Aliyah Burke ~ Sensuality in Romance

I have been loving this series and can’t wait to dive into this one.

Michael Taylor had been talking on his cell phone when he’d stepped into the busy beer tent line.

My latest out in Elle Jame’s Brotherhood Protector Kindleworlds.

Blurb:

Sometimes new things are discovered when honoring past memories.

Caitlyn Schneider loves teaching music even if she is considered a bit of a rebel in the school. On her own time, she enjoys hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail. What she doesn’t expect to find is a man who she’s been unable to forget since he appeared in her classroom.

Rip Walls is a cop, K9 handler, and most importantly, a single father. With his son almost being expelled, the last thing he needs is a sexy distraction, one who his son actually likes, even though she’s not one of his teachers.

A chance meeting with her while he’s out training with his partner and he realizes he can no longer ignore the spark of life she has brought to him. But while the passion is strong between them, will it last once they’re back and amongst the rest of the world?

Excerpt:

The bark came again and her belly knotted up. What the hell kind of dog makes a bark that deep? I’m beginning to question my decision to stay here and not seek shelter up a bit higher.

Like he was part of the low hanging cloud himself, a black streak shot into the barn area, shook himself off, and found a place for himself on the other side of the fire from her.

She stared at him and gulped. Christ he’s huge. Caitlyn wasn’t a huge fan of dogs and hadn’t a clue what kind this massive beast was, but so long as he kept to his side of the fire, she could handle it.

I can, right? Sure, I can.

The pep talk wasn’t quite enough.

The canine yawned and she bit back a whimper at the sight of those huge white teeth gleaming in the flickering light. His ears were erect and the beard covering his muzzle didn’t detract from the feeling that he could rip her in two if he so desired.

“Abel? Damn it boy, I told you to wait for me.”

The dog looked out into the streaming rain and shook his head.

She stifled a chuckle, he may not have spoken English, but she got his meaning perfectly clear. He wasn’t an idiot and wasn’t about to hang out in the weather when he could get out of it.

A man stepped from the darkness into her area and she gasped before she could control it. This wasn’t a stranger. Well, they weren’t friends, but she knew him. Rip Walls. Father to Ian Walls who went to her school.

He slammed her with his intense green gaze. She may not be able to see the color of his eyes right now, but she hadn’t forgotten how intense they were when he’d been in her classroom that day to pick up his son.

“You,” he said. “What are you doing out here?”

She bristled. So condescending. So arrogant.

So hot.

Okay, she didn’t need comments like that from her brain.

“I was enjoying the fire here with Abel. He and I were happy and dry.”

Rip shook his head and she couldn’t tear her gaze away. He took off his own pack and pulled out a towel to get rid of the extra moisture with, then draped it over a hook on the wall to let it dry.

“You and Abel?”

She popped another piece of her sandwich into her mouth and tried not to squeal as Abel rose and walked to her side where he sat and stared at her. “Yes. Me and Abel.”

He crossed his arms. “That so?”

“Absolutely. We were just about to eat. Well, I was about to share with him.”

“That I’d love to see.”

She shrugged and tore off a piece of bread and turkey before offering it to the set of massive jaws so close to her. If I die, it will be my fault.

Abel stretched out and took it from her hand as if she’d been kissed by a rose petal. No teeth, no snapping. She was beyond impressed.

“Really Abel?” Rip grumbled.

“He likes turkey.”

The man glared at the two of them. “He’s not supposed to take food from strangers.”

Cutting her gaze to the dog who’d somehow managed to scoot closer still, she shrugged and reached out to put her hand along his muscled neck, fingers brushing along the wiry coat.

“Figures, both my son and my dog will ignore me for you.”

“Ian is still out there?”

“No, he’s with his grandparents for the weekend.”

“At least, you didn’t leave him out there alone.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She scratched at Abel’s neck smiling when he lay back beside her and yet, she still had easy access to him. It didn’t hurt that Rip’s expression was like he’d just licked an old rotten egg.

“Nothing. You going to stand there all night and try to appear imposing? Or are you going to be a civil human and sit around the fire? I’m here to enjoy myself, not fight about what you may or may not think I meant.”

He rolled a log near and snapped his fingers scowling even more when Abel just leaned into her touch, a low doggy groan of contentment escaping him.

Everything appeared normal to her, however, she trusted Henson over her own puny human senses. Part of her wanted to run and hide but she wasn’t abandoning her research to whomever or whatever hung around her cabin.

“Let’s go.”

He remained right beside her the entire rest of the way. Again, not typical behavior from him. Henson paced with her, nearly in front of her but not as he stayed off the snow shoes.

Small favors.

The chimney pushed out smoke alerting her to the fact at least her place would be warm. It wasn’t the dead drop day for supplies, so why the fuck was she staring at some man’s size twelve boot prints in the snow?

No one hung outside and that meant they could be lying in wait. Inside. She paused outside the door and unfastened the tennis rackets from her feet before leaning them against the wall.

She slowly turned the knob and pushed inside. The warmth hit her at once and she smiled. It didn’t last long for to the left she spied the silhouette. Henson rolled a low growl and Britt held the rifle and cleared her throat.

Her unexpected visitor turned and grip on the rifle slipped a tiny bit. Stormy blue eyes raked over her, igniting places that had been on ice for the past couple of months.

“You,” she blurted.

Right before her, tall and proud, in the small Arctic cabin was none other than the man with who she’d spent the nights under the stars.

Curt Blackwell.

He reached out and plucked the rifle from her hand.

“Rule one, if you’re not going to shoot it, don’t point it at someone.”

She rested a hand atop Henson’s head, reassured by his presence.

“What the three hells are you doing here?”

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A new author for me this week. I’m checking out this gem by A.W. Exley.

Major Erich Stark swore under his breath as a woman shot out from the back of Atlantis and damn near ran over him.

This one is book 2 in The Edge series and here’s a little bit of twin sister Jenn’s time of coming home.

Blurb:

Sometimes what you think you need least is what you need most.

Jenn Meyers has come home to take over the books for the family farm while her father recuperates from his stroke. She thought she’d put this part of her life behind her, trading in the tractor and blue jeans for sports cars and business suits. However, the longer she’s home, the easier it is for her to fit in once more.

Tony Blackstone hasn’t forgotten the woman who stole his heart all those years ago, despite the fact she never even known he was alive. Now that she’s back, all his feelings are resurfacing. Trouble is, she doesn’t seem all that keen on staying. He wants her to stray his way and not back to the big city. Can he show her that her place is here in The Edge, with him?

Excerpt:

Not much later, she was driving through town, heading to one of the bars. There were three of them in The Edge but she pulled in to the first establishment she came to, Perimeter.

Parking her small sports car next to the old, big trucks, she shook her head. Definitely not in the big city anymore. She grabbed her purse and went inside.

The interior wasn’t horrible, but so not what she was used to. Trying hard not to curl her lip in disdain, she made her way to the bar, dusted off the barstool and took a seat with caution.

A pair of dark gray eyes held her interest as their owner watched her. She bit back her irritation, accepting she was spoiling for a confrontation. Probably shouldn’t have come to a bar then, her subconscious cheerfully commented. She ignored it and gazed at the man watching her.

Big and strong. Not like the bartenders she was used to. This man had muscles gotten from hard work, not the gym. They weren’t over-exaggerated. Nope, pretty damn perfect if she had to say anything about them.

His jeans hung around lean hips and hugged tight to powerful thighs. She deliberately skimmed over what lingered in the center there and moved her gaze back up to safer territory. Or so she thought. His shaggy dark brown hair was stylishly messy. Scruff covered his chiseled jaw and she wanted to touch it.

Whoa! That’s not a good thing. Looking was fine. Touching would only lead to trouble, especially in a bar in The Edge.

Trouble was, if he kept looking at her like that, she would be over the bar doing a lot more than touching. He’d ignited a flame inside her that she needed him to extinguish.

Rallying her waning control, she cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Going to take my order or do I wait for someone else to walk by and do their job?”

A hint of a smile teased the corners of his lips. “From the look on your face before you sat, I wasn’t sure you’d want anything in a glass. Perhaps they’re not clean enough for you, Princeton.”

She drew back, furrowing her brow in confusion. “Princeton?”

He grabbed a glass and placed it on the bar in front of her. “That is where you went to school, isn’t it? Pretty sure the bars around there are a bit cleaner, higher end than this.”

He leaned on the counter, ran a hand through his hair, then gave her a smile which damn near melted her panties.

Giving her pussy a severe mental chastisement on how to behave, she narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that? How do you even know who I am?”

He smiled faintly as he entered Novgorod. He loved this city, always had. Out of habit, he headed toward the museum that housed many artifacts from Russian history. Pulling into the parking lot, he shut off the vehicle and got out. The rich smells from a local bakery, Mihailov’s Bakery, reached him, and instead of entering the museum, he spun on his boot heel and strode toward the faded brick building.

Sitting at a small table by the window, Nikolas watched the people move along the snowy sidewalk. He ate his ponchiki slowly as he drank some coffee. Ponchiki were similar to doughnuts. He took his covered in powdered sugar.

As he sat there, the bell over the door jingled. Pulling his attention away from the window, he felt his breath catch in his throat as he gazed upon the woman who’d crossed the bakery’s threshold. His entire body rippled with unleashed energy.

She had a different look from the women in the area, like a brilliant sunburst breaking through after a rainstorm. Her skin was a beautiful shade of amaretto with an added flush from the cold. She wore dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket that stopped at her waist, effectively hiding her shirt from him. There was a slight upturn of her lips as she stood at the counter of the bakery. Her black hair was pulled back and confined by a barrette.

His cock stirred in his pants as he ogled at her. It had been many, many years since his body had responded to a woman with just a look. She flashed a smile to the attendant behind the counter and, then, turned to look around the establishment. The second she faced Nik, he knew.

Settled at the base of her neck sat a crystalline snowflake with a gem in it. Something about it looked familiar. Narrowing his gaze, he honed in on it. His hand began to shake, and he set down his fork before he dropped it. Imbedded in the beautiful pendant was a blue stone. The piece was from the one that used to be on his sword. A long time ago, during a battle, one of the six stones had fallen out. He’d searched long and hard for it, and had found most of the pieces it had been broken up into. All except one. Until now. It didn’t make sense for him to know the stone, but he knew it.

And, he knew who she was. With a restraint he didn’t know he possessed, Nik remained seated and just watched the woman, instead of approaching her and carrying her off over his shoulder like he longed to do.

It was her. She was the one. His woman.