Sunday Smooch with Amy Andrews

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Amy Andrews but first ... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Pammie!








Pammie, can you please contact Fiona on fiona (at) fionalowe (dot) come to receive your prize!


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Hanky Spanky Christmas.... 

Amy says - this is a Xmas novella that came out a couple of years ago now but, it is the festive season, right? Click on the cover and it'll take you to the Amazon page!

T'was the night before Christmas....

With a sudden hankering to be spanked, Darcy Henderson figures Mitch Callaghan is the man for the job. But is she woman enough to take it?

Scene set-up

Darcy has just discovered which bar her sexy neighour (they're the only 2 young people living in a Melrose Place-esque retirement complex for seniors) Mitch Callaghan, works at when he goes off to work every night. And it's a kink club! Her and her friends have gone for a little voyueristic fun and games but Darcy has liked what she's seen - she's liked it a lot. So much so that she stayed on after the others have left accepting Mitch's offer of a drive home. Which is just as well becasue she's imbibed one too many Callaghans (his families secret cocktail recipe)....The scene picks up after they've arrived home and they're both just out of the car.

Smooch  -

Tonight was the first night he’d seen Darcy in anything other than baggy clothes or her black one-piece and she hadn’t disappointed. She was wearing some kind of leopard-print wrap dress that clung to her hips, thighs and ass, crisscrossed her cleavage and seemed to only be held together by a bow tied at the side.

It made him want to pull it to find out.

Her normally straight hair was a mass of long, loose curls that fell down her back and swung in time with her hips. And then there were those heels, lifting her somewhere closer to his own height, although he still had her by a couple of inches.

“You know what?” She was walking again, although not quite in a straight line. “We should go out dancing somewhere.” She performed a sudden pirouette which would have landed her on her ass had he not been there to catch her.

“Okay.” He laughed and tucked her into his side as he walked with her. ‘You’ve got to be at work in four hours, remember?”

“Ugh.” She shuddered. “Should never have agreed to take Stacy’s shift.”

“Too late now,” Mitch said as they walked under the arch.

The aroma of hibiscus from the multiple planters situated around the pool and between apartments, tickled his nostrils. The twelve foot Christmas tree Mrs T had insisted he secure right in the centre of the courtyard, rose like a giant bloody phallus. It was as out of place in the December heat as Darcy had been drinking Callaghan’s at a fetish club.

“I’m going to come back to Fine Lines.” She poked him in the chest as they turned towards their apartments.

“You liked it, huh?”

“Oh my God.” She looked at him with huge eyes. “I had no idea.”

He chuckled. “Most people don’t.”

They passed his apartment as he walked her another ten paces to her door, festooned with a lush green wreath. “Here we are.” He dropped his hand from her waist lest he be tempted to crowd her back and do the kissing this time. Darcy may be cute as hell when she was tipsy but there was no way he was taking advantage of her liquored-up state.

Although, hell, if she wanted to lay one of those messy-hot, liquored-up kisses on him then he wasn’t going to stop her.

“Where’s your key?”

She leaned back against the white stucco wall beside her door, her breasts thrust out nicely. “In my bag.”

When she made no attempt to retrieve it, he took her bag out of her fingers, zipped it open, found her keys and shoved them in the lock. Then he reached for her phone. “What’s your code?”

“Why?”

“I’m going to set your alarm in case you forget to.”

“Good idea.” She nodded and prodded him in the chest again.

“The code?” he prompted as her finger took to stroking instead of poking, brushing against his nipple.

She shot him a grin. “Six nine, six nine.”

He shot her a sceptical look. “Bullshit.”

“Nope. I swear. Sixty-nine, sixty-nine. The year both my parents were born. Easy to remember.”

For more reasons than one. After all, what was more memorable than one sixty-nine but two?

Mitch keyed the code in and tried not to put Darcy and sixty-nine together in his head, a feat that was near impossible while she was drawing maddening circles around his nipple. He shook his head when it worked then quickly navigated to her alarm and set it for quarter past seven.

Rather her than him. He planned to be tucked up in bed dreaming about sixty-niners at that time.

“Okay - ” He handed the phone back to her. “You’re all set.”

She dropped her hand from his chest and slid it onto the phone but didn’t take it off him. “I want to do that.”

“What?”

“Be spanked.”

Her words slammed into his groin with all the heat and intensity of a fireball. He’d seen plenty of people getting spanked (amongst other things) at Fine Lines. Clearly it worked for some, and Mitch was all for a bit of choose your own adventure when it came to sex, but he preferred it where everyone involved got off and no one was hurt in the process.

“Right.” He slid his hand on her hip and urged her off the wall. “I think you had one too many Callaghan’s. They kinda sneak up on you.”

She draped one arm around his neck and fisted her other hand in the front of his t-shirt as she settled against his body. Her breasts smooshed nicely against his chest as the sugary sweet smell of butterscotch took over from the heavy perfume of hibiscus.

His cock appreciated her move, even if it wasn’t what he’d been going for.

“I want you to spank me.”

His cock appreciated that even more. “Oh you do, huh?” It was hard to keep the amusement out of his voice with a serious frown crinkling her brow.

“Yup.”

“Because I work at Fine Lines?”

“Yup.” She gave an exaggerated nod. “And because of this.”

She yanked on his shirt and rose on her tiptoes, pulling his head down, going straight for the kill, sucking him in to a kiss that was hot, deep and wet right from the first touch of their lips. Her tongue boldly sought his and Mitch groaned.

She tasted like booze and maraschino cherries.

His hands slid from her hips to her ass, tucking her in closer, her corresponding moan shooting like wildfire through his veins, setting fire to everything in its path.

She moved restlessly, hungrily, tantalisingly, against him and blood from every vital organ rerouted to his cock. If he didn’t pull away he was going to ruck her skirt up and fuck her against the stucco and that’d really give their neighbours something to talk about at the monthly unusual disturbances meeting.

There was a damn committee and meeting for everything around here.

Mitch gathered every skerrick of his rapidly diminishing self-control and wrenched his mouth away, 

taking a step back.Neither of them said anything as they stared at each other, chests heaving. It was all he could do to breathe and remain upright.

“You need to get to bed,” he said eventually.

She nodded, her tongue running over her lips as if she was still trying to taste him, and he nearly reached for her hip again. “What about the...spanking?” Her voice was still breathy, her interest clearly still piqued.

Mitch doubted she was really serious. A lot of things that seemed like a good idea at booze o’clock soon lost their shine when all that was left was the hangover and a huge dose of what the hell was I thinking. A little light BDSM was one thing, but wanting her ass tanned red like the sub on all fours at the club was another.

And, frankly, he didn’t think she was the type. Not that there was a type— his work at the club had taught him members of the BDSM community came from all walks of life—but he’d developed a bit of a sixth sense since working there, and nothing about Darcy said tie me up and spank me with a riding crop.

He doubted she’d even remember this conversation in the morning.

“Ask me when you’re sober some time.”

He turned away then before her leopard-print dress brought out the animal in him.

For a chance to win a digital copy of Hanky Spanky Christmas, tell me what's something a little bit thrilling and different you'd like to indulge in one day? 

Leave your comment here or on the LoveCats Facebook page and then come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a new smooch will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sunday Smooch - The Italian's Marriage Bargain by Annie West

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch with a book giveaway! 


Today we have a smooch from Annie West but first ... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Veronica!


Can you please contact Helen Lacey at helenlaceyauthor@gmail.com to receive your copy of 'A Kiss A Dance and A Diamond..


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from THE ITALIAN'S MARRIAGE BARGAIN.

An offer to mend their marriage – or end it?

After years without contact, glamorous film star Gina Rossetti is stunned when billionaire businessman Massimo Conti stalks back into her life, demanding her help. Their short-lived marriage was a mistake she’s striving to put behind her. The last thing she needs is to open old wounds, no matter how insistent Massimo is. Especially since he’s still devastatingly dangerous to her emotions.

But Massimo has confronted the inescapable truth – that the only woman in the world he wants is his estranged wife! He concocts a daring scheme to get her back. His plan might be underhanded, it might be brazenly manipulative, but he refuses to take no for an answer. His outrageous ploy must succeed. For the alternative is to lose Gina forever. 

Scene set-up 

Massimo and Gina married young and have been separated for years. Massimo, determined right past wrongs and get his wife back, knows he needs time alone with her to break through the barriers she's built against him. He blackmails her into staying with him for a week, telling her he wants her as his hostess to promote his family brand during Milan Fashion Week. Now, sharing his apartment, passions run high and he kisses her. Gina is dismayed to discover she wants her husband as much as she ever did, and that, rather than keeping her distance, she actually goaded him into kissing her. 

Smooch  -

Gina had seen it coming.

She’d seen the feral light in his eyes. Read the brutal intent in that hard body.

Had she twisted away?

Had she ducked her head?

Had she tried to placate him?

She told herself she’d done none of those because she had every right to her anger. Because it was time someone stood up to Massimo and brought him to book when he rode roughshod over them.

But as his mouth plastered over hers, his tongue sweeping past her lips in a forceful invasion that demanded everything, Gina knew the truth.

She’d goaded him. Deliberately.

She hadn’t been able to stand there, toe to toe with this man who drove her crazy in the worst and best of ways. She hadn’t had the strength to walk away.

Because she wanted this. Wanted him.

Want? Is that what you called this driving force that hammered with every pounding pulse beat?

Want was too weak a word.

Need engulfed her. It was marrow-deep. It was in every pore of every centimetre of her flesh.

She’d needed Massimo for years and she’d just given up denying it.

His tongue probed her mouth, demanding and at the same time challenging her to respond. His kiss was pure carnal invitation.

He pushed her up against the doorway so she was pinioned between it and Massimo’s hot, sculpted body. Gina went into meltdown. It wasn’t simply that she’d had no lover since him. She hadn’t wanted one. Because Massimo had always been the one she wanted, even when she hated him for making her feel that way.

For a moment Gina hovered on the brink of self-pitying tears. It was cruel that the only man she’d ever loved was so bad for her. The only logical response was to break away. Despite his imposing size and his ire he wouldn’t force her. He’d have to let her go.

But Gina hadn’t cried in years, she wasn’t about to start now. Nor would she pull away.

For she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.

Not when being in Massimo’s embrace felt like coming home.

Through his fine suit Gina felt the outline of bone and muscle, the solid thighs, the jut of ribs, the press of that powerful chest. His heart throbbed a staccato rhythm against her. She tried to tell herself Massimo was motivated only by anger, not real desire. But already the big hands running up and down her bare arms gentled, confounding her.

He tilted his head, searching for the best angle to seduce her mouth. And he found it. Massimo had always kissed like a fallen angel, one who’d mastered both torment and bliss.

Bliss coursed through her now as she tangled her tongue against his, lifting her chin and responding in kind.

A rough sound of approval vibrated from his mouth to hers, from his chest to hers. It sent pleasure spearing to her womb, her breasts, the place inside her elbows where his thumbs brushed, making her shiver.

Gina’s hands rose to his arms, fingers digging into fine fabric and taut muscle. She needed more. Their kiss was no longer a demand but a seesawing dance of give and take.

It shouldn’t be possible to get closer to him but she tried, rising on her toes and planting her hands on his shoulders to bring her nearer his height.

Massimo’s response was to slide one arm around her waist and haul her up till her feet left the floor. She heard a shoe drop as she snaked her arms over his shoulders and clamped her fingers into the thick, dark hair at the back of his skull. Her lips welded to his as rapture beckoned.

He tasted better than the finest wines, better than fresh-picked strawberries still warm from the sun. He tasted like every dream of happiness she’d ever known, and then some.

And when he shifted against her, thrusting a thigh between her legs so she balanced astride it, Gina’s urgency took on a new dimension. One that matched his, given the unmistakeable arousal pushing against her.

Her dress rode higher as she squirmed closer, excited by the sensation of Massimo’s clothes against her bare skin.

‘Gina.’ It sounded like a plea or perhaps a vow. But Massimo’s broad hand on her leg, pushing the silky material up her thigh was as earthy as it got. She shivered as his baritone growl scraped her soul and those hard fingers curled around tender flesh.

She wanted this, wanted him so badly. How had she gone so long without his touch? Only by freezing her emotions and her needs under a blanket of ice. By living a cold, half-life these last few years.

Gina had forgotten how feminine he made her feel. Feminine and sexy and powerful, despite the shivers turning her body to putty in his hold. Turning her into a woman who’d give her all to this man.

As if sensing her capitulation, Massimo broke the kiss, lifting his head to stare down at her with eyes that glowed with silvery fire. The air was thick with the sound of their gasps and the rapid thrum of her pulse in her ears.

‘Mio dolce amore.’ It was what he’d called her when they’d been in love. When Gina had believed nothing would ever break them apart. Then he smiled. That rare, beautiful smile of welcome she’d always thought Massimo reserved just for her. Because he loved her.

Her throat shut convulsively, almost choking her.

Massimo didn’t love her. He was using her.

So if that smile wasn’t a look of love it was just part of his arsenal of seductive weapons.

Gina hadn’t thought it possible to hurt more than she’d hurt before. Yet now... 

It's autumn here in Australia, one of my favourite times of year. For some reason I always feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle all sorts of new projects when the seasons change. Plus there's the joy of the change of season colours in the garden and the crisp promise of new season apples to look forward to. 

Do you have a favourite season? What is it you look forward to at that time of year?

Leave a comment to be included automatically in the draw to win a Kindle copy of 'The Italian's Marriage Bargain' (International Giveaway)!

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

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sunday Smooch - At the Italian's Bidding by Annie West

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch Annie West from but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Jillian Jones.


Can you please contact to receive your copy of Clare Connelly's book by emailing Amy Andrews at amy(at)amyandrews(dot)com(dot)au


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from AT THE ITALIAN'S BIDDING. This is the 5th book in Annie's Hot Italian Nights novella series,  a 1st August release which is currently available for preorder.

She’s out of bounds but how can he resist?

Niccolo might risk his neck on the racing car circuit but there’s one thing he won’t risk — his friendship with the De Laurentis family. Which means he dare not give in to his feelings for his best friend’s sister, Lia De Laurentis, no matter how impossible it is to keep his distance. Yet when he needs a pretend girlfriend, just for a weekend, who else can he trust to play the part?  

Lia can’t believe she says yes to Niccolo Marchesi’s outrageous request. Her teenage crush on her brother’s daredevil friend has turned into full-scale infatuation, so how is she supposed to withstand two whole nights of temptation, pretending to be his lover? She knows every touch is a lie but it feels like the real thing.

When honour and passion clash, will his scruples prove stronger than her willpower?

Scene set-up

Lia and Niccolo have been trying to resist their passion for each other. Niccolo because he doesn't want to take advantage of a girl who he thinks looks on him like a brother and Lia because she believes Niccolo doesn't have romantic feelings for her, that he prefers the leggy blondes who follow him on the racing car circuit. Now, after a weekend pretending to be an item, tension has reached breaking point. Lia can't conceal her distress, believing he'll never return her feelings. An evening of putting on a smiling face at a big society party is too much, now they're back in the privacy of their suite.

Smooch  -

‘Whatever it is, we’ll make it better.’

She shook her head, almost violently, her long hair flaring and slipping over his hand.

‘No.’ Her voice was stronger now, with a whiplash undercurrent of bitterness. ‘This isn’t something you can kiss and make better.’

Niccolo almost groaned, wishing the words undone. His attention dropped instantly to her lips, finely cut and lushly inviting.

There was a roaring in his ears, a shaking in his belly and his hands tightened on her, one at her back, one sliding round to cup her head. He couldn’t let go. Couldn’t force himself to step away. His feet were cemented to the floor.

She tempted him beyond endurance and she didn’t even realise.

‘Why not?’ His grating voice was unrecognisable.

He told himself it would be fine to touch her mouth. A tiny kiss from a friend, over as soon as it began. A demonstration that he cared for her, was here for her. That whatever her problem was, he’d help.

A brotherly kiss!

Except when he leaned in to touch his lips to her cheek she moved, no doubt startled. He felt the shock in her straining body.

Then somehow, surely without intending to, his lips grazed hers. Grazed and clung.

Because to withdraw was utterly impossible.

Lia’s lips were so soft, so perfect, fitting to his as if made for that very purpose. Niccolo froze. Amazing as it was to admit, he’d never felt so undone by a woman. Yet all he did was touch her lips!

They tasted like honey. Honey and Lia, the most beautiful woman he’d ever known.

Niccolo inhaled sharply, strengthening his resolve to draw back. Except now he dragged in air warm from her flesh, scented with the lily and woman perfume of Lia. There was no turning back. Not yet. He stood unmoving, one hand cupping her skull, the other splayed over the sinuous indentation of her waist.

Until, shocking him to the core, he felt the slick of her tongue along his mouth. And a warm vibration, like a soundless hum of pleasure, resonate through her.

Niccolo tried to summon the will to move, to break the embrace. Then it came again, tentative but real, her tongue sliding across his bottom lip.

A man was only human after all.

He’d done his best, tried to be strong, but there was a limit to endurance.

Angling his head, pressing closer, he opened his mouth and sucked her questing tongue into his mouth. Sucked hard, drawing his own tongue against it in a duel that was all invitation and pleasure.

Niccolo’s hands trembled as they never did at the wheel of a racing vehicle. He felt as if he held sunlight and innocence in his arms and was torn between protectiveness and the need to possess.

He moved his hand, changed his grip to angle her head for easier access and, instead of stiffening in rejection, Lia melted in his arms, her curves sliding against him, her head bowing back under the pressure of his, and again that wordless vibration of pleasure. He tasted it, swallowed it, then plunged deep into her mouth, demanding more.

It was like admiring a daisy and discovering it was a lush, sensual rose in disguise.

Her mouth was rich velvet, tempting and seductive. Her body undulated against him in blatant, needy invitation, and Niccolo found himself backing her up against the dressing table. He crowded her between his thighs, his erection instant and powerful, jammed up against her belly.

Somewhere, in the back of his brain, his conscience commanded he pull back. But then Lia’s hands crept up his chest, over his shoulders and she wrapped her fingers around his neck, pulling him down towards her as if she too couldn’t get enough.

It was bliss.

It was torture.

Devastatingly fantastic yet not nearly enough. Already his hand was roving her body, down over the ripe curve of her buttocks, then digging in through the thin fabric till she gasped and rocked her pelvis into him, her head falling back.

Niccolo had never seen anything more alluring than Lia, her kiss-swollen lips open as she gasped for air, a flush of arousal tinting her throat and cheeks and her eyes glowing gold. They were a siren’s eyes, luring him on, inviting him to forget restrictions and taboos and take her. Here, now.

His breath came in harsh gulps that couldn’t quite fill his lungs. His skin was tight and uncomfortable and he needed to rip off his clothes.

But more than that, he needed to have Lia. The pain of not tearing himself free of his trousers and taking her right here was making him dizzy.

‘We should—’ He’d been about to say something about stopping, except Lia tilted her hips in a sinuous move that brought her pelvis high against him.

His conscience disintegrated in a ripple of lust that began at the base of his spine and raced straight round to his groin.

Lia knew what she was doing. She wasn’t that innocent.

Her heavy-lidded stare invited and challenged.

With a growl of triumph, Niccolo swept his mouth back down to hers, possessing her with a bruising thoroughness that still couldn’t allay the need thrumming in his veins. He hungered for Lia, for all of her, writhing and gasping beneath him as he took them both to heaven.

He slid his hand from her face, down past her collarbone to her breast. His hand trembled as he cupped her fullness in his fingers. Was it because she fitted him so perfectly or because this was Lia, the woman who’d been secretly driving him crazy for so long? Whatever the reason, she made him want to slide to his knees and worship her. To give her everything he had. And to please her as no man had ever pleased her before.

He smiled as her eyes fluttered closed and she arched up high into his touch, a tiny sound of delight falling from her open lips.

It was then that Niccolo knew he was utterly lost.

Niccolo was Lia's first crush. But instead of growing out of that crush, her love grows stronger.

Do you remember your first crush? Was it a singer or actor or maybe even your older brother's best mate? I wonder if any of those first loves become 'the real thing'? Or alternatively maybe there was something you adored as a kid that still plays a significant part in your life.

Leave a comment and you could win a Kindle copy of AT THE ITALIAN'S BIDDING. Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Melanie Milburne will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sunday Smooch - The Italian's Bold Reckoning by 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 Franca Poli.


Can you please contact Melanie at melaniemilburne(at)gmail(d0t)com to receive your copy of 'Wedding Night With Her Enemy'.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Annie West's THE ITALIAN'S BOLD RECKONING.

 He’s lured her back. Will she take the bait?

He believed their passion could never fade. Yet it’s a year since Matteo De Laurentis lived with his gorgeous, talented, obstinate wife. Angela insists they’re mismatched, but Matteo refuses to give up the only woman he’ll ever love. Italy’s sexiest leading man is determined to get his wife back. By whatever means necessary.

 Angela is desperate to avoid working on this film with the handsome, charismatic actor-turned-director who happens to be her estranged husband. It was a mistake ever to think she could hold her own in his glamorous world. But now she’s trapped in Venice, unable to escape the one man who turns her brain to mush and her body to a blaze of passion.

 Is Matteo taking revenge to a whole new level, taunting her with everything she’s given up? Or is this seductive torture as difficult for him as it is for her? She can only pray he never discovers her secret weakness – that she’s still desperately in love with him.

Scene set-up

Matteo and Angela have been separated for twelve months. Now Matteo has forced his wife's hand, bringing in the lawyers to ensure she abides by her contractual obligation to work on his new film. There are issues to be resolved between them but their feelings for each other are still there, especially desire.

Smooch  -

Angela saw the fire in Matteo’s eyes, felt the strung-too-tight rigidity of his tall frame, and expected to be devoured.

She ached for him, was ready to lose himself in a rush of passion.

But her husband had other ideas.

It was as if, after twelve months apart, he was intent on learning her all over again.

His face blotted out the light and his mouth touched hers, gently brushing her lips.

A quiver ran through her from the barely there point of connection where her lips trembled, to the back of her scalp where tiny pinpricks of sensation exploded. It sped right down through her melting vital organs to the soles of her feet in four inch stilettos that waved helplessly somewhere above the polished floor.

Angela had no point of reference but him. His tall frame against her, his arms, rigid as steel girders, lashing her to him, his straight shoulders supporting her arms. His breath warmed her face and the rich scent of mountain pine and spicy male skin teased her nostrils.

Matteo’s mouth slid along hers, sealing her lips, but not yet entering. She’d forgotten how soft his mouth was, for in repose his face was all hard masculinity. She felt the brush of his short beard, rasping against her chin, awakening long-dormant nerves.

Eagerly Angela angled her head, pushing closer. Matteo slicked his tongue along the seam of her lips.

Instantly, hungrily, she opened for him, needing the give and take of his open-mouthed kiss. But he’d already moved, his mouth at the corner of hers, then nipping at her bottom lip, making tingles of delight wash through her.

‘Matteo.’ It was barely a sound, more a vibration on the heavy air between them as he bit gently at her earlobe, then lower, nibbling down the side of her neck. She arched in his hold, her head flung back in abandon.

Angela’s heart beat double-quick time. Surely it throbbed too high in her chest, as if seeking to escape.

‘You drive me crazy.’ The words rasped against her throat, a graze of lips and whiskers and warm lips. She clutched the back of his skull, fingers buried in the thick comfort of his glossy hair. ‘I want every part of you, Angela. I want to start at the top and work my way down and then start over again.’

THE ITALIAN'S BOLD RECKONING is about a reunion and a new start. Matteo goes to great lengths to get Angela back in his life so they can sort out the issues that drove them apart. If you'd had an argument or disagreement with your partner what gesture would you like your hero (fictional or real) to make as a start to bridge the gap between you?

I'll give away an e-copy of 'The Italian's Bold Reckoning' (via Amazon) plus a Harlequin book of mine featuring a sexy Italian hero to someone who leaves a comment.

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

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sunday Smooch - Bound to the Italian Boss - Annie West

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Jan Van Engen


Can you please contact kandy(at)kandyshepherd.com to receive your CD audio version of The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner by Kandy Shepherd.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from  Annie West.

What the boss wants the boss gets.

 Luca De Laurentis is focused on two things, adventure and expanding his billion-dollar hotel empire. He never expects those interests to collide, until the day he sees his prim and proper assistant transform into a leather-clad beauty with a taste for excitement.

 Allegra Davis is determined never to be judged on her appearance again. Hence her frumpy work clothes and her move to Italy. Just her luck that the one person to recognise her in motorcycle leathers is her boss, the man she’s had a crush on for a year! Now Luca is watching her with heat in his eyes and his every touch promises pleasure. What happens when their relationship moves out of the boardroom and into the bedroom?

Scene set-up
Luca and Allegra have worked together for a year and the attraction between them has finally come to a head. They're alone together in the empty hotel they have come to inspect. But neither is thinking about that. Luca is desperate to kiss her, but having learned how she'd been sexually harassed in a previous job, is determined to proceed slowly and let her make the first move,

Smooch  -

He was dying, slowly dying of torture.

His whole body was in lockdown. He didn’t dare move so much as a finger while Allegra sat next to him, her slim hand on his, her lovely eyes bright with enquiry and uncertainty.

The women he dated were usually confident, supremely self-assured and not at all hesitant about inviting a man into their bed.

Allegra was different in so many ways, even though he’d always thought of her as confident in her professional role.

It wasn’t just looks or attitude, though they played their part. This was Allegra, the woman he’d appreciated and liked, but hadn’t known at all. The woman who’d tormented his fantasies though he’d tried to deny it.

With her beautiful blue-grey eyes and lush mouth, she was more potently desirable than any fantasy. He smelled her: vanilla, warm female flesh and the slightest hint of musk, and his heart kicked hard into a primitive, urgent tattoo. A needy tattoo.

He wanted Allegra as he couldn’t remember wanting anyone. Sitting still, not claiming her, giving her the chance to decide, was the hardest thing he could remember doing.

Then her hand was on his face, her breath warm on him. Her fingers channelled through his hair and that touch seemed as intimate as any erotic caress. Every nerve ending danced into urgent wakefulness.

He was an inch from pulling her to him, and ending this torment, when she closed her eyes and touched her mouth to his.

The effect was electrifying, even though her kiss was gentle, almost innocent, with her lips still closed. It was enough to sever Luca’s control as his blood surged south and every neuron flashed, his brain demanding more and still more.

Luca hauled her closer, pulling her over the arm of the chair and onto his lap, lashing her tight within his embrace. She was soft and curved, deliciously feminine against his granite hardness, and close wasn’t enough.

Not when he anchored his hand in her fine hair, angling her head for better access. Not when she responded to the slick of his tongue along her mouth by opening her lips and letting him plunge deep.

She tasted of wine and something sweet and unfamiliar. Something that he guessed was simply Allegra. Dimly Luca registered it was a taste he’d happily grow addicted to.

Her hands wrapped over his shoulders and he dragged his palm up, over her ribcage to the swell of her breast.

She stiffened and for an instant he thought he’d scared her, but instead she arched against him, thrusting her softness into his palm. He stroked his thumb over her nipple and she moaned in the back of her throat.

He wanted to make her moan again. To scream his name in ecstasy. He wanted everything with her.

Luca deepened his kiss, mimicking the way he’d like to possess her body. And the sweetness of her response, the way she melted against him, sucking his tongue against hers, sparked wildfire in his veins.

‘I want you,’ he breathed, the sound lost against her mouth. But she heard. He felt the quiver right through her slender body.

She pressed closer, every part of her pure invitation. ‘Then take me.’

It was as if she’d lit dynamite somewhere in his brain. He felt the silent, juddering waves of reaction roll through him, felt his hands tighten possessively on her delectable body. And he realised with shock that he was close to coming just at the sound of her words and the feel of her rounded hip against his erection.

Part of him wanted to strip her naked right here. Another part was all for simply tearing her trousers open and driving into her without niceties like undressing.

But Luca had more control than that.

Barely.

In a surge of movement he rose to his feet, cradling Allegra close in his arms, every muscle and sinew taut with aroused possessiveness.

Instantly her grip tightened, as if afraid he might drop her. Or as if she too, craved contact.

He liked that. He liked her holding onto him as if she’d never let go. And when she pulled her head back to gasp in air he liked the dazed look in her silvery eyes. It was like looking into moonlight, except there was nothing cool about Allegra’s eyes. They burned with a hunger that matched his.

Swiftly, driven by the need to stamp his mark, Luca hitched her higher and bent his head, taking her mouth in a hard, proprietorial kiss. He needed to taste her again, feel that huge, trembling weight of anticipation rising up through her body to meet his.

This time when he lifted his head, she looked thoroughly kissed. Her hair was around her shoulders in glorious waves and her lips were swollen. Her eyes were diamond-bright.

For a moment they just looked at each other, both panting, trying to drag in more air. Then Allegra smiled, slowly, sending his heart spinning out of control and spurring him into action.

BOUND TO THE ITALIAN BOSS is only my second office romance and in both stories a lot of the action takes place outside the office! I love reading office romances but seem to have trouble keeping my characters to their desks. Are you a fan of office romances? What is your favourite romance trope? Marriage of convenience, twin swap, boy next door, secret baby...?

I'll give away an e-copy of BOUND TO THE ITALIAN BOSS via Amazon to two people who comment here (no geographical restriction).

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

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver