by Leah Brooke
Erotically Yours 1
Loving Ambush
Since her youngest daughter left for college, Jasmine White found it increasingly difficult to resist her sexy-as-hell landlord and next-door neighbor, Pete MacDougal—Mac. Going out with another man seemed a good way to forget about Mac, but Mac’s reaction was more than she’d bargained for.
Drawing her into a world of passion, Mac shows her a side of himself that he’d kept hidden, a side that draws her in even deeper.
No longer trusting her own instincts, she fights to resist the irresistible.
Only after a confrontation with her ex-husband does she realize that she feels more secure with Mac than she ever had in all the years she’d been married. He teaches her that she can trust her own instincts, and their love frees them both to be themselves—and to have the kind of loving relationship they’d both always dreamed of.
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 48,478 words
LOVING AMBUSH
Erotically Yours 1
Leah Brooke
EVERLASTING CLASSIC
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
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LOVING AMBUSH
Copyright © 2013 by Leah Brooke
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-539-6
First E-book Publication: March 2013
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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LOVING AMBUSH
Erotically Yours 1
LEAH BROOKE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Dressed in the soft sweatpants and loose cotton top she’d changed into after her shower, Jasmine White raced for the phone. Still rubbing a towel over her damp hair, she answered it. “Hello?”
“Hello, Jasmine. Miss me?”
Cringing, Jasmine pulled out one of her kitchen chairs and sank into it. “Tom, we’ve been divorced for three years. The girls are grown and away at college. Why do you feel the need to keep calling me?” The cold knot in her stomach tightened at the sound of his cold chuckle—a sound she’d come to abhor.
“We were married. You’re the mother of my children. I have the right to know what you’re doing—and with whom. Have you heard from Linda? Did she get settled in okay?”
“She called to say she got there, but that’s all. Now, if there’s nothing else—”
“The girls tell me that you and your neighbor are getting pretty close.”
Clenching her jaw at his arrogant tone, Jasmine dropped the towel on the table. “What I do is none of your business. Now, if there’s nothing else, I have to go.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me!” He blew out a breath, his quicksilver mood changing in a heartbeat. His voice lowered, becoming smooth and calm. “Are you having another one of your dinners with him tonight, darling? Are you fucking him, Jasmine?”
Although she’d never met anyone more capable of taking care of himself, Jasmine didn’t want Tom making any trouble for Pete MacDougal—Mac—her landlord and next-door neighbor.
The man she had no right to love.
Fisting her hand in the damp towel, she lifted her chin and fought to keep her tone cool. She wanted to keep her plans to have dinner with Mac from him and hoped he didn’t notice she ignored that question and addressed the other. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Mac and I aren’t sleeping together.”
Another of his cruel chuckles sent a chill through her. “Afraid he’ll find out you’re no good in bed, Jasmine? Are you afraid he’ll find out that you’re frigid? I’m sure you told him why you divorced me. Did you tell him that I slept with other women to get what I couldn’t get at home from my darling wife? Did you tell him how many times you were too tired or not in the mood?”
Furious, Jasmine jumped to her feet. “I worked, went to school, took care of the house, and raised two daughters while you were out until all hours of the night!”
Tom laughed, a cold sound that made her want to throw up. “Well, I’m happy to say I’ve found someone who seems to have a lot more enthusiasm for sex than you ever did. As a matter of fact, she kept me up most of the night. She likes it wild, Jasmine, something you probably wouldn’t understand.”
“Don’t call me anymore.” Jasmine hung up to the sound of his laughter and dropped her head onto the damp towel.
She knew she shouldn’t let him get to her, but his criticism and derogatory comments about sex always did.
He made her feel cold and uninteresting and had for years. Each time she started to feel good about herself, her ex-husband called to remind her of her failure as a wife.
Hearing a sound from the back patio they shared, she sighed and got to her feet. If she didn’t go out back soon, Mac would just come looking for her.
* * * *
Sitting on the patio behind the duplex they shared, Jasmine eyed Mac, once again struck by his masculine good looks.
Her ex-husband was a good-looking man but had never come close to affecting her the way Mac
did.
With a lean, muscular body that made her mouth water and a ready smile, Mac had to be the most exciting man she’d ever known. He had eyes the color of milk chocolate, eyes that could warm her all the way through when they danced with amusement, or send a thrill through her when they sharpened and narrowed as they searched hers.
When he turned at the waist toward her, she hurriedly looked away, so as not to be caught staring.
After a pregnant pause, one laced with tension, she looked up again to find him watching her.
“You’re awfully quiet tonight, Jazz. Bad day in the ER?”
Shrugging, she forced a smile, relieved that his sharp eyes couldn’t see everything. “No more than usual.” Crossing her legs at the unmistakable ache of desire for him that made her pussy clench, she shifted restlessly on the chaise lounge. Jasmine’s breath caught, his nearness overwhelming her as always.
The sexual tension between them got stronger and harder to ignore every day, the knowledge of it shining in his eyes. Both depressed that he did no more than flirt casually with her and relieved that he didn’t put her in the awkward position of having to refuse his advances, she struggled to ignore the way her body responded to his nearness.
Fighting his effect on her emotions proved impossible.
Little by little, she’d found herself drawn to him emotionally, the tenderness in his eyes and his caring attitude drawing her deeper each time she saw him.
One day when they’d been having their increasingly frequent dinners together, she’d looked up at him across the table and realized she’d fallen in love.
Unable to believe she’d done something so incredibly stupid, she’d tried to put some distance between them, but Mac seemed determined to thwart her efforts, inviting himself over when she refused his dinner invitations, or coming over to fix something that absolutely couldn’t be put off another day.
Each moment she spent with him, she fell deeper in love, so deep she feared that she would give herself away any day.
Aware of his intense scrutiny, she forced a smile, setting her beer aside and folding her hands together to hide the fact that they trembled. “Thank you, and thanks for inviting me to dinner. I’m surprised you don’t have a date tonight.”
Dropping into the chair across from her, Mac took a sip of his beer. Setting the bottle on his lap, he looked down into it, his expression thoughtful.
“After a hard day at work, I look forward to relaxing with you.” Looking up, he met her gaze again. “I enjoy these quiet evenings very much.”
Inwardly grimacing, Jasmine nodded, looking away to hide the hurt. “I’ve seen some of the women you date. I’m sure you can use a break from all the excitement.”
“Dated.” Mac’s tone had an edge to it as he gave her another of those enigmatic looks that always left her unsettled. “I’ve found a new interest that I find far more exciting.”
Struggling to hide the jealousy she had no right to feel, Jasmine forced a smile and attempted to change the subject. “I think the steaks are burning.”
* * * *
“No. They’re not.” Mac watched her steadily, inwardly cursing when she looked away again.
He’d just begun to recover from his own divorce when he’d rented half of the duplex he’d renovated to Jasmine and her daughters.
He’d dated other women to ease the loneliness, but not until he’d invited Jasmine to help him break in his new barbeque grill did he realize that the women he’d dated hadn’t come close to filling the void inside him that one evening with Jasmine did.
He’d come to cherish these evenings and hadn’t been at all surprised when he’d started falling in love with her a little more each day.
Over the last several months, he’d made it a priority to get to know her well and could read the faint glimmer of desperation and anger in her eyes.
Only one person put that look on her face.
Not bothering to hide his anger, he jumped to his feet. “You spoke to your ex-husband today.”
Her head snapped up, the surprise in her eyes slightly irritating, as though no one had ever paid enough attention to her to know her moods. “How did you know that?”
Satisfied that she met his gaze again, he smiled to hide his anger that such a magnificent woman had been so ignored, knowing that she’d only talk to him if he could get her to relax. Hoping to get her to confide in him, he kept his voice low. “Because I’ve come to know you pretty well. What did he say to upset you this time?”
Jasmine shrugged in an apparent attempt to appear unaffected, when he knew she was anything but. “He called to see if I’d heard from the girls. He wanted to know how Linda had settled in.”
Gritting his teeth, Mac fought the urge to drag her from her chair and yank her against him. He wanted to hold her close and wipe that sad look off her face. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and make her forget all about the bastard she’d married. Instead he sat again, leaning forward.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. He could have called either one of the girls himself. He called to upset you again and apparently succeeded. What did he say to you?”
She got to her feet, turning her back to him as she straightened the flatware on the table that she’d already straightened twice. “Not much. Tom just wanted to tell me that he knew I’d been spending time with you and that you’d get bored with me soon. I assured him that there was nothing between us, of course.”
Red-faced, she turned back and sat again. “He also informed me that his latest flame kept him up all night. Apparently, she can’t get enough of him, and he’s ecstatically happy.”
“And to stroke your insecurities.”
Shooting to his feet again, he crossed the short distance to the table and slammed his beer down on the surface, furious that her ex still had the power to hurt her.
Ignoring her gasp, he gave in to temptation, gripping her upper arms and yanking her against him. Stunned by the jolt of heat, he stared down at her for several heart-stopping seconds.
Since he always found himself aroused around her, the surge of lust at the feel of her body pressed against his didn’t surprise him, but the intensity of it did.
He couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone as badly as he wanted Jasmine.
His cock pressed painfully against the zipper of his jeans, the feel of her firm breasts and beaded nipples against his stomach making him crazy to have her.
To possess her.
To make her his.
Reminding himself that rushing her would only scare her away and undo everything he’d done to gain her trust, he ran his hands up and down her arms in an effort to soothe her, but made no effort to hide his desire for her.
It shocked her—aroused her.
He could see it in her eyes, and the knowledge that she wanted him made his cock throb in anticipation.
Touching his forehead to hers, he sighed, fighting his hunger. “You’re an incredible woman, Jasmine. Your ex is a first-class bastard. For cheating on you, and for making you feel inferior.”
The urge to crush her trembling lips beneath his became irresistible. He’d spent countless nights imagining the feel of her beneath him and countless more imagining how she’d feel coming all around him, her pussy clamping down on his cock and soaking it with her juices.
Shifting slightly, he brushed against her breasts, his body tightening at her sharp intake of breath.
His cock was so hard it hurt, and his restless shifting only made it worse. Each movement brushed his body against her softness, which only made him want her more.
Her eyes darkened and became hooded, her breath coming in sharp pants. Her fresh, clean, and slightly floral scent wrapped around him, nearly driving him insane.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled her closer, pressing his cock against her and hoping that tonight would be the night he broke through the reserve she held in front of her like a shield.
Her gasp encouraged him, and with a groan, he moved his hands to h
er waist, forcing himself to keep them there instead of moving them higher to caress the underside of her breast.
So shaken he had to swallow before speaking, he fought to keep his voice steady. “He only criticizes you to make himself feel better and to justify his actions. I think I’m going to have to have a talk with him.”
“No!” Shaking her head, she pushed at his chest, but Mac held on, not wanting her to ever feel alone again. “I don’t want him to know that he gets to me.”
Mac clenched his jaw. “He knows.”
Her hands moving over his chest fueled several erotic fantasies, her eyes beseeching and fueling several more. “It pisses me off that I let him, but I guess old habits die hard. Please don’t tell him.”
“How about developing some new habits then?” Unable to resist any longer, he bent his head to touch his lips to hers, barely resisting the urge to sink into her.
Sliding his tongue against hers, he clenched his hands on her waist in an effort to keep it slow, swallowing her moan of pleasure as she leaned into him.
Soft and pliant, she fit against him as if she’d been made for him. When her tongue moved hesitantly against his, his cock jumped, the need to have her beneath him taking on a jagged edge.
Drunk on the taste of her, he deepened their kiss.
Jasmine seemed to melt against him at first, but within seconds, she gripped his hair and rubbed against him, her display of passion close to making him come in his jeans.
The need to see her eyes had him breaking off his kiss, his breathing ragged as he took her face in his hands. “Jazz, I want you so damned much.”
Delighted at the glazed look in her eyes, he smiled. “Finally. We’ll be good together, honey. You’ll see.”
