Notorious: Playing With Fire, Book 4

by Karen Erickson

  “This is weird,” she said with a slight shake of her head.

  “Don’t question it,” he said, his deep voice low, rippling along her nerve endings and making the tiny hairs on her arms stand up. “Just go with your gut reaction. What’s it telling you to do?”

  She studied his face, his hazel eyes, his beautiful, sinful mouth. God, he really was gorgeous. The most gorgeous man she’d ever encountered. And Eric certainly was no slouch. He was beautiful in his own right with the dirty blond hair and sharp masculine features. She knew many of the women and even a few of the men in the building cast envious glances her way—only because she sat at the table with two of the most handsome men in the entire bar.

  “My gut’s telling me that you’re crazy.” She paused and let her words sink in, experienced a little thrill when she caught the worried glimmer shining in his eyes. “And that I’m crazy for even considering it.”

  “You’d consider it?” She heard the shock in Eric’s voice, and she laughed again.

  “I would. Now tell me how you boys are going to convince me this is the right thing to do?”

  “This has nothing to do with right or wrong.” Brandon’s expression was intense, subdued.

  The second time around is even sweeter…with cherries on top.

  Sweet Caroline

  © 2010 Lissa Matthews

  Blue Jeans and Hard Hats, Book 1

  Buck doesn’t do personal projects. Until he runs into a woman wandering the aisles of the local home-improvement store, looking lost and confused. Just the way this fantasy looks at him nearly buckles his knees. In a hot second, the successful owner of a contracting company becomes a simple handyman, ready and willing to get as personal as the lady will allow.

  Since her less-than-golden marriage to the local golden boy ended, Caroline’s declaration of independence includes her own business, road trips…and nipple piercings. Now it’s time to cut the last tie to her old life, but the house needs some work before she can unload it and move to her dream cabin in the mountains. Hard as it is to admit, she needs a little help.

  Over the next few months, he shows her his toys, like hammers and drills, and she shows him hers—like floggers and paddles. And their attraction is the tinder that could send Caroline’s plans for an independent life up in flames…

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Sweet Caroline:

  A five year age difference wasn’t much, but to a woman of forty, it was enough of one to make an impact. Buck hadn’t come on to her, flirted with her or touched her unless it was necessary. The only thing he’d ever done to make her think he saw her as a woman rather than a client, was that look of heat every so often when she licked her lips or curled her hair back behind her ears to keep it out of her face. She didn’t know if he’d seen the strands of gray at her temples or if he realized she had to use extra creams to keep the lines and wrinkles down to a minimum. But he wouldn’t deny there’d been something about her he liked, that brought out that bit of lust in him and it was that look he’d give that had her wanting to feel sexy and younger, even if she didn’t look it.

  “Not a lot of work. I have a couple of baskets to put together, but they don’t need to go out until the end of next week.”

  “That’s good. I know I like being busy and seems like you do too.”

  “Yes. I’d rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs all day wondering what to do. I used to do that far too often when I was married.”

  Buck leaned his hip against the axe handle, and she had a hard time keeping her eyes trained on his face. She wanted to look down or lean against him. She wanted to drop to her knees, press her face to his crotch and rub her cheek against his cock.

  When he licked his lips after taking another swallow of coffee, she looked away, somewhere over his shoulder. His tongue licking the drop of coffee seemed to have the same effect on her that it had on him when she did it. And things were even hotter between them after yesterday and last night. She’d not had so much sex in one night in a long while and though she should be sore, all she could think about was getting naked with him again.

  She liked feeling free and sexy and pretty and wanted. She liked being the woman inside and letting her out to see the light, to be seen by a man like Buck. Even though he likely didn’t know it, he’d helped her to see that side of herself, and she was enjoying the discovery.

  She hadn’t felt that way about herself during her marriage. At least not the second half of her marriage. When Derek focused on her, on them, she’d felt like the sexiest, most beautiful woman alive, but when he’d started looking away more, wanting and having other women, she lost that feeling. She’d retreated into a shell, and she was damn glad to be out of it.

  “That’s right. You didn’t work before.”

  She looked at his face again, briefly raising her gaze to his. “No. I started my gift baskets after the divorce. Since it’s an online business, I can move it anywhere there’s Internet and shipping. I like it and it’s…” She shrugged.

  “Yes. A personal touch is lacking these days. I’ve seen some of what you do. It’s good. I’m sure your clients are very happy.”

  Caroline smiled. She liked him being proud of her. “Thanks. Well, I guess I should let you get back to work.” She didn’t want to though. Staying, talking, looking at him was what she wanted to do instead. The taste of his come was still on her tongue from breakfast when he’d told her to strip down and suck him, and she was eager for him to tell her to do it again.

  “Welcome.” He picked up the axe, wrapping his hands around the wood shaft and lifted it to rest on his shoulder. The move pulled his tee shirt tight across his chest, and she knew his gaze followed hers as she looked him up and down, smiling into his face and bright blues. “Neither of us wants to work right now, do we?”

  Caroline shook her head. “No.”

  “What do you want, sweet Caroline?”

  “More of you.”

  “Huh. Interesting.” She followed Buck into the shed. “I think that can be arranged. I had a thought yesterday about you and this sawhorse here.” He patted the piece of wood. “But it might be a little chilly this morning.”

  “Coffee warmed me up. Didn’t do that to you?”

  “Oh I’m warmed up, but it wasn’t me I was concerned about.”

  “Sweet of you.” Caroline pulled her sweater off over her head. “I’m okay though.” And from the way his eyes widened… “Like it?”

  He reached out and flicked the ring in one of her nipples. “Love it. You need to wear that kind of bra all the time. Leave those beauties free and exposed.”

  She grinned. “Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. I have two others, but, there are a host of colors I haven’t ordered yet.”

  “Well, we should definitely get that done. God, Caroline, they’re beautiful.” He wrapped his large hands around the globes of her breasts and squeezed, tugged, massaged the creamy flesh. She moaned in need, and he grinned at her. “Matching thongs?”

  “Lacey boyshorts.”

  Buck groaned and she purred. “Driving me crazy, woman.”

  “That’s the whole idea,” she whispered into his hair when he lowered his head and licked at the valley of her chest. Her fingers unsnapped and unzipped her jeans, and she shimmied out of them.

  Buck stepped back a couple inches and looked down. “You deserve a spanking for being such a tease.”

  “Mmmm.” She kicked the jeans off to the side near the door. “And how am I a tease?”

  “You came out here under the pretense of bringing me coffee.”

  She watched him unbuckle his belt and pull it through the loops, one at a time. The hissing sound it made caused her to shiver. “But I did bring you coffee.”

  “You did.”

  “Am I to be punished?”

  “Spanking isn’t for punishment. It’s strictly for pleasure. Mine…and yours.”

  She liked that. A lot. “Then what?”

  “You will bend over the to
p of the sawhorse, spread your lovely legs and have your pussy plundered.”

  Their first kiss melted her resistance, their second one melted his heart.

  Kissing Cowboy

  © 2010 J.C. Wilder

  She’s a woman with a plan…

  From childhood, Payton ‘Pip’ Whittier has loved Jeff ‘Cowboy’ Diver. Even after he publicly humiliated her and forced her to leave town, he’s the one man she can’t erase from her heart.

  Nine years have passed and Pip has returned to the scene of the crime, her hometown of Haven, Ohio. This time, she’s determined to rid her system of Cowboy, once and for all. He’s a man determined to thwart her every move…

  When Cowboy sees Pip at the local bar, he’s floored by the changes in his one-time best friend. The shy, sweet girl has been replaced with a sexy-as-hell woman in red stilettos. Years ago they’d shared a tender moment, one that changed irrevocably their lives.

  This is his one chance to convince her to give him one more—even if it means his heart could be crushed under her lethal high heels.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Kissing Cowboy:

  Police Officer Suffocated by Mini Skirt.

  Not exactly the way he wanted to end his career.

  His gaze traced the length of her long, shapely legs. Wincing, Jeff shifted in his chair trying to find a more comfortable position. Payton Whittier aroused quite a few feelings in him, and none of them was remotely brotherly.

  Forcing himself to look away, he stifled a groan. If her tiny skirt wasn’t up to finishing him off, he’d just discovered what would.

  Cherry red.

  Four-inch high.

  Fuck-me heels.

  Death by Stiletto, what a way to go...

  Jace jerked him back to reality by punching him in the arm. “You’re doing it again.”

  “Damn it, bro.” Frustrated, Jeff ran his hand through his hair. “I have no business looking at Pip that way.”

  “Why not? She’s smoking hot.”

  “She’s practically our little sister, and it just isn—”

  “Who are you trying to fool, Cowboy?” Jace gave him a cutting look. “You were the one who got caught playing doctor with her.” He shrugged. “We’re grown up now and, let’s face it, she’s a hottie with a naughty body.”

  “Watch it.”

  Jace grinned, totally unrepentant. “What can I say? I like the ladies.”

  “Well, you just watch which lady you’re going to like next,” Jeff growled. “If I catch you looking at the wrong one I’ll kick your ass.”

  Feeling someone’s gaze on him, he looked up to see it was Ryan. Having spent the first nine years of his life on a reservation with his shaman grandfather, Ryan had a high level of spook factor. Jeff was pretty sure he could read minds, or at least it felt like it sometimes.

  “What, Ry?”

  Something dark flashed in Ryan’s black eyes then it was gone. Without a word, he rose and stalked away.

  “What was that about?” Jace spoke to no one in particular.

  The sound of Pip’s laughter sent a blaze of heat straight to his groin. Kent was practically wrapped around her again, staring at her breasts as if they were on the menu. Pushing him away, more forcefully this time, she spun around on one slender heel. Watching that damned skirt lift then resettle again, he exhaled. He could only hope she was wearing underwear.

  His cock grew harder.

  Great big, full-coverage granny panties.

  Were his jeans shrinking?

  Industrial grade, white with no trim.

  Frustrated, he rubbed his jaw. His cock didn’t care if she wore ballistic undergarments. Putting Pip and underwear in the same sentence was enough to kick-start his libido. He glared at his crotch.

  Damned fine time for you decide to come out and play.

  With his crotch on fire and the overwhelming urge to punch every guy who’d spoken to her, he realized that he might have picked the wrong Whittier after all.

  Cowboy was still watching her.

  Picking up her cocktail, Pip drained the glass. Four years of college and five years working her way up the food chain in Chicago had done nothing to kill her unrequited lust for him. Not that she’d let him know that.

  Picking up her cue, she moved into position. Miranda mentioned he seemed to have a thing for her legs. Whatever body part it was, she definitely had his attention so she might as well use it to her advantage. Pretending to concentrate on the table, she reached for the cue ball on the opposite side. Holding her breath, she prayed her skirt didn’t give up the ghost and expose her ass. Her goal accomplished, she turned away and felt a faint rumble beneath her feet.

  Hopefully it was his jaw.

  Moving to the head of the table, she noticed Cowboy was now standing. Damn, he seemed so much bigger…upright. Her palms grew damp. He’d always been a good-looking kid but, as a man, he was sex on a stick. With his broad shoulders and heavily muscled chest, she couldn’t help but wonder what he’d look like naked. Did he have a six-pack? Twelve-pack?

  Your sister would know in spades.

  Pip winced. Hell, even her inner monologue was against her.

  Their gazes clashed, and she felt it all the way down to her toes. Those pale blue eyes of his, so startling against his dark skin, pierced her flesh. She experienced the oddest sensation of him stripping her bare, exposing every little secret she struggled to keep hidden from the world.

  She looked away, then almost immediately looked back. What she would give to know what was going on behind those unearthly eyes of his. Licking her lips, the light shifted and his eyes darkened to a fierce, stormy blue. While she’d never seen that particular look directed at her before, her body recognized its meaning.

  Lust.

  The muscles in her lower body loosened, lengthened, and the flesh between her thighs grew damp. Struck by the inexorable urge to go to him, Pip flexed her hand and dug her nails into her palm. The sharp little pain jerked her out of the spell he’d cast upon her. Turning away, feminine power, unlike anything she’d ever experienced, exploded in her gut.

  Had a man ever watched her with such naked hunger?

  Not even close.

  With shaky hands she could barely focus on the layout of the table. She heard Kent say something behind her, but she didn’t care what it was. The jerk was probably looking at her ass again. She’d never liked him when he and her brother, Rand, had hung out together in school, and she liked him even less as an adult.

  With a satisfying crack, the cue ball struck its target sending it into the corner pocket. Talk about luck. With Jeff watching her she couldn’t concentrate let alone play a proper game.

  Coming around the table to stand directly in front of Cowboy, her body vibrated with tension. Pretending to consider the best plan of attack, she bent slightly and her rear end came into contact with something warm, hard and definitely male. She didn’t have to look to know it was him. She recognized his scent. Soap, warm skin and something musky tugged at her senses.

  Turning, she noted the tightness of his jaw and his hooded gaze. With his arms crossed over his chest, he literally towered over her. Up close his eyes were darker and they burned with a heat that sent shivers straight to the apex of her thighs.

  Ro was right. This wasn’t the same man she’d left. Both physically and emotionally he was harder, more remote than she’d ever seen him. Her gaze dropped to his crotch.

  Make that much harder.

  And, if she wasn’t mistaken, he was angry…with her.

  Narrowing her eyes, she glared up at him. If anyone had the right to get pissy it certainly wasn’t him. Summoning her mother’s heavy southern accent, she drawled, “Are you lost, stranger?”

  A muscle in his jaw flexed.

  Boy, he didn’t like that much.

  “We need to talk.” He glanced in the direction of Ro, Miranda and Sissy who watched them with unabashed interest. “Alone.”

  “I’m so sorry, sugar.”
Fluttering her hand, a move her mother had perfected while still in the cradle, her fingertips came to rest between her breasts. “Do I know you?”

  He rocked back on his heels, and she smiled harder.

  “You see, Mama wouldn’t like it if she heard I was talking to some random stranger in a bar of all places.” Slowly, she walked around him, sizing him up as if he were a side of meat. “You know, you do remind me of someone I knew long ago.”

  He turned his head as if to speak, but she cut him off.

  “Then again I could be mistaken.”

  “For old time’s sake?”

  Cowboy’s tone was so soft that only she heard him. Her stomach clenched, and her knees went weak.

  Move away. Get away from him…

  Then he laid his hand on her arm.

  Electricity shot through her nervous system and short-circuited her brain. Every cell in her body leapt to awareness as if she’d been asleep and he was the only one who could awaken her. Shaken, all she could do was stand there and stare at where their flesh joined.

  His fingers tightened on her arm. The scar across his first knuckle—she’d been there when he’d cut himself. Barely ten, she was so panicked at the sight of so much blood that she’d screamed her head off. Ryan had come running only to slap electrical tape over it and tell Jeff to get back to work. The pale scar on his wrist was her fault. While repairing the fence she’d distracted him, and the wire snapped back and caught him. He’d bawled her out only to apologize minutes later.

  She’d spent countless lazy summer days watching him work with the horses. He had a limitless supply of patience with even the wildest of animals. These were the hands of a man who worked hard and played even harder. And they belonged to a man who, once upon a time, made her feel safe.

  Special.

  “All right,” she croaked.

  Notorious

  Karen Erickson

  Loving her is easy. Proving to himself he deserves her? Baby steps…

  Playing With Fire, Book 4