Within hours of her wedding Emma Piper is devastated to find the real reason her new husband married her had nothing to do with love! Furious and hurt she leaves him to deal with a reception full of well-wishes and makes her escape. Now he's tracked her down to Corfu and has the temerity to demand they stay married. More, that they share a wedding night. The answer is no. But the trouble is Emma still has a weakness for the man she'd loved, even if she hates him now.
Smooch -
‘This conversation’s getting us nowhere.
That’s in the past and—’
‘On the contrary, this conversation is just
getting interesting.’ He lowered his head as if trying to read her face in the
darkness. ‘Tell me why you married me, Emma.’
That voice, honey mixed now with rumbling
gravel, scraped through her insides. But instead of leaving painful grazes, it
stirred something altogether unwanted. Something she needed to banish. If only
she knew how!
Suddenly she realised the danger of being
this close to him. Of his flesh on hers. ‘I want to go inside.’
‘Could it be,’ he went on as if she hadn’t
spoken, ‘because of this?’
He tugged her hand, pulling her against him. Emma’s
hissed breath was loud as she planted her other palm on his chest to push away.
But before she could, he’d raised her
captured hand to his face and pressed his lips to her palm. She felt surprisingly
soft lips and the delicious abrasion of his hair-roughened jaw, a reminder of
his masculinity, as if she needed it!
Instantly sensation juddered through her.
Desire.
Delight.
Weakness.
Shivers reverberated through her and Emma
knew she had to fight this. But then Christo moved, bending lower to kiss the
sensitive flesh of her wrist, creating a shower of sparks in her blood.
The trouble was Emma had so little
experience. There’d been a guy at uni when she was eighteen but that had never
progressed beyond a few kisses, because her grandmother had died and suddenly,
more than ever, she was needed at home. She had no experience withstanding such
powerfully erotic caresses. Or the demands of her own body, finally woken after
so long.
Firming her mouth, she pushed that unyielding
chest with her free hand. It made no impact.
Or perhaps she didn’t push very hard. For now
Christo was kissing his way along the bare flesh of her forearm where the wide
sleeve of her robe fell back.
His grip wasn’t tight. She could yank her
hand free. If only she could find the willpower to do it.
But oh, the lush sensations spreading from
those tiny yet incredibly intimate kisses.
Her breath sawed and in her ears blood rushed
helter skelter.
He’d reached her elbow and she stiffened like
a yacht’s sail snapping taut in the wind. Taut but trembling too, at the
sensations he evoked. Her hand on his chest no longer pushed. Instead it
splayed, fingers wide, absorbing the sultry heat of his hard chest and the
teasing friction of the smudge of dark hair on his pectorals.
‘Stop that now.’ Because, heaven help her,
she couldn’t. ‘I’m not sleeping with you, Christo.’
That caught his attention. He looked up and
even in the gloom, she caught the brilliance of his eyes as he looked down at
her. Then, without uttering a word, he put his mouth to her arm and slowly
licked her inner elbow.
Emma’s knees all but gave way as a frighteningly
potent shot of lust punched her. She made a sound, a soft, keening noise that
she wouldn’t have thought possible if she hadn’t heard it slide from her lips.
She cleared her throat ready to demand he
release her when she felt the scrape of teeth nipping the soft flesh in the
crease of her elbow. Then almost immediately the strong draw against her skin
as he sucked the spot.
Emma bit down hard on her lip to prevent a
groan escaping into the night. She’d had no idea something as ordinary as an
elbow could be so sensitive. That it could make her feel...
Ready for sex. That’s how she felt. With her
trembling limbs and that pulsing point down between her thighs that urged her
to move closer to Christo. There was an aching hollowness inside and her
breasts seemed fuller than before, eager for contact, her nipples impossibly
hard. If she followed that animal instinct she rub herself against him, purring
and pleading for follow through.
Her weakness terrified her.
‘I said I don’t want to go to bed with you.’
Her voice was too loud and too wobbly.
For answer he released her hand which wavered
uselessly in the air then slowly dropped to her side. Instead of moving back he
stroked his fingertips over her cheek. All she had to do was pull her head back
a couple of centimetres to sever the contact but she couldn’t do it. Instead
she stood as if mesmerised by the caress of long, hard fingers that worked
magic with each touch.
‘I don’t believe you.’
A wedding night in Greece wasn't what Emma and Christo had originally planned but I must say I loved the location. If you were planning a honeymoon, or writing about one, where would it be? Who knows, suggestions might end up in a future book!
Annie writes for Harlequin Mills and Boon - "Modern" in the UK, "Presents" in the US and "Sexy" in Australia/New Zealand. To her delight, and her family's amusement, that means she can call herself a Sexy Author! Annie has devoted her life to an in depth study of tall, dark, charismatic heroes - it's hard but someone has to do it.
Today we have a smooch from Annie West's new release
Ever fancied an escape to an island hideaway? How about a trip
to exotic Greece? I confess I’ve been dreaming of both lately.
