Excerpt 1:
Seth closed the
phone and slipped it back onto his belt and waited.
The feeling
washed over him, coating him along with the cold mist. The
emotion it carried burrowed into his flesh and warmed him. He
hadn’t felt anything this intense since he’d fallen down these
very steps and broken his leg. When he’d woken from surgery,
he’d felt the pull. He’d sworn he was being tugged from his
lover’s arms. There’d never been a memory more clear than those
hours he’d been unconscious, but so very aware of the woman who
shared that time with him—and shared herself so fully.
“Where are
you?” he whispered into the night. It’d been so long since he’d
felt her touch, heard her voice. She’d haunted him so often as a
teenager and even through his wild college years. Hell, she was
probably the one thing that’d kept him alive.
Just the memory
of those wild parties and willing girls made him shudder. At the
time, there was nothing better, nothing more he could have asked
for—except to find the girl he dreamed about. He’d searched for
her everywhere, every vacation he’d gone on with his parents,
all the traveling he did while playing college baseball and even
now with the league. She was the one goal he held above all
else, and the one thing that had kept him going when he’d
sprained his shoulder and sat out half his junior year. She kept
him from drinking himself to death. When he broke his leg and he
was sure his career was over, she had been there. God, she held
him! Stroked his hair when he cried in his sleep, pressed her
lips to his to quiet his insistence that he’d never be able to
run. He’d chase the belief she was real, and out there looking
for him, until he died.
Shaking off the
chill of those memories, he opened his eyes and looked around,
knowing he’d never see her. The storm he expected still lumbered
to the west, preceded by the icy rain that was just starting to
fall. The house was well lit, but where the shadows began, an
opaque fog blurred the landscape and made him feel so incredibly
alone.
Yet she was
here. Part of him. Part of every breath he took, every beat of
his heart, he felt her. He couldn’t ever remember experiencing
these feelings with such clarity, at least while he was awake.
This pull, this recognition is what he’d expected if he ever
found her. He’d instantly feel the connection as soon as he saw
her. His chest tightened, his skin went cold, his palms damp as
he clenched and unclenched his fists.
His breath
shuddered as he breathed out. “Where are you? I know you,” he
said, lifting his hand. “Who are you?”
A brush of
something warm touched his fingertips. He closed his eyes,
memorizing the moment. Then he closed his fist, shook off the
layer of dampness that had settled on his clothes and got into
his truck. He didn’t know what he was chasing, but he wasn’t
going to question it.
His heart
pounded it rhythmically, she’s here.
Excerpt 2:
“Any clue what
time it is?” Kenna asked him as he piled his extra sweatshirt,
spare blanket, first aid and emergency roadside kit beside the
hearth. The dim light of the fire glanced off her silhouette and
made her seem nothing more than a ghost in the middle of the
room.
“Little before
seven.”
“Too early for
bed then.” Even from several feet away, Seth heard her sharp
intake of breath, then watched her turn so her profile studied
the fire. Her throat undulated gently as she swallowed, her
words clearly embarrassing her. “I mean—”
“I know what
you mean. But why don’t we get everything set up anyway. Do you
want to go strip all the blankets off the beds and bring them in
here?”
“I would. But I
don’t think I can find the bedrooms.”
He laughed
then, the amusement in her voice cracking through the
awkwardness that had settled between them. They were taking this
way too seriously. Both of them. “You didn’t happen to find any
candles, did you?”
Her hands
lifted to her hips. He bet her eyes were sparkling with some
sarcastic comment she had the willpower to hold back. Maybe
there was hope for them yet.
He had to say
it. “You mean you can’t see in the dark?”
“Uh, no. That
particular skill isn’t in my repertoire.”
Shit.
The throaty way she’d formed those words had his mind suggesting
he’d want to explore what her other skills were. He
shifted away from her and dug into his bag to find the
flashlight he’d tossed in there. His hardened cock stretched
against his jeans painfully. His problem. No sense scaring her
off yet again.
“Damn. Mine
either. Hold on, I’m looking for the flashlight.” His eyes were
adjusting to the low light, but that didn’t help him as searched
through his bag by sense of touch. He couldn’t take his eyes off
her.
“You don’t
happen to have a whirlpool tub in there, do you?”
“What?” She’d
moved closer to the fire and he could see the way her eyes
crinkled just slightly at the corner when she laughed. Her lips
were pulled tight into a smile. With the firelight’s reflection,
what he’d considered plain brown hair had come to life with its
own flames of red and gold. She really was beautiful. Maybe not
classically pretty like Samantha, but there was a life that
shone through, lighting up her features. He couldn’t tear his
gaze from her.
“I said,” she
repeated as she knelt down beside him and peered into his bag.
“I wondered if you had a tub in there. You know, Jacuzzi? All I
wanted all day was to get here and soak in a nice hot tub.”
His mouth went
dry. How could this woman be disarming his ability to think,
piece by piece? There was nothing…wrong with what she had said,
but in his mind, he’d watched her slide her shirt over her head,
letting her fingers trace over the smooth skin over her stomach
as she then loosened the button of her jeans. The wicked way she
shook her hips to pull the stubborn denim over those gently
swelling curves…
“The
flashlight. Can I have it?”
He passed it
over, unable to speak, or even blink.
“Thanks,” she
said, leaning so close he could smell her shampoo. Clean. None
of the fancy floral or fruity scents the women of his past had
used. The scent of a woman. He breathed her in, catching a whiff
of the coffee she’d recently sipped and a light hint of subtle
perfume she’d probably dotted to her wrists and neck. Nothing
overpowering. Sexy as hell.
And just as
quickly, she straightened, flipped on the beam and illuminated
the far wall. “Perfect,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
He exhaled. So
much for him staying to make sure she’d survive this storm. It
was he who needed rescuing right now.
