Tamara stared at him, shock forcing all the air from her lungs.
His eyes gleamed, cold and sharp as razors from beneath thick black lashes. “You shouldn’t come here if you can’t handle yourself, baby.”
She blinked, still unable to process quite what was happening. The heat coming off him was incredible and he smelled of hot metal, oil, and clean, male sweat. And something else, a spice she couldn’t quite identify.
Her mouth dried, her heart battering itself against the cage of her ribs, that strange knot of sensation in her gut gathering excruciatingly tight.
For God’s sake, pull yourself together. He’s just another man being an asshole.
Yes, good point. After the problems she’d been having with Scott at work, she was getting really sick of men being assholes.
She swallowed. “Perhaps you should have thought of that when you decided to have women’s self-defense classes at night, in a shady part of town.”
“The classes aren’t for the likes of you. They’re for women here, not fucking sightseers.”
Her heartbeat was now like a drum in her head. She could barely hear anything over the sound of it. “Look,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “I just want to go home. So back the hell off.”
He smiled. “Make me.”
* * *
Jackie Ashenden, author of the 11th Hour and Motor City Royals series, lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband, the inimitable Dr. Jax, two kids, and two cats. When she’s not torturing alpha males and their stroppy heroines, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on her blog, or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband. Jackie also writes the dark, sexy contemporary Nine Circles romance series for St. Martin’s Press. Visit her at jackieashenden.com.
WRONG FOR ME
After eight years in prison, Levi Rush is finally out and back on the gritty streets of Detroit to claim the future he was owed. A future that includes the one woman he’s wanted for years—his former best friend, Rachel. She’s the reason he went inside and if getting her to do what he wants means buying the building that houses her tattoo studio and using it as leverage, then that’s what he’ll do. Because if there’s one thing he’s learned inside, it’s that if you want to win, you have to play dirty.
Rachel Hamilton is a tattoo artist and one hell of a tough girl. Detroit is her home, and she’s determined to make it a better place. But her plans are threatened when her old friend Levi reappears and gives her an ultimatum: She gives herself to him body and soul, or else she and her business are out on the street. Levi’s got no room in his heart for anything but anger and the lust he’s been carrying around for so long. But the only thing stronger than the secrets of their shared past is their fiery attraction to each other....
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It was anything but easy, but Gideon Black has finally managed to create a safe haven for himself on the gritty streets of Detroit. He worked hard to get on the straight and narrow, pulling himself up from an underground crime syndicate before it consumed him completely. But the past isn’t staying put, and now that it’s come calling, it’s not after him, but the woman he considers the closest thing he has to family....
Zoe James has always loved Gideon more than anything in the world. She knows he only wants to keep her safe, but his overprotectiveness has taken over her life and it’s got to stop. She’s sick of him treating her like a little girl, but is she woman enough to handle the truth when it finally comes out? As old enemies close in, a complicated but undeniable passion is growing between them. Gideon tries to hold on to Zoe and keep her safe, but he may have to let her go in order to save them both....
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