Excerpt
Connor
broke away, allowing them both to suck in oxygen. “Stay. I’m sorry. Stay.” He
bent his knees to bring them eye to eye. His spoke of torture, but he was
trying to hide it. “Look at me. I can handle this. I want you here. Don’t
leave.”
“I don’t
know if I can handle it,” she
whispered.
His heavy
breaths ceased. “What do you mean?”
She drew
out a lighter from her back pocket and ignited the flame. It cleared her head a
little, allowing her to search for the right words. Words that wouldn’t sound
crazy. “I like touching you. It makes me feel really…good. And there isn’t a
whole lot that makes me feel good, you know?” Her throat closed up. “I wish you
could touch me, too. I don’t think I can stay here knowing I’m hurting you by
making myself feel good…and I don’t think I can stop touching you. It feels like a must.”
A flare
of panic flashed across his face. “I shouldn’t have said what I did earlier.
You just caught me off guard.” He massaged his forehead with four fingers. “Did
I scare you? Is that why you’re really leaving?”
“No.” She
shook her head. “No.”
“Okay.
Jesus. Okay.” He was silent a moment, but gears were turning behind his eyes.
“You need to touch me and I need you to stay. Let’s give each other what we
need. All right?”
Why was
this so damn confusing? She’d only
met this man yesterday and they were already tangled up in her web of
fucked-up issues. He should want to be clear of her, shouldn’t he? No
one else had ever bothered with her this long before. “Why? Why do you need me
to stay? I—”
“I won’t
rest,” he growled. “I’ll think about you somewhere, scared like you were last
night, and I’ll go fucking crazy.”
Her heart
lurched, dislodging her pride. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long
time. If the only reason you want me here is to play nursemaid to the crazy
girl, that’s not going to work for me.”
“You know
there’s more to it. You know.” He
visibly centered himself with a deep breath, appearing to debate with himself.
“I’ve got my own skeletons, Erin. They don’t rattle so much when you’re around.
Your touching me…it makes me hot. But it soothes elsewhere.”
She knew
her expression was pathetically hopeful, but couldn’t find a single shit to
give. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,”
he repeated. “I’m not going to lie, Erin. Yes, I want to sleep with you like
hell. But only if it’s healthy. Would you trust me enough to go slow? A little
at a time?”
Her pulse
hammered out of control. “You
touching me?”
Connor
watched her closely. “When you’re ready. Not before. Never before.”
This is
where she should climb down the fire escape and vamoose toward the street. A
weight pressed down on her rib cage, making it difficult to draw a breath. It
felt like the point of no return. But Connor’s eyes grounded her.
Safe. He’s safe.
“Okay,
baby. Slow.”
His body
drained of tension. “Thank you.” He leaned in and brushed their lips together,
gently, reverently. “First, we talk.”
Never start a fire you
can't control...
Connor Bannon is supposed to be dead. Dishonorably
discharged from the Navy SEALs, he's spent the last two years working as a
street enforcer in Brooklyn for his cousin's crime ring. Through a twist of
fate, he's now in Chicago, working undercover to bust criminals. But when a
cute little arsonist joins the team-all combat boots, tiny jean shorts, and
hot-pink hair-Connor's notorious iron control slips.
Erin "she's getting away" O'Dea knows two
things. She hates authority. And... Nope, that's it. When she's forced to
operate on the "right" side of the law, her fear of being confined
and controlled blazes to the surface. The last thing she expects is a control
freak like Connor to soothe her when she needs it most. Worse, something behind
the sexy ex-soldier's eyes ignites a dangerous inferno of desire. One that
invites Erin to play with fire. And one that could get them both killed...
About the Author:
Thank you
for your interest in my books! I'm Tessa and I live in the crazy, loud,
overcrowded borough of Brooklyn, New York. I love it here. This city is a
constant source of inspiration, which is why I've decided to set my most recent
books in the Line of Duty Series here.
I moved to
New York when I was eighteen, the day after I graduated high school. Threw my
suitcase in the back of a Chevrolet Cavalier and drove across the country to
find my adventure. I'm still finding it, little by little.Thank you for being
a part of it.
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Tessa: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Rock Star Author Page
THANK YOU!
Myself and Mikki just read this, and really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteLindy@ A Bookish Escape