Ravaged Promo Blog Hop - 5 blogs, 10 authors, 10 copies to be won!

Welcome to the Ravaged Author Blog Hop!

To celebrate the release of Ravaged this weekend the authors have done a little Q&A hosted by five of the authors on their blogs. My guests are authors Leona Bushman and Persephone Jones. 

Each blog features two interviews and if you comment you have a chance to win one of 10 PDF copies of Ravaged kindly donated by all the authors. Comment through Monday, August 6 for a chance to win; winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday.

The blog links can be found below, so please go and check out all the interviews. 

SJ Thomas - http://sjthomaswpr.weebly.com/blog.html

Silvia Violet - http://silviaviolet.com/blog/

DF Krieger - http://dfkrieger.blogspot.co.uk/

Persephone Jones - http://persephone-jones.blogspot.co.uk/

Annabeth Leong - http://annabethleong.blogspot.co.uk/

Persephone Jones

About the Story

Title of your story, main characters and what it is about?

My story is titled “Heart of Stone” and it features Sabra Pearson, a journalist who falls in love with Griffin Lux, a multi-billionaire with a dark secret. An afterhours incident brings them closer than they could ever imagine.

Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

I started thinking about shifters and wanted to write about something a little different. I love gargoyles and Grayson and Sabra kind of popped into my head. The rest is history. And hopefully, enjoyable reading.

Favorite line: 

His moist sigh in her ear made her wet between her thighs. “Make a stone of your heart, Sabra.” Dear God, let home be right around the corner. “Then make a fire of your body.”

About the Author

How long have you been writing and how did you become a writer?

I’ve been writing since I was a little girl. I started consciously working toward publication after I graduated high school. It took years of hard work, but I’m finally achieving my goals.

Have you got anything else out/due out?

I have recently submitted another short story for Breathless Press’ Crimson anthology. I am very excited to think what’s on the horizon for me as an author.

Top tip for writing/publishing?

Read. You were a reader before you were a writer and chances are, it’s why you’re a writer. If you write, call yourself a writer. Don’t wait for others to validate what you do. Keep at it. There’s something to be said for the breed of people that become authors. With the exception of the occasional overnight success, most of us will shed various amounts of blood, sweat and tears before we reach our goals. Do not give up. What will set you apart from the next writer is what you do after you file away that rejection letter.

Just for Fun

If you were a shifter what animal would you change into?

If I had the choice to be any shifter, I think I would be a werewolf. I feel a special kinship to wolves and always felt the werewolf was the unsung hero of many a horror movie.

Favorite food and drink?

Other than Coca-Cola, I love iced tea. If I could have one drink for the rest of my life, that would be it. I love food of all kinds. As a Texan, Tex-Mex is close to my heart (or should I say, stomach?). I adore homemade spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast, a good Chinese buffet and love sushi. Sweets are my weakness, dark chocolate especially. Brownies are a gift from God.

Favorite movie?

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool horror buff. I have a large collection of horror DVDs and am constantly on the lookout for more. I’m fond of good science fiction, too.

Boxers or Briefs?

It’s not the package, it’s what’s in it.

Finish this sentence: I have never...

been any further west than San Antonio. Seriously. I’ve traveled extensively throughout the East. I’d love to visit Colorado, Arizona, California and Washington.

Stalker Links:  

Twitter:  @PersephoneJones

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/persephone.jones.73

Blog:  http://persephone-jones.blogspot.com/

Leona Bushman

About the Story

Title of your story, main characters and what it is about?

Hi. Barely There is the name of my shifter story. The two main characters, a lone werewolf, Bill Fang, and a single mom werebear Fern Bextrum, come together in a dangerous situation. As they talk, sparks fly and the rest…You'll have to read the book. But I will say, it's HOT HOT HOT!

Note: This is a bit of a prequel for The Ulfric's Mates and introduces the werebears and Bill whom we will continue to see in the series.

Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

I had a contract for The Ulfric's Mate and used this as an awesome chance to fill in some side stories. The kind I always want to know about when I'm reading my favorite series.

Favorite line:

She came hard, screaming into the forest, ending on a small growl of her own as he kept pounding into her, his engorged dick like an engine piston that was revved too high.

About the Author

How long have you been writing and how did you become a writer?

I've been writing all my life. I used to tell my siblings stories. But, I became serious about 4 years ago and started learning about the life of a writer.

Have you got anything else out/due out?

The Ulfric's Mate (Book 1 in The War of the Weres Series) is already out. I have an erotica, Rick Sexed up the Doc coming out November 23 and I'm furiously trying to finish another short side story that'll hopefully come out this year.

Top tip for writing/publishing?

I have two, depending on you. One, NEVER GIVE UP, and two, READ. READ. Read.

Just for Fun

If you were a shifter what animal would you change into?

Werejaguar

Favorite food and drink?

Chocolate and caffeine. But fruit, vegetables, and red meat are also dearly loved.

Favorite movie?

This is so hard for me to answer. My favorite movie depends on my mood and who I'm watching it with. But some of my favorites are The Princess Bride, Man from Snowy River, Serenity, The Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, Repo Man: Rock Opera, Zombie, and The Underworld. There are plenty others. (Star Wars, Star Trek—think geek and I generally like it :D)

Boxers or Briefs?

Commando :D

Finish this sentence: I have never...

Won the Nobel Prize

Stalker Links:

@L_Bushman for Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeonaBushman

Kay Jaybee Guest Post

Thanks for having me on your site today!

So, what is it that makes someone want to be sexually subservient to another? Why do so many people enjoy the total removal of their free will? Even within the bounds of fantasy rather than reality, the concept of becoming a sub to a more dominant partner is extremely popular.

I honestly can’t answer these questions- for one person’s reasons will be totally different from the next. This is a notion however, that Jess Sanders has to come to grips with very quickly as she enters employment at the Fables Hotel...

Hidden behind the Fables Hotels respectable facade, five specially adapted rooms wait; ready to cater for the kinky requirements of its guests.

When Mrs Peters, the mistress of the hotels exclusive entertainment facility, meets the new booking clerk, Jess Sanders, she instantly recognises the young woman's potential as a deliciously meek addition to her specialist staff. All it will take is a little education.

Under the tutelage of the dominatrix, Miss Sarah, Jess learns to cope with her unexpected training schedule, the increasingly erotic chill she experiences each time she survives a new level of correction, and a truly sexy exercise routine.

 Temporarily distracted from her intimidating rule over Fable’s top floor by  an enigmatic artist, Mrs Peters begins to plan how she can secure his obedient assistance, in grooming Jess into the perfect submissive...

Jess soon becomes witness to the willing subjection of fit healthy young men, and successful business men and women, to the whips and spanks of the employees of the hotel’s fifth floor. Only as she begins to understand how their willing lack of control in their fantasy lives helps them cope with their stressful ‘in control’ working lives, can Jess get closer to becoming the submissive assistant Mrs Peters wants her to be.

Crossing the threshold of the room, into which she was being firmly steered by the elbow, felt like entering another world to Jess, or rather, another time. Manoeuvred towards a plush red velvet chaise longue, her eyes darting here and there, the clerk was pointedly sat down.

Trying to ignore the light but persistent pressure of Mrs Peters cool hand against her wrist, Jess took in the reproduction William Morris wallpaper, the heavy dark-wood chest of drawers, the floor to ceiling bookshelves, and the faded brown leather wing-backed armchair. Centre stage, only a few metres from where they sat, was a huge writing desk. Its top was inlaid with a square of leather, a portion of which was covered with blotting paper, an accompanying ink well, pots of ink, and nibbed pens.

Jess was reminded of a museum she’d once visited as a child, where rooms from a variety of different houses had been re-created from a number of historical periods. This room had Victorian study written all over it.

       The silence was beginning to get to her as she waited, perched rather than sat, on the unyielding seat. A faint voice of hope at the back of her head kept telling her that all this had to be some sort of practical joke, but one glance at Mrs Peters made Jess reconsider. Her eyes kept drifting towards the study door. Whatever she had been brought here to witness surely couldn’t begin until someone came in. Twenty seconds later, each one ticked off by the hammer of Jess’s heart beating, the door swung back with a confident push.

       ‘Ah, Miss Sarah,’ Laura rose from her seat, a stern glare at Jess telling her not to move. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Fables has a new member of staff, and I thought it would be a good idea to let her observe one of our sessions.’

       Miss Sarah, her face powdered to an ultra-pale complexion, her curling hair pinned up in the style of a Victorian lady, her exquisite outfit historically accurate down to the small white buttons that fastened her stylish black boots, curtsied at once to her superior, ‘Of course, Mrs Peters.’

       The stunningly slim woman glanced briefly at Jess, her grey gaze only lingering long enough to acknowledge the stranger, without taking in what she looked like or who she might be. Miss Sarah’s indifference, dismissing the office clerk as an unimportant factor in the room, made Jess feel smaller and more anxious than ever.

       The agonising lull continued and Jess’s imagination began to run riot as Miss Sarah sat at the desk in preparation for her client’s arrival. Images of pock-skinned overweight men, panting loudly as they fucked the employees of the fifth floor against the furniture made Jess’s stomach churn, but there was no way out. With a quiet determination that Mrs Peters would have been surprised to know Jess possessed, she thought, if the other members of staff here have survived this part of the tour, then so can I.

       As Mrs Peters returned to both the chaise longue and her application of gentle restraint against the clerk’s arm, Jess’s body stiffened. Someone was knocking on the door. Not daring to face her employer, Jess focused on the figure that, after being granted permission to enter, walked meekly into the study.

       If he hadn’t had his neck bent, his face to the floor with respect for Miss Sarah, who greeted him with a sharp ‘Good Morning’, Jess judged he would have been quite tall. And he was young; not the sweaty, aged bank manager Jess had conjured up in her head, but a man in his late 20s or early 30s, with a shaven face, short spiked ginger hair, and well built limbs. He was dressed as a servant, perhaps a stable hand. Jess was automatically reminded of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Gulping against her dehydrated throat, unwilling to see the sex that she was sure was about to follow, the clerk dropped her eyes, only to have her chin roughly jerked upwards by Mrs Peters, ‘No, child. You will observe. You will learn.’

       The suffocating quiet of the room was broken by the newcomer, who apparently totally oblivious to his audience, was pressed to his knees by Miss Sarah. His head lowered, he was left were he was as the lady sat in the wing-backed chair, her back straight, her chin tilted, her clear eyes filled with disdain as she studied her supplicant.

Jess tried to turn her head away for a second time, but again, had it sharply wrenched back to the scene unfolding before her. She felt incredibly hot despite the general chill of the room, and wished she could take off the thick jumper that was so essential in her cold little bookings office.

       Miss Sarah stood again, her abrupt movement making Jess jump and Mrs Peters smile with sardonic approval. ‘You know why I have called you here, Master Paul.’

       ‘Yes, my lady.’ The words were spoken with humility, but Jess heard every word. It was like being in a theatre watching someone dictating well rehearsed lines.

       ‘I believe I’ve had to speak to you before about your time keeping. Twice before in fact.’

       The man’s eyes remained dipped, ‘Yes, my lady.’

       ‘I’m afraid that, as this is not the first time there has been cause to reprimand you, the punishment will be more severe this time.’ Miss Sarah didn’t sound afraid at all. Her cut-glass voice sounded triumphant as she towered over the man, who seemed to be getting smaller, as if he was shrinking against her tone.

       With a rustle of the petticoats hidden beneath her bust hugging dress, Miss Sarah turned from her client and began to search through the desk drawer. Jess held her breath; positive she knew what Miss Sarah was searching for. It has to be a wooden ruler. Jess had read enough erotica to know how these scenarios went. It was almost text book. She wondered if she should have been disappointed, but the hardening of her nipples told her otherwise, as did the tell-tale twitch beneath her skirt. Determined to keep her unbidden arousal secret, Jess privately admonished herself for being so susceptible.

She averted her eyes from the woman at the desk, but Jess couldn’t bring herself to turn them from the manservant. He captivated her. So strong, so masculine. What makes him want to come here and be controlled like this? Why does he pay to be humiliated?

‘It’s fascinating, isn’t it?’ Mrs Peters seemed to be reading her mind.

Jess felt goose pimples sprinkle her flesh as her employer continued to speak in whispers, her warm breath tickling Jess’s ear, ‘He’s a strong young man. He is good looking. He could dominate any girl he chose, and yet here he is, getting his rocks off by crouching in obedience before a powerful woman.’

Jess opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She didn’t know what to say; or even if she was permitted to speak. Instead she flicked her attention back to Miss Sarah, who’d finished her deliberately protracted hunt through the desk, and now held, not a ruler, but a short handled white whip.

‘Assume the position, Master Paul.’ Miss Sarah stood proud, the whip resting naturally in her palm, as the young man approached the desk and dropped his breeches.

He was about to place his chest against the desk, when Miss Sarah interrupted him. ‘I think today, as we have visitors, you should move to the other side of the desk.’

Her guest looked up, his face crimson as he allowed himself to properly register the presence of Jess and Mrs Peters for the first time.

Master Paul said nothing as he shuffled awkwardly forward, his clothing around his ankles, giving Jess her first glance of his rigid cock. She released an involuntary sigh as she saw it; tight, textured, its smooth tip glistening with want. Jess didn’t think she’d ever seen a man so turned on. To her surprise, she realised she would have felt disappointed if she hadn’t been able to see his dick.

‘Magnificent isn’t he?’ Mrs Peters appeared amused as she regarded the clerk, the fingers around her wrist allowing her to feel every beat of Jess’s fastening pulse, ‘I think you should pay close attention, Miss Sanders. If the speed at which your blood is pumping is anything to go by, you are going to enjoy this...’

If you would like to discover how Jess learns to cope with her new life, and the concept of willing humiliation, and the pleasure that can come from such behaviour, The Perfect Submissive is available in paperback, as an e-novel, and as an e-trilogy (Part1- Hidden Agenda, Part 2- The Art of Submissive Survival, Part 3- Room 54)

Thanks again for letting me visit today

Kayxx

Bio-   Kay Jaybee wrote the novel The Perfect Submissive (Xcite 2012), and the novellas A Sticky Situation (Xcite, 2012), and Not Her Type: Erotic Adventures With A Delivery Man (OCPress, 2011). She’s also written the anthologies Yes Ma’am (Xcite e-books, 2011), Quick Kink One and Quick Kink Two (Xcite e-books, 2010), and The Collector (Austin & Macauley, 2008). Kay has had over 60 short stories published by Cleis Press (inc. Best of Best Women’s Erotica 2, Best Women’s Erotica 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012; Best Bondage 2012, Sweet Love, Smooth, Gotta Have It, Sweet Confessions), Black Lace (Sexy Little Numbers), Mammoth (The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Erotica), Xcite (inc.Ultimate Sins, Boy Fun, Power Play, Threesomes, Finger Music), Penguin (Oysters and Chocolate; Erotic Stories of Every Flavor), Seal (Oysters and Chocolate; Nice Girls, Naughty Sex),and Sweetmeats Press (Immoral Views). She is awaiting the publishing of her second novel, Making Him Wait (Sweetmeats Press, 2012) Details of her work past, present and future can be found at www.kayjaybee.me.uk

Buy Links-

http://www.xcitebooks.co.uk/Book/6295/The-Perfect-Submissive.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1908262788/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=lucyfelthouse-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1908262788

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1908262788/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=lucyfelt-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1908262788

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-perfect-submissive-kay-jaybee/1106030285?ean=9781908262783 

The Loki in Lughnasa

A few weeks ago, when Tom Hiddleston's erotic reading of Tennessee Williams' The Seven Descents of Myrtle came up in a prostitution-related post, I mentioned Hiddleston-portrayed Marvel Comics character Loki. The Norse god Loki, I said, sometimes has female characteristics, and is the mother of several offspring.

I got curious about the details of this story, so I turned to my trusty Hamilton's Mythology. It mentioned Loki's part in the death of the beloved god Balder, but says nothing of his children. I then turned to Myths and Folklore by Henry I. Christ, which is the textbook from which I studied mythology as a high school freshman and sophomore, ages ago. It, too, was of limited usefulness. It said, "Although handsome, he was fickle and unreliable. His three offspring were the wolf Fenris, the Midgard serpent, and Hela, or Death." 


Hela is often depicted as half alive and half dead. Hela is the death-goddess, an equivalent of Persephone and Kali. Her Celtic equivalent was Scotia, or Scatha, and Scotland was named after her. Also referred to as Skald in Norse mythology, she had to be appeased with the yearly blood sacrifice of a hero. 

I said Loki is the mother of this weird little brood, but Encyclopedia Mythica says Loki is the father and that their mother is the giantess Angrboda, Loki's mistress. Loki was the mother of the eight-legged colt Sleipnir; he took the form of a mare to distract the stallion Svadilfari, which belonged to a giant who opposed the gods. In doing so, Loki saved Freya from having to marry the giant. 


Then I went to Barbara G. Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Walker writes, "Like many of the oldest gods, Loki was bisexual [in the sense that he was sometimes a male and sometimes a female]. He even succeeded in becoming a mother, though only after he swallowed a woman's heart to acquire the power of birth-giving...Loki's offspring was the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, spirit of death, a symbol of the gallows tree on which Odin rode." 

Walker notes that Loki was sometimes identified as "Logi," or "flame." She associates Loki-as-Logi with Lug (or Lugh), the Celtic god of fire, who was celebrated at Lughnasa/Lughnasadh (Lug's games) on August 1st. Hey, that's tomorrow!


Lug, it seems, is an Irish version of the annually dying and returning god. He's the son of Dagda (the great Irish father-god, equivalent to Odin), but also a reincarnation of Dagda. His mother/lover throughout the incarnation cycle is Tailltiu, the earth-goddess. At her eponymous Irish city, Taillten, the annual fair resulted in temporary marriages that lasted a year and a day. Lughnasa is reminiscent of Beltane - a cross-quarter holiday (the halfway point between a solstice and an equinox) at which a stage of the harvest is celebrated with symbolic acts of human fertility - i.e. sex, and not necessarily with one's usual partner. 

However you celebrate Lughnasa - bread and blueberries are traditional symbols of this stage of the Northern Hemisphere's harvest season - have a great one!

Put Your Drinks Up For Nebraska

On Mondays I hook up with Pinning! at A Night Owl Blog/Baxtron{Life}. On Wednesday, it's Oh, How Pinteresting! at The Vintage Apple.



Honestly, the first thing I think of when I think of Nebraska? Cornhuskers football - as a Notre Dame opponent. One night I stayed at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago the night before the Notre Dame-Nebraska game, and the lobby was a sea of red Cornhuskers sweatshirts. 

As you know, my pop cultural obsession is the Thursday night CBS drama Person of Interest...

...which is why my second-greatest celeb crush (after Christian Bale - always, always Christian Bale) is Jim Caviezel...

...causing me to watch The Thin Red Line (a 1998 film also starring Nick Nolte and Sean Penn)...

...triggering my American literature obsession, which in turn caused me to read James Jones' wartime trilogy, the first book of which is From Here to Eternity...

...causing me to get a bit obsessed with Montgomery Clift, old school Hollywood hottie (visit Clift-Notes on Tumblr to see about a thousand gorgeous pictures of him), born in Omaha, Nebraska. Combine this with the fact that I listen to Lady Gaga every day, and I always be hearin' "You & I" with its reference to "my cool Nebraska guy," I dedicate this Monday Pinterest post to the cool people of Nebraska. Did you know that Marlon Brando was also from Omaha?

So was another dude who merits a shout-out in Madonna's "Vogue" (and "Billionaire" by Peaches), Mr. Fred Astaire. 

Gorgeous Gabrielle Union is also an Omaha native.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser is from Nebraska, and so is Nicholas Sparks. 

The breathtaking and ever-so-talented Hilary Swank is from Nebraska.

So is Marg Helgenberger. Do you get the impression that Nebraska is a seriously good-looking state or what?!

Oh, and Nick Nolte, too. Also from Omaha. Apparently, he was arrested there as a youth for selling fake i.d.s to youngsters interested in buying liquor. Naughty. 

Nolte's character in The Thin Red Line, Lt. Col. Tall, has little to no reservations about trying to force his subordinates, 1st Sgt. Welsh and Capt. Staros, to use C-for-Charlie Company as cannon fodder as they try to recover a crucial airfield from the Japanese army. I'm only about 100 pages into the book thus far, so I haven't really gotten to Tall yet. 

One thing you won't see in the movie: the scene in which the men get drunk off Aqua Velva aftershave mixed with grapefruit juice. Don't try that at home, kids. 

But, of course, no Nebraska post would be complete without Lady Gaga's cool Nebraska guy, Luc Carl. He looks like the kind of guy who would have bought one of Young Nick Nolte's fake i.d.s. 

Please Welcome Back Romantic Suspense Author Amber Lea Easton

"It Takes a Village" by Amber Lea Easton

A while back, I made the mistake of attending a critique group without really knowing the people attending.  I gleefully submitted the first chapter of my work in progress, eager for feedback.  Well,  glee switched to confusion when I received one critique in particular.  A man in the group said that I should eliminate the extra characters, the supporting cast, because they were “of no use to the story” and I should “delete them completely.”  He claimed--in an authoritative, self-important way--that readers only care about the main two characters and that anyone else in the story is a distraction.  

Lucky for me, I know stupid when I see it and ignored his advice.  I can’t imagine reading a novel where there are no other characters surrounding the main two. Now, I understand balance and agree there shouldn’t be so many characters in a story that it’s difficult to tell who the lead is, but a great sidekick or two--and let’s not forget a villain--are essential ingredients for a full-bodied story.  

A cast of supporting characters allows the reader to get a broader view of the world where the hero and heroine live.  Secondary characters answer the questions: How is the hero/heroine perceived by others? How does the hero/heroine relate to his/her family, friends, coworkers?  What kind of people does he/she like to surround themselves with?  A cast adds flavor to the story, serves as a reader’s window into their world, gives backstory without the author needing to “tell it”.  

Heck, even Tom Hanks had Wilson the ball to interact with when he was stranded in the movie Castaway.  And, when he later lost Wilson, I cried.  What would that movie have been like without Wilson?!  Okay, maybe it would have been fine, but, in my opinion, that soccer ball added another layer.  

Cast Away - Lost Wilson (The Movie) by goldrausch

Those secondary characters the man in the critique group wanted me to eliminate were essential to my story.  One was the villain (or not, therein lies the mystery), about to betray the hero later in the manuscript and the other two were also key players in the plot.  If I’d been insecure enough to ditch them, then Riptide wouldn’t be releasing on Wednesday.  

Book blurb for Riptide, a romantic suspense novel, available for pre-order now, official release on August 1.

One violent night shatters Lauren Biltmore’s life. As an anchorwoman, she's accustomed to reporting the news rather than being the lead story. She escapes the spotlight by fleeing to her brother's home in the Cayman Islands. Haunted by nightmares, all she wants is a distraction from reality.

Distraction arrives via sexy screenwriter Noah Reynolds. His take-me-to-bed looks mask a past ripe with scandal. He knows he should stay away from Lauren, especially when the worst night of her life unlocks his writer's block and while he's dealing with a stalker of his own, but ethics are his weakness.

Attraction sizzles beneath Caribbean sunshine. As their relationship grows, Noah's stalker intensifies her torment. Lauren wonders if her paranoia is justified or a carryover from her past. What's real? What's imagined?

Tentative trust is tested as their love is swept up against a riptide of deceit, murder, and revenge. 

Excerpt of Riptide: 

 Damn, the woman did insane things to his rational thinking. He’d decided on the boat that he needed to see her, make things right, take it slow, get tangled up in some strings.  

“I can’t decide if you’re hotter when wet or dry...I’m thinking it might be a tie,” she said. 

Oh, what the hell. With an opener like that, how could a man resist? He crossed the space between them, slipped his hand behind her neck, and kissed her on that mouth he’d been fantasizing about all week. 

Her hands slid over his damp chest while her mouth moved slowly beneath his, her teeth lightly catching his lower lip. Eyes open, they smiled against each other’s mouths.

“Miss me?” he asked.

“It would be very uncool of me to answer that.” She slid her hands over his abdomen and lingered on the towel. “Are you still wanting to back off, or have you come to your senses?”

He braced his hands over her head. The only thing he wanted to do was kiss her slowly and make her beg for more. He looked into her eyes. “You’re making me forget all of the reasons this is a mistake.”

“A sexy mistake.” 

“Good point.” He smiled. “We’re headed into the danger zone.”

“You have no idea how dangerous.” She tugged on the towel, a wicked grin in her eyes. 

Oh, he had an idea about the level of danger. He’d thought of nothing else for the past forty-eight hours and ranked this situation a solid Level Red. Despite that, all he could think about was how good it would feel to have her long legs wrapped around his hips while her nails clawed against his back. He needed to pull the emergency brake. Slow, he reminded himself. Slow. 

He leaned against her, enjoying the way her body arched toward his like a magnetic pull. He tangled his fingers in the hair at the back of her neck. “What do you want, Lauren? After the other night, you know I’m more complicated than I seem.”

“Show me. Let’s make some mistakes together. We’re both consenting adults. What the hell?” she whispered, her teeth pulling at his lower lip. 

“You’re reckless.”

“Does that scare you?” she asked.

Yeah, she was scary reckless, but that turned him on more than he could say. So what if she wanted to use him for a distraction from her own demons? He knew that had something to do with it—the woman oozed intensity. 

Riptide, now available for pre-order directly from Bookstrand.com.  Watch Riptide's book trailer: http://youtu.be/2YWX6FDUbfU 

Follow Amber Lea Easton on Twitter as @MtnMoxieGirl or Facebook to stay up to date on her latest releases, etcetera. 

Read Amber's earlier guest post here: http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/01/wip-wednesday-with-amber-lea-easton.html