by Leah Braemel
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 cost
umes, 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.
She was in Todd’s arms and he was kissing the hell out of her? How long had she fantasized about this?
Kate kissed him back, pressing her body firmly against his, crushing her breasts against his chest as she gave herself over to the moment. To the power of a chemistry never before acted on. A chemistry that for so long she’d thought would always only be one sided.
He lifted his head, his breathing ragged. His gaze tormented. “Tell me to stop, Kate.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I won’t.”
Todd growled low in his throat and then backed her up, until she slammed into her front door. His hands that gripped her arms slid up to her wrists, jerking them above her head and pinning them against the wood in one of his hands.
Then his mouth was on hers again, while his free hand covered one of her breasts through her sweater. Her nipple beaded and the spot between her legs throbbed with need. Her mew of pleasure was caught on his tongue as it swept across hers.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
His strong fingers squeezed her flesh, finding her nipple through the layer of sweater and bra. Her panties dampened as he twisted and pinched the tip, his tongue so far from gentle as it plundered her mouth.
She arched into him, wanting so much more than he was giving. And he seemed to know, because he delved his hand beneath the V of her sweater and under her bra to find her bare breast.
Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head with pleasure. The feel of his rough, calloused hands against her sensitized flesh kept her mind grounded enough to know she wasn’t dreaming.
Todd pinched her nipple and arrows of pleasure shot directly from her breast to between her legs. She adjusted her stance, needing to ease the ache. There was so much more she wanted. Needed.
She tugged to free her hands unconsciously, wanting him to unfasten her jeans and slip a hand inside. Wanted to feel his fingers inside her. She’d never had that before. With any man…
Todd’s mouth jerked from hers, a guttural “Fuck” spilling from his lips.
Kate’s lashes fluttered up and she ran her tongue over her swollen mouth.
Tension had Todd’s shoulders rigid, his face twisted into an expression of frustration. She held her breath, waiting for what would happen next, as her heart continued to thunder in her chest.
Don’t stop, oh please, please don’t stop. No matter how many times she’d told herself it would be foolish to get sexually involved with Todd——having just this quick impassioned taste, it was clear her willpower was obliterated the moment he touched her.
“Ah, Kate,” he muttered, his finger stroking over the inside of her wrist. “I’m sorry.”
He was sorry? For what had just happened? Her heart did a big fat nosedive and her throat tightened.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he continued, and released her hands from where they were still pinned above her. He took a step backward and gave a humorless laugh. “I guess we can just say we’re even now.”
Deliberate Deceptions
Leah Braemel
A little lying and misdirection in the name of love is never wrong. Right?
Hauberk Protection, Book 3
Chad Miller once had the perfect life—a beautiful baby daughter, a loving wife, a promising career with the FBI. Within a year, he’d lost everything. Making Hauberk Protection a success salvaged his career, but he’s never managed to get over the one fateful decision that spelled the end of his marriage. And the death of his child.
For eight years, grief and guilt have haunted Lauren Miller’s climb up the ranks of the Light Brigade, a secret international hostage rescue team. Now she’s the target of a vengeful ex-Brigade operative who’ll stop at nothing to take her down. Even if it means taking out everyone she cares about. Including Chad. Getting him to accept her as his bodyguard? It’ll take some fast talking—and faster hands.
Trapped in a remote safe house with Lauren is the last place Chad ever wanted to be. He may finally have the chance to get some answers about why she ran, but with his hard-won defenses crumbling, he’s having trouble remembering the questions. In the heat of their rekindled passion, Lauren struggles to keep her professional focus…and keep the secrets that could break his heart all over again.
Warning: Angst dead-ahead! Lost love. Angst. Reunited lovers. Angst. Sex. More angst. And did I mention the angst? A box of tissues is definitely needed. But don’t worry, there’s still a Happy-Ever-After.
eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead
, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
Deliberate Deceptions
Copyright © 2011 by Leah Braemel
ISBN: 978-1-60928-457-2
Edited by Tera Kleinfelter
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Look for these titles by Leah Braemel
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Copyright Notice
