Jun 11, 2011

Sunday Smooch

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a sizzling smooch from The Billionaire's Bedside Manner by award-winning Desire author Robyn Grady, but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- jacque!


Congratulations, jacque! Can you please contact Mel Teshco at

melteshco (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) au

and she'll send you a copy of Ice-Cold Lover.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from The Billionaire's Bedside Manner by Robyn Grady ...

An unexpected visitor was not something billionaire Mateo Celeca wanted to deal with on his vacation. Especially one as beautiful and mysterious as Bailey Ross. She claimed his grandmother had sent her, so he offered her a place to stay. But there was no way he was leaving his "guest" alone at his mansion. If Bailey needed a refuge, she'd come with him…to Paris.

Being with Mateo soon made Bailey forget all the reasons she'd vowed to avoid romantic entanglements. But falling into bed with him could lead her dangerously close to revealing all her secrets…and falling in love.




[Set-up: Mateo Celeca felt inconvenienced when Bailey Ross unexpectedly landed on his doorstep. But after offering a place to stay while she sorts herself out – after spending time with her, introducing her to his friends – Mateo begins to look at Bailey not with suspicion but desire. When they arrive home from an evening out, the emotions kindling between them these past days and nights ignite into a fire neither can – or wants – to contain… ]

The tall double doors of Mateo’s suite were open. He didn't bother to kick them shut after he'd carried her through. Nor did he switch on any lamps. What she could make out in the shadows was courtesy of the light filtering in from the hall as well as the moonbeams slanting through a bank of soaring arched windows that looked out over that garden and its statues below.

He stopped at the foot of his bed and his voice dropped to a low rasp. "This is what you want?"

Instinctively, her palm wove around the sandpaper of his jaw. She filled her lungs with his scent then skimmed the pad of her thumb over the dent in his chin. "Yes," she murmured.

His chest expanded, his grip tightened then he lifted her higher in his arms as his head came purposefully down. When his mouth claimed hers, Bailey couldn't contain the moan of deepest desire the sensation dragged from her throat. She didn't want to contain anything. And as his mouth worked magic against hers and his beard grazed and teased her skin, she pressed herself up and in, needing to feel even closer.

Needing him as close as it got.

Her fingers wound through his hair while his throat rumbled with satisfaction and the kiss deepened. Even as her mind and body raged with desire, she was lucid enough to recognize the simple truth. Whatever it was that had sparked when they'd met, it had grown to a point where now they were downright hungry for each other. Starving for each other's touch in a primal nothing-held-back, nothing-taboo, kind of way. She could never get enough of this burn…of the flames that already leapt and blazed near out of control.

When his lips gradually left hers, she felt dizzy. Her eyes remained closed but she heard and felt his breathing. At the edges of her mind, she wondered…why was this coming together so intense? So combustible?

He dipped to sit her on the edge of the mattress. With moonlight spilling in, she dragged the dress up over her head then, in her lingerie, watched as he wound the shirt off his shoulders, the sleeves from his arms. When he was naked, he bent near, slid an arm around her waist and drew her up to stand again. Holding her chin, he ran the wet tip of his tongue along the open seam of her mouth while, at her back, he unsnapped the strapless bra with one deft flick. His palm pressed down the dent of her spine and slipped into the back of her panties. She whimpered as her womb contracted and quivered…a tantalizing prelude to the climax she couldn't wait to enjoy.

His fingertips pressed and seared into her flesh while his mouth covered hers completely again, and all the time her insides clenched and pulsed while her limbs and mind went to mush. She wanted this heaven to go on forever. But even more, she wanted him bearing down on top of her. Inside of her. Filling and fulfilling her now.

Her hands ironed down his sides. When she reached his lean hips, she urged him forward, toward her and the bed. With their mouths still joined, she felt his smile before he broke the kiss long enough to wrench back the sheets. With a determined gleam in his eyes, he crowded until the back of her legs met the cool edge of the mattress. His big hands ringed her waist and her feet left the ground long enough for him to lay her gently down. He followed a heartbeat behind.

Looming above her, everything seemed to still as he searched her eyes in a world of midnight shadows. His deep low voice seemed to fill the room. "I didn't ask you to stay here for this."

She drew an aimless pattern through the hair at the base of his throat. "I know."

"Although I'm not sorry you agreed."

She matched his grin. "I'm not sorry you asked."

He dropped a tender kiss at the side of her mouth, a barely there touch that shot a fountain of star-tipped sparks through her every fiber.

He murmured against her lips. "Come with me to France."




To be in the draw to win a signed copy, answer Robyn's question:

"What’s the most romantic city/place you’ve ever visited?"


Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from A Risk Worth Taking by Zana Bell will be posted!

32 comments:

  1. I'll be the first to comment! St. Lucia, on a black sand beach under a full moon. Gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Cristal! St. Lucia must be a honeymooner's dream destination. I'm a sucker for gorgeous beaches, particuarly when I'm standing under a full golden moon =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Me too! I've been to many fab beaches, even thought through the South Pacific - it was hard to pick the perfect one.
    Tried to find a Desire in grocery store yesterday and there were none, everything but.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cristal, the most perfect beach I've ever seen is an inland lake, Lake McKenzie, on Fraser Island. White powder sand. Water so clear you can see the bottom.

    No Desires!! I'll pass that on. Maybe - hopefully - they were all sold out =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Robyn, great excerpt! Most beautiful place would have to be high atop Paradise Point in St. Maarten. From there you can see everything!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Robyn

    Whoo Hoo loved that excerpt and the kiss we need warming up here in Sydney.

    A very romantic and magical place I have visited is Mystry Island in the south pacific we stopped there when on a cruise a few years back and though small and there were a lot of people there it was a very lovely place to visit

    Have Fun
    Helen

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Patti! Looks like I'm going to be doing a whole lot of wonderful research here! Great fodder for future books =)

    So I need to do the Sky Ride there? Man, the views look magical!

    All the best with the awards this year!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Helen!! And what are you doing up at 4.30 in the morning? {I'm a chronic night owl, so this is normal for me!}

    Mystery Island sounds fab! We're booking a cruise for early next year. Thinking about the islands or maybe Tazzie. Working our way up to Greek Islands later on. Mediterranean or bust =)

    See you in Melbourne?

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great kiss Robyn! I had to go back and check the setting everyone commented about. I guess the moment her hands wound through his hair everything else was forgotten :)
    Very hot for a cool Sunday morning :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Another one, beside the glory of Fiji, Cook Islands, Hawaii and Tahiti, is Stella Maris, Long Island Bahamas - wow.

    Yes, curses on no Desires! I'm pitching to Stacy at National and wanted some new ones to read.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey Helen! This story has some great settings, particularly in France - Paris, of course, but also ruins with a tragic love story attached, and a gorgeous centuries-old building turned into an orphanage.

    Glad I warmed up your day =))

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cristal, I'm loving these tropical settings! I *so* need to get away and lie in the sun.

    Best of luck with Stacy!!! That's so exciting. My editor, Shana Smith, bought a new author just last week, Andrea Laurence from the southern states of the US, so they're definitely buying!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks Robyn. The power of positive thinking. But I need to find me some Desires! Off to the shops tomorrow. And score a bunch at National ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a sizzling excerpt!!! Roll on July so I can buy it (in Aus!!)

    The most romantic place I've ever been to is Italy - but I'd find it hard to choose between beautiful Roma, amazing Venezia and my parents' home, Trieste! I'm going to say Trieste because The Miramare Castle (Castello Di Miramare) is built on a clifftop and is just soooooooooooo breathtakingly gorgeous and the love story behind it is too. Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian had it built for his young bride, Charlotte of Belgium. (Later they became Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota of Mexico) The gardens are glorious. Here's a pic: http://bit.ly/lriLo2

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh Serena! That Castle looks amazing! So romantic. DH and I are looking hiring a car and doing our own thing over there, so this MUST go on our list (if we ever get there, that is!)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow! Fabulous hot smooch, Robyn!

    Mmmm, most romantic place... well, one of my fav places, and a must-go-back-to-one-day, is Broome! I thought it was very romantic, beautiful beach, stairway to heaven when the moon and tides are right.

    Mind you, I might have to venture further afield - I love that castle that Serena has suggested - and such a wonderful romantic love story!
    :)
    Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  17. Y'see, I wouldn't have thought of Broome, and yet I remember a gorgeous romance Trish Morey had set there, so I certainly should have! And you'd be the expert on practically all places Aussie, Sharon. Bet you've seen some incredible sights on your travels, lucky duck! =)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ooh, Robbie, love the chemistry this pair have going on!

    Most romantic place I've visited -- Paris on my honeymoon. :-) Gotta say that life doesn't get much better than that.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! Sizzling scene, Robbie -- can't wait to read the rest of it!

    And, wow -- what on earth are you doing up at 4:30am?!? You have way more stamina than me!

    Most romantic place? Definitely somewhere in Italy, but I can't decide whether it's one of those hilltop Tuscan villages, or one of those little coastal villages along the Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast. Maybe all of them!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Michelle, I positively envious! I so want to go to Paris and, among other things, have dinner at the Jules Verne restaurant.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Emily, every one of those places sounds like 'the most romantic', although I think the hilltop Tuscan villages would be extra extra special!

    ReplyDelete
  22. PS I'm trying to break my nightowl habits but my brain doesn't want to play.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Robbie, that kiss is electric!

    There are so many romantic places I want to go! Paris, like Michelle. Serena's castle. Paradise Point, like Patti. The places on Helen's cruise. And *all* the places Cristal listed! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ditto here, Rachel! And Venice. Don't forget Venice =)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Robbie,

    gorgeous scene! And your hero had me at "Come with me to France". *double sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  26. Robbie, you've twisted my arm - Venice is on the list! And the Swiss Alps, and the south of France, and the Greek Isles... you know, I could probably go on like this for an hour, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wonderful smoldering smooch. I love the chemistry between Mateo and Baily.

    I'm usually commenting on Saturday but I am late as it's already Sunday evening here and Monday morning Down Under. I have been so busy gardening that I haven't commented on any blogs for quite a while. Couldn't miss the smooch though.

    I will have to go with a beach location also. Make my location Paradise Island and Nassau in the Bahamas.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Venice, Italy was the most romantic city I've ever visited. Everything was a feast for the senses. My second choice would be the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. A truly gorgeous place with sunsets to die for. I've been to Paris and loved it. The crowds and traffic didn't make me feel particularly romantic though.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm not as adventurous as most of eople commenting here. As I have never been out of the UK but I think Canada would quite romantic. Lots of open space for a moment of heated passion or quiet seclusion in a wood cabin. Log fires, no neighbours for miles and a hunky guy to spent time alone with.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The most romantic place I've ever been is Paris, France...loved it.
    JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  31. The Lido in Venice was very romantic when I was there. Of course, Paris was too...hard to pick just one place. I think it also depends on who is with you when you are in a particular place.
    JFWisherd(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oooh yes, the Lido in Venice! I was there in full summer and it was just wonderful!!

    Robbie, you simply must visit il Castello di Miramare - it's beautiful. One of my boys is travelling to Europe next week! And he's off to Trieste to meet some of my family and to see the castle :) His girlfriend sooooo wants to see it. I have some serious envy happening here. Oh tattslotto where are you?
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete