I got my author copies of EXLCUSIVE this week. Oh man is it a beautiful book!
And since I teased you all with excerpts from Eden Bradley’s and Lisa Renee Jones’ story, I figure it’s time to give you a little taste of my novella, WILD NIGHTS.
Wild Nights features Mike Nottingham from WILD WICKED & WANTON. I fell madly in love with Mike in that book and just knew I couldn’t leave him..uh..hanging. He had to have a strong woman of his own, someone who could…uhh…handle him. :giggle:
I’m really excited his story is releasing next Tuesday. Here’s a little taste of Mike. Excerpt after the jump.
WILD NIGHTS
(c) 2007 by Jaci Burton
“We’re both alike, Grace. Looking for something or someone who can’t be found.”
“So what do we do about that?”
God she was beautiful. Her hair shined like blue-black magic in the lights from the strip. The silk of her skirt and top clung to her body like shrink wrap, molding to her breasts and hips. He wanted a taste, a touch, to sink inside her and see if she held the magic key to what was missing in his life. He hadn’t felt this comfortable with a woman in too long.
Or maybe he just wanted to avoid what was going on downstairs. Maybe it didn’t have the allure he thought it would. In that, he’d been honest with her.
What he really wanted to explore was sitting right next to him. Grace had fired his engines in a big way. Her intellect, her free spirit, her honesty and her beauty—all of them intrigued him more than any woman had in a long time.
“One night. Give me one night with you. No promises other than enjoying each other.”
“We both know we’re not going to find what we’re looking for,” she said, her gaze betraying nothing of her emotions at the moment.
“I know, but I like being with you. Isn’t that enough?”
“Is it?”
“I’ve been honest with you, Grace. That’s really all I can offer.”
He watched her face as she absorbed his words, wondering if she’d toss him out and deny him, and herself, a chance for a night together. She knew him. Okay, that was wrong. She didn’t know him, but he figured she knew hundreds of guys just like him. Men who’d had lots of women. She probably thought he was looking at her as just another conquest.
When he first came here tonight that’s exactly what she’d been. Another challenge. But she’d rocked him back on his heels and gut punched everything he thought he wanted. She saw right through his bullshit. He needed a woman like that.
She stood. “Let’s just take this slow, see how things go.”
He nodded, instinctively understanding that was important to her. “However you want to set the ground rules.”
“I don’t really like rules, per se…and I haven’t said yes to anything yet.”
Her voice had gone smoky and the atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. From polite conversation to something more elemental—something definitely darker, with more promise.
“I think I want you to sit over there—in that chair.” She motioned with her head to the black leather chair directly across from her.
Mike moved, sat down and placed his arms on the chair, keeping his gaze riveted on Grace. She moved to the other side of the room and flipped a switch, filling the room with soft, sexy jazz music, then headed back toward him, all long limbs and polished refinement. Even in the way she walked, she hitched his pulse up a notch. Nothing hurried, nothing hesitant in her movements. She stopped a foot in front of him and parted her legs.
“Don’t move. Don’t get up and don’t touch me unless I ask you to.”
“However you want it.” His cock twitched in anticipation of what was to come. His heart began to pump a fast beat and the room grew warmer. He didn’t know what kind of game she was gearing up to play, but he was definitely all in.
“People rush into sex, as if fucking is the grand prize,” she started. “No one takes the time for mystery, for teasing or seduction. All the joy leading up to sex has gone by the wayside, and it’s such a shame, because the buildup can be as intense as the act itself.”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and smoothed her hands up her arms, then across her neck and collarbone. Light, fingertip touches, avoiding her breasts. Slow and easy, like an exploration. Mike took a breath, waiting for her to fondle herself, to caress the hard points of her nipples peeking through the thin silk of her blouse. He knew she wanted to touch them. He wanted to touch them, could almost feel the tight buds between his fingers. Instead, she skimmed her hands down over her waist.
“The fine art of taking one’s time in pleasing a lover has been lost in the haste for ultimate satisfaction. We forget to simply touch, breathe, watch.”
Mike was definitely watching. Riveted, wondering what she was going to do next. A slow dance of seduction so unlike what he was used to with sex. Grace was right. It was usually a rush of mouths and hands and bodies tangling together—a race to penetration and orgasm. There was no time taken to explore. No agonizing temptation. Nothing like what he was forced to endure as she skimmed her hand across her ribcage, then dipped it inside her skirt.