“So I’ve been thinking,” Sarah offers after moments of silence, “that we should all go to Vegas for our bachelor parties.”
I blink in surprise. “Vegas? And isn’t it bachelorette?”
“Semantics.”
I chuckle. “Vegas, huh?”
“I’ve never been and it sounds exciting.”
I’m not too keen on the place myself, but I agree, “Anything you want…so Vegas, really?”
“Oh yes, but I only want to go if I can get Rae to go, and you have to work on Diego.”
For some reason hearing both their names coming out of Sarah’s mouth in the same sentence as Vegas has me worried.
But I guess we’ll be partying in Vegas…
* * *
THE END
Prologue ~ Love in Flame
EIGHT WEEKS AGO ~ DIEGO
“Mom, I know my family is out there waiting to see me but before I do, I need to make sure Rae is okay with my own eyes. So, unless you want me to get out of this bed and go out there myself, please ask her to come in here.” I glare at my mom and know that she’s angry at my request, well, I’m equally angry with her for trying to prevent Rae from coming in here.
She even went as far as telling the doctor that only family was allowed in my room, which I quickly put a stop to.
Because I got stabbed in the shoulder while protecting Rae, my mom believes that Rae is the one responsible, and it’s pissing me off. Yes, I was defending Rae, but it wasn’t the woman’s fault. It’s the asshole that had the concealed knife tucked into the band of his jeans who is to blame. However, as I continue to tune my mom out, I realize that this probably has more to do with it being Rae than anyone else.
She hasn’t taken to Aiden’s friend and she’d been unable to conceal her surprise when Kasey told her what had happened at the bar. She’s pissed and relieved that I’m okay, but there is more to it than what she’s letting on. I have a feeling it has everything to do with the obvious attraction between Rae and I. Our ages being the main focus.
About to speak again, I silence her. “Mom, enough already. I want Rae in here within five minute or I’m going looking for her…I mean it.” I narrow my eyes so she knows that I really have had enough of her going on and ignoring what I want.
“I don’t like this. I will go and ask her to come in here, so make the most of the visit because I’ll make sure she doesn’t come in again.” On her last words, she turns and quickly exists before I can say a damn thing.
I rest my head against the pillow and breathe through the pain of my shoulder, and the frustration of wanting Rae. I’ve been distracted by her since the minute Aiden introduced us.
I smile when I think about the sexy but small package in that tight body. She’s a hot little thing and brings all my protective instincts right to the surface.
Her scent has been inside of me since I held her close when I got the first call about the local forest fire. I’d kissed her forehead and felt the heat rush straight to my dick.
It’s been obvious since then that she wants me to keep my distance, but I’m not sure how when our paths constantly cross. Kasey thinks I just need to get laid by someone my own age to get my mind off the curvy woman. According to him it’s the lack of fucking that has me craving the forbidden fruit.
The sound of the door creaking as it’s pushed open has me snapping my eyes in that direction. I sigh in relief when my eyes land on Rae, and I do more than a once over. She moves closer and as our eyes meet, I notice her beautiful face is pale with fatigue. Her lips wobble and she turns away rapidly swiping at her face with her fingers.
My heart hurts watching her try to hide her emotions, so I hold my hand out. “Rae, come over here.”
She shakes her head and avoids looking at me. “Rae, please. I’m in bed and in a lot of pain, so it’s going to hurt me a hell of a lot to get up and go to you.” Okay, that’s not entirely true. The pain in my shoulder is more of a dull throb since I’ve had the pain meds, but I’ll say anything right now to get her closer.
Rae grabs some tissues and rubs at her face before she finally faces me. “I don’t know what to say, or why you insisted on seeing me first…”
“Because I needed you in here with me.” I hold my hand out again and sigh with relief when she takes it and allows me to tug her closer.
My eyes search her face while she does enough looking of her own, and that’s when I realize I need her in my arms.
“Pull this down.” I tug on the side of the bed and when it drops, I pat the side.
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No way. I’m not getting in that bed with you.”
I smirk. “I’ve had enough dreams about you and what you’d feel like against my body, but unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to do anything about those right now. So the least you can do is lie beside me and let me hold you.” I wink. “I promise to behave.”
She chuckles and kicks off her boots and when she’s in my arms, I tug up the side of the bed, which is a lot easier to put up than take down. She isn’t going anywhere if I have my way.
“I shouldn’t be in here, Diego,” she whispers, snuggling deeper into my side, and it hurts that she thinks that.
“You belong in here, Rae. Please don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” I hold her close and kiss the top of her head.
“What are we doing, Diego?”
“I don’t know. But it feels right having you lying here beside me.” I let the silence settle around us, and then I add, “In a way I’m glad that I got hurt defending you.”
Rae lifts her head and frowns when she meets my gaze. “Why on earth would you be glad about that?”
“Because I have you in my arms, a place that you wouldn’t have been otherwise.”
“Diego…”
“Shh, please don’t ruin it. Let me have this.”
I know when she gives in because all fight leaves her body and she’s completely against me on top of the bed.
Her breath whispers across my skin, making me break out in goose bumps at the mere touch.
My desire for this woman is strong and grows stronger every time I see her. I want her in ways I’ve never wanted anyone else, and that should scare the living fuck out of me, except I find that it doesn’t. What does scare me out of my mind is that she’ll pass me over for someone close to her own age before she gives me a chance.
Tugging her closer, I turn on my side and clench my jaw at the stab of pain in my shoulder, but once I’m comfortable with Rae wrapped against me, the pain slowly subsides, and I forget about my family waiting to see me outside of the room.
RAE
It’s been a long time since I’ve woken with a warm, hard body wrapped around me and it feels so good that I really don’t want to wake. I want to stay wrapped up in him instead of having to deal with the day-to-day aspects of life.
I know exactly whose body it is that holds me snug against him, and I don’t want to fully wake. While I’m half asleep I can imagine that he really is mine to hold—I can pretend.
A tear seeps from between my tightly closed lids, followed by another. I know Diego can feel them because he stills from stroking my hair and his hand on my bottom contracts, pressing me closer to him.
I’ve never felt as cherished as he’s making me feel, which only makes the tears come harder.
“Crap, Rae…what’s wrong?” Diego asks, and then curses.
I try to sit but he won’t let me up. “Let me help you.”
“No. I’m fine,” Diego hisses between clenched teeth.
“Then why do you look and sound like you’re in pain, huh?” I ask the stubborn man.
“Dammit. I want to keep you in bed with me.”
I glance up and meet his dark as midnight eyes. “I have to go, Diego…the others...”
“Like hell.” His arms tighten around me and I’m finding it difficult to leave because I want to stay right where I am.
“Kasey came in last night while yo
u slept,” Diego admits. “He went out and told the others that I was out for the night…God, Rae.”
I drop my forehead to his and hold his gaze. “We can’t do this. You know that.”
“I don’t give a fuck about why we can’t do this. Nothing has ever felt so fucking right, dammit.” His fingers slide into my hair and with slight pressure behind my head, our mouths meet in a tentative kiss.
The caress along my lips sends shards of pleasure rippling through my body. I reach up and cup his face in my small hands and hold him steady while our kiss goes from gentle to blazing heat within seconds.
Diego growls in the back of his throat and with a slight change of position, I’m sitting astride his lap with his hands on my bottom. He slides me closer and I feel pure white-hot fire in my pussy when it meets the erection he can’t hide beneath the thin sheet.
I undulate over him and gasp, panting for breath with the want and need being so close to the surface for this man…unfortunately my brain starts working again and I pull my lips away. Breathing deeply, our foreheads rest together as our eyes stay connected, and everything Diego is feeling is clear for me to see—lust, want, need…and something more that I don’t want to think about because I can’t think about it.
“There’s a connection between us,” Diego states, and reaches up to brush my hair back from my face. “It’s there, Rae, whether you want it there or not.”
“You don’t seem bothered by it.” I make no move to climb from him. I’m not even sure that my legs will hold me up if I tried.
“I’m not bothered and I want to see where this between us goes. I’ve never had a woman on the mind as much as I’ve had you. God Rae, I want to give it a chance.” Diego tugs me to him and wraps his arms around my back. “Please, Rae. I’ve never been involved in a relationship before, but I want to try with you.”
I close my eyes from the need I hear in his voice. The thought of being with Diego makes my heart sing, but I know that his family would make it difficult for him, and us, as a couple.
My silence speaks for itself because slowly Diego lets me go and lies back against the pillow. “You need to leave.”
Tears hover on my lashes at the harsh words out of Diego’s mouth. I can see that he’s hurting as much as I am. “Dammit, Diego,” I hiss, and wiggle from the bed. “Do you think walking away from you is that easy, because it isn’t.” I pull my boots back on and glare at him. “I feel the connection, and I want you. I want to be with you.” I catch my breath as a cry escapes my lips. “This isn’t easy for me, Diego…My daughter is five years younger than you.”
Grabbing some tissue, I wipe at my tears. “Your mom and family hate me because of this.” I wave my arm back and forth between us. “You’ve no idea how much I wish that I was younger or you were older so then we might have stood a chance.”
I grab my purse and dash to the door, but find I’m unable to leave without one last look at him. I rest my palm against the door and turn to glance over my shoulder and see the distress on his face, which probably matches my own. “Please take care of yourself, Diego. It would break my heart if something happened to you.”
As my face crumples, I shove out of his room and stumble into the wall beside his closed door. I slide down and bury my face in my drawn up knees while my heart shatters.
* * *
Love in Flame, De La Fuente #5
Coming soon
Dear Reader
If you liked Love in Country, I would appreciate it, if you would help others enjoy this book too by recommending it to your friends, family and book clubs by writing an honest, positive review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iBookstore, Goodreads, Smashwords, etc.
Holiday Kisses in the Snow
(Kissing Under the Mistletoe & A Soldier's Christmas – 2-in-1 novel)
Kissing Under the Mistletoe -- Gabe has been brought up with Bree, since he was nine years old when his parents died. Now he's twenty six and been in love with Bree for the past seven years. She's coming home for the holidays and has him so tied in knots he can't think straight.
Bree avoided going home for the holidays last year because she didn't think she'd be able to handle being around Gabe, the man she's in love with, who she thinks she can never be with. Or can she?
To begin with both Gabe and Bree sneak around together and eventually Bree's mother finds out and accepts them as a couple, but announcing it to her father causes heartache with the bombshell he drops.
Join Gabe and Bree in a Christmas story where love conquers all.... and were Bree discovers Gabe knows just how to use a red ribbon.....
A Soldier's Christmas -- Back Stateside after a three-year absence, Staff Sergeant Logan Richards is lacking any enthusiasm for the holidays looming ahead of him. With a heavy heart he unpacks his kitbag and comes across a bundle of letters. Logan is instantly struck by their significance and his head is quickly filled with sweet words, expressions of comfort and pages of hope. He starts to think of the woman behind the neat script, would she be happy to meet him?
Emma struggles to find any seasonal spirit. It has been months since she received a letter from the soldier she has been writing to and it has left her with a persistent empty feeling, her heart aches with thoughts of what could have happened to him. In one last hopeful gesture, Emma sends him a special care package and wishes for contact.
They met as strangers across the miles, letters forging a tentative friendship. Now can the Christmas spirit weave it’s seasonal magic and bring two lonely hearts together.
* * *
AVAILABLE
29 November 2016
28 Days
Sentenced to death...
All hope gone...
Until he receives a visit from victim #6
Condemned for a crime he didn’t commit, Quinten Peterson sat on death row praying for a miracle. He just never expected his angel of mercy to be the girl he fell in love with so long ago.
The press called her a victim, but Saige Lockwood was a survivor. And she had twenty-eight days to discover the truth about what really happened to her that fateful night, eight years ago.
With time running out, Saige desperately needed to unlock her memories . . . before it was too late.
A Romantic Suspense from NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Lexi Buchanan.
Stryker, MMA Romantic Suspense
When my childhood friend, Cora, dared me to write a sexy novel about a martial arts fighter, I agreed, albeit under the influence of alcohol. It was something for me—something different and exciting.
It was supposed to be research, pure and simple. But then I met him—a six-foot-six mountain of a man with no name. The way his muscles flexed and rippled when he trained made my belly quiver. The way his dark hair flopped over his forehead made me want to brush it back from his strong face. His nose had been broken, but it made no difference, he was still a handsome man. He had eyes dark as the night that would land on me the minute I entered his gym…Every…Time.
He was their star fighter, the one that brought in the big money. At first I feared him because of his size and the way he would look at me. But then I discovered that I was his biggest distraction, and no matter what my head told me, my heart told me to fight for the man who didn’t know how to live outside of the octagon.
NYT & USA Today bestselling author Lexi Buchanan brings you her new sexy standalone novel about fighting for freedom when the odds are against you.
Sizzle, Bad Boy Rockers #1
Thalia is twenty-one and has just finished her sophomore year of college. Her new boyfriend, Liam, invites her to spend the summer with him and his family, so as she’s been unable to find a local job to keep her at college, Thalia jumps at the chance. Liam tells her that she can be his guest at his brother, Jack’s, wedding at the end of the summer.
Jack is twenty-five and feels as though he’s drowning. He’s engaged to Mia, against his will, because it’s always been drilled into him, family comes first. Jack�
��s studying for a law degree, and wants to go out on his own once he graduates, specializing in criminal law. His father wants him to accept a junior partnership in the law firm owned jointly by him and Lewis, his fiancées father, to practice family law.
Then he meets his brother’s girlfriend, Thalia, and he can’t get her out of his head. He needs her to keep her distance, because every time she smiles in his direction, he wants to carry her to his room and do really naughty things to her.
Then Saturday night arrives and Liam takes Thalia to a new bar that has opened on the outskirts of town, where she discovers Jack’s big secret. By day he’s the good looking, slightly older brother with a chip on his shoulder, who gives her hot looks, and by night he’s Phoenix, singer/guitar player for bad boy group ‘Deception’, who makes her sizzle to the core!
He has muscle. He has tattoos. He has piercings. He has a mouth that makes her panties wet every time he opens it. He is supposed to be getting married. He is also her boyfriend’s brother...
Seduce, McKenzie Brothers #1
Five hot brothers who are about to meet five equally hot partners.
Michael McKenzie is CEO of the family owned, architectural & construction business, McKenzie Holdings, and he has a very bad habit of putting work before all else . . . until he meets his new assistant.
On Lily Redmond’s first day of work she finds herself the new assistant to Michael McKenzie, and she’s shocked to discover that it was the same man that she flirted with in the elevator that very morning.
Lily and Michael are instantly drawn to each other, but he’s her boss, and Lily lives with her boyfriend of seven years, but everything isn’t always, as it seems.
Love in Country: De La Fuente Family #4 Page 13
