And now
Always Tomorrow
is going primetime.”

At Vikki’s arched brow, Jerry
continued. “I just learned that next month on Valentine’s Day, the
show is repeating every night from the beginning, with On-Demand
paid downloads. Residuals, baby, residuals. You’ll be able to send
all your nieces and nephews to college, make your parents retire in
style and establish one helluva nest egg for yourself.”

She took a deep breath. “Wow, this is
more than I ever imagined.”

Conversation was halted when the
bow-tied waiter brought their luncheon order. The young man’s hand
noticeably shook when he placed the steaming liquid appetizer and
salad in front of Vikki. The waiter continued to hover,
straightening unused silverware, adding water to untouched
ice-filled goblets, dusting nearly invisible crumbs from the
pristine white cloth until a superior’s peremptory voice hailed
him.