(Spirit of the Pryde received the Erotic Dreams Reader’s Choice award for Best Paranormal Romance of 2007. Enjoy the other Snippets authors whose links are the bottom.
The land below took Jason’s breath away as the pilot pointed out the beginning of Pryde lands. When the jet landed, he had yet to see the boundary marking the end. He’d never seen such beautifully wide-open spaces. The place seemed to go on forever. The land was green with trees, plenty of scrub and grasses that swayed with the wind. The Medicine Bow River wound its way through the property and sparkled under the morning sun as if it the fast-running waters were full of diamonds.
The second they touched down on the private airstrip, he popped the hatch and found a set of jetway stairs already rolling toward the opening.
At the bottom of those stairs stood a goddess.
“Hi, I’m Neesia Pryde. Thanks for bringing this equipment on such short notice.”
The woman’s voice flowed over him like rich chocolate. The sweet confection was obviously named after her beautiful cinnamon skin, which was clearly visible, compliments of a formfitting white tank top. She was dark, velvety and surely delicious. The thought of tasting her made Jason’s tongue dance around in his mouth until he snapped it closed. Lips, full and ripe, had him swallowing hard. And the golden hue of her eyes was simply arresting, like little orbs of the purest honey. The woman was, in a word, fine as hell. Well, that was three words, but it summed her up pretty well.
But judging from Neesia Pryde’s strong and fit physique, she’d probably deck him if he stepped up and started licking the side of her neck. With a mental shake, he reminded himself that he was here to do a job.
“Mr. DiCaplis, right?” she asked, probably wondering if he was some kind of dimwit, staring at her for at least thirty seconds without a word.
“Uh, yes, hi. Sorry, I’m not usually up at dawn and I’m a bit slow this morning,” he said with a bright smile. He extended his hand, noticing her strength as she firmly pumped it up and down. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Most of the ones he came across were simpering annoyances. But Neesia seemed far from being such a woman. Damn, he would love to get to know her. And since he wasn’t investigating Neesia, there was nothing unethical about tempting the temptress, right?
By the way, had the gods invented blue jeans? Hers fit like a dream. The light blue fabric accentuated a trim waist and a firm, wide ass tapering down to endless legs. Damn, had he ever seen such a nice ass? Physically restraining himself, he practically shook with the urge to reach out and touch. Her rich, sinful voice snapped him out of his musings.
“Broglio here will help you unload the crates,” she said, motioning to an older, salt-and-pepper-haired man sitting on a small forklift. She held out her hand and jangled something on the end of her long fingers. He looked down at her hand and gulped.
Snap out of it, idiot. Hell, he was practically slobbering on himself, imagining the feel of those fingers. Mentally slapping himself in the back of the neck, he focused on her words and tried not to look at the yummy lips speaking them. If he kept this up, he’d blow his cover. Among other things.
“Here are the keys to the jeep over there,” she said, nodding her head toward a sporty-looking four-wheeler parked off to the side. “Just tell Broglio which crates you want brought up to the house and he’ll help you get them into the jeep. There’s plenty of storage space, but you don’t have to take it all up right now. Load whatever you don’t immediately need on the flatbed over there and bring it up to the house later. All right with you?”
“Sure, thanks.” She turned to walk away and his mind scrambled for something to say, anything to keep her from leaving. What the hell was wrong with him? Certainly he couldn’t be this hard up for a woman? Hell, who was he fooling? This was a terrible time for his cock to remind him how horny he was.
“Oh, I forgot,” she said as she stopped and turned to pin him with her light, tawny stare. Jason’s heart practically beat out of his chest. “All the wiring and setup for the new surveillance system is going to take a couple of weeks. We told your employer it would be best if you stayed here. Just follow Broglio back to the main house and we’ll get you settled, all right?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Thanks,” Jason mumbled, sounding like some goofy schoolboy as he dragged his eyes away from her smile. And those lips. Tempting was such an inadequate word.
“We’ll start tomorrow with the grounds around the house, then move out onto the ranch. A schematic is in the jeep for you to study.”
Waving at the captain who’d come out of the cockpit to help unload the cargo, she called out as she headed back to her own vehicle.
“Thanks for flying on such short notice, Harry! Come up to the house and get a bite to eat before you take off!”
The pilot grinned like a loon and bounded down the stairs. “Come on, boys, let’s put our backs into it.”
But Jason knew the man’s eagerness to get the unloading done had more to do with Neesia’s invitation to visit the house rather than a desire to get back in the air.
He couldn’t blame the man one bit.
