Feb 25, 2018

Sunday Smooch - Contracted for the Petrakis Heir, Annie West

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 Deanna.


Can you please contact Amy Andrews at   amy(at)amyandrews.com.au to receive your copy of Playing House.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Annie West. Leave a comment on this post to go in the draw to win a signed copy.



‘I’m pregnant.’
But this baby bombshell is nothing compared to Adoni’s scandalous solution…!
A positive pregnancy test isn’t the only reminder Alice has of her one scorching night with Adoni Petrakis. As she defiantly tells him the news, memories of his skilled touch overwhelm her! The contract he draws up—to claim her and his child—is utterly shocking. As is her realisation that she’s still powerfully and inescapably in thrall to this vengeful Greek!
Scene set-up
Alice, woozy after her first ever champagne, inadvertantly gatecrashes Adoni's private owner's suite in the hotel where she's been bridesmaid at a wedding. Adoni, fascinated and amused by the delightful stranger and her unguarded comments, doesn't immediately kick her out. But the joke is on him when she abruptly falls asleep on his sofa. Knowing there's no-one looking out for her or to see her safely home, he lets her rest for an hour while he works. But when she wakes, she discovers she's revealed things to this stranger she hadn't intended, including how much she';s attracted to him.

Smooch  -
‘You weren’t so hesitant earlier.’ His smile was slow and intense and it superheated her blood.
‘I wasn’t?’
He frowned. ‘You don’t remember?’
‘I…’ She frowned as snippets of conversation came back to her in vivid clarity. ‘I asked if you were a good kisser.’ Part of her shrank at the memory of such champagne-induced frankness, but now she was here, toe to toe with this fascinating man, excitement overrode bashfulness.
‘Would you still like to find out?’ His voice dropped to a low note that wound its way through her belly and down to her knees, making them wobble.
Impossible that he should affect her so intensely, this man whose name she couldn’t even recall. Adoni something. She knew so little about him.
Sensible Alice Trehearn, the one who’d spent years being dependable, devoted and reliable, knew this was her cue to leave. Yet another Alice Trehearn, the one who secretly yearned for life, and who’d only surfaced previously in her hell-for-leather gallops across the moor, shivered in excitement.
‘Yes.’ The word was out before she thought about it. Because if she thought about it she’d never say it.
‘Good,’ he murmured. ‘Your mouth has been driving me crazy.’
Her mouth? Alice lifted a hand to her lips but instead met his chin as his head lowered. He stopped a breath away. She felt his exhalation on her lips, scented with coffee and brandy and something indefinable. The pads of her fingers trembled against the solid plane of his jaw, then spread, testing warm skin with a hint of stubble that grazed her flesh as she settled her whole palm across his chin.
She’d shaved both her father and later her godfather, David, when each grew too ill to do it themselves. Neither had been like this. Adoni radiated heat and vigour and a sensuality she felt right down to the marrow in her bones. He was strong, his flesh taut and so vitally alive.
Alice drew a shuddering breath filled with the alien, delicious scent of man in his prime. She stared up into eyes as bright as she imagined the Aegean Sea to be. She read a question there. He was giving her time to change her mind.
In answer, Alice slid her hand around into his thick, short dark hair, surprised at its softness. She rose on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.
For a moment he didn’t move and she cringed inside. This was a mistake. Hadn’t she known he couldn’t really be interested?
Then his mouth moved on hers, gently persuading her lips apart. His warm tongue slicked her lips then delved within and everything inside her melted and swayed at the eroticism of that sweet invasion. Her belly liquefied, her knees loosened and it was only the firm loop of his arm around her waist that kept her high against him.
His other hand eased the hair back from her face in a gesture so tender her heart rolled over.
Alice slipped her other hand up over his chest. The feel of hard, lean muscle sent a sizzle of excitement through her. She leaned closer, a willing pupil as he delved deeper, drawing out the kiss into something that sent shivery hot darts of flame through her blood.
She didn’t know which was better, the way Adoni kissed, making her feel treasured, or the feel of their bodies locked tight. The arm at her waist slid lower, drawing her hips against him.
Her breath stilled as she came in contact with a hard length against her belly.
Instantly he lifted his mouth and Alice almost wailed with disappointment at her loss, her face instantly tilting higher as if to tempt him back. Instead he pressed his lips to her forehead.
A shudder racked his tall frame and it hit her that she wasn’t the only one swept away in the moment. Surprise and satisfaction filled her. Even if this had started as a one-sided favour it had become something else.
‘Adoni?’ Her voice was husky and uneven.
He drew back just far enough to meet her eyes. What did he see? She felt flushed and wanton, not like herself.
‘This is your chance to change your mind.’ Gone was the slightly teasing gleam she’d seen in his face when he’d talked of kissing her. Now he looked solemn to the point of grimness.
‘About kissing you?’
‘And the rest of what you wanted.’
The rest? Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall their earlier conversation but her foggy memory couldn’t compete with the heady sensations bombarding her. That delicious spicy scent of his skin, the rich flavour of him still on her tongue. The heat of his large body surrounding her and that strange mix of vulnerability and power she felt at the differences in their closely aligned bodies.
‘You wanted an orgasm.’

New look Australian cover
Have you ever done anything really impulsive? Did you regret it or did that quick impulse lead to something good?

Leave a comment here and go in the draw to win a signed copy of CONTRACTED FOR THE PETRAKIS HEIR. 

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch will be posted!


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver


23 comments:

  1. Annie, have I told you how much I love, love, love this book? If not, consider yourself told. I love how you combine your trademark emotional depth with such wonderful humour in this story. It's a real winner!

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    1. :) You have, Anna, but I love hearing it! I was so pleased it all came together so well. Alice and Adoni had me smiling as I wrote, which is a good sign.

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  2. Hi Annie

    Oh I loved this book it totally rocks Alice and Adonis are the best couple just made for each other :)

    And that smooch just made me melt all over again :)

    Have Fun

    Helen

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    1. Helen, how terrific! The first 2 comments on this post are from people who've read and loved this story. Colour me thrilled. :) Thanks so much. It's a real treat to hear you enjoyed Alice and Adoni's story so much.

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  3. Yes i have said something impulsive but it came out wrong and my daughter took offense to it but i have been telling her and telling her the guy she is with is a loser! ptclayton2@aol.com

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    1. Hi pt! Oh, it's so hard, isn't it, when you see your children with people you think will bring trouble? I hope things work out for her, and you too.

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  4. Good golly, Annie, what a scene! I almost wailed myself when I realized that was the end of it. Nobody writes these love scenes better than you do - they may not know yet what they feel but we do :-). Sally

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    1. Oh, Sally, that's so nice of you. Thank you. I'm smiling at the thought of you wailing because the scene ended. I feel I've done my job well! Hope it inspires you to read the book. Happy weekend!

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    2. Yes, I am inspired. It's ordered and on its way!

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  5. Awesome scene, Annie. As for being impulsive, it usually ends badly for me so I don't do it often.

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    1. Sue, if it's to do with personal relationships I'm always better off waiting and thinking it through. But spur of the moment impulses in other things (including trying new experiences) have worked for me. So pleased you like this scene!

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  6. Ooh, what a fabulous smooch, Annie! Can't wait to read this one. :-)

    As for recklessness... I'm starting to wonder if enrolling in a PhD wasn't a tad reckless. ;-)

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    1. Ah, Michelle, you've reached that inevitable phase of the PhD. I know from living through it with Dr West, and from others, that every doctoral student gets that, but I know you'll pull through.

      So glad you liked the smooch! Hope you enjoy it when the thesis is in!

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  7. Love the couple on the cover but really love the houses and water in the background

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    1. Hi Diana! If I'm not mistaken that view is of Santorini - a spectacular Greek island.

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  8. Love the smooch thank you.

    I tend not to be impulsive, but I have been talked into things which I came to regret.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed reading it, Mary. I suppose we've all ended up doing something we wish we hadn't!

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  9. Hi Annie! I liked the excerpt you posted!
      I've never done anything impulsive. The only impulsive thing I did was to marry what was then my boyfriend, after only a year we knew each other. I've never regretted ... I'm married for 41 years.

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    1. Franca, that's lovely. Obviously your heart told you he was the right one for you! Wonderful that you've been together so long. That's such a nice story.

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  10. Your books are must reads for me. I can’t wait to read this one.

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl! I hope this one makes you smile.

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  11. When I was 16, my parents were away on vacation and my brother (who was "watching" me) was out. I decided to walk downtown (in a small town) on a Saturday night - wearing my cords (because Mom wouldn't allow us to own jeans) and a baby-doll (pajama) top. I felt so "grown up". I found a young girl (maybe 17) crouched down behind a store and crying. I squatted down to see if I could help. She said no. I KNEW her BF had hit her and, next thing I knew, the BF joined us. I slowly stood so I was towering over him (I was already 5'10" tall, but I was skinny as a rake), trying to look intimidating (not successfully, I'm sure, what with my frilly baby-doll top....). He told me to leave. I looked at the GF and she agreed, I needed to leave NOW. I left, keeping an eye on them as long as I could. (Nobody was around, so I couldn't tell anybody else.) Next thing I knew, she was pregnant ... then I heard they had 4 kids ... and now I hear, 42 years later, they are still married to each other. I'm surprised....

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    1. Wow, Laney, that was the sort of experience that sticks in the mind! It must have been hard trying to look intimidating in the circumstances, and not knowing what to do for the best. Amazing that they're still together after all that time! I wonder if either of them remember that night?

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