Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!
Today we have a smooch from Annie West but first
... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Savannah Blaze.
Can you please contact amy(at)amyandrews (dot)com(dot)au to receive your copy of SOME GUYS NEED A LOT OF LOVIN'.
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from RAFE'S REDEMPTION. This is a retro smooch! Yay for ebooks!
Brooding tycoon Rafe Benton sees beautiful Antonia Malleson as a pawn in his plans to avenge his family’s mistreatment by his brutish father. He decides to use his wealth and devastating sex appeal to get this delectable ice queen-and his father’s newest favorite-into his bed….
Now Rafe has Antonia right where he wants her, but her innocence changes everything. Suddenly he’s forced to question his own behavior.and the depth of his feelings for Antonia. Could it be that this dark and dangerous man has finally found the woman to melt his frozen heart?
Scene set-up
Rafe has seen his father making a play for the lovely Antonia Malleson and decides to use her as a pawn in his revenge plot. He's just proposed that she becomes his paid mistress (you can see he needs a lot of redeeming) and she's just told him to get lost. But he's convinced there's a spark of attraction between them.
Smooch -
You can buy the ebook of RAFE'S REDEMPTION from all the usual stores. Here's a link to it at Amazon.
Argh! I'm late posting this Sunday Smooch so be in the draw to win a copy of RAFE'S REDEMPTION, maybe tell me your worst experience of being late. Or if you're always punctual, maybe a time when you were super glad you were on time!
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Savannah Blaze.
Can you please contact amy(at)amyandrews (dot)com(dot)au to receive your copy of SOME GUYS NEED A LOT OF LOVIN'.
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from RAFE'S REDEMPTION. This is a retro smooch! Yay for ebooks!
Now Rafe has Antonia right where he wants her, but her innocence changes everything. Suddenly he’s forced to question his own behavior.and the depth of his feelings for Antonia. Could it be that this dark and dangerous man has finally found the woman to melt his frozen heart?
Scene set-up
Rafe has seen his father making a play for the lovely Antonia Malleson and decides to use her as a pawn in his revenge plot. He's just proposed that she becomes his paid mistress (you can see he needs a lot of redeeming) and she's just told him to get lost. But he's convinced there's a spark of attraction between them.
Smooch -
‘You’re nothing to me.’
‘Nothing?’
Call it
arrogance, but he couldn’t believe her. Even he had been surprised at the
intensity of the erotic sizzle between them. Such instant awareness was rare.
It fuelled a sudden recklessness in him.
‘Oh, no, my
fine lady. I wouldn’t call it nothing,’ he said, bending his head.
‘What are you
doing?’ Her voice was a breathless gasp.
‘Clarifying
the difference between nothing and something.’
Her reactions
were too slow. By the time she tried to push him away he’d captured the back of
her head in one hand. His fingers sank into the satiny invitation of her hair,
his other arm wrapping round her waist.
‘Relax,’ he
murmured, already anticipating the heady pleasure of her lips against his.
‘This won’t hurt a bit.’
*
His mouth on
hers muffled Antonia’s scathing retort.
She struggled
against him, but his hold was implacable, unbreakable. The more she tried to
get free, the more restrictive his embrace. A granite cliff would have been
more pliable than this mountain of a man.
Who did he
think he was, with his outrageous proposition, and now his use of superior
strength to force a kiss?
Tension
spiralled through her as he crowded near, his thighs surrounding hers, his
mouth against her closed lips, his hand anchoring her head, one long, strong
arm wrapped around her waist.
He was so
close, held her so immobile, that she couldn’t even get leverage to bring her
knee up against him. He contained her struggling form with mortifying ease.
Finally she
realised resistance was futile. She held herself stiff as a board, keeping her
eyes wide open, refusing to capitulate.
Strangely it
was annoyance she felt. Outrage, not fear. Not like when Dexter had groped her
and panic had swelled, making her frantic to escape.
Rafe Benton
was more subtle, for all his apparent directness. This man was a wily
tactician, a long term strategist. Not a smash and grab thug like Dexter.
It took her
several moments to realise he wasn’t using force. His hold was firm but not
tight. His arm at her back held her close but not brutally so. He seemed
content to tease her lips with a gentle coaxing caress, rather than bruise her
into surrender.
All she had
to do was stand here, still and unyielding, and he’d stop soon.
She hoped
he’d stop soon.
Something
about the encompassing warmth of his body threatened to make her relax into his
embrace. His lips were surprisingly soft, surprisingly tender.
He took her
bottom lip between his teeth, tugging gently and sensation shot through her,
straight down to her breasts, then lower, arrowing to her feminine core.
Antonia started,
horrified at the fizz of awareness building in her blood. Like a slow betraying
sizzle.
She pushed
her hands against his chest, trying to propel him back, away from her. He was
immoveable. She splayed her fingers wide and tried again. Nothing. Just the
steady beat of his life pulse beneath her fingers.
‘Mm,’ he
murmured against her mouth. ‘Touch me.’
Touch him?
She’d give him more than a touch when she’d finished with him!
You can buy the ebook of RAFE'S REDEMPTION from all the usual stores. Here's a link to it at Amazon.
Argh! I'm late posting this Sunday Smooch so be in the draw to win a copy of RAFE'S REDEMPTION, maybe tell me your worst experience of being late. Or if you're always punctual, maybe a time when you were super glad you were on time!
Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Stefanie London will be posted!
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
Hello Annie, I like the cover of the book.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question, I always try to be on time, I do not like to be late (and thankfully my husband is like me) .Even the wedding day I was on time. :) A moment that are super happy to be on time is when I have to go to the doctor and the patient previous not arrived yet, so I can be seen immediately and I take off all worries.
Franca, I had to smile when I read about you being on time for your wedding. I come from a family who are always on time and my husband doesn't. He was the one late for our wedding, held up by his family!
DeleteI bet it was a relief to get an early appointment to see the doctor.
Thanks for dropping by! And so glad you like the cover of this one.
Hi Annie, Rafe and Antonia's story is wonderful and it's lovely to revisit with this Smooch! I think I'm going to have to find time for a re-read soon!
ReplyDeleteAs for being late - I try to be on time whenever possible. Even cutting it fine for time can be stressful because Murphy's Law seems to dictate that there will be traffic holdups/ late public transport/ other unforeseen hiccups. So I like a little time up my sleeve whenever possible. And if I've got good book then I can catch up on some reading!
Hi Sharon,
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed the snippet. This book never got a print release in the US so I feel like it's still a new book there.
Yes, I'd rather have time up my sleeve, especially when I travel. It saves stress.
I got in road construction and ended up late for a job interview and I could tell that they were not pleased and I never heard anything back from them I'm sure that's why.
ReplyDeleteLaurie, that's such a shame! Hard when it's not your fault. Even sometimes when you leave time you can't cover all unforseen circumstances.
DeleteWe attended our family "Christmas" yesterday. I was 20 minutes late (which was still 2 hours before suppertime, but I'm usually early). Since last Thursday, my SIL kept asking (demanding) that I do more and more and more beforehand, and I was determined not to do so. One SIL brought frozen mixed vegs to heat up and turnip (none were big winners), another brought buns, another VERY generously offered to do the turkey AND ham (and later was rebuked for not providing dressing too!), and the hostess brought chicken thighs (her husband prepared) and whipped potatoes. MY job was desserts for 30 people (and was told not to bring cake or pie), so I spent 6 hours the previous night baking when our power costs were half of the daytime costs. ANYWAY, my SIL didn't tell me until Thursday afternoon that I was bringing desserts (and I would never bring store-bought ones), instead of meatballs/cheese as I had expected, because they now had enough meats provided, and I was busy Thursday night so Friday night had to be the time to do all the baking. SIL tried to get me to bring the whipped potatoes too (her job) and I said no, the desserts were more than enough for me to handle (and what the heck was SHE doing?). Then the SIL tried to get me to show up half an hour before everyone else so I could help her set up the tables/chairs at the old folks home (where my MIL lives), and I again declined, saying that I would still be busy with said desserts. 45 minutes before we were to leave (which I THOUGHT was more than enough time allotted), I cut the brownies and sliced the banana bread, and then went to pack them and all the other desserts (shortbread cookies, peanut butter cookies, pumpkin tarts, and snowballs too) and couldn't figure out where each should go (because some should stay cold, some were sticky, and some shouldn't "slide") - both on the serving trays and in an insulated tote for travelling/storage. Then my SIL texted to bring butter and I plopped ours into a container in the wrong direction so the lid wouldn't fit, so I finally got it back out and into the container in the right direction (which was difficult when it was room temperature). Just as I was to leave, our power went out and messed up all my recordings, so I stopped to re-program our two televisions to record while we were out. So yeah, I was late and I just didn't care by this point.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, everything went well once we arrived. Tables/chairs/dishes were all set out and many arrived after we did. Only negative was that another SIL tried to convince my now-retired husband to drive her to the hospital 3x/week for 12 wks for physio so she wouldn't have to pay parking fees (but WE would have to travel to her town 25 mins away twice a day, plus drive her way across town here), and we basically offered one day/week for all 12 weeks instead, saying that she can get someone else to do the other days, as we are busy some of those other days with regular activities and need the car. Jeesh! Family!!!
Laney, what a trying time you had. Organising contributions from a big family can be such a juggling act, can't it. Sometimes I think tact is as important as the food! Not surprised you were late.
DeleteHope you've had lots of nice experiences with the family since then!
Annie, what a great smooch. This is one of my faves of your books! He had such a lot to learn before he was worthy of his happy ending, but when he was? Hubba hubba. I'm usually early for things - I think it's being a Virgo!
ReplyDeleteSmiling here. So glad you enjoyed Rafe's story. I remember talking with you about him and that scene at the beginning with the snow floating down in Switzerland. Now there was a different location for me.
DeleteIs it being a Virgo? I think you're just super organised.
Oh, I've got you fooled, haven't I, my friend?
Deleteif I am late it is not my fault --LynW
ReplyDeleteLyn - you sound very sure. I'm impressed!
DeleteI am usually always early, I hate being late or rushed! The book sounds great.
ReplyDeleteCindy, I'm glad you like the sound of Rafe's Redemption. He's a man who definitely needs redeeming!
DeleteYes, I hate that rushed feeling too. I think it comes from having parents who were always organised.
Fab smooch, Annie! I'm with Anna -- this is one of my favourites of your books. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I hate being late. So generally I'm early. But I do remember forgetting to put my clock back for daylight savings one year and I was an hour late for my shift at work. Oops.
How not to get married. Waiting for the bridal cars to arrive, and already getting edgy because in the UK at that time, weddings were not allowed after 6pm and it was 5.45 pm with a 20 minute drive to the church.
ReplyDeleteSo our good friends hammered on my neighbours doors and found the poshest car. They all set too with sponges and polish, white sheets for the seats, roses from everyone's garden and ribbons supplied by the village haberdashers, who came racing down the hill to my home armed with another car beautifying team of her own. Car now complete and still no official cars in sight when disaster of disasters, my sister and only bridesmaid started her first period. So off with the dresses for the necessary clean up and teaching session. Arrived at 6.30pm to find the vicar had moved the clock hands back half an hour, but in the registry signing photos the clock is at 6.15. Does that mean technically I'm married or not?
Oh, Pam, what a day! I love that your friends all pitched in to help make sure the wedding went ahead. That's definitely one of the best wedding stories I've heard, though I'm sure at the time it must have been tough. And your poor sister!
ReplyDeleteYour vicar sounds lovely - and inventive!
Thanks for sharing.
0haunueQin_me2001 Travis Booth download
ReplyDeletesighsotofor