“There is nothing sexier than you in bubbles,” he murmured while he peeled her jeans down.
When she stepped out of them, he stood slowly, kissing his way up until he reached her lips. She gasped when he pulled her hips against his. His fingers wandered. There was so much to this woman he didn’t yet know. With just two hours to make slow passionate love before Jamie needed to eat again, he intended to make the most of his time.
Smoldering sparks arced between them. In one deft move, he pushed out of his own wet jeans and boxers and tossed them onto the sodden mass by the tub. Izza leaned warm and soft against him, wrapping an arm around his neck.
“Connor,” she whispered urgently into his waiting lips. “I want you inside of me. Now.”
He clenched her bubbly wet backside, sinking back into the tub, the ache in his groin suddenly out of control. The water splashed rhythmically around them as they melded together.
Izza gasped.
He growled softly as they climaxed together, “I love you so much.”
She relaxed with her head on his chest, her eyes peacefully closed. The hot water tap trickled additional warmth into their liquid blanket of bubbles. Izza glowed down to her toes tonight, her olive skin rosy and blushed with the heat of the love they’d just made. And Connor had never felt so thoroughly at peace. He maintained a firm grip on her bottom while they chatted through the afterglow.
“This is a lot different from our usual romantic places, huh?”
He nodded. “Yes. No more making love on dirt. Only silk and satin for you from now on.”
“Why? You’d just rip them off.”
“You know me well,” he whispered, his fingers tapping a gentle beat on her bottom. “Do you remember that day Jamie swatted your backside?”
“Yeah, the smart ass.”
Connor smoothed the suds off her shoulder. “I was sure I’d be court-martialed.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t have done that.” Izza folded her arms across his chest, her dark eyes glittering with a sexy smile as she kissed his chin. “I’d have tortured you first.”
“Your brother was a pretty good con artist, Izza. I never suspected you two were related. He told me a lot of Hispanics have the same last names, but it didn’t mean anything. I’m a white boy from Boston. What did I know?”
“You did look like you wanted to die.” Izza was all delicious smiles and mischief. “Besides, you don’t kid me. You were looking.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure I’d have done much more if Jamie hadn’t smacked your backside like he did.” Connor’s heart pounded at the memory. “I’ve seen a few butts before.”
She wiggled seductively against him. “Not like mine, you haven’t.”
“If you think about it, that’s the first time we really noticed each other.” Connor glanced around the drenched room. “Your brother brought us together, Izza. All of this is because of him. And he did it again by sending you that locket.”
Izza stopped smiling. She scooted up closer to Connor’s mouth. He thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she cupped both of her hands and pushed his head underwater. He came up sputtering to her wickedly delighted laugh. With a gentle boost of his knee to her backside, he pushed her up out of the water, his hands at her waist. The sight of her naked and glistening in suds spiked his heart all over again.
Dark eyes glowed down at him. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“I can see that,” he whispered.
She settled back onto his lap. A more seductive smile was never smiled in all the history of Connor’s world. His heart opened wide, then wider still as all his hopes and wishes came back to him a thousand-fold. His life was full. His heart and hands, too. The enormity of the exquisite treasure he held overwhelmed him. When one tiny tear crept out of his eye to mingle with the heat of sudsy water and bubbles, Connor knew to the innermost depths of his soul. Here was the lady he’d been searching for. His reason to live. To breathe. To dream.
Izza. It had always been Izza.
THE END
Sneak Preview of Rory
Book 6
In the Company of Snipers
“One!” A little boy’s cheerful voice rang out across the gym floor.
Ember watched intently. She’d thought the man with the boy looked familiar, but now she was certain. There was no mistaking the Hollywood handsome guy she worked with at the best East Coast surveillance company out of Alexandria, Virginia—The TEAM.
Even sweaty and hard at work like he was, Junior Agent Rory Dennison was the epitome of eye candy. Lean muscles rippled beneath a sleeveless T-shirt while he completed crunch after crunch. He made them look simple. Smooth and easy. Steady and sure. The perfect trademark of one of America’s elite snipers.
Only Ember didn’t know he had a son—if that’s who the little boy was. It had to be. The resemblance was unmistakable—black hair that might be curly if it were allowed to grow longer, deep blue eyes, and the hint of a cleft in both of their very masculine chins. The boy was a mini-Rory. A clone. Only a lot smaller. He looked to be maybe five or six. Never having been around little kids, Ember couldn’t tell.
“Two!” He wiggled his backside on the basketball he was sitting on, and waved his hands as if shaking water off, only they weren’t wet. Mini Rory couldn’t seem to sit still.
His father performed another sit-up as easily as his other reps, never losing the rhythm of a well-oiled machine. Sweat glistened on his forehead, neck, and arms from the earlier sets of push-ups he’d finished. His gray shirt darkened in a line down his back and across his chest. And still he pumped. The boy had helped then, too – by sitting on his father’s back and counting with as much gusto.
Rory smiled through another crunch, barely grunting as he lifted upward. “How am I doing?”
“You doing great!” Tyler beamed. “Go, Daddy, go!”
A seemingly perpetual smile tugged at the corner of Rory’s lips—a most endearing sight for a man as tough and steadfast as he was. He truly seemed to be enjoying his son. Wow. What a picture.
“Then which crunch are we on now?”
“Six!”
“You mean eleven,” Rory said, barely panting between repetitions.
The cute little guy shook his head, bounced three times on his basketball, and said very seriously, “No, I mean four.”
“Okay then, four it is.”
“Now is thirteen!” Tyler crowed. “I is your best counter, huh Daddy?”
“Always have been, always will be.” Rory continued crunch after crunch with his son shouting random numbers in glee to urge him on.
“Eleven!” Tyler called out, but then he spotted something funny. “Look. That lady gots pink in her hair.”
His patient father glanced in the direction Tyler had pointed. Ember gasped. She’d been caught. “Hey, Rory.” She waved across the gym.
Sure enough, Rory looked directly at her. The smile faded. His brows scowled to an unhappy V. He returned the wave without enthusiasm, rolled to his side and pushed to his feet. Swiping his face with a gym towel while she approached, he said to Tyler, “Pick up your ball, son. It’s time to go.”
“Wow, it’s a small world isn’t it?” she asked enthusiastically. “I didn’t know you worked out here, too. Who’s this cute little boy?”
Tyler dropped his ball and wrapped both arms around Rory’s thigh, proudly and loudly proclaiming, “I Ty-ler Den-ni-son,” he crowed, “My number is—”
“That’s enough,” Rory cautioned his eager son. At the same time, he smiled at Ember with an uncharacteristically tight-lipped smile that didn’t even hint at reaching his eyes. “You’ll have to excuse Tyler. We’re learning our phone number and address. He’s excited to share.”
“Wow. Kids are brighter than most people give them credit for, huh?” She grinned, a thousand questions pinging for answers. Rory and she had worked together for the last year or so. Why had he kept this darling little boy who was obviously his son a secret?
/> Rory nodded, his eyes guarded and his voice the same. “Yes, they are.”
“How old is he?”
“Four.”
“He speaks quite well for a little guy.” She opted for small conversation.
“Yes.”
“Wow.” Ember couldn’t think of anything else to say without coming across nosy. He already seemed perturbed, his one-word answers revealing little. “This is your son?”
She emphasized the words your son, hoping he’d offer conversation. There was a time he’d seemed friendly toward her, when she’d almost asked him to go out for coffee or a drink. Somewhere in the past few months, the easy going feeling between them had changed. She didn’t know why.
He rolled his neck, ruffling Tyler’s hair. “Tyler, I work with this lady. Her name is Miss Davis. What do you say when you meet an adult?”
Tyler stuck out his arm for a gentleman’s handshake. “I glad to meetcha.”
Ember shook his hand with a big smile on her face, impressed with his fairly perfect diction. The little guy spoke as good as some adults she knew. “Wow. Aren’t you the polite one? It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Tyler Dennison. Is that your ball?”
“Uh huh,” he replied, jumping out of his father’s reach to scoop the basketball into both arms.
“Tyler,” Rory said sternly. “How do we act in public?”
Immediately, the boy beamed a thousand-watt smile, dropped the ball and hugged Rory’s leg again. “I did good, huh Daddy?”
“You did very good, Tyler.” He winked down at his son.
The resemblance between father and son was amazing right down to the same straight and elegant nose. Rory’s jaw was more square, but Tyler’s gently arched brows were exact copies of his father’s. He had the same handsome smile, only Rory had yet to offer one. She’d seen it often enough at the office. Why was he acting so odd now?
She knelt at Tyler’s level to take the pressure off his father. “So, Mr. Tyler Dennison, do you come to the gym often?”
“Yep!” he said with gusto. “I Daddy’s bestest counter. You wanna hear me? I know my twos and frees and tens.”
“I do,” Ember replied enthusiastically.
Rory frowned and tapped the top of his son’s head. “Another time. Get your ball. Let’s go.”
Tyler scrambled after the basketball.
“He’s adorable.” She stood, her hands on her hips and her eyes full of unanswered questions. “I didn’t know you had a son. Where have you been hiding him?”
“It’s none of your business, is it?”
She blinked, totally speechless.
Without another word, he corralled Tyler and didn’t look back as they headed toward the exit. But Tyler did. Turning with a little wave before his father hurried him through the double glass doors, he shouted in a big outside voice, “Bye, Miss Davis! See ya later, alligator!”
She waved at the precocious youngster. “Bye, Tyler. It was very nice to meet you. Bye Rory. See you at work tomorrow.”
He didn’t even turn around.
(Photo by Kelli Ann Morgan)
Irish Winters is an award-winning author who dabbles in poetry, grandchildren, and rarely, as in extremely rarely, the kitchen. More prone to be outdoors than in, she grew up the quintessential tomboy on a farm in rural Wisconsin, spent her teenage years in the Pacific Northwest, but calls the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah, home. For now.
The wife of one handsome husband and the mother of three perfect sons, Irish divides her time between writing at home and travelling the country with her man while—writing. Seriously, what else?
She believes in making every day count for something, and follows the wise admonition of her mother to, “Look out the window and see something!”
To learn more about Irish and her books, please visit www.IrishWinters.com or her blog: http://irishwinters.blogspot.com.
Acknowledgements
This is one of those times when just saying, ‘Thank you,’ does not seem to be enough. I could not have polished to perfection and published five novels in the space of one year without the support and kindness of an amazing army behind me.
Nancy Richardson and Lynn Hill, my loyal beta-readers, once again you’ve been in my corner, come rain or shine. It’s hard to remember a time when we were not the best of friends. I am forever in your debt.
For Ashley Argyle, my fantastic editor and the miracle worker who helped me see Connor and Izza through different and better eyes. You’ve helped me polish him into the thoughtful man and dashing knight in armor he is today. Izza thanks you, too. You rock.
For Emmaline and Rhett Hoffmeister, my amazing layout designer and fantastically talented cover artist, what can I say? The day I met the dynamic duo of the Hoffmeister Team is the day my dream took flight, like dandelion seeds on the wind. I’m still flying.
For my many fans and the friends I’ve made along the way, you are still the most fun, awe-inspiring bunch of crazy people I’ve ever met. It has been my privilege to shake your hands, sign your books, and listen to your stories. Never did I anticipate the fantastic response from military members and spouses that this series has garnered. It is an honor.
And as always, I end with my husband, Bill. Thanks for letting me reach for the stars.
COPYRIGHT
Connor; In the Company of Snipers, 5
Kindle Edition
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, dialogues, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright ©2014 by Irish Winters
Edited by InkTip Editing, Ashley Argyle [email protected]
Cover design by Rhett Hoffmeister http://www.rhetthoffmeister.com
Book layout by Emmaline Hoffmeister http://www.emmalinehoffmeister.com
Cover photograph by Vita Khorzhevska at Shutterstock
Author photo by Kelli Ann Morgan, Inspire Creative Services
http://www.inspirecreativeservices.com
All rights reserved.
ISBN Paperback: 978-0-9910693-8-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954761
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Irish Winter’s author website is http://www.irishwinters.com
Other books published by Irish Winters
In the Company of Snipers Series
ALEX – Book 1
MARK – Book 2
ZACK – Book 3
HARLEY – Book 4
CONNOR – 2014
Available in paperback and e-book
on Amazon.com
Upcoming books by Irish Winters
RORY – 2015
TAYLOR – 2015
GABE – 2015
MAVERICK – 2016
CASSIDY – 2016
ADAM – 2016
LEE – 2017
HUNTER – 2017
Connor (In the Company of Snipers Book 5) Page 33
