TJ Michaels

This morning my inbox greeted me with coverly goodness – what a way to start the weekend, eh? The cover for my book in the Hearts of Fire series is here! I’ll put the art and all the details on the Sneak Peek page – you get there from the home page. Simply hover over the Bookshelf link then click on Sneak Peek.

Now, on to Saturday Snippets! This weekends theme is arrivals. With the coming of the new book I thought I’d put an excerpt (unedited, of course) up. This is Faison’s arrival at Dee’s office. After the excerpt don’t forget to visit the links to all the other Saturday Snippet authors. Enjoy!

Unedited Excerpt from Shards of Ecstasy
Book 2 – Hearts of Fire series
by TJ Michaels, copyright 2009
All rights reserved

Note for Readers: You must be over eighteen to read this excerpt.

“Miss Isaacs, Mr. Dow is here to see you, ma’am.”

“Thanks Kare. Have him wait in the reception area for five minutes, then send him in.”

De’alla Isaacs didn’t typically leave a client waiting, but for some reason her nerves seemed to be on a one way trip to the stratosphere. She couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so jittery about meeting with a new client. Or at least that’s the excuse she was going to stick to.

In truth, the crystal attached to the fine silver link chain around her neck sat on a low hum. Mere moments ago out of the blue the thing started zinging a stream of unfamiliar energy from its resting place at the vee of her breasts clear down through her stomach.

God, the muscles of her diaphragm were getting such a workout she wouldn’t have to do crunches for the next two weeks.

Well, no time for puzzling it out now. This was the launch of her new company and she simply couldn’t mess it up. The old man waiting on the other side of that door could make or break her. Mr. Dow had graciously agreed with her old firm, Daikuji Corporation of Japan, to work locally through De’alla’s firm here in Seattle. In turn she would fulfill the original contract obligations between Mr. Dow and Daikuji Corporation at a discounted rate and split the profit with her former employer.

It was a win/win situation. Dee’s company would be off the ground, Mr. Dow would save a little bit of money, and Daikuji Corporation would still maintain a connection with one of their oldest customers here in the States.

So, time to get to work. Dee took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Damn. Stupid zing was still there, only now it gently moved through her chest, radiated to her nipples, down her belly and settled at the juncture of her thighs. What the hell was going on?

“Why’d my damn Nature buddy have to take off now?” Dee grumbled, wishing she could talk to the companion that constantly occupied a small corner of her mind. Only that corner was uncharacteristically still while the energy that pulsed at the center of her bra grew bolder.

Dee left her desk, slipped into the bathroom adjacent to her new swanky office and splashed some cold water on her face. A quick glance in the mirror made her wince. Good thing she hardly ever wore make-up ‘cause any eye shadow would have her looking like a certified raccoon right about now. Turning away from the vanity with sure steps she strode toward her destiny.

“Okay, Dee. Go get ‘em girl.” Smoothing her hands down the navy blue pencil skirt, another deep breath saw De’alla at her desk just as the door opened.

She remained standing next to her chair as a short, wrinkled and decidedly grumpy old man walked in.

“Mr. Dow, I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance.”

The man tilted his head to the side, scrunched up his face more—as if that were possible—and in a surprisingly kind voice answered…in Japanese.

De’alla could have kicked herself. She hadn’t thought to ask her contact at her client’s company about any lingual needs. Major blunder. Luckily she was fluent in the language and had been for years.

She opened her mouth to greet him properly while closing the door. It snapped back at her with a bounce.
Dee looked down at a foot poking through the small space between door and jamb. Somebody else’s foot.

A muted ‘ouch’ came from the other side before a body gently pushed through.

“Aw hell. No way,” she grumbled not quite low enough.

The raised eyebrow aimed her way was accompanied by a confused yet arrogant smirk. Her honey brown eyes met a pair of unexpected chocolate-brown ones…and her fucking crystal went haywire. And the strangely absent entity She barged into the forefront of Dee’s mind as if she wanted to do nothing more than hop into Dee’s body and jump the uninvited man’s bones.

In fact Dee wanted to jump his bones right along with She. A real threesome. And the invisible lightening that zinged from her stone down through her body was…hell, she just couldn’t take it.

Zing! Zap! Kung!

Holy shit! Knees trembled as her head filled with raunchy thoughts too ridiculous to even contemplate. And they all surrounded getting laid. Hard. Fast. And right damn now. And the star of her fantasy stood right in front of her. And she couldn’t stand him.

“Uh, e-excuse me. I’ll be right back. Please make yourselves comfortable,” Dee said, motioning to no one in particular.

With each step the crotch of her now damp panties bunched and rubbed against the flesh swelling between her legs. Now when was the last time she got aroused just being in the presence of two strange men? One she’d never met and was surely old enough to be her father, if she’d had one, and the other man she’d seen and heard plenty of but didn’t want anything to do with.

The smile pasted onto her mouth was as stiff as three day old royal icing, but she had to keep it there just long enough to escape.

In three steps she was out of her office and headed to her assistant’s desk. Gods, why couldn’t she move faster? Her feet felt mired in hardening cement as if they needed to stay in that room. Not good. Sooo not good.

When Dee stormed around the corner the surprise in her assistant’s eyes was palpable. Good. That made two of ‘em.

“Kare, what the hell is Faison Dow doing…?” Dee paused and mentally kicked herself as the pieces clicked into place. “Oh, duh. Dow, as in related to my client? Aw, fuck-a-duck.”

“Say again, Miss Isaacs?”

Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Leah Braemel
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
Juliana Stone
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Jody Wallace
Lauren Dane
Juliana Stone
Kelly Maher
Shelli Stevens
Victoria Janssen
Moira Rogers

Excerpt from HATSEPT HEAT
Vampire Council of Ethics Bookk 3
By TJ Michaels
Samhain Publishing, Inc., Published 2009
All Rights Reserved

“Shin?” Kenoe sent the query quietly into her head. She sent back reassurance that nothing was wrong. In fact, if this went as expected, she didn’t think her life could get any more perfect.

Without further ado, Bix signaled the start of the meeting. “So, Shinju, what can I do for you?”

Shinju locked her knees and blurted the words out. “I want to be a Seeker.”

Bix and Alaan both looked at Kenoe, who’d promptly gone ashen. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him that, or any other, shade of gray.

“I can already fight. Max saw to it that I was trained in the arts of war, including hand-to-hand combat and blade training since I was old enough to hold a katana.”

Terror, palpable and vivid, flashed through to her, so strong she almost flinched.

“What? Shinju, a Seeker? Are you crazy?” Kenoe protested. Loudly. His arctic focus on Bix, he lowered his voice to what would have sounded polite except for the dangerous snarl accompanying the words.

“Sir, with all due respect, I do not agree with your even considering drafting Shinju into the corps.”

“Draft?” With the smirk from hell plastered firmly across his mouth, Bix said, “It wasn’t my idea.” His gaze swung a hard left and landed on Shinju.

“Shinju Deni Maruyama,” Kenoe snapped. Hmm, never a good sign when your lover used your whole name in a sentence. “Who the hell put you up to this? Tameth? Carin?”

Okay, now that pissed her off.

“What, I can’t come up with a great idea on my own?”

Kenoe’s jaw clenched and for the first time since he’d run from the debauched harem of his half-brother decades ago, he saw red. Opaque, almost stifling, anger-laced red.

The mere thought of his woman, his human woman, even thinking about accompanying a group of hardened vampires on a rogue hunt sent his blood streaking inward. A heart attack was surely imminent. The next thing Kenoe knew, he was in her face and not at all sure how he’d gotten there from across the room. Her request was so outrageous, he simply didn’t care about propriety.

“Don’t even think about twisting my words, woman. And it’s not a great idea, damn it! It’s stupid and dangerous!”

“Back. The. Hell. Up. And stop yelling at me.”

“Yelling? You’re lucky that’s all I’m doing!” He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she saw either stars or common sense. Instead, he clawed his way toward some semblance of self-control and met her snarl with one of his own. Kenoe didn’t miss the fact that everyone else had backed up a few steps.

“Look, Shin, you are not hunting rogues, period. If you think I’ll permit such a thing you are out of your fucking mind! It’s too dangerous and you’re a human. Not even an enhanced one, like Carin, because you won’t bond with me or take my goddamned blood!” Who cared if the final word had come out a roof-shaking bellow?

“Kenoe Hatsept, are you cussing at me?”

“Look, woman—”

“You think I can’t protect myself because I’m just a plain ole human? Well, prepare to defend yourself!”

Kenoe knew Tameth could have easily stopped Shinju from getting to the blade tucked into the modified sheath that ran along the spine of her trench coat, but his fellow Seeker didn’t even flinch when Shinju went for it. Instead, her lips morphed into a proud parent-type grin. Figured.

Three-foot blade in hand, Shinju dropped into a wide horse stance.

“Shin, what the hell are you thinking?” Kenoe snapped.

“I said,” she gritted out, “prepare to defend yourself.”

With that, the sting from hell streaked across Kenoe’s chest as the blade in Shinju’s hand left a thin trail of blood across his pecs. Damned woman had ruined his shirt. It now hung limply from his body with a gaping diagonal slash across the middle.

“Woman, are you out of your fucking mind? Oh, wait. I already know the answer to that one.”

She didn’t bother to reply, but came at him again, this time her intent clear when her gaze dropped for a split second to a spot just a hair below his waist.

At the last second, Kenoe slipped his own katana out of its back holster and blocked a ruthless slice headed for his groin.

“Damn it, if you ever want to be a mother, watch where you point that thing!”

“Talk is cheap, Seeker. Surely a mere human couldn’t do you any harm. So bring it.”

He laughed and all it did was fire her up more. But there was no help for it. He knew exactly what she was up to. And he must be just as crazy because he felt a feral smile spread across his lips. The sight of her preparing to skewer him turned him on like nothing else.

So the woman was not only a wildcat in the sack…she was a wildcat, period. And a skilled one, he thought as he lowered his katana to block a slice headed for his ankle. He’d expected her to be good given her quietly kept background, which she obviously thought he didn’t know about.

A flux of fierce determination slammed into his consciousness. Shinju’s determination. Why the need to fight him so hard? Why not just let him wrap her up in his love and keep her happy, safe and content for the rest of her days? Suddenly it became clear as polished glass. Bottom line—Shinju needed this. Needed to avenge her brother and be the one to take care of him for a change.

It was something he could relate to all too well, having spent most of his early years with nothing on his mind but revenge. His single-minded dedication to becoming a Seeker was for the sole purpose of dispatching his own brother. And he’d been so consumed, it had almost cost him his soul. He couldn’t let that happen to Shinju. Yet how could he deny her the opportunity to seek what he so thoroughly understood?

Then another thought occurred to him—she’d made her choice. To train as a Seeker, Shinju had to make a commitment to remain among his kind and live as one of them. Live…with him? Permanently, as in bonded?

“Yes, blockhead. Took you long enough,” she hissed into his brain. But that hiss carried with it a dose of love and a dash of humor. “Now, let’s see if you can kick my ass. You win, you make dinner. No McDonald’s.”

That could certainly be arranged. “Snarky-assed woman.”

Enjoy all of this week’s awesome Snippet Saturday authors:
Anya Bast
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Leah Braemel
Jaci Burton
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
Sasha White
Jody Wallace
Victoria Janssen
Elisabeth Naughton

I’ve been talking to some friends of mine about what I would like to see if my book, Carinian’s Seeker-Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1, was made into a movie. The topic of race came up.

The Vampire Council of Ethics series is a multicultural series. And when I say multicultural, I mean REALLY. In fact, the whole series is a nice mix of folks from various backgrounds, races and just about everything. The main couple is of different races. The secondary cast is multi-racial, and even the bad guys get into the mix a bit. In the end, there’s Black, White, East Indian, Japanese, Native American, African, etc.

So here is the question that sent me to the blogs to get your advice:

If the books were made into a TV series or movie (like True Blood) would it matter to you if the main couple in Carinian’s Seeker (white male, black female) was switched around to black male, white female?

The thought from the film maker chicklet was that it is more socially acceptable to see a white female with a black male than the other way around and that swapping the races might attract a larger audience.

But that made me think of the recent Star Trek movie. I mean Spock and Uhura had a seriously hot thing going on. Now how many of us saw that coming? Not me! But did I think it was cool and that the characters made it work? Sure did!

Personally, I like movies that stick as close to the book as possible, but the other argument is that if the acting is done well, will people really care if the races were switched?

What do you think?

TJ

Enjoy this Saturday’s snippet from Egyptian Voyage which just hit the shelves in print. At the end you’ll find a lovely list of other best selling authors that have snippets waiting for you. Happy Saturday!

Love,
TJ

Torrid Tarot: EGYPTIAN VOYAGE
Now in Print
By TJ Michaels, Copyright 2007
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc., All Rights Reserved

Eden sat in the dark in his favorite overstuffed chair in the living room. The local news droned on while a small blue ticker scrolled across the bottom of the screen. He usually watched the screen with more than a little interest in the latest mayhem plaguing whatever port the ship happened to dock at. Tonight, the words of the news anchor, spoken in perfect Portuguese, rolled off him as he idly stroked the smooth bald head of the woman sitting quietly in his lap. She was twenty-six inches of porcelain perfection, clothed in the regalia of ancient Egypt and her station. Today, he’d clothed her in the white fine linen of the traditional shendyt kilt, leaving her caramel brown breasts bare.

He’d had her created with the face of the noble pharaoh, Hatshepsut. Perfectly formed lips and cheeks were free of rouge or coloring. Almond-shaped dark eyes were adorned with even darker liner that brought her face to life. Yes, she was definitely his favorite, his harem master, responsible for keeping the males in his harem in line. Not only was she beautiful and damned good at her job, her ability to interpret the tarot made her beyond valuable. Perhaps he’d keep her long enough to give her a name of his choosing.

Tilting his head, he contemplated the large tarot cards spread out on the coffee table. The surface of each was an exquisite work of art and displayed majestic Egyptian symbols of men and women who’d once ruled the ancient world. Their noble profiles brought a sense of kingship and kinship to him. The background of each was a mix of bold gold, turquoise and lapis blues laid over woven papyrus and set against a midnight deep black. Eying the beautiful tarot, the man stretched out a single finger and stroked the intricate borders of two that were separate from the rest of the deck.

Today, he’d drawn Strength and Justice.

Yes, beloved, you are both.

He looked away from the cards and into the lovely face of the woman who’d spoken into his mind. He still hadn’t figured out how she managed to do that. He could only hear her when she was near, but none of the others before her had ever been able to do even that much. She spoke again, her voice as clear as a summer sky in his head.

The cards proclaim you to be Strength and Justice, to bring balance to this world.
Everything Eden did had the tarot at its center. He never made a move without consulting them. Today, he looked directly at the cards, saw what they were. But what did they mean? It seemed the interpretation of the cards was almost always different from what he intuitively thought it should be. But his Egyptian golden-skinned beauty always explained it all.

Justice, she began in her smooth, seductive voice, is represented by a woman clad in white, a sword in one hand and a balance in the other. She sits on a throne with two lions at her feet. Strength is shown by a woman with a winged golden headdress, clothed in a white robe trimmed with turquoise jewels. A lion stands before her with the headdress of a pharaoh on his head. Strength holds the beast’s mouth closed and he can go no further.

Okay, so what?

Strength, my beloved, is a card of success as long as you retain your instincts and exercise self-control. Justice indicates that all is going as it should. Even if you do not realize it, you’re operating according to a divine plan. This plan is in harmony with you, my love, as well as correctness in your relationships.

Placing a gentle kiss on the top of his harem mistress’s head, his mouth lifted in a wide satisfied smile. All of it sounded wonderful.

“So, who is my goal this time?” he queried, as the usual excitement kindled at the base of his gut. There was nothing like the anticipation of what was to come.
There is a woman who has unbalanced the life of an important male. Her hair is a burnished hue and…

When he’d memorized the description of the female, he rose, placed the harem mistress back on her shelf at the top of the beveled glass cabinet and left the ship. Now he could hunt with precision.

Later that night, as his prey screamed into a hand held firmly over her mouth, he did indeed feel the imbalance of the world shift and groan until it settled into its proper place. The specimen’s sticky blood ran out of a fat hole in her back. It soaked through his shirt and streamed hot and thick over the ridges of his stomach, down to his navel. Yes, all was as it should be.

In spite of his ruined clothes, his chest puffed out with pride when the female took her final breath. Yes, once again he’d brought balance to the world and exacted justice on behalf of all those who depended on him as the rightful protector of the faith.

More snippets from:
Beth Williamson
Cynthia Eden
Elisabeth Naughton
Eliza Gayle
Jaci Burton
Jody Wallace
Kelly Maher
Lacey Savage
Lauren Dane
Marissa Scott
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle Pillow
Moira Rogers
Sasha White
Shelley Munro
Sylvia Day
Taige Crenshaw
Victoria Janssen
Vivian Arend
Shelli Stevens

For more awesome snippets by the most talented and popular authors, read mine then scroll down to the bottom for links to the author pages. Enjoy!

EXCERPT from HATSEPT HEAT
Vampire Council of Ethics Book 3
By TJ Michaels, Copyright 2007
Samhain Publishing, All Rights Reserved

“You ready to eat?”

Boy was he ever, but his stomach and his heart didn’t agree on what that meal should be. In truth Kenoe didn’t give a damn about food right now. Shinju looked utterly adorable with a smudge of flour across her cheek, and a few loose curls stuck to the side of her face. The smudges on her borrowed clothes told part of the story of what she’d been up to.

Obviously catching wind of his curiosity, she motioned toward the sumptuous spread on the table and said, “Well, you said your boss sent this jet for you and we’re the first to travel on it, right? So I thought we could christen it, so to speak.”

The image of her spread eagle on top of the large and thankfully bolted down table flashed into his head. Dragging his mind out of the gutter kicking and screaming, he forced himself to sit still while Shinju directed the wait staff to clear the hors-de-oeuvres and bring out the main course. Shinju took a plate up to Randall in the cockpit while Kenoe sat and watched in awe as two impeccably dressed chefs brought the food.

Even over the wonderful smells of the various dishes, he still scented Shinju before she re-entered the room. Rising, he pulled out a chair and dropped a kiss on the top of her head as she settled into it.

“Go ahead. Taste it,” she urged with a big, proud smile on her face.

The woman was a wonder. The first meal she’d ever prepared for him in her neat little kitchen had made his stomach sing. This meal might just make his whole body break into a chorus of “One Singular Sensation.” And hallelujah, none of it was Japanese food!

Instead his plate was piled with seafood lasagna with a sauce so savory and light, the scent alone made his mouth water. The pasta was accompanied by a simple green salad garnished with fresh green peppers and tomatoes, tossed in a sweet ginger vinaigrette. The spices were unique, far from the typical basil and parsley in Italian-style cuisine. No, this was a culinary orgasm going off in his mouth. Simply delicious.

Cynthia Eden
Lauren Dane
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle M Pillow
Moira Rogers
Sylvia Day
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Victoria Janssen
Marissa Scott
Maura Anderson
Shelley Munro
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Kelly Maher
Lacey Savage
Mark Henry
Shelli Stevens

I’ve been notified by one of my publishers that Carinian’s Seeker (Vampire Council of Ethics) is going out of print.

This means it will only be available in eBook once the stores (including Amazon and Barnes and Noble) sell or return their current copies. No new copies will be available in print.

This book has received awesome reviews and was also nominated for a CAPA award. So if you’ve been on the fence about getting a print copy of this book, get it ‘fore it’s gone.

TJ
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((¸¸.*´ ..*´ www.tjmichaels.com -:¦:-
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Latest Releases: CARAMEL KISSES, Now Available
DOING IT THE HARD WAY, Pocket Books
HATSEPT HEAT, Vampire Council of Ethics Bk 3

Hi all,

This is really late notice, but the CataNetwork (ecataromance.com) is hosting a Multicultural Day where romance authors who specialize in this genre are coming out to play.

Check out my interview with them by the lovely and talented Donne *smooch* here.

There’s tons of excerpts from everyone, including small press authors and the big New York houses. The Yahoo group loop is here: CataNetwork on Yahoo.

TJ
www.tjmichaels.com

Now available for purchase at Ellora’s Cave!

DA BLURB: Workaholic Sydni should have known better than to step away from work? Going out for a single evening of fun has ended up as a night spent in damn jail!

Drew is aware that the sexy, sultry and brilliant Sydni could care less about getting involved with him. But he needs her. And the perfect opportunity to prove that she needs him just as much comes along. And all he has to do is get her out of jail…and keep himself free in the bargain.

Their desire scorches them, the connection so real and immediate.

But what will they do about the bad guy determined to set them both up? Solve the mystery, of course…and a little misplaced, hot-as-hell sex wouldn’t hurt either.

Fuming in her office a few hours later, Sydni tried to bury her head in some new contracts, a few mundane phone calls to clients and lots of dull paperwork. It wasn’t working. Not even close.

With a hand at the small of her back, she slowly pressed into the tense muscles and rose from her desk. Standing at the floor to ceiling windows, she watched the sunset off in the distance, loving the purples and pinks reflected on the walls of her office. The automatic blinds began to close, slowly blocking out the first twinkling of stars in the clear twilight sky. Must be six o’clock.

In the middle of packing her briefcase and laptop her office door opened and closed with a sharp snap. Sydni didn’t look up. No need. She’d recognize the heady scent of this particular visitor anywhere. Drew. She’d known it was him the second he walked in. Had actually expected him sooner. What had he and Alex been doing all this time? No, wait. Him doing Alex is what she wanted, wasn’t it?

“Want to tell me what the hell that shit was about at lunch?”

A scowl, laid from one end of his brow to the other, accompanied the near snarl wrapped around his words. She pulled a deep breath into suddenly depleted lungs and sighed.

Did she want to try to explain? “No, not really.”

“Too fuckin’ bad, baby. I want to know what’s going on in that beautiful, though no doubt misguided, brain of yours. Why did you bail on me and leave me with that…that woman?” He motioned furiously toward the door. His motions so sharp, even the sleeve of his exquisitely cut suit jacket snapped unhappily as he moved with irritated motions.

And the man was changing colors. If he got anymore pissed off he’d turn cherry-colored and blow a major gasket. In as soothing a voice as she could muster, Sydni spoke quietly and with conviction. Sort of.

“She’s perfect for you, Drew. Alex is settled in her career, smart, beautiful, perky.” There was that “P” word again. “And closer to your age.”

“Damn it, Sydni, if I wanted someone my age I’d have them. And yes, I said them. Why the hell do we have to keep having this conversation?”

“Look, Drew, I really don’t want to do this with you right now,” she sighed with annoyance, her expression hard and determined to steer him clear of her. After she got rid of him, she’d dive into some work. That always took her mind off of things. Pitifully, it was all she really knew how to do, and do well. Relationships? Not so much.

“Well that’s too damn bad because we’re going home and we’re going to deal with this. Then I plan to fuck you until you realize that I don’t want anyone in my bed but you. Hell, I can’t handle more than you.”

“I have plans this evening. I’m not going home right now,” she lied. Hell, all she’d done before meeting Drew was work, go home and work some more. Now after having him in her life, even for just a few weeks, the last thing she wanted was to totter around that big house alone…working.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to follow you all over town until you end up at home. If I have to stay on your ass until you walk it through your door, Sydni, I have no problem with that.”

Storm clouds remained in his wake after he yanked open her office door and carefully closed it behind him. Well, she could say this for the man—he had class enough to keep their argument private rather than slamming the heavy wood door and letting the whole division know.

Damn it, there must be something else to do other than drive around pretending to be out on the town. Maybe she’d straighten up her office? After a brief look around that idea lost appeal considering Tsubaki-san kept the place spic and span. Perhaps she’d have dinner out at that little jazz scene she enjoyed all too seldom? Sigh. No denying the fact that she simply didn’t want to be in her own little one-some. She flipped her cell phone open, started to call Charli, then changed her mind. Sister or not, Charli would never understand what she’d been trying to do during that moment of—oh yes, she could admit it now—insanity when she’d pretty much abandoned Drew to the possibility of landing in Alex’s arms.

Abandoned. God, that sounded so dramatic. Besides, pushing him toward Mizz Voltier had seemed like a perfectly great idea at the time. But after seeing the disappointment and indignant anger in Drew’s beautiful grays, her grand idea now seemed plain old stupid.

Second guessing herself had never been a habit. But now it seemed as if every action, every idea, every thought was all wrapped up around a man she shouldn’t want. The problem was the reasons she shouldn’t want him were beginning to make less and less sense the more time they spent together.

Sydni took the elevator down to the second floor, then walked across the glass and steel skyway that connected Expedex to its private parking lot across the street. Row upon row of empty spaces left no doubt there was nobody else in the lot this late. The sound of her heels click-clicking against the pavement seemed to come from a million echo-filled miles away. Regardless of what Drew had said in her office, he’d obviously changed his mind about tailing her home. Could she blame him if he’d decided to say to hell with her and her emotional roller coasting? Wanting him one day, then tossing him at some other woman the next? Distracted, and practically running into one of the lampposts, Sydni made her way to her car. There was a hole in her stomach forty feet deep, and not from hunger, though she’d thrown away most of her lunch. What was she supposed to do now that she’d hurt Drew so deeply?

What a mess.

Briefcase tossed into the passenger seat of her car, Sydni climbed in, locked the door, fastened her seat belt and sat studying how the fluorescent lights shone over her car. On yet another forlorn sigh, her eyes slid closed and the marble-sculptured face of the man who had her tied up in knots appeared, then morphed from mad, to happy, to horny and back again. Suddenly her mind veered to the last time he’d slept over at her house. Wait, it had just been last night. Yet already her body missed him so much it felt like forever since he’d touched her, caressed and licked every inch of her skin. Just the thought of his talented hands working magic across her sensitive ass sent a warming pool of need to gather at the entrance to her suddenly glowing pussy.

The phone rang. Her heart jetted up into her throat.

“This is Sydni,” she stammered, quickly masking her shock with a calm “you’re bothering me” timbre—the one she used to use on Charli when she was younger. Didn’t work worth a damn now, but it still sounded good and solid.

“Move it, Sydni. I only have so much patience and you are pushing it, baby.”

She looked up and there he was. He’d pulled his car right up to hers and she hadn’t even noticed. No, you were too busy imagining his pole of a cock.

“Tantrums don’t suit you, Drew,” she blew out on a loud breath, then snapped the phone shut, amazed at how gorgeous the man was even when he was pissed off. Peeling out of her parking space, Sydni was glad he couldn’t see her biting her lip trying not to chuckle.

And true to his word, the man stayed on her ass all the way to her house.

In fact, instead of parking on the street like he usually did, when the garage door went up Drew pulled inside, right into the empty space next to her. She cut the engine, let the door down and slowly got out of the car. Drew was there to take her hand and help her out.

He reached for the briefcase in her hand. It was a sweet gesture for him to carry her things inside. Allowing him to take the case from her suddenly nerveless fingers, she lowered her head. His words had her snapping it back up.

“You won’t need this, Syd. No working tonight, except with me.” Then he tossed the thing into the back seat, slammed the car door, and pulled her in his wake.

“Look, Drew, I’m not one for being manhandled, damn it. Let go of my hand, or slow the hell down.”

He paused in the hallway leading from the garage door into the house, looked down at her feet and growled. The heat in his gaze flared, then ratcheted up a notch to flat out blazing.

“Damn, I’d forgotten you were wearing those fuck-me pumps. When I saw you put them on this morning I wanted to drag you back to bed and fuck you silly with nothing on but those sexy-as-hell shoes.”

“What the hell does that have to do with what I just said?” She scowled for all she was worth, but his one-sided “I’m gonna wear you out” grin had her knees practically knocking together to keep her cunt from twitching. Damn man.

This round is closed…