Deliberate Deceptions: Hauberk Protection, Book 3 (16 page)

“Give yourself time.” They had all the time in the world now and she planned on not wasting another second.

Neither of them spoke when she took his hand and led him upstairs and into the bedroom. No words were needed as they undressed each other. Or when their lips touched. Or when he lowered her onto the bed, rolling beneath her, letting her take charge just the way he’d promised earlier.

Taking care not to touch his shoulder, Lauren stretched over his body and reclaimed his mouth. The outside world disappeared until only the two of them existed, filled with their languid explorations of each other, with gentle touches and soft sighs. Time slowed and stretched as if they’d never been apart.

When she could hold off no longer, Lauren positioned herself over Chad and bore down, taking him into her body an inch at a time. They both exhaled when their hips touched. His eyes dark, Chad caressed her breast, touching her reverently, carefully, as if she might shatter. She met his gaze, quickly losing herself within his deep gray depths.

The desire and passion of the very first time they’d made love flooded Lauren’s soul. It twined itself around her heart and held fast.

With a light touch to her back, he drew her down until one nipple hovered above his mouth. When his lips closed over the sensitive bud, the sensation streaked through her and down to her pussy as if she’d been struck by lightning. His hands smoothed over her belly, following its path, his fingers finding her clit, pleasuring her until she could stay still no longer.

Whenever she started to speed up, he slowed her down. He stroked and suckled and teased until her whole body was quivering, heated until she was sure she would spontaneously combust. A simple touch of his thumb to her clit triggered an orgasm that shattered her into a thousand pieces of pure sensation.

When she finally could breathe, he started all over again, this time following her lead when her body clamped around him, milking his cock in the hardest orgasm she’d ever had.

Night had long since fallen before Chad finally spoke. “There’s never been anyone else for me, Lauren.”

He curled his fingers beneath her chin and turned her face until she looked at him. “I would have met you at the airport if I’d known you were waiting for my response. Hell, I should have flown to England to be with you as soon as I found out where you’d gone.”

“You couldn’t leave. Your inquiry was coming up.”

“I didn’t have to be there. They’d already made their judgment.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I loved you, Lauren. I would have done anything to get you back.”

“Loved, past tense?” she whispered.

“No. Love. Past, present and future.”

The fear and doubt Thalia had long ago planted withered. They could do this, they could make their marriage work. “I love you, too.”

“Past, present and future?” His voice was hoarse and his thumb shook as he wiped a tear from her cheek she hadn’t realized had fallen.

Filled with hope that she hadn’t had for years, she nodded. “I’ve never stopped loving you. I loved you then, I love you now. I'll love you forever.”

About the Author

Growing up in rural Ontario with little else to amuse her, Leah Braemel created her own adventures by writing her own stories. In her teens, she discovered her love of romances. Soon all her stories revolved around giving her heroes and heroines their Happy-Ever-After.

Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two sons, Leah is the only woman in a houseful of men—even their cat is male. After a conversation with her eldest son about how he needed to follow his dreams, Leah decided she needed to take her own advice and make her dreams of getting published come true. She was thrilled when her first sizzling romance,
Private Property
, was published by Samhain Publishing in 2009.

For more information about her books, visit her website at www.leahbraemel.com, You can also follow Leah on Twitter or find her on Facebook.

Look for these titles by Leah Braemel

Now Available:

Hauber Protection

Private Property

Personal Protection

Let a terrorist take her? Not over his dead body and damned soul…

Collateral Damage

© 2010 J.L. Saint

Silent Warrior, Book 1

One thing makes Jack Hunter invaluable to his Delta Force Team. The same trait that makes him suck at relationships. Single-minded focus on his career—and honing his ability to never miss a kill.

After a terrorist missile devastates his team and leaves him with only partial memory of a FUBARed rescue mission, he retains only one clear picture no one believes: the last face in his gunsight belonged to a prestigious American businessman. The man’s wife has to know something, but the only way to get to her is go AWOL.

After her husband trades his family to tango with double-Ds, Lauren Collins decides her dogs are better judges of character. She’s unaware how far her soon-to-be-ex’s web of deceit reaches—until the only thing between her, her sons and a killer is a wounded Delta soldier who activates her sorely neglected X-chromosome like nobody’s business.

Their instant attraction is kryptonite to Jack’s injury-dulled edge. Thrust into a world of peril, political treachery and treason, Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her life. Even if she and her sons survive, she’s not sure her heart will…

Warning: Contains a warrior who doesn’t hesitate to lay his body on the line, more than one emotional love story to tug at your heart, and chaos at Chuck E. Cheese.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Collateral Damage:

“Come in to the bathroom and let me clean you up, then we both can relax,” she said past the emotion clogging her throat. What almost happened was still too fresh in her mind for her to be anything but overwhelmed.

“I can do it.” He stood, coming so close to her that she had to take a step back. His nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply. He searched her gaze for a moment as if trying to assess her mood.

“So can I, and right now I need to make sure you’re all right more than you need to be Mr. Invincible.” She marched to the bathroom and pointed to the closed commode, determined to ignore the effects of his close proximity on her senses. “Sit.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up as he sat. “What’s next? The Terminator?”

“Sponge Bob Square Pants,” she said briskly as she turned on the water.

He snorted and winced. “Can we stick with Superman?”

“Depends on how cooperative you are, Dudley Do Right.”
More like Studly Do Right
.

He laughed, then groaned. “Okay. You win. Just don’t make me laugh again. No more torture.”

She opened the first-aid kit and he reached for the Ibuprofen, downing a handful of them before pulling off his stained T-shirt. The bathroom shrank to the size of a pea pod, a very warm pea pod. And the torture had just begun because ignoring him and the effect of his chiseled in stone physique became impossible. His every muscle was perfectly defined, supple and vibrant with life.
Thank God for that
.

This man had put his life on the line for their country numerous times. And he’d put everything on the line for her without question.

Taking the wash cloth, she gently cleansed away the dried blood then dabbed some antibiotic ointment to his wound and left it open to air at his insistence. She turned her attention to cleaning his neck and chest as well, lingering more than she had a right to, but unable to stop herself from relishing every touch. A touch he was clearly far from indifferent to, a reaction that filled her even more with want, with need, with excitement. He seemingly watched her every move with his heated gaze, but then she swore he’d stared at her mouth, her breasts, her sex so long that it was a wonder she didn’t burst into flames.

She surprised herself on how quickly she finished, then again, he had a way of warping her perception of time. It could have been five minutes, it could have been fifty, whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more of him, needed to give more to him in so many ways.

That bullet had shot to hell any barriers or pretensions, leaving a raw need that only he could fill. She slid her palm against his hard-edged jaw and eased his gaze up to hers. His skin had become burning hot, his pulse raced beneath her finger tips, and his respirations had quickened considerably. “Are you sure you don’t need the hospital?”

“The hospital is the last thing I need right now.” His voice was like sandpaper, made her feel raw, vulnerable and that much more needy. He placed his hand against her hers and turned to brush his lips to the inside of her wrist. The simmering desire between them flared white hot and burned a path all the way to her core. She shivered with excitement. The connection between them was one that only a near-death incident could forge.

Her mouth went dry and she searched hard for the right thing to say to him. Her heart was so full, her need so great. She met his gaze. “I don’t know that I’ve thanked you enough. For being there yesterday. Today. For keeping my sons safe. For keeping me alive.”

He started to shake his head and she stopped him. “Let me finish. I want to thank you for what you’ve done every day, for the years that you’ve been there doing what has to be done so I can live the life I live. It means more than I can express or ever repay.”

He exhaled. “Lauren, sometimes it’s a job, sometimes it’s more than that. It’s everything I believe. But right now it sure as hell isn’t—”

She pressed her finger to his lips, halting his words. “That being said, I want you to know this has nothing whatsoever to do with gratitude and everything to do with what’s in my heart.” She planted her mouth on his, ready to start this kiss where their kiss last night had ended.

One taste of her lips, and friendship is off the menu.

Flash Point

© 2011 Shelli Stevens

Holding Out for a Hero, Book 3

Kate has always been everybody’s friend and the de-facto little sister to the Wyatt brothers. But her feelings for Todd Wyatt, the town’s hottest firefighter, run far beyond the sibling variety. Not that he’s ever noticed.

After years of nursing her crush, Kate decides it’s time to take action. Except she has one awkward little secret: she’s still a virgin. She hopes she can seduce Todd without him realizing just how inexperienced she is.

In Todd’s mind, Kate’s the sweet girl he teases and hits up for free cupcakes. One surprise kiss over the summer, though, and suddenly she’s jumped from the platonic side of his brain to the want-her-in-my
-
bed side. Even though the last thing he wants is to lose her friendship, his resistance to her determined seduction is slipping. Fast.

When malicious attacks on her bakery escalate, it soon becomes clear that for all Kate’s friends, she’s made at least one big enemy. And if they don’t figure it out soon, things could take a deadly turn.

Warning: A sexy firefighter. A virgin bakery owner. A dollop of role playing, kinky costumes, friends becoming lovers, and a little danger along the way.
 

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Flash Point:

He might as well have sucker punched her in the gut. Kate blinked, trying hard not to let the surprise and hurt show on her face.

“Oh, right. Sure.”

And there it was. The real reason he’d asked her out tonight. It definitely hadn’t been romantic, wasn’t really even a friend thing, he just wanted baking lesson to get into some chick’s pants.

Her stomach knotted and she swallowed hard. God she was a fool, had been acting like a fool all night. Chatting a mile a minute to try and hide how damn nervous she was, to avoid thinking about his arm against her breast earlier, and how she wanted so much more than an accidental brushing.

“It doesn’t even have to be anything exciting,” Todd went on quickly. “I mean, maybe just some no-brainer cookie recipe?”

She nodded and took another bite of food, even if her food had lost all flavor and enjoyment.

Silence fell between them, heavy and awkward, and the longer she kept quiet, the more she just wanted to
scream
. She could barely deal with Todd talking to her about the women in his life, seeing them was bad enough, but having to help him with it?

Todd seemed to sense her mood change, because any further attempts at conversation stayed firmly away from the topic of women and dating.

When the check arrived, he handled it despite her insisting that she pay half. The entire ride home, the hot ball of anger in her belly just kept expanding, until her vision was tinted with red and her hands were clenched into fists.

When they pulled up outside her house, she didn’t trust herself to say anything more than a terse, “Goodnight.”

She climbed out of the truck, slamming the door behind her as she strode toward her front door. She’d just blown any pretense of playing it cool, but so what? She heard the truck door slam again, and she flinched, increasing her pace.

Todd’s fingers curled around her elbow, spinning her around and off balance. She reached out to catch herself, just like she’d done earlier today with Walt. Only this time, there was no urge to pull away when her palms flattened against Todd’s hard, broad chest. But the fact that she was pissed, not just angry, downright pissed at Todd, had her jerking away regardless.

Todd didn’t let her go though, instead slid his hands up her arm to pull her closer to him.

Her heart lurched in her chest and her mouth went dry.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered.

She lifted her gaze to his and from the light of her porch saw the regret in his eyes.

“There isn’t a woman I’m trying to impress with baking. I made that up.”

Kate frowned, stilling in her efforts to free herself. “Why did you say that then?”

“Damn it, to keep
this
from happening.” His head blocked out the light as it dipped, and then his mouth crashed down on hers.

Shock ripped through her as his lips masterfully parted hers, his tongue plunging inside to taste her. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even respond for a moment. Until the tingling began and a liquid heat seeped through her veins, pooling heavily between her thighs.