“I suppose it is.” Was it her imagination, or had his husky voice deepened?
“You need to let me go.” She held herself rigid and prayed he couldn’t feel the tiny quivers coursing through her body.
“I will.” The pad of his thumb traced her bottom lip. “But you’re too damn pretty to resist.”
And then he kissed her.
Amanda’s knees wobbled like saplings in a hurricane. She stood transfixed, savoring the taste of his lips, the gentleness of his possession. This brute of a man claimed her with a tenderness she’d never felt in her twenty-four years. She savored his heat and his hunger, a willing captive in his embrace.
He released her slowly. His hard body pressed to hers, stirring needs she’d buried long before the brutal day she became a widow.
His fingertips traced over her cheeks. He watched her as though he’d discovered something rare and precious.
Sanity returned like a bucket of icy water over her head. She stood beneath the moonlight, drinking in a stranger’s caress, while Ethan’s life hung in the balance. What had come over her, wasting time on something so foolish as a kiss?
Perhaps if she were a more seasoned agent, she’d play along, enticing Captain Dunham with the questionable charms he’d spoken of and obviously wished to sample. But her desperation had its limits. They’d find a way to engineer Ethan’s escape, with or without this brazen man’s help.
“Something wrong, darlin’?” He slipped one big hand beneath her cloak. Splaying his fingers over her ribs, a cocky hitch curled his mouth. He dipped his head to kiss her again.
She raised her hand and slapped him again. Harder, this time.
Betsy would be furious. Oh well, she’d simply have to live with what Amanda had done. After all, Betsy wasn’t the one being manhandled.
Rubbing his jaw, he smiled. “You’re really not working for those bastards, are you?”
She pulled in a lungful of air, steadying her pulse. “Of course I’m not.”
He nodded, as if processing his own observations. “If you were working for those devils, you would have played that moment for all it was worth.”
“I see no reason to feign an attraction, Captain Dunham. I’ve already concluded our efforts will be better off without your involvement.”
“You weren’t feigning an attraction, Miss Jones. As we both already know, you’re not that good an actress. If you had been putting on a performance, you sure as hell wouldn’t have slapped me. You’d put those dainty hands to a lot more efficient use if you meant to get any secrets out of me.”
The hitch of his mouth intensified. With that crooked grin, it seemed a wonder all the women in Chesterfield hadn’t shed their petticoats and heaven knows what else for a night in his arms.
Banishing the absurd thought, she hiked her chin. “You are incorrigible.”
“I suppose I am, ma’am. But you didn’t expect blind trust on my part, did you? This is an ugly business, regardless of how beautiful the agent is.”
“You needn’t trouble yourself, Captain. I’ve no desire to work with you. I’ll find another way.”
He caught her hand. “The hell you will. Tell me what you need. It looks like we’re going to be able to help each other.”
“Help you? How?”
“I don’t plan to watch Nighthawk or whoever the hell this prisoner is simply ride away—I need to find out what the son of the bitch knows while he’s still alive to talk about it.”
A Little About the Author
Tara Kingston was born with a book in her hand. At least, it seemed that way. She devoured countless stories of spirited girls, high-flying witches, and magical villains. When her thoughts turned to love, she discovered the romance genre, stories of danger and love that touched her heart. Soon, she was conjuring her own tales of bold heroes, spirited heroines who don’t wait to be rescued, and passion that scorches the page.
A Southern Navy brat transplanted to a small Northern Pennsylvania town, Tara lives her own love story with her real-life hero in a restored Victorian alongside a picturesque creek. The mother of two sons, Tara’s a former librarian whose love of books is evident in her many bookcases and collection of unusual bookmarks. It goes without saying that Tara’s husband is deeply thankful for the invention of digital books, thereby eliminating the need for yet another bookcase.
When she’s not writing, reading, or burning dinner, Tara can be found cycling, hiking, watching classic movies (and some not-so-classic flicks), and cheering on her favorite football team. Please stop by Tara’s website (www.tarakingston.com) for information on her upcoming releases and periodic updates on her life as a belle out of water in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
Connect with Tara online:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTaraKingston
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TaraKingston115
Website: www.tarakingston.com
Email: [email protected]
* * *
If you enjoyed Secrets, Spies & Sweet Little Lies, please consider writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it when readers take the time to write a review and spread the word on books they enjoy. I’d also love to know your thoughts on the series. I hope you’ll drop me an email and let me know what you think. Thanks!
Tara
Coming Soon in the Secrets & Spies Series
Book Two ~ Pistols, Parasols & Passionate Little Lies
Passion flares when an alluring but no-nonsense petticoat spy recruits a daring Union agent for a desperate mission.
Like any good secret agent, Amanda Emerson knows how to get what she wants—in this case, a man with guts and a gun—a man heroic enough to break a notorious double agent out of a Confederate prison. But first, she’ll have to save her hero’s own neck.
Caught with Rebel plans and set for a hanging, Union spy Steve Dunham’s luck has run out—until a cunning beauty shows up at the jail and engineers his escape. Of course, she’s there for a reason besides preventing him from dangling at the end of a noose—he’s the key to her daring scheme.
Steve may be trading one execution for another, but the tempting—and off limits—operative draws him into the perilous mission. Falling for Amanda is a complication he can’t afford, but Steve’s never been one to play it safe. The spoils of victory will be Amanda’s surrender. And the terms of surrender promise to be sultry and sweet.
Book Three ~ Daggers, Deception & Dangerous Little Lies
Desire is a powerful weapon.
Union spy Kate Sinclair wielded seduction as a lure, never letting her heart get involved—until she fell in love with the enemy. Rebel officer Will Reed is everything Kate ever wanted in a man, everything she ever needed, but a powerful web of treachery and deceit tears them apart. The man she adored is gone, replaced by a bitter man who craves vengeance at any cost.
Will Reed is a man without sanctuary. The disgraced officer’s own men want him dead, and a ruthless enemy will stop at nothing to leave him hungering for death. Settling the score can only begin with one person, the woman he opened his heart to—the woman whose deception he believes destroyed him. He’ll stop at nothing to learn the truth of Kate’s betrayal.
As danger pursues them, Kate fights to tear down the barriers around Will’s heart. But her most powerful weapon might prove her undoing—surrender.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighte
en
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Epilogue
A Peek at Pistols, Parasols & Passionate Little Lies
A Little About the Author
Coming Soon in the Secrets & Spies Series
Table of Contents
Secrets, Spies & Sweet Little Lies (Secrets & Spies) Page 33
