Natalie Anderson Sunday Smooch

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


The Rugby World Cup starts this month, and today we have a sizzling rugby-themed smooch from NICE GIRLS FINISH LAST by Kiwi author Natalie Anderson, but first ...

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


Congratulations, Natalie! Can you please contact Fiona Lowe at

fiona (at) fionalowe (dot) com and she'll send you an e-copy of BOOMERANG BRIDE.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from NICE GIRLS FINISH LAST by Natalie Anderson...

 Once she was bad...

After one very wild and heartbreaking affair in her past, Lena is now very, very good. She prides herself on her iron self-control - working for the hottest rugby team in New Zealand, it's all testosterone but no touching!

But he's tempting her to be wicked...

Spending day-in-day-out in the boy's locker rooms, Lena thinks she's immune to even the most honed set of abs. Then Seth saunters into her life, and suddenly her inner bad girl is back in the game!

[A little background to this scene: having literally slapped baby oil on the bare torsos of an entire rugby team so they gleam for their annual calendar shoot, cucumber cool Lena has escaped into the corridor so she can give free reign to her amusement out of sight… only today, it’s a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire when she opens her eyes and finds Mr Hot Stuff standing right in front of her!]





“Should you be down here?” he asked, still not moving out of her personal space. “I thought this was a restricted area.”

“I guess that depends on who you know,” she said softly, totally unsubtly. 

“How many do you know?”

“Oh I know all of them,” she answered slowly. “Real well.”

She didn’t even have to try to sound husky, her voice just happened that way. The laughter from the change room echoed again – sexually appreciative, masculine amusement.

The stranger’s brows flicked. “And a good time was had by everyone.”

Lena parted her lips a hopefully imperceptible amount – just so she could breathe. She touched the tip of her tongue to them too, because they were drier than wood dust. She still couldn’t break from the prison of his gaze, but he had to be kidding. Did he really think she’d been in there getting an entire rugby team off? Oh he’d pay for that. She managed another raspy reply. “You have no idea how good.”

He stepped closer, putting one hand on the wall beside her head. “Tell me.”

Stunned, her senses flaring, she absorbed his taunting, low invitation. The sudden wicked glint in his eye unlocked some dam hidden deep within her. It burst free, the sensation that had long been buried, picking up the pace of her pulse until it pounded and sent heat steaming through her entire system. Her mad moment of tease in the change room was nothing on the temptation before her now. Her inner imp crossed right over from smart’n’sassy, to out-and-out wicked. The urge to shock this one man was irresistible.

“You know, everyone says that it’s guys who are visually stimulated,” she said faux thoughtfully. “That for women arousal is all between the ears or something.”

“And that’s not true?”

“No,” she shook her head, but still couldn’t break the eye contact. “We’re visual. We love to look every bit as much as you do. And a whole room full of beautiful naked men?” she purred. “I haven’t got a brain cell left.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as his mouth smirked up. “Did you ever have a brain cell?”

“Well –” she bit her lip and positively batted her lashes at him. “– only a couple.”

“And now they’re fried?” 

“To a crisp,” she whispered breathily.

“The whole team huh?” Something danced in his eyes.

“Oh yes,” she sighed. And then she smiled, because she suddenly had it, the way in which she was going to teach this guy the lesson he so badly needed. She reached two inches forward and took hold of his beautifully tailored, no doubt horrifically expensive, jacket. She lifted her face nearer to his as she confirmed breathlessly, “I had my hands on every single one of them.”

“Did you, now?” He didn’t pull back, in fact he leaned closer. Which was just perfect, because she could smooth her hands on him without him really seeing.

Her oily, slippery hands.

“You’ve no idea, the excitement...” She gazed at him, not realising she’d trailed off. His smile had widened, sparkling up his expression and the effect was frankly mesmerising.

“You know what?” His voice dropped as he leaned to a mere millimetre away and full out mesmerised her even more. “I don’t believe you.”

She was surprised and her eyes widened, but she twisted her fingers in the soft, luxurious fabric. “I never lie.” Not now, she’d learned the lesson hard.

He planted his other hand on the wall beside her. Now she was trapped and the length of his body was a shiver away from the length of hers. Lena was having a time suppressing that shiver. Her breathing spiked as she tried to slow her pulse and pull her brain back from beyond. 

She figured he was a new recruit, or a player from another club visiting. He was tall enough, had the shoulders, not to mention the arrogance... 

“So you’ve been kissing all those boys in there?” he asked, his gaze intent and unwavering.

She flicked her brows.

They were nearly nose to nose, his blue-eyed focus still intense but now blatantly sensual and filled with amusement. It magnified her attraction to him. Bones, muscles, brain – everything melted. His expression was different to anything she’d seen in anyone on the team – for all the invitations. This guy was so focused, so, so intent on her. She could hardly breathe.

“If you’d really been kissing them,” he said. “I’d see it on your face. But your lipstick is immaculate.”

“Maybe I reapplied.”

“Your lips aren’t swollen, your skin isn’t flushed, your eyes don’t have that gleam.”

His words stoked the insane reactions occurring within her body – her lower belly had become an inferno and it was almost impossible to remain still. The urge to be exceptionally wicked had to be held in place somehow. Except she didn’t know how. All she knew was that she was answering him back again. “I’ve got a quick recovery. It’s necessary you know, when you take on so many at once. A girl like me has stamina.”

“Oh you do?” he sounded pleased. “Then one more isn’t going to make much difference is it?”

She froze. “One more what?”

Her words may or may not have sounded. Who cared? Because at that moment he moved that shiver closer.

His lips caught hers on the full, claiming complete possession. She didn’t even think to stop him. For a moment pure shock immobilised her, sending her strength someplace else. She just melted more, thankful for the wall behind holding her up. 

It had been a hell of a long time between kisses and this was one hell of a kiss. He took total control, first warming her mouth with his own, then sliding his tongue, teasing apart the seam of her lips before surging forward and exploring deeper. That brought her back, only not to fight and push him away like she probably should. Oh no, the only thing she could do was open up and kiss him right back. He was absolute masculinity – a wall of heat, strength and solidity that turned her into a malleable woman who’d bend whichever way he wanted.

She heard the growl, felt the shift as he moved closer still so his body pinned hers. His hands cupped her face, holding it up to his and for a few carnally delightful seconds he seduced the soul out of her. But just as she was really getting into it, he broke away, angling so he could look hard at her. His blue eyes blazed.

“Now you have the gleam.”

NICE GIRLS FINISH LAST is out in the UK in September, Oz/NZ in October and the US in November!

To be in the draw to win a signed copy of NICE GIRLS FINISH LAST tell Natalie in the comments below whether you're planning to watch any of the Rugby World Cup in the next few weeks, and if so, which team will you be cheering for?!



Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from AT THE BILLIONAIRE'S BECK AND CALL by Rachel Bailey will be posted!