Ross 03 Leave Me Breathless (42 page)
Read Ross 03 Leave Me Breathless Online
Authors: Cherrie Lynn
It takes only a kiss, a caress, to bring back the explosive passion they once shared. But if Shayla can’t find a way to break through the bitter walls around his heart, it just might destroy them both. Again.
Warning: This story contains a stubborn woman intent on seduction and an alpha male with some naughty ideas of payback. Let the fireworks begin!
Enjoy the following excerpt for
Vance’s Rules:
Watching the emotions flit across Shayla’s expressive face brought Vance back to the first moment he’d seen her. It was in Biology II, and Shayla had been wearing a demure white blouse and a pair of loose jeans. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, little strands hanging around her face. At first, he’d thought her mousy and sort of forgettable. It hadn’t taken him long to start imagining what her slight curves would feel like pressed up against his body.
He’d flirted with her, and she’d blushed. It’d turned him on. He’d spent too many classroom hours staring at her ass. She’d caused a riot within his hormones, then and now. More than once, he’d imagined taking hold of the little elastic band holding her hair back and yanking it free so he could watch as all her rich, red hair cascaded down her back.
When they’d started dating, Shayla had spoiled him with her sweet, giving nature, Vance admitted to himself. He hadn’t been forced to do much chasing because she’d been so enamored of him. The first time they’d made love, in the front seat of his pickup truck, no less, Vance had been thrown for a loop by the fact she’d been a virgin. Guilt had assailed him. Hell, she’d been innocent until he’d gotten hold of her. The next morning in class, she’d looked at him and smiled. The combination of sweet innocence and naughty vixen had done him in. He’d been toast after that. Vance hadn’t been able to keep his hands off Shayla. If he remembered correctly, she’d been every bit as greedy for him.
Vance knew now what they’d had was puppy love. Shayla was more confident now. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to be quite so malleable this time around. She’d all but tossed a wrench into his well-ordered world with her sudden appearance as it was. He grinned in spite of himself. If she had any clue how intent he could be when he wanted something, she never would’ve stepped foot into his house.
When she sat on the couch in front of the fire and smiled up at him, Vance wasn’t sure whether he wanted to lick her from head to toe or push her out the door.
With resignation, Vance went to the kitchen cupboard and took out a bottle of wine. “Merlot, okay?” he called out.
“Perfect, thank you. So,” she said, “have you always lived here alone?”
It didn’t surprise him she would fish around to see if he’d ever had a woman living with him. Shayla was curious by nature. As he headed back into the living room, Vance hid a grin and decided to tease her a little.
“Actually, Elizabeth lives here with me.”
Shayla squinted. “Elizabeth? But you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“Elizabeth isn’t just anyone. She’s upstairs,” he said as he poured them each a glass of wine, “sprawled out on my bed.”
The look she shot him was downright lethal. “I see. Well, I hope I didn’t interrupt…anything.”
Yep, the woman was definitely jealous. Vance sat down next to her and took a sip of his wine. “Eh, Elizabeth doesn’t mind, but don’t expect her to come down and visit. She’s shy.”
Shayla tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, then started drumming her fingers on her thigh. Vance knew Shayla well. The twelve years she’d been gone hadn’t changed the fact that she only performed that little ritual whenever she was agitated—and without a doubt, right now she was agitated. “How long have you two been together?”
He swirled the wine around in his glass. “Ten years, give or take.” When her eyes grew wide, Vance added, “Shayla, Elizabeth is a cat.”
Her gaze narrowed. “A cat?”
Vance winked. “Yep. A pretty, slightly obese, gray-and-black-striped cat that I found at the animal shelter.”
She placed her glass on the coffee table and crossed her arms over her chest. “You were putting me on.”
Vance’s gaze zeroed in on Shayla’s breasts. She wore a high-necked, peach-colored blouse, and he could just barely make out the outline of her bra. God, how he wanted to see her strip. He imagined licking her nipples, and his cock stiffened. When an image of her naked and beneath him sprang to mind, he quickly pushed it away. “Yeah,” he said as he cleared his throat, “I was. Sorry.”
She chuckled. “You really don’t sound sorry.”
Vance had to tamp down the need to reach over and simply take what he so badly wanted. He needed to do something and quick, or Shayla was going to find herself sprawled out on the couch. To hell with crazy things like logic and good sense. “I’m really not.”
Vance put his wine next to hers on the coffee table in front of them, then scooted closer. When he took her in his arms, he noticed the shock registering in her eyes. “W-What are you doing?”
“When you came here, did you want more than a clear conscience, Shay?”
She closed her eyes tight and nodded. “Yes.”
Vance’s blood heated. “Do you still have feelings for me?” he asked, all but holding his breath.
Her green eyes opened and held his captive. “I don’t know, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about you over the years.”
It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was enough that he wanted to shout in triumph. “Maybe we should get reacquainted, then. See where things go.”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Vance cupped her face in his hand and drew her close until she was nestled against him. “Let’s start this off right, shall we?” he murmured as he dipped his head and tasted her for the first time in what seemed like forever. Oh, hell, yeah. The woman was made for him. God, he’d missed her taste. Her scent. Her sweet, bow-shaped mouth. No woman had ever gotten to him the way she did. It was as if with a single kiss the years melted away. His sweet Shay. It pissed him off that she got to him so fast, so easily.
Vance locked his thoughts away and devoured Shayla’s plump lips. He licked, torturing them both with ideas of more. Then he teased his tongue back and forth over the seam, thrilled when she parted them for him. Only him. It was a small sign of surrender, but Vance would take whatever he could get. She twined her arms around his neck, and her curves melted against him. He ached to sink into her hot pussy. To bury his dick deep and feel her shudder all around him as they loved each other.
He moved until she was lying back over the cushion, his body covering hers. He accidentally kicked the leg of the coffee table, and the wineglasses shook. Shayla stiffened. She began to push him away, and Vance let her, but only so he could taste the delicate skin on her throat. His hand wrapped around the slim column. He licked a spot behind her ear, and she moaned his name. His cock grew hard as stone, and he let loose a low groan of need.
“Wait,” she murmured. “Please.”
Vance pulled back and looked into her eyes. Her need tore him up, but there was a good amount of apprehension there as well. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“It’s too fast. Just this morning, you were ordering me to leave.”
Vance smoothed his palm down the side of her body until he was clutching her hip. He squeezed and felt her tremble. “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?” He held himself in check, giving her the ultimate decision.
Her answer was pure Shayla. “I want you like crazy right now, but it can’t be merely sex. There has to be more between us.”
He frowned down at her. “It’s not just a quick fuck I’m looking for here.”
Leave Me Breathless
Cherrie Lynn
Leather and lace don’t strike sparks. Or do they?
It’s Valentine’s Day, but Macy Rodgers isn’t feeling the love. Aside from a torrid, one-night fling in a backseat a few months back, her love life has been sorely lacking, but fortunately she has devious friends who feel like playing Cupid. Wouldn’t they be shocked to learn that the match they’ve made for her is the same one that steamed up the back of that ’69 GTO…
Seth “Ghost” Warren has just returned to town after an extended absence. Between his grandmother’s failing health, his job as a tattoo artist, his band’s gigs, and a crazy ex who won’t leave him alone, he’s stretched thin. Cautious cowgirl Macy is the last thing he needs thrown into the mix.
She’s all country, he’s all heavy metal—and Macy knows that if anyone can propel her out of her rut, it’s Seth. But when their worlds collide, it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll survive with their hearts intact.
Warning: Contains explicit sex, graphic language, road trips, troublemaking exes, emotional baggage, and an unconventional but exceptionally hot hero tatted and pierced for your pleasure…
eBooks are
not
transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Cincinnati OH 45249
Leave Me Breathless
Copyright © 2012 by Cherrie Lynn ISBN: 978-1-61921-379-1
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: November 2012
Table of Contents
Look for these titles by Cherrie Lynn
