From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the next installment in the Saints of Denver series.
Everyone else in Dixie Carmichael’s life has made falling in love look easy, and now she is ready for her own chance at some of that happily ever after. Which means she’s done pining for the moody, silent former soldier who works with her at the bar that’s become her home away from home. Nope. No more chasing the hot as heck thundercloud of a man and no more waiting for Mr. Right to find her; she’s going hunting for him...even if she knows her heart is stuck on its stupid infatuation with Dash Churchill.
Denver has always been just a pit stop for Church on his way back to rural Mississippi. It was supposed to be simple, uneventful, but nothing could have prepared him for the bubbly, bouncy redhead with doe eyes and endless curves. Now he knows it’s time to get out of Denver, fast. For a man used to living in the shadows, the idea of spending his days in the sun is nothing short of terrifying.
When Dixie and Church find themselves caught up in a homecoming overshadowed with lies and danger, Dixie realizes that while falling in love is easy, loving takes a whole lot more work…especially when Mr. Right thinks he’s
all wrong for you.
EXCERPT:
Church
She kissed me.
Her lips touched mine and she destroyed me. This tiny ray of light that
seemed determined to chase the darkness inside of me away unraveled me
with nothing more than the brush of her very soft lips against mine.
I should’ve pulled away, either that or gone all in. The attraction
between us was only going to end one way, with me inside of her as we
scorched through one another, so a real kiss with tongues and teeth and
grabbing hands was inevitable, especially if she was holding the door
wide open in invitation. I was already struggling with the friend thing
and this wasn’t helping at all. I stood there, holding her, feeling her
as she rubbed her mouth over mine, the barest hint of pressure as she
took a taste, as she feathered her lips against mine like she was trying
to memorize the shape, the feel, the flavor of them. It was the
singularly softest touch I’d ever experienced and yet it had the power
to make my knees weak and my blood pop with a desire so sharp it felt
like it could pierce right through my skin.
Her hand cradled my jaw, her fingers shaking with some of the same
things I was feeling. This thing that lived between us was hungry and
tired of being ignored. It buzzed around us, electric and hot, refusing
to be cooled by the chill in the night air that surrounded us. If we
weren’t careful the passion that was hungry and needy between us would
consume us, devour us, and leave us nothing more than hollow husks
filled with fading satisfaction and jagged disenchantment because no
matter how good we were together it couldn’t and wouldn’t last. I didn’t
want any part of me to be responsible for burning her out. I liked that
her light chased my shadows away and that meant I wasn’t going to have
any kind of hand in dimming her internal glow.
Her breasts pressed into the center of my chest as she leaned more fully
into me and I could feel the pointed peaks of her nipples stab into my
skin. The sensation made my dick twitch behind my zipper and had all the
available blood that was still above my belt rushing south. I’d always
liked the way Dixie was built. She was on the shorter side, but every
single part of her small frame was curved and lush. She looked like a
woman that you could grab ahold of without having to watch yourself. She
was delicate but in no way did she come across as fragile or breakable.
She looked like she could take everything I had to give her, all the
pent-up longing, all the nights of frustration I spent hard and alone,
all the denied hunger that made me want to eat her up and then go back
for seconds and thirds because I knew there was no way I was going to
have my fill of her honeyed lips and velvety skin in one go.
There was so much of her to experience, and I wanted to know what all of
it felt like, tasted like, sounded like. I wanted to watch her come
from every possible position I could get her in, and then I wanted to
find some new ones, ones no man had ever had her in before, and watch
her come in those, too. Because I knew once I got her she would let me
have her in ways she hadn’t let anyone else. Her eyes, so pretty and
dark, made me all kids of promises, and I wanted to take her up on every
single one of them. But there wasn’t anything I could promise in
return, and that always kept me from crossing the invisible line.
She ran the tip of her nose along the edge of my jaw and that little
nuzzle made my entire body shudder. She had the ability to bring down
all the walls I’d so carefully built up around us in order to keep both
of us safe. She didn’t have any clue the kind of damage I could do if I
ignored all the warning bells ringing loudly in the back of my mind. I
knew the ways in which I could wreck the women in my life that I cared
about and there was no way on God’s green and often unforgiving Earth
that I would subject her to that. I barely survived the loss of the last
woman I loved. I knew if I let Dixie sneak her way inside my heart and
something happened to her there would be nothing left of me. There
wouldn’t be anyplace left for me to run.
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About Jay Crownover:
Jay Crownover is the
New York Times and
USA Today bestselling author of the
Marked Men,
The Point, and the
Saints of Denver series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.
Feel so comfy, security and protective
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about home is my loving family.
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