"I Googled it. That's what it's called when people get close through trauma."
He muttered under his breath, "You Googled it." Then louder he said, "You should have looked up post traumatic stress disorder. Only a girl suffering from that would push away a catch like me."
I stifled a laugh. "Hmmm. Maybe I should look that up." I made a move to get up.
His grip tightened and he growled. "No more Google."
I kissed the underside of his chin. "Deal."
"If you ever want to know how I feel, just ask me. I'm more than willing to tell you."
"I think I can tell how you're feeling right now," I murmured, desire thick in my voice.
His growing erection nudged me again. "It's not morning, bella," he whispered, making goose bumps rise along my arms. "It's all you."
"We have lost time to make up for," I said, turning in his lap, sinking down onto him instantly.
"By all means," he said, gripping my hips and rocking me across his hardness. "Get to work."
A very long time later, I fell asleep, not on the floor, but in his arms. A place I planned to sleep for the rest of my life.
Just before slipping away, a thought of Duke drifted over my mind. I pushed it away, unwilling to let a dead man who tried to kill us tempt me away from happiness. I knew that vowing to never think of him again was fruitless. What he did was something that couldn't be forgotten. But not letting those thoughts consume me was something I could do.
The last thought I had before sleep claimed me completely was that controlling my thoughts was a lot easier than controlling my dreams …
I came awake with soft caresses. Barely there touches that glided over my skin, making me hyper aware of every single thing I felt.
My eyes were heavy-from sleep, from lust. I kept them closed, allowing the sensations of his hands and mouth to consume me. I could get used to this … to wake up to this every single day.
His tongue circled my belly button, and then he scattered kisses across my belly and landed on my hip. He pressed his slightly open mouth to the hollowed area between my hip and my pelvis, making my hips lurch upward and my hands search for his head.
"More," I whispered, my sleepy voice tinged with pleading.
He kissed lower, burying his nose and mouth in my short, springy curls, all the while his mouth sliding lower. I opened my legs for him. They were already trembling. He gripped the outside of my hips and yanked me forward so the most secret place of me collided with his mouth.
I groaned. His tongue began to work me into a tizzy. I grasped for him but couldn't quite reach as new sensations rolled over me and I fell back against the sheets once more, submitting to every single thing he made me feel.
My foot slid along his waist, cupping his ribcage and urging him closer.
Two fingers tested my soaking wet opening, but I made a sound of protest. "You," I murmured. "I just want you."
He crawled up my body, rubbing along me like a cat, and I moaned again, hooking my legs around his waist.
"Nash," I sighed.
He said nothing.
Something uneasy broke through my heavy desire.
I was dreaming. It was just like before.
Wake up, Ava! I yelled at myself.
But it seemed the dream had me in its grip. I was torn. I wanted to get away … yet I wanted to continue.
Please, not again. The thought whimpered through my mind.
Finally, we were together. The island was behind us. The dreams were behind … Duke was gone.
"Open your eyes," the man above me whispered.
I squeezed them shut harder and shook my head. If it wasn't Nash, I would never forgive myself. I would be haunted forever with the dreams about another man. A man I most certainly didn't want, but seemed to have the ability to kidnap my dreams.
A large, warm hand closed over my breast. I arched up off the bed. So good …
No! Stop that! I yelled at myself.
Then he gripped my nipple and twisted it just lightly. Pleasure tingled through every ounce of me.
"Look at the man your heart truly desires," the man whispered again.
I tried to decipher his voice. I couldn't. I was so upset and caught between dream ad reality I didn't know what to do.
There was only one thing I could do.
I took a breath.
And opened my eyes.
I blinked, adjusting to the dim lighting, and nervously looked up at the man who was hovering over me, ready to take me.
It was Nash.
"Bella," he whispered when my eyes collided with his.
Relief so strong poured over me as Nash reached out to stroke my cheek. And then he entered me in one long, hard stroke.
I took his face in my hands and stared up at him. Overjoyed with this man. My heart and body was so full of him that there was no room for anyone else.
There was only him.
In my heart. In my dreams. In my forever.
THE END
Today is your lucky day! Not only did you get to read TEMPT, but now you get an exclusive sneak peak of TEXT, the next Take It Off novel, coming November 2013!
One text can change everything.
Honor Calhoun never thought her life would ever be like the books she writes for a living. One morning while out for a run, she learns plot twists aren't only found in novels. Some horrors can actually come true.
She faces off with a persistent attacker, holds her own, but in the end is taken hostage and thrown into a hole. In the middle of the woods.
But Honor didn't go down there alone.
She took her kidnapper's phone with her. With a spotty signal and a dying battery, her hope is slim.
Nathan Reed is an active duty Marine stationed at a small reservist base in Pennsylvania. All he wants is a calm and uneventful duty station where he can forget the memories of his time in a war-torn country.
But a single text changes everything.
Nathan becomes Honor's only hope for survival, and he has to go against the clock, push aside his past, and take on a mission for a girl he's never met.
Both of them want freedom … but they have to survive long enough to obtain it.
You ready for the goods? Turn the page!
TEXT
Sneak Peek
by Cambria Hebert
1
Honor
Early morning sunlight filtered through the overhead canopy of burnished autumn leaves, and crisp, chilled air brushed over my cheeks, filling my lungs with every deep inhale I took. My hot-pink Nikes pounded lightly against the gravel path on which I ran, and the sound of Mackelmore filled my ears.
I loved this time of day. It was just me, the trail, and the exertion of my muscles. Running was something I knew I would always do. It was my escape. It was my way of de-stressing, of letting my mind wander wherever it wanted. I didn't have to think about deadlines, or emails, or dealing with people. I was in the moment, working my body and releasing all the tension and stress that built up inside me during the day.
I took a second to wipe my brow and then glanced up. A light breeze ruffled the trees and leaves rained down around me, littering the already covered path. I could barely see the gravel because so many had already fallen. It was absolutely gorgeous. It motivated me to run farther, to run longer, because being out here, in the purest form of nature during the fall, was close to heaven for me.
To my right, a creek flowed, the water rushing over rocks insistently like it was racing me. Plants and trees grew along the bank, jutting into the moving water. Leaves were carried along with the current, dotting the dark water with bright spots of yellow and orange. Occasionally, a fish would jump up and splash, leaving ripples in its wake.
This trail stretched for thirty miles. Thirty miles of scenic pleasure. Thirty miles of untouched wilderness that blended in naturally with the mountainous small town where I made my home. This trail was the main reason I moved here. I felt so close to nature, so at peace. Whenever I had a bad day, I could go down to the creek or walk along the path and be instantly calmed. This place had a way of reminding me how life was bigger than just me, how I shouldn't get so caught up in the everyday that I forget to enjoy the beauty around me.
I glanced down at the pedometer strapped to my upper arm. I'd already gone over three miles. I needed to turn back. By the time I made it back to my house, I would be over six miles for the day.
Oh well. This long run earned me a big fat dessert or maybe a pizza later.
I turned and started back the way I came, toward my little house that sat right along the trail. Some spots of the path were more isolated than others. I was running along in a place that had no homes around it, but in about another mile, I would start passing a few and a small row of townhouses.
I rounded the bend in the path and ran over a wooden bridge that carried me atop the rushing creek and then back into the gravel. The trees and wildlife grew right up to the path here. It was dense and full. In another month or so, it would look more bare, the leaves would be mostly gone, and I would be able to see farther back into the woods. But not today. Today the plants provided ample coverage.
Unfortunately.