Well, as you know, we’re off plotting, so I thought I’d leave you all with something fun to read. I can’t tell you how much I loved this fairy tale Blaze, and how much I’m looking forward to plotting another one with the other monkeys in Florida. Maybe this excerpt will give you a glimpse of why.
PS: This book will be in stores within about 2 weeks, but if you can’t wait, you can order it right now from www.eharlequin.com and get it sent right to you. Enjoy!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Once again, Scarlett was having the loveliest dream.
This time, though, she was conscious enough to acknowledge it wasn’t a dream. She really was lying naked in an incredibly comfortable bed, rubbing her bare skin against the silky sheets.
The only thing she had to think about for a moment was whether she’d imagined the incredible lovemaking that had taken up a good bit of the afternoon or not.
The warm, hard body in the bed beside her said not.
“Mm,” she groaned, without opening her eyes. Reality had been so much better than anything she’d ever dreamed about. Hunter had given her more physical pleasure than she had known it was possible to experience. Twice.
She tucked in closer to him, wanting more of the intimacy that seemed so natural between them, and which she’d never felt before. He might have been a stranger to her a short time ago, but physically, she already somehow felt connected to him.
It wasn’t just the amazing sex. The draw went deeper than chemistry. The soft whispers and quiet conversation they’d shared between bouts of lovemaking still warmed her. Maybe it was because of how safe she felt with him, how much she enjoyed teasing him into one of those rare smiles. Maybe because he wouldn’t let her get away with too much and she wouldn’t let him glower his way out of anything.
They had something. Something nice. Something she wanted more of.
More sex would be good, too. God, she was a glutton. Dying of orgasm, wouldn’t that read well in her obit? Yet as far as deaths went, it would have to be pretty high up on the list of best ways to go.
Lifting a bare thigh, she slid it over his legs. But instead of warm male skin, she felt rough fabric. He’d apparently gotten up and dressed at some point. She’d been so exhausted she’d fallen into a deep sleep and hadn’t even noticed. “Why did you bother?” She ran a hand lazily down his chest. “I’m just going to rip your clothes off again.”
Repeating that as boldly as possible, she moved her hand down to cover the crotch of his jeans, cupping the massive bulge there. Oh, yeah. Their sex drives were definitely compatible.
“You might have to carry me out of here the way you carried me in,” she said as she caressed and toyed with him. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to bring my legs together after today.”
He chuckled, the sound making his chest rumble a little.
Yawning, she murmured, “What time is it?” She no longer felt warmth from the streaks of sunlight that had been pouring around the edges of that heavy window blanket earlier. And even without opening her eyes she could tell the room was dark.
Or maybe that was because her face was buried in the neck of her sexy Cajun lover.
Mm. Wanting to taste him again, she pressed her mouth to the hollow of his strong throat, feeling the rhythmic beat of his pulse against her lips. The scrape of his grizzled jaw against her skin made her shiver. Just as it had when it had so deliciously brushed against her inner thighs a little while ago.
Now, though, it felt particularly rough, like his five o’clock shadow had just struck midnight. She might go home reddened and sore. Well, actually, she already knew she was going home wonderfully sore, for different–delightful–reasons.
“You need a shave.”
Rubbing her cheek against his jaw, she realized something. He wasn’t grizzled. He was almost bearded. And unless he was some kind of Chia pet who sprouted when water was poured on him, she had no idea how that could have happened in a few hours.
Her heart skipped a beat and her breath turned to a solid lump in middle of her throat. She tried to swallow it down, willing her rising panic away, without any luck.
What if this isn’t Hunter?
You’re crazy.
But what if she wasn’t?
Finding some deep well of courage, she slowly lifted her eyelids. She first noticed the swarthiness of his skin, the roughness of the thick shirt covering his enormous shoulders. Hunter was a big guy, but she didn’t remember his shoulders being twice as wide as her own.
Tilting her head back a little more, she spied that beard. Not golden, as she’d expect Hunter’s to be. Dark, almost black.
Oh, God. She was in serious trouble.
Inch by inch, her gaze moved up, taking in the strong nose, the slashing cheekbones, the thick, almost jet-black hair hanging in disarray around his shoulders.
And the blazing brownish-black eyes staring down at her.
“You,” she whispered.
It was the man she’d seen in the woods. The killer.
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
Subscribe to Posts 
Comment
Another great excerpt! Can’t wait to read the whole thing.
Comment
G’mornin’, Stacy. I figured I’d be first since I’m up at the a$$-crack of day to get my eboarding pass for my flight to Florida tomorrow. I salute you!
Dang it, ya’ll. Stop writing for a little while, ‘kay? Until I get my TBR pile tamed? *goes to order Leslie’s book*
Oh, and have a great time!
Comment
Now THAT is a great excerpt.
Plot On!
Cher
Comment
:freezin :freezin At least that should warm some of us up!!
Comment
I love that eharlequin does early release. I’ve already read Leslie’s story and loved it! I just started Julie’s Something Wicked this morning.
Comment
I ordered it a week ago and can’t wait for it to come!
Comment
To take a quote from “Gossip Girls”
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!
:lips:
Comment
I can’t wait to get this book. I need to put my order in!
Sorry Silver! Plotmonkeys, please do not stop writing books. The TBR pile can always use another!!! 8O
Have fun plotting! Hope the weather there is good we broke records around here yesterday! It was 84 degrees, hot!! We need rain!! :rain
Comment
Wow. What a great excerpt! I’m really looking forward to reading this one.
Comment
WOW! Great Excerpt! I will be definitely looking for this book. So far, I haven’t found Carly’s new book at my ususal haunts.
Comment
Wow! OK, gotta go get a copy of that!!