“Good question.”
“If he did do it, how could I risk keeping him on, knowing he might steal something else?”
“Another good question.”
Leaning closer, he placed one hand on each arm of my chair, trapping me. I felt myself pushing back into the chair. I could smell his cologne, could see the flecks of silver-blue in dark, dark gray-brown eyes the color of my favorite chocolates. I could feel the warm caress of his breath on my face.
My heart jerked again. But this time it wasn’t because I was afraid. No, I was...warm. I was breathless. I was staring at his lips and wondering what they might taste like.
What was going on?
“How long have you been working for us, Miss Barnes?”
“T-two years,” I stuttered, my gaze locked on his mouth. What was he getting at? What was he thinking?
“Hmmm.”
My gaze inched up, following the line of his aristocratic nose to those dark eyes again. I saw something there, the flicker of something obscure, something wicked. My heart rate tripled, quadrupled, maybe. “Sir? Please don’t fire me. My job is our primary source of income. Our father died. It’s been really hard on us both, but especially Joss. He was only thirteen and a boy with no father--”
He leaned closer. “I’m sorry about your father.” I was trapped, his body like a big wall hovering over me. Why was he standing so close? Why was he looking at me like that?
“Sir?” I murmured when he inched even closer. I’d never had a boss act this way with me before. If I didn’t know better, I would swear he was…he was…
His head dipped down. Now, his mouth was hovering over mine. Not inches. No. It was a tiny fraction of an inch from mine. His breath softly caressed my lips. Warm. Sweet.
Was he going to kiss me?
Was he expecting some kind of bribe? A payment in return for my job?
I was frozen. Shocked. Unable to move. Unwilling to move. It was wrong for him to use his position to try something like this. Wrong. Illegal. Unethical. Immoral.
But wow, was he a beautiful man. Sexy. Intelligent. Mysterious. I wanted him to kiss me. My lips were tingling already, and he hadn’t even touched them yet. My blood was pounding hard through my body, too. My heart was slamming against my breastbone. I let my eyelids fall shut, enclosing myself in darkness and swirls of red.
“Miss Barnes?”
“Sir?” Something soft brushed against my lips. And again. Little sparks of electricity sizzled and zapped under my skin. Heat whooshed through my body, up to my face, down between my legs.
The intensity of my body’s reaction took my breath away. And still I couldn’t move. A crazy impulse popped into my head. I wanted to throw my arms around his neck, tangle my fingers in his silky hair and pull him to me.
I can’t do that. I can’t.
***
Please turn the page for a special sneak preview of HOPELESSLY BROKEN by Tamryn Ward.
For fans of Jamie McGuire’s BEAUTIFUL DISASTER,
Hopelessly Broken by USA Today Best Selling author, Tamryn Ward
High school dropout Jenn Reynolds doesn't have time for anything but work, work, work. Not school. And definitely not a social life. Dating? Yeah, right. No matter how hard she tries to put her life back together, it keeps crumbling apart. The sudden death of her parents started the destruction. Now, her life is spinning out of control, and she is about to lose the only thing that matters anymore. She has no choice. She must find someone she can trust, someone who might be able to help her stem the devastation.
But who will it be? Both Aeron and Bobby are everything she doesn't need--Aeron, the totally mysterious, totally dangerous stranger who doesn't stay in one place for long, and Bobby, the hot bad boy rockstar who has already broken her heart once. No matter what, with all the dirty, tattoed hotness loping through her front door, and vying for her bed, Jenn's life is either about to get better...or a whole lot worse.
SAMPLE
Her door swung open and banged against the wall, blam.
Jenn, standing next to her dresser whirled around. “Aeron?”
“Dammit, Jenn.” His eyes were wild, dark, feral. Tension pulled at his features, his mouth, his jaw.
She couldn’t move. She was frozen in place. Like a doe caught in the scope of a hunter’s rifle. “What’s wrong, Aeron?”
He charged at her like a furious bull, shoving a chair out of the way. He halted inches from her, nose flared, breathing swift.
Her heart rate spiked. She searched his eyes, trying to push through the dark shadows.
“What is it? Are you angry at me?”
“No.” His hand jerked up, cupped her cheek. And her skin sizzled under his touch. A little jolt of electricity charged through her system, locking her muscles, freezing her in place. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. Her gaze drifted down, to his mouth. That perfect mouth. His lips looked soft yet strong. Would she ever know how they tasted? “I…I’m trying.”
“Trying to do what?” she whispered.
“To stay away.”
“From who?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. All day she’d found herself flirting with him, stealing glances, smiling at him as he played with Logan. And he flirted back for a moment. Everything was wonderful. She felt alive and beautiful and happy.
But then he suddenly jerked away, his tone chilly, his eyes like dark river ice. Over and over that cycle repeated until at last he grumbled, “Excuse me,” stomped upstairs and locked himself in his room.
It was strange and confusing. Why was he acting so hot and cold?
“You.” His thumb grazed her lip, and a shudder of need quaked through her. She curled her fingers around his wrist, holding onto it to steady herself. Her breath caught in her throat. Need pulsed through her system, firing her nerves like little white-hot firecrackers.
It was just like her book, exactly like it. She’d never dreamed it could be so wonderfully painful, such longing, such wanting.
“Why?” she heard herself say. “Why stay away?”
“Because I have to. Because all I can do is hurt you.” Despite what he was saying, his head tipped, inching closer.
Was he going to kiss her?
She let her eyelids drift down and held onto his wrist with an iron-tight grip. Kiss me, every bone in her body demanded. Kiss me now. “I don’t believe you.”
“You have to.”
His breath was sweet. Intoxicating. Warm and gentle. The hand flattened against her cheek pulled her forward, easing her toward his waiting lips. Closer. He was coming closer yet. Almost there. His breath was fanning over her mouth.
But no kiss.
Seconds throbbed by.
“Aeron?”
“Tell me to stop,” he murmured. “Tell me now.”
“Kiss me, Aeron.” Using the hand gripping his wrist, she pulled until his mouth found hers. The instant her lips made contact with his, it felt as if the world was spinning, whirling, dipping. Brilliant lights exploded behind her closed eyelids. Blasts of heat raced through her body. She threw her other arm up, looping it around his neck, and pressed her body against his.
Oh, the agony.
Oh, the aching.
More. She had to have more. When a whimper pushed up her throat and past her parted lips, his tongue dipped inside her mouth, filling it with his sweet flavor. She practically sank to the floor.
A strong arm circled her waist and held her in place. His other hand slid around to cup the back of her head. His tongue caressed hers, plunging in and out in time to the throbbing heat crashing through her.
Dizzy, breathless, she let her legs collapse, falling into his embrace.
***
Please turn the page for a special sneak preview of the latest book in Tawny Taylor’s bestselling MY ALPHA BILLIONAIRE series, WHAT HE DESIRES.
For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Anything He Wants,
What He Desires by NY Times Bestselling author Tawny Taylor
Book 5 of the My Alpha Billionaire series.
He blew into my life like a raging storm, upending everything. Violent and yet beautiful. Powerful. Massive. I wasn’t the type to cower or run. I faced his lust and fury head-on. I fought back. I resisted. I refused to submit to his demands, though my body ached to surrender.
Little did I know that my strength would be my undoing.
SAMPLE
He captured my arms, like he loved to do, and pinned them behind my back. Then he jerked me against him and glared down into my eyes.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“No.”
He yanked me closer yet. Now, when he inhaled, I felt the rise of his chest. “Are you ready to talk?”
Carnal need coiled around me, quiet but deadly, curling up from my legs, around my chest, my stomach, twisting in my center. “No.”
“If you won’t talk then…” He smashed his mouth over mine.
The air left my lungs in a sharp whoosh and I parted my lips to re-inflate them. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he pushed his tongue inside, filling my mouth with his decadent flavor. It stroked and tasted, even as I writhed against him, struggling to break free. Using my tongue as a defense, I tried to force him out, to break the kiss and end the torment. But he was so strong. I couldn’t win this battle. But I was determined, somehow, to win the war.
Lips, tongue, teeth. He used them expertly, conquering my will. He didn’t just kiss. He possessed. Not just my mouth but my body and my mind. He banished all thoughts of resistance. Before I realized it, I was whimpering from the agony, kissing him back. My blood pounded through my body, burning between my legs. A throbbing ache was gathering deep inside. Never had I hurt so badly from a kiss. Never had I surrendered so quickly, so easily.
He skimmed his free hand up my side, tracing the curve of my hip, the dip of my waist. His kiss, his touch…I craved more. I needed more. Even though I didn’t want to. Shallow little pants replaced long, even breaths as my suffering intensified. “Say it,” he whispered in my ear.
His warm breath tickled. My skin dimpled, goose bumps burning my arm and chest.
“Say what?” I asked.
That hand moved around to my back, gliding down the arch of my spine and over the swell of my ass.
I shuddered. God, how he possessed me.
“Say it,” he demanded, this time his voice harder, sharper. He traced a line down the column of my neck with the tip of his tongue. I tingled. I quivered. I curled my fingers, weaving them together, clutching them behind my back.
“Say what?” I repeated, this time on a moan.
He leaned over me, hand sliding down between my trembling legs. My knees were wobbling. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to crumple like a ragdoll. I wanted him to scoop me up, take me to the bed, and make the burning stop.
“I…” I mumbled. Sharp teeth bit my neck and my knees gave out. A thick arm slid under them, scooping me up and then I was bouncing across the room, landing on the bed, sprawled, looking up into eyes so dark and dangerous my muscles locked in fear.
His lip curled into a sneer. “I don’t want to want you like this. I tried to resist. But…dammit…” He shot an arm out, grabbing my hair, fisting it and jerking it, forcing my head back.
I couldn’t move. I shut down. Shock. Fear. Need. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t do anything but sit there waiting for his next move. My scalp burned, but I didn’t cry out. That pain was nothing compared to the agony pounding through the rest of my body.
Pain so good.
So, good but not enough. I wanted more. I needed more. A lot more.
Oh, God. He’d succeeded. Without even realizing it.
He’d created a new addict.
I didn’t want to run from the darkness anymore. I wanted to relish in it. I wanted it to become a part of me.
ABOUT TAWNY TAYLOR
An Amazon Top 20 "Most Popular Author", New York Times, and USA Today Bestseller
If you'd like to be notified of new releases, sales, and contests, subscribe here: list.tawnytaylor.com
Tawny Taylor has been writing romance for ten years. Her first novel, Tempting Fate, was published in 2004 and was an RT Reviewer's Choice nominee and highly reviewed book. To date, Tawny has over 50 published books by 5 publishers, including Pocket, Kensington, Ellora's Cave, Samhain and Changeling Press. They include several subgenres of romance including paranormal, contemporary, New Adult and romantic suspense. Among her best selling books are Dark Master, Decadent Master, and My Alpha Billionaire.
Tawny is grateful to her readers for allowing her dream of writing and publishing to come true. Her hope is to continue to write hot, sassy, sexy fiction for women for many years to come.
Tawny loves hearing from readers! Drop her a note anytime:[email protected].
Newsletter: http://list.www.tawnytaylor.com
website: http://www.tawnytaylor.com
Twitter: @tawnytauthor
Blog: http://tawnytaylor.net
Did you know Tawny also writes romance as Sydney Allan, New Adult romance as Tamryn Ward, and Urban Fantasy as Tami Dane?
Sydney's Books
Rescue Me (contemporary romance)
Tamryn's Books
Hopelessly Broken
This Crazy Little Thing
Tami's Books
The Real Werewives of Vampire County
Blood of Eden
Blood of Dawn
Blood of Innocence
Raw, A Dark Romance Page 12
