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Showing posts with label Excerpt Reveal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Excerpt Reveal. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Excerpt: Used by Kate Dunbar

USED, a brand new standalone romantic suspense from debut author Kate Dunbar, will be releasing on March 8, 2021 on all retailers!  Read an excerpt below. 

Used by Kate Dunbar Book cover

Pre-order:

Amazon US  https://amzn.to/3e3aj4a

Amazon Intl  https://geni.us/4fBU5

Apple  https://apple.co/3risUMX

Kobo  https://fave.co/2YJInt3

Nook  http://bit.ly/2LMTD4z

Audio  https://amzn.to/3rb8oyb

Paperback  https://amzn.to/3kzGLwc

Goodreads  https://bit.ly/38AlFct


Synopsis:

Heartbreakingly beautiful and completely engrossing, Used is packed full of twists, turns, and a gripping romance sure to leave readers emotionally spent and asking for more.


At the age of seventeen, after a decade of lies, hurt, and severe abuse by her brother Lucas, Sabra Valentine is able to breathe.


Lucas is behind bars thanks in large part to Sabra's quick thinking and self-preservation-even if that's one more secret she has to keep.


Now, seven years later, life is moving forward, and Sabra is starting to heal, live, and love again with her friends and Trevor Collins by her side. He's tall, dark, and sexy, and he doesn't fall for Sabra's games. The future is finally looking bright-until one phone call shatters everything.


Used is a romantic suspense with domestic thriller elements. Please be aware that there are topics that may be triggers for some readers, and this work is meant for mature readers.


Excerpt

Trevor moves behind me as we climb through the boulders and follow the path to our destination. He places his hand on the small of my back to help me navigate. I slip on some loose rocks and slide backward. But Trevor reaches around to steady me. Always the gentleman. Always there for me. 

I smile at him and whisper a soft thanks. Reward him with the light touch of my lips on his. The kiss deepens, electricity crackling between us, and I pull away. Trevor lets me go but not before he brushes his fingers across my chest. My nipples immediately harden under his touch and his intake of breath lets me know he felt it too. There’s no hiding it even if he hadn’t felt it. The light of the moon shines bright overhead, illuminating the path before us. And the lace bra, while amazing for its push-up factor, paired with the t-shirt doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Which is exactly why I chose it. 

Trevor pulls me into his arms when I take a quick step forward and slides his hands across my chest. This time they stop when they hit their mark. He gives a slight tug on my nipple through the shirt, growling in my ear, “Are you sure we can’t stop right here?” 

I turn in his arms and grin at him wickedly. “I promise it will be worth the wait.” 

“That’s what you keep saying. And while I fully believe that statement—think I’ve proved that over the years—I think it might be worth taking a quick break.”

I can’t form a reply as the power shifts between us. Trevor pushes his leg between mine, backing me against one of the rocks. It’s taller than I am. Than Trevor is. Our own little cocoon of solitude. 

His mouth locks on mine. Two hands land on my ass, hitching my hips closer to him. His tongue parts my lips and he teases me. My pulse quickens and I pull away gasping for air. It’s all the pause and encouragement he needs, giving him time to grab the hem of my shirt and lift it over my head. 

I don’t stop him. Who can see us now? This is right where I want him. 

I place my hands on his chest, slide them to the top of his jeans, and allow my fingertips to stroke the trail of dark hair leading to uncharted territory. Then I move in, kissing my way up his neck, back to his lips. 

Trevor has other plans. He ducks his head, kisses my collarbone heading south, leaving a path of fire. I close my eyes and feel my body tighten, reacting when his tongue finds my nipple through the lace. We may not get to the blanket after all. 

I pull away, trying not to seem too eager, but Trevor grips my waist and brings me closer. His tongue slides, sucks and flicks my nipple through the lace bra. My arms make their way around him and I play with the hair at the back of his neck. 

It can’t possibly get any better than this. His fingers move to the lace cupping my breasts and release me into the air. I feel his warm mouth take in the entire pinkness of my nipple and I’m done. I guess it can get better. 

Trevor: Two, Sabra: Two

His hands roam all over me, rubbing against my bare skin. Through my jeans. My body is short-circuiting. It’s wet everywhere that matters. I’m going to explode if I don’t get some sort of release soon. 

I move my hands down his hips to the button-fly on his jeans. My fingers tremble with the thought of releasing him and being able to touch him. Taste him. His mouth takes turns, moving between my breasts. It curves into a smile against my chest. He stands with one final flick of his tongue, pulls the lace back over my breast, and takes a small step backward. 

What the hell? 

Trevor’s eyes bore a hole in mine. He smirks at my confusion. “I’d say that was enough of a rest. Should we keep going?” He laughs out loud, a full belly laugh, when he sees the grimace across my face. 

“Really, Trevor? You can just stop like that?”

“I’m sure if your mouth had been on me it would be a different story, but you kept your lips to yourself—for the most part—and, instead, mine were on you.” He slips closer and whispers in my ear, “Tasting you. Sliding over you. And by your reaction, they were doing okay for themselves. It looks like two can play this game.” He takes a step forward. “You coming?” 

Damn. 

Trevor: Three, Sabra: Two. 

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Hot Excerpt: Prince Charming (Cinderella #2) by K. Webster

Prince Charming, a Cinderella novel, from  K. Webster is coming on January 26th!  Read an excerpt below.  You can start this series for 99 cents!  Download Stroke of Midnight on Amazon or from other retail outlets below. 

Prince Charming by K. Webster Book Cover

PRINCE CHARMING (Cinderella #2) by K. Webster

Release Date: January 26th

Add to Goodreads: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55509539-prince-charming



Preorder Prince Charming TODAY: 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MftrQE

Apple: http://apple.co/3qxFgjU

B&N: http://bit.ly/3oeKm3z

Kobo: https://fave.co/39VHNNY

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2XbIeOs



Start the Series today with Stroke of Midnight! 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3o5q7Vo

Apple Books: http://apple.co/392lkzC

B&N: https://bit.ly/3bk35oN

Kobo: https://fave.co/390ujkR

Google Play: https://bit.ly/34UmJ9S



Blurb:

Winston Constantine is no prince charming...

I crave him so badly I think I might be losing my mind. He's right in front of me, but he’s just as remote as my dreams of getting away from my stepbrothers. I keep playing his twisted games, and I want to stay just as distant as he is. But I can’t. I never could. I’ve fallen for him. Hopelessly. Irrevocably.

But Winston isn’t a lover, he’s a business venture.

A way for me to pay for college.

A ticket out.

He’s never pretended to be anything other than that.

I can’t blame him for making me fall in love.

There can be no happily ever after between a maid and a prince, no matter what the stories say.



Excerpt:

“Let’s see what the poor maid bought her boss,” he taunts, his fingers digging into my thighs as he roughly holds onto me.

“I didn’t buy it,” I sass back. “I made it.”

He rolls his eyes, making him seem much younger like Keaton. It makes me laugh. I reach over to the nightstand and grab the envelope off the top.

“Here.”

“A gift card to Starbucks. How original.”

I smack at his bare chest. “It’s not a gift card, asshole.”

He smirks as he opens the card. His brow lifts in question as he pulls out a handmade booklet. “Coupons.”

I grin at him. “Cool, right?”

Ignoring me, he flips open the booklet. “A coupon for one free massage from Ash.” His eyes dart to mine, amusement dancing in them. “I could go to the spa and get a massage from someone qualified.”

“Would they do it naked?” I taunt.

“Hmm,” is all he says as he flips to the next page. “Bedtime story by Ash. A bedtime story, huh? A story about the big, bad wolf with his dick up Goldilocks’s ass?”

I cackle and smack him again. “You’re an idiot.”

He flips the page and shakes his head. “A free cuddle. I can assure you, I’m never using this coupon.”

I pout, earning a smile from him. “You never know. They don’t expire so you’re good there.”

“You thought of everything, I see,” he remarks, his eyes back on the booklet. “A trip to the candy store. Hmm.”

“There’s a really neat place where you can mix and match—”

“I don’t eat candy,” he interrupts, flashing me his perfect white teeth.

“Fine, we’ll buy some for Perry. We’re going and soon. I’m running low on cherry Starburst.”

He flips the page. “Movie night in Winston’s bed.”

“Sounds fun, right?”

“All of this sounds like torture if we’re being honest.”

“But you love torture,” I argue.

“When I’m the one doing the torturing.” He tosses the coupon book away and grabs onto my neck, pulling me to him. “That was the most ridiculous gift I’ve ever received.”

“You’re welcome,” I say with a grin.

His lips press to mine, and he kisses me like he’s thankful for the most ridiculous gift. Since I was naked and waiting for him, it doesn’t take long for him to shove his boxers down, freeing his thick, eager cock. Greedily, I slide up and down his length, letting him feel how hot he gets me. His tongue spears into my mouth, and his grip on my ass is nearly painful. I arch my back, lining my opening up with the tip of his dick and then flex my hips so that he slides inside my body. With a hard thrust, he bucks into me. His fingers are going to leave bruises as he forcefully guides me to meet his rhythm. I pant heavily against his mouth, trying to keep up with his maddening pace.

“Oh god,” I groan, grinding against him, loving how he hits me in all the right spots. “So good.”

He pinches my nipple and twists it until I whimper. His lips pepper me with hungry, open-mouthed kisses along my jaw. When he gets to my throat, he sucks hard enough to make me gasp. With each powerful thrust up into me, I grow more and more dizzy by the need to come. Raking my nails over his chest, I revel in the sharp hiss that escapes him. He nips at my throat hard enough I cry out.

Mine.

I feel the word whispered over my flesh more than I hear it. It’s enough to send me over the edge. Stars glitter around me as my orgasm tears through me, obliterating my every nerve ending. He comes with a growl that sets my soul on fire. Heat floods into me, claiming me as his, just like he said.

I collapse onto his sweaty chest, breathing heavily. “How much to keep you right here for the night just like this?”

“Everything you earned tonight.”

It’s then, I realize we can do this. Without the money if we have to. I’d have to get a real job and an apartment, but we could still have this. We could keep our games and our fantastic sex and our teasing conversations. He’s protective and caring and in tune with my needs.

I’m not Meredith.

I would take care of his heart, not break it.

He just has to let me inside.

“Deal.” I stroke my finger over his shoulder. “Happy birthday, Win.”

“Indeed it is, Cinderelliott.”

I make him happy.

The billionaire who has everything finds enjoyment in the company of me. Some might say it’s a fairy tale ending, but even I know Winston’s no charming prince.



About K. Webster:

K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in “Tornado Alley” with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens.


Connect w/K. Webster: 

Website: https://www.authorkwebster.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkwebster 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KristiWebster

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorkwebster 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7741564.K_Webster Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/k-webster 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K-Webster/e/B00JOJ86CW 

Newsletter Signup: http://eepurl.com/bllgoP

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Excerpt Reveal: The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward

Read an excerpt from The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward.  This standalone contemporary romance is going on my Best of 2020 List! 
Hot book covers
EXCERPT REVEAL
Title: The Anti-Boyfriend
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 31, 2020

BLURB

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.

At first, my neighbor Deacon frustrated me.

Sure, he was great-looking and friendly.

But our walls were thin, and on occasion, he’d bring women to his place and keep me awake while he “entertained” them.

As a single mother to an infant, I didn’t appreciate it.

So, finally it was my turn.

When my daughter wouldn’t stop wailing one night, Mr. Manwhore came knocking on my door.


Miraculously, at the sound of his voice, Sunny stopped crying. And when he held her…she eventually fell asleep in his arms.

Deacon was rough on the exterior, but apparently on the inside? Mr. Single-and-Ready-to-Mingle was a baby whisperer.

After that night, we became friends.

He’d go for coffee runs. Come over to chat. Normal friend stuff.

But over time, our conversations ran deeper. We got closer.

Until one night we crossed the line.

Our friendship turned into a complicated mess.

I’d gone and fallen for a guy who’d sworn off commitment and kids.

I knew Deacon was starting to care for me too, even though Sunny and I didn’t fit into any plan he’d ever imagined for himself.

He was wrong for me—so wrong that I’d dubbed him the “anti-boyfriend.”

Then why did I wish more than anything that I could be the one woman to change him?


PRE-ORDER LINKS
Google Books: https://bit.ly/2EpJYgX


AMAZON LIVE RELEASE ALERT: https://fave.co/2KoLPUN


EXCERPT

Copyright © 2020
By Penelope Ward 

Today, just as I got back to my door, Deacon was exiting his apartment.
“Oh, hey, Carys-Like-Paris. How goes it?” He flashed a wide smile.
When people ask me my name, for some stupid reason, I sometimes answer, “Carys, like Paris,” particularly when I’m nervous. That was the case the first time I met Deacon.
A whiff of his amazing smell put my body on alert. He looked handsome as always. Today he wore a camel-colored suede coat with a shearling collar. His blue eyes, which stood out against his tanned skin, glimmered under the fluorescent lights overhead, which also brought out the copper tint to his otherwise medium-brown hair. He was at least six-foot-two—a beanstalk to my five-foot-four self.
This was my opportunity to bring up last night. But now that he was right here, towering over me, his musky smell saturating the air, I seemed to have lost the words. Still, I was determined to speak up now or never.
My heartbeat accelerated. Here goes. Still out of breath from my sprint up the stairs, I said, “Well, honestly, in answer to your question… I’d love to say I’m doing great, but I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. So, I’ve been better.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Actually, it’s sort of your fault.”
Deacon’s forehead crinkled. “My fault?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if you realize this, but your bed is right up against mine, on the opposite side of the wall. Your…interactions…last night woke me up, and I had a hard time getting back to sleep.”
Boom.
There.
Said it.
Deacon closed his eyes momentarily. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were right behind me.”
“Yeah. It’s basically like I’m…right there.”
“Well, that was rude of me. I should’ve invited you to join.”
What? It felt like all my blood rushed to my head.
He held out his palms. “I’m kidding. Bad sense of humor comes out when I feel awkward, I guess.”
Slipping a piece of my hair behind my ear, I brushed off his comment. “I know you’re kidding.”
“Totally kidding.” He smiled. “But I’ll try to be more considerate now that I know you can hear everything. You should’ve said something.”
I tilted my head. “How exactly would that have worked? Barging in on two naked people? That’s why I’m saying something now.”
“Solid point. But I take it last night wasn’t the first time you overheard things?”
I looked down at my feet. “No, it wasn’t.”
“You could’ve banged on the wall or something.”
“I’m not one to rudely interrupt someone’s…personal happenings. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation. We don’t need to discuss it further.”
“Maybe we should come up with a code.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, If I’m disturbing your peace, you play a song and crank it up to send me a message.” He snapped his fingers. “Something ironic like ‘The Sounds of Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel.”
“Can’t exactly crank up a song when a baby is sleeping.”
His smile faded. “See? That goes to show you how clueless I am. Clueless and so sorry, Carys. Truly. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
“It better not, fuckboy!” a voice shouted from behind one of the apartment doors.
Deacon and I turned around in unison. I noticed Mrs. Winsbanger’s door move across the hall. The old lady must have been listening in. She lived alone, and I often spotted her peeking out her door, spying on people.
Deacon grimaced. “Mrs. Winsbanger loves me.”
“Apparently I’m not the only one who overheard things last night,” I said.
His face turned red. His embarrassment was a bit surprising. I’d expected him to be more cocky.
“I’ll move my bed to the other side of the room. That should help.”
“Well, that would be nice, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s not.”
Happy to have the conversation over with, I let out a long breath. “Okay, well, I’ll let you get going.”
He didn’t budge and seemed to be examining my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You seem frazzled.”
Well, yeah. I didn’t get good sleep, I’m trying to get things done in possibly the only hour of the day I have free, and we just had the most awkward conversation EVER.
“This is just me—my life. I have what could be barely more than an hour to eat my lunch and have some quiet time before my daughter wakes up from her nap.”
“Ah.” He scratched his chin. “How old is she now?”
“Six months.”
Deacon knew I was a single mom. He’d run into me one day and helped me bring groceries in while I tried to juggle Sunny and her stroller.
I was just about to head back inside my apartment when his voice stopped me.
“Do you need anything?”
I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. “Like what?”
“Something from the store? A…coffee, maybe? I’m just headed out to run a quick errand, but I can stop somewhere on the way back.”
“It’s the least you can do, monkey balls!” Mrs. Winsbanger chimed in from across the hall.
She was apparently still listening.
“Did she just fucking call me monkey balls?” he whispered.
At that moment, I lost it. Laughter got a hold of me, and it took almost a minute before I could even speak. Deacon laughed, too, but I think he was more cracking up at my reaction.
“No idea why she just called you monkey balls. But I haven’t laughed this hard in weeks.”
After I finally calmed down, Deacon repeated his earlier question.
“Anyway, as I was saying, can I get you a coffee or something?”
His offer gave me pause. It was rare that anyone asked if I needed anything. I had a couple of good friends in the city, but they worked and had busy social lives. It wasn’t like they were around in the middle of the day to run to the store for me. And given that it was fall in New York, it was getting chilly out. I had to have a damn good reason to take Sunny out in the cold.
Honestly, I was dying for a latte from Starbucks. Running to the coffee shop was definitely something people without babies took for granted. It wasn’t worth having to bundle Sunny up.
“I would love a vanilla latte from Starbucks, if you pass one on your way back,” I finally said.
“Done.” He smiled. “That’s it?”
“Just one pump of vanilla would be great.”
“One pump. Got it. Anything else?”
“Isn’t that enough? It’s hardly a necessity. I shouldn’t be taking advantage.”
“Take advantage of me. What else do you need? Seriously. It’s the least I can do after disturbing your peace last night.”
Take advantage of me. Yup. Mind straight in the gutter. “You’re not my gopher.”
“Carys….” His baritone voice turned serious, and he repeated in a slow and exaggerated manner, “What. Do. You. Need? I could run to the store.”
There was something else I desperately needed.
“Diapers?” I said hesitantly.
“Okay.” He laughed. “You’re gonna have to help me out with those. I’ve never purchased them in my life.”
Before I could tell him what size, he handed me his phone. I was all too aware of the brief touch of his hand.
“Enter your digits. I’ll text you from the store to make sure I get the right kind.”
I did as he said before handing him back the phone, once again enjoying the contact from that brief exchange. Cheap thrills were as good as it got these days.
He put it in his pocket. “Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Alright. Well, if you change your mind, you can let me know when I text.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Talk to ya in a bit,” he said before heading down the hall.
I stood by my door and watched him walk away. The view from the back was just as good as the front. And moreover, it seemed Deacon was just as lovely on the inside as he was on the outside.
“One pump my ass,” I heard Mrs. Winsbanger say before she slammed her door.


AUTHOR BIO
Romance Author


Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.


AUTHOR LINKS



OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD

Just One Year


The Day He Came Back


When August Ends

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3aGl1cU

Friday, April 24, 2020

Excerpt Reveal: Harvest of Sighs by Sierra Simone

Read an excerpt from Harvest of Sighs (Thornchapel #3) by Sierra Simone.  This series is must be read in order (see reading order below). 

Ladies book cover Sierra Simone

HARVEST OF SIGHS (Thornchapel #3) by Sierra Simone
Release Date: May 1st
Designer: Hang Le
Image: Vania Stoyanova
Models: Shacori Valentine & Keira Leilani 
Add to Goodreads: 

PRE-ORDER TODAY!
Amazon Universal: https://fave.co/3ePqobF

Series reading order: 
A Lesson in Thorns: https://amzn.to/2U4K4Qo
Feast of Sparks: https://amzn.to/2IZhpps
Harvest of Sighs: https://amzn.to/2J5licG

Blurb:
The genius and the sunshine girl.  As children, we fought bitterly and often, bickering every chance we got.  

But then we grew up.  
Then we came back.  

Delphine Dansey carries her heart on the outside of her body; she’s looking for love and chasing dreams.  She’s spoiled and selfish, the kind of beautiful that’s made for money and fame. But somehow she’s ended up in my keeping: a pretty submissive I can’t seem to resist, a lover who obsesses and tempts me.  

I thought I’d locked my heart away a long time ago, along with all my other weaknesses. But some doors won't stay closed, no matter how hard I fight to keep them shut.  She unravels me, just like our friends are unraveling, just like Thornchapel itself is unraveling.  

All year long, we’ve been sowing lust and jealousy and pain, heedless of the consequences. But a harvest is inevitable, and so now we must reap our sorrows.  

And our sighs.

*Harvest of Sighs is Book Three in the Thornchapel series.*
Excerpt photo

Excerpt: 
“Dammit, Auden, let me the fuck go.”
“Use your safeword, and I will.”
I open my mouth.
I can’t make the words come out.
May I, I think. May I, May I, May I. But still my tongue won’t move; the sounds won’t push past my lips.
Auden’s mouth curls up at the corner. “That’s what I thought.”
“Fuck you,” I retort.
“No,” Auden says heatedly, his hands tightening on my wrists, “fuck you. Just yesterday you promised—you promised me that you were mine, you promised me forever together. You swore. And now you’re running away again? You couldn’t even keep your promise for twenty-four hours?”
I sputter, tripping over the words as they tumble out of my mouth. “There is no promise, Auden! Things have fucking changed! And you lied about it! Jesus fucking Christ, Auden, you lied about it.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
He sniffs. “That’s not lying.”
I glare at him. He glares right back at me. “That’s a juvenile justification and you know it,” I say.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When? After you’d fucked me again? Or after Lammas? Or maybe ten years from now when I finally worked up the courage to ask you to marry me?”
Auden’s glare softens into something boyish and vulnerable. He blinks long-lashed eyes at me. “You want to marry me?”
“Oh my God, Auden, that’s not the point,” I groan. “The point is we can never get married, and we can’t be together, and we can never be together again, and you knew and you didn’t tell me. You let me—you let us—yesterday, we—”
I can barely get the words out. He and I have done something unthinkably bad, something so wrong that even the word wrong isn’t heavy enough. We were more wrong than wrong—we were corrupt and unholy. Immoral and depraved.
“I know what we did yesterday,” Auden says, his voice as gentle as the grip on my wrists is firm. “I don’t see the problem, and I don’t see why you can’t keep your promise to me.”
I stare at him a moment, totally confounded. “Auden…am I talking at thin air right now? Am I not making sense? Is it my accent? Should I switch to yours?” I say the last part in my best I wear a regatta blazer to actual regattas voice, and he makes a face.
“Don’t do that, you’re terrible at it,” he says. “Listen, it’s not like—this isn’t like you’re thinking. I didn’t wait to tell you because I was trying to trick you, I waited because I wanted to find the right way to explain it all. Say it the right way so that you wouldn’t run away from me when I told you, so that you wouldn’t sever your heart from mine. I didn’t want this to be the end of us. And why should it be? Why shouldn’t you belong to me?” he finishes with a wild urgency.
I search his face. His stupid, handsome face, where even now I see glimmers of yesterday’s revels. A small bruise in the shape of Rebecca’s bite on his jaw, visible even under the shadow of his day-old beard, a small scratch disappearing into his cinnamon-colored hair from his run through the trees. The vibrant flicker of those hazel eyes—the eyes of the forest.
Never in a thousand years did I think God would be this sadistic or this pitiless, to put me in a position where I have to refuse this man.
“You know why I can’t,” I say finally. “We can’t. We just—it can’t be, Auden. You know this.”
His eyes stay stark and raw on mine as he says, “But I want you.”
“You can’t.”
“But I want it,” he says, and with his eyes like that and his voice so low, there’s no mistaking what it is.
“You can’t want it,” I whisper, and his grip tightens on my wrists as he pushes them out to the sides until my arms are spread on either side of me and my wrists are pinned to the wall. It’s like I’m about to be crucified, like I’m already on the cross, but without the nails and the thorns, because Auden himself is all the nails and thorns I’ll ever need.
“Oh, can’t I?” he says. “Because I do, St. Sebastian, I do want it. I need it. I don’t care what that makes me, I don’t care what that means for my immortal soul. I’ve known you were mine since I kissed you in the thorn chapel, and I’ve known that you wanted to be mine since you let me bite your lip until it bled.” His eyes drop to my lip piercing now, and I can feel how much he wants to pull on it and kiss it. I can feel how much he wants that labret running along his shaft, how much he’d love to see it gleaming in the dark while he fucks me. “You can run away all you want, but it’s too late. You already swore to me. I’ve already known what it was like to have your heart in my hands, and it’s simply too late.”
He ducks his head enough to move his lips over mine—something both more and less than a kiss—something like a promise made with touch instead of words.
And fuck me if I don’t want to promise something right back.
“It can’t be too late,” I whisper. “Even if you did wait to tell me until you got what you wanted.”
Auden doesn’t lift his mouth from mine, and I feel his words as much as I hear them.
“And what did I get, my little martyr? What do you think I wanted?”
I wish so much I weren’t still hard as I answer him. “You wanted to fuck me.”
“No,” he says, tugging on my lip piercing with his teeth. “I wanted what I still want.” He kisses me again. “I want forever, stubborn boy. Only that.”

About the Author: 
Sierra Simone is a USA Today Bestselling former librarian (who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk.) She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.


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