Are all those sexy Olympic athletes getting you hot and bothered? If so check out RAW TALENT a selection of seriously hot sports-themed erotic romance by myself, Lily Harlem, and great friend Lucy Felthouse.
Wednesday, 10 August 2016
Saturday, 6 August 2016
HOT ICE by Lily Harlem
I've got exciting news about my popular HOT ICE series coming soon. There's a 7th book titled RUSSIAN HEAT plus book #1 HIRED will be FREE!
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Sunday, 31 July 2016
Burning Hunger Excerpt
Never before posted!
She turned gracefully into his arms, and he pulled her even closer against him. The first thing Chaz noticed was her light scent, then the softness of her fragrant hair against his nose. He clenched his teeth, unprepared for the rapid reaction of his body. They moved slowly to the music, and he was aware of every movement her lower body made against his tortured hardening cock.
A soft sigh escaped her, and to his surprise Val wound her arms up and around his neck. It meshed their bodies until they became one. Does she know what she’s doing? There was no way he could hide his hard-on, and he found he didn’t want to. He wanted her to know what she was doing to him, to know that he wanted her. Without protest from her he wedged his leg between hers. He felt her shudder.
His hands flexed against her waist. Then, unable to help himself, his palms smoothed over her hips and around to her shapely bottom. Her jeans were skin tight, letting him feel that she wasn’t wearing panties. His cock throbbed at the discovery and he squeezed her rounded cheeks before he could stop himself. His breathing turned heavy as he imagined what it would feel like fucking her sweet ass.
Chaz wasn’t the only one breathing hard. Val was definitely affected by their intimate proximity. In fact, the lady was straining against him like a cat seeking to be petted. Smiling to himself, he nuzzled his nose into the hair behind her ear, before clamping his teeth down onto her earlobe and giving it a tug. He wanted to devour her.
She gasped and pulled back to meet his eyes. Even on the dark dance floor he could see hers were ablaze with desire. “I think we should return to our table now.”
Her tone was barely above a whisper, and shaky, and yet Chaz heard her loud and clear. He glanced over to see that the waitress had just delivered their food. “Maybe we can finish this later.” A vision of their naked, entangled bodies brought him into full-blown arousal, the kind that would linger until fed.
He seated her and then went around the table to sit in his own chair. God, he was hungry. And it wasn’t for the thick steak sitting in a puddle of blood on his plate. He was ravenous for Val, not just any woman, as it had been in the past. He wanted to taste every inch of her…inside and out.
Thursday, 28 July 2016
Monday, 25 July 2016
Cold Nights, Hot Bodies By Lily Harlem
New
from bestselling author Lily Harlem, Cold Nights, Hot Bodies, a steamy first-time romance set in
beautiful Cotswolds and a must for anyone who loves their fictional heroes.
Back
Cover Information.
All my
life I’ve been the quiet bookworm, the office mouse. It hasn’t bothered me.
Immersing myself in erotic novels has kept me wriggling on the edge of my seat
at work and firmly entrenched in my own fantasy world at night.
Though one
thing is bothering me—my damn virginity. If only I could find a sexy bedroom
expert to introduce me to the delights of having a lover. Someone handsome and
charming, who can rival the hunky alpha males in my books. I have a very vivid,
very well-fed imagination—he’ll have to keep up.
Then, one
bitterly cold night, thanks to a devious, conniving, so-called friend, the
perfect opportunity to rid myself of this pesky virginity problem comes along.
Before I know it, the heroes in my novels have come alive in the person of
Shane Galloway, who’s pleasuring me with every trick in the book and wheedling
into my heart in the hottest ways possible.
**Please
note Cold Nights, Hot Bodies was previously published with different cover
art.**
Excerpt
I stood, arms hanging at my sides, knees buckled, as he lowered his
head and pressed his mouth to mine.
It was a gentle kiss, not wet and not dry, the perfect combination of
smoothness and maleness. I parted my mouth and held my breath as he delicately
traced my bottom lip with his tongue, then I captured his taste—wine and water,
man and musk. Pulling in air, I was treated to his gorgeous light scent again.
“You’re so sweet,” he murmured, pulling back a fraction. “Like a little
sugary doll.”
Pushing to my toes, I pressed my lips to his, wanting more of his taste
and his desire.
This time the kiss quickly turned hotter and harder. Still he kept my
face cradled in his hands, holding me just where he wanted me as he probed his
tongue deeper, searching for mine with the hot, insistent tip.
I lifted my tongue from the base of my mouth and tentatively touched it
to his. He gave a small groan and slanted his head. Our tongues tangled and I
reached up and curled my hands into the material of his shirt. Hung on as our
breaths quickened and our mouths fed off each other. I became lost in his kiss,
he was all I could think of. His taste, his smell, the way he was holding me
was my entire universe. Bubbles of pleasure erupted deep within me. A crazy new
need flowed like lava through my veins, settled in my breasts, seeped between
my legs and spread over my skin.
He pulled back and dropped his hands from my face.
I opened my eyes.
His mouth was shiny from our kiss and his eyelids heavy. “Lose this,”
he whispered, sliding his fingers beneath the thin shoulder straps of my dress.
I prayed my heart wouldn’t give out, it was beating so hard and fast.
He wanted me to take off my dress. Of course he wanted me to take off my dress.
We were going to have sex for heaven’s sake. The dress had to come off.
I slid down the zip and the material loosened around my ribs. He stooped,
gripped the hem and began to lift. It smoothed up over my thighs and waist and
air breezed over my buttocks, which were exposed by my thong.
He straightened, his expression heavy with concentration as he carried
on peeling the dress upward. I stretched my arms above my head and was blinded
momentarily as the dress brushed over my face.
Shane didn’t drop the dress on the floor. Instead he shook it straight
and laid it on the back of the sofa. Instinct made me want to cross my arms
over my breasts, flatten a palm over the shockingly tiny piece of lace that
made up the front of the thong Dawn had provided. But I forced my arms to
remain still, hanging at my sides as he turned to me.
“Phew,” he said, blowing out a breath and scanning my legs. “I must have
been a really good boy this year to get stockings filled so sweetly.”
I couldn’t help but notice there was a long, hard bulge straining
against his fly. My stomach flipped and I quickly averted my eyes and glanced
down at my legs, which were encased in black fishnet. The scalloped tops looked
fine and dainty against my pale thighs. The flickering shadows from the fire
caressed their outline and even I had to admit, they looked damn good.
“You think so?” I asked nervously, trying not to dwell on the size of
the bulge I’d just seen.
“Hell, yeah.” He stepped back over. “I must have accidently found a
cure for cancer or secured world peace to get such a great present.”
A small, apprehensive giggle escaped my lips. “You like the stockings
then?”
“I’ve never liked stockings more than at this moment in time,” he
whispered onto my mouth. “Promise me you’ll keep them on, even when you take
everything else off. I want to feel them rubbing against my skin when you’re
wrapped around me.”
I shivered in a breath at the wonderfully erotic image he’d just
created. “I promise.”
He glanced down at my jutting breasts. “You’re beautiful, you know
that.” He traced his finger over the soft curve at the top of my right breast
and into my newly deepened cleavage.
A dart of pleasure shot to my nipples, as though the weight of my
breasts had doubled under his touch. They were suddenly tingly and tight.
“You do know that, don’t you?” he said again as he traced over my left
breast. “Of course you do, I’m sure you’ve been told by plenty of guys.”
“Er, no,” I said, pressing my palm over his shirt and feeling his hard
pectoral muscle shifting slightly beneath.
“No, you don’t know it or no, you haven’t been told?”
“I…well…I…”
His gaze captured mine and he tipped his head to the side. “Are you
okay?” He stilled his finger.
“Yes, it’s just…” I slid my hand up to his shoulder and held on for
support. I had to tell him. I didn’t think I could go through with “wrapping
myself around him” if he thought I was experienced and confident. I’d be sure
to disappoint or let him down somehow. He deserved to know. Besides, Saffron
had told Tobias, so had Felicity in Lord Morton’s Maid and Skye had left
a note for Ralph in Optimum Pleasure. All my heroines told their men it
was their first time. It was the right thing to do.
“What is it?” Shane asked again, his eyes searching mine.
“I-I haven’t, you know, done it before.”
“Done what?” He creased his forehead into a frown.
“You know, it, had sex.” I stared down at my dark, stockinged feet.
They contrasted sharply with the golden carpet. “I’m a virgin.”
His whole body snapped backward. It was as if he’d been electrocuted.
“Jesus,” he said, shoving his fingers through the hair on the crown of his head
and stretching his elbows out to the side. “What the hell?” He stared at me
with wide eyes.
I crossed my hands over my chest. “I’m sorry.” A shard of fear sliced
into my heart. He didn’t want me anymore. Now he knew I was a virgin he no
longer desired me. He’d wanted an experienced lover for the night, not some
naïve little girl.
“And you let it get this far before you told me?”
“What do you mean? We haven’t done anything other than kiss.”
He huffed. “Yeah, one hot kiss with you looking like the best damn
Christmas present of my life.” He shoved his hands down his waistband and
appeared to re- arrange the bulge behind his fly.
“I’m sorry. Partly for letting it get so far and…” I paused. “And
partly because you appear to be in physical discomfort.”
“There’s no need to be sorry,” he said, glancing at the door and
pulling his hand from his pants.
“Well, clearly there is.” I was getting frustrated now. “If I wasn’t a
virgin we’d be heading into the bedroom by now. Clearly my inexperience has put
you off.”
“I had that in mind actually,” he said, pointing at the deeply
cushioned sofa next to us. “It’s wide and soft and by the fire. It would have
done just fine.”
I tightened my arms around myself. He’d wanted to make love to me on
the sofa. Just the thought of it sent a tremble up my spine. It would have been
so perfect. So sensual and sweet.
He rubbed his hand around the nape of his neck. His dark, tousled hair
fell over his ears and he cast his eyes downward.
“I had to tell you,” I whispered, shivering despite the blasting heat
of the fire.
“Thank goodness you did. Imagine if I’d just gone for it, not knowing.
It would have been catastrophic.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t been with a woman for a while,” he said, frowning. “And you
in those damn stockings and with your sexy little body.” He pulled in a deep
breath. “I was just about to lose control. It wouldn’t have been the gentle
initiation to sex that you deserve, Ashley, it would have left you dazed and
confused and wondering what kind of beast you’d invited to your room.”
He didn’t look like a beast, and he certainly hadn’t touched me like one.
His fingertip on my flesh had been gentle and reverent. Although now he
mentioned it, when he’d looked at my stockings there’d been a glint in his eye
that had made me wonder how much control he had.
“Does it change things between us so much?” I asked quietly.
He sighed. “Of course it does.”
“But why?”
“Because your first time should be special, with someone you care
deeply about…love.”
“I care about you.”
“But we’ve only just met.”
“But I still care about you more than any other guy I’ve ever met.” I
swept my hands down the exposed skin on my body. “No one else has seen me like
this before.”
His eyebrows twitched as his gaze roamed my underwear. “Lucky me.”
I frowned. “Shane, I want to do this, with you. Tonight.”
“But surely you want more than…” He shrugged and clamped his lips into
a tight line.
“Than what? Go on, say it. We’re both adults. We both know what we’re
doing.”
“Okay, surely you want more than a one-night stand to give away your
virginity to?”
My jaw clenched. Of course I knew that’s what this was. But having it
said aloud hurt. Quickly I shoved that stupid bit of hurt way down deep. I had
a more pressing matter to concentrate on and I wasn’t about to let this
opportunity slip through my fingers. “I’m twenty-three, Shane, I’m still a
virgin and I don’t want to be.” I pulled in a deep, determined breath. “I’ve
chosen you over a bunch of losers who’ve chatted me up and asked me out over
the years. It’s taken me a long time to find someone I want to have sex with.
One-night stand or not, I want you to make sure I’m not a virgin when I wake up
in the morning.” I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. “Do you think
you’re man enough to do that?”
“Oh, I’m man enough all right. I’m also man enough to walk away and
stop you making a mistake you’ll never be able to undo.”
“But how can it be a mistake if it’s what I want?”
“Because you don’t know what you want. Why can’t you see that?”
“How dare you.” I stepped up to him, poked out my index finger and
pressed it against his chest. “You have no idea what I want or need.”
He looked surprised by my sudden rise in voice and stern tone.
“I’m a virgin not an idiot. I know about love and lust and I know
there’s a difference. I also know I want to be initiated into the world of sex
by someone handsome, intelligent, experienced and…and…”
“Expert?” He raised his eyebrows.
I tutted and lowered my finger. “Yes, that will do quite nicely,
expert. I want someone who isn’t going to fumble and falter. I want someone who
knows which buttons to press.”
“Buttons?” He gave a hesitant smile and a lock of hair fell over his
right eye.
“This is not funny, you know.”
“Oh, believe me, there’s nothing funny about the ache in my pants I
can’t do anything about.” He pushed his hair from his face.
“Of course you can.” I lowered my voice, gentled my tone. “I’ve been
reading up and I know what you need too, I know what you’d like, Shane. It
doesn’t have to be boring because it’s my first time.”
“What have you been reading?”
I shrugged. “Stuff.”
“Elaborate.”
“Stories about sex, men and women, things they do other than just the
missionary position.”
A flicker of interest crossed his face. “Like what?”
“Things like oral sex,” I said quietly. “A woman taking a man into her
mouth, sucking and licking until he comes down her throat.” I paused, sensing
his heightened attention at my words. “I want to try that.”
“Anything else you been reading about?” he asked, shifting from one
foot to the other.
“Yes, tying up a lover and doing whatever you want to their bodies,
making them squirm with pleasure and cry out for more.” I could hardly believe
I was saying all this stuff.
“You want me to tie you up?” His eyes widened.
“Not my first time.” I silently congratulated myself on not blushing.
“Your second?”
“Maybe, perhaps I’ll wait ’til third though.” I reached for the first,
fastened white button on his shirt.
Opportunity.
Grab it like a terrier.
“There’s something else I want to try before that,” I whispered.
“And what’s that?” he asked, watching me undo the button. His voice had
calmed, his body was still. He was no longer stealing glances at the door.
“I want to try it from behind.”
“What, in your—?” His eyes snapped up to mine.
“No, no, just from behind so I can find my G-spot.”
“Jesus, you have been reading up.”
I undid the next button and the next and reached for the cuffs. “Yes, I
like to do my research.” I tugged his now-undone shirt from the waistband of
his smart black pants. “If I’m going to do something, I like to do it
properly.”
“Me too,” he said in a quiet, calm voice.
Shoving the shirt over his shoulders, I stepped in real close and let
my breasts press into the tightly coiled hair sprinkled over his chest. “Which
is what makes you so perfect for my needs,” I said, sliding the shirt down his
arms and letting it fall on the floor.
“Damn, you’ve nearly got me persuaded,” he said, lowering his head. His
lips rested against my temple and I heard him swallow tightly.
I pulled back and looked up at his dark eyes, they were thick and
velvety. I parted my lips and held them a whisper from his. “Will this persuade
you?” I cupped my palm against the taut material of his pants and gave his cock
a firm, confident squeeze.
(free on
Kindle Unlimited!)
Reader Reviews
“I have read a good number of Lily Harlem books, but this might be my
favorite.”
“This was a great book that really showed two characters that had amazing
chemistry and how the author was able to tweak them in just a way as to make
the story different from all the others on the market today.”
“I love this couple and the HEA was brilliant. This is the perfect
story to keep you warm at night.”
“Well all I am going to say is DAMN it is one steamy hot read…Loved it!”
Lily Harlem lives in the UK and is an award-winning author of erotic
romance. She writes for publishers on both sides of the Atlantic including
HarperCollins, Totally Bound, Pride Publishing, Evernight Publishing, All
Romance eBooks, Stormy Nights Publishing, Tirgearr and Sweetmeats Press. Her
work regularly receives high praise and industry nominations.
Before turning her hand to writing Lily Harlem worked as a trauma nurse
and her latest HarperCollins release, Confessions
of a Naughty Night Nurse draws on her many experiences while nursing
in London. Lily also self-publishes and The Silk
Tie, The Glass
Knot and Scored have
been blessed with many 5* reviews since their release.
Lily writes MF, MM and ménage a trois, her books regularly hit the #1
spot on Amazon Best Seller lists and Breathe
You In was named a USA Today Reviewer’s Recommended Read of 2014. Her latest
MM novel is Dark
Warrior.
Lily also co-authors with Natalie Dae and publishes under the name Harlem
Dae - check out the Sexy as
Hell Trilogy - The Novice, The Player, and The Vixen - and That
Filthy Book which has been hailed as a novel 'every woman
should read' and is available in book stores nationwide.
One thing you can be sure of, whatever book you pick up by Ms Harlem,
is it will be wildly romantic and down-and-dirty sexy. Enjoy!
Check out Lily’s website for
details of her other books and her Amazon
Author Page. Subscribe to her newsletter to get a
FREE ebook and be the first to hear
of new releases and free reads, and if you enjoy Facebook, hop on over there
and say hi!
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
NOLA NAUGHTY NINE: PRE ORDER NOW
***LIMITED TIME PRICE FOR PRE-ORDER AND FIRST WEEK AVAILABLE ONLY!***
Release date: August 15th, 2016
In memory of Amanda Byrne. Let your stories shine on…
Title: Nola Naughty Nine
Guilty pleasure. Perfect Sin.
New Orleans gets in your blood. Like sweet chocolate or a decadent bite. Ancient mysteries hide behind hidden doorways, and messy love happens in the dim bar lights of the French Quarter. Follow us through nine tales of love found through need, pain, desire, and inhuman temptations. Contemporary, paranormal, menage, or gender bending, we've got it all, in one perfect package. Just like the city itself.
9 Erotic Romance Tales in the Big Easy
Bayou Shadows by Erzabet Bishop
Voodoo dreams and buried lies bring Delia to New Orleans. A sexy shifter with secrets of his own might just get her to stay...
Sultry by Amanda Byrne
Ash is really fuckin' tired of being a virgin. Rory's suddenly got an urge to seduce him. But can their friendship survive?
Sinfully Hot by Tina Donahue
A hotter-than-sin reaper. A badass demon. Hell doesn't get steamier than this.
Playing with Fire by Margaret Madigan
When Vlad Golakov is sent to New Orleans to find a missing woman, he plans to get the job done quickly, then enjoy the Big Easy. He doesn't expect to fall in love with the woman-turned-werewolf or teach the pack's alpha that when you play with fire, you're bound to get burned.
Creole Corsair by Wren Michaels
Sabine Chauvet needs closure on her family's past. But when she runs into Jasper Carrington, her old high school crush, the one thing in her past she wasn't searching for finds her instead.
Phenomenal by LeTeisha Newton
We all lose, and it snatches our souls right out our chests. When I lost her, I wanted to destroy the world with the same bloody hands I used to pound my enemies. When I win her back, she won't get away again. I'll risk my life for it.
Change of Heart by Liv Rancourt
Preacher always said New Orleans was a den of sin, so of course Clarabelle had to see for herself...
An Evening at Crossroads by Kate Richards
They broke every taboo, an ancient vampire, an exotic shifter on the run sharing gay romance under the roof of the newest and most daring club in New Orleans
Lion of Frenchman Street by Teresa Noelle Roberts
When saxophonist Peter Lyons invites New Orleans newcomer Kelsey into his world of jazz and kinky sex, his dominance ignites her body and his music speaks to her soul. But Peter's hiding old pain and when Kelsey's offered a job out of town, everything goes out of tune.
Buy links:
Amazon: http://rxe.me/APB43I
Kobo: https://goo.gl/te9Yyj
Nook: http://goo.gl/eG4tkW
iBooks: https://goo.gl/bbhFM5
Excerpt: Bayou Shadows by Erzabet Bishop
He was wild in Delia’s arms, his body filling hers with an almost violent claiming. His hips thrust against her, grinding his body into hers down to the very root of him.
She cried out, wrapping her leg around his waist as he withdrew and came back again with an animal ferocity that made her want to weep. He lowered her to the ground, careful to pull her skirts beneath her so she wasn’t against the cold ground and fucked and filled her until she bucked beneath him, her fingers clawing at his back as another orgasm tore through her body in waves.
Stefan roared, his hips thrusting forward in a final push, his body emptying inside hers, filling her with his seed. He lowered his head to the soft flesh of her shoulder and sank his teeth into her, holding on as the waves of pleasure and pain carried them both to another place and time.
Something shivered to life and broke inside her, and the power of his touch awakened pieces of her soul she hadn’t known existed. The broken shards of Charles’s shattered spirit melded with her own, but so did the lineage her mother had tried so hard to protect her from.
A black man with long braids flowing loose around his head, dressed in a suit and bright red dress shirt, winked at her in her mind’s eye, his lips twisted up into a devilish smile.
“Welcome, daughter.” He laughed, throwing his hands out, the host of spirits of swirling around him like they had her all her life.
She heard her mother’s voice in her mind again.
There is a why, baby. Someday you’ll understand. Then it’s up to you.
Papa Legba. Conduit to the underworld and master of the crossroads.
Her father.
Image after image tumbled into her mind. The lineage of the Maries in one long vision Delia could hardly keep separate—so she didn’t bother trying. It was a part of her, like the ghosts and the caramel color of her skin, and it would take her a lifetime to understand it all.
But she would have time.
Stefan would see to that. Just like she would make sure they had a future.
The sound of drums rumbled in the distance, and she laid a hand on Stefan’s back as he froze.
“You hear it, too?”
“We have to go.” He stared down at her with eyes bright as the moon above. “They’ll be here soon.”
“Who?”
But, even as she asked the question, Delia knew the answer. Her people were coming and they were coming for her. Because if they didn’t, there would be hell to pay. The darkness was here and it was hungry for blood.
About Erzabet Bishop:
Erzabet Bishop is an award winning and bestselling author who loves to write naughty stories. She is the author of Lipstick, Crave, Snow (Three Times More Lucky Box Set), Malediction (A Wicked Halloween Box Set), Map of Bones (upcoming-A Wicked Affair Box Set), Sanguine Shadows (Vampire Bites Box Set), The Science of Lust, Wicked for You, Heart’s Protector, Burning for You, Red Hot (upcoming), Bayou Shadows (Nola Naughty Nine) Hedging Her Bets (Alpha Fever Box Set), Cat’s Got Her Tongue (Alpha Heat Box Set), Arcane Imaginarium: Spirit Board, Holidays in Hell, Mallory’s Mark (upcoming),The Devil’s Due (upcoming), Charity Benshaw’s Enchanted Paddle Emporium (upcoming), Sigil Fire, Glitter Lust (upcoming), Written on Skin, Club Beam, Pomegranate, A Red Dress for Christmas, The Black Magic Café, Fantasies in Red, Sweet Seductions, Holiday Cruise, Fetish Fair, Temptation Resorts: Jess, Temptation Resorts: Marnie, Taming the Beast, The Erotic Pagans Series: Beltane Fires, Samhain Shadows and Yuletide Temptation along with being a contributor to many anthologies. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and can often be found lurking in local bookstores. She loves to bake, make naughty crochet projects and watch monster movies.
Follow her on Twitter @erzabetbishop.
Sign up for her newsletter!
Christmas in July: Holidays in Hell by Erzabet Bishop
Title: Holidays in Hell (Demons in Darkness Series #1)
Publisher: Etopia Press
Pages: 64
Tags: bdsm, bondage, demons, dom, domination, erotic
fantasy, erotic romance, erzabet bishop, holidays, incubus, kink, paranormal
erotic romance, paranormal romance, redemption, sub, submission, succubus, wax
play
Blurb:
This year Christmas just got a little hotter.
Deck the halls with all things kinky. Jonas is an incubus
with an incurable lust for women, gingerbread, and holiday lights. He needs one
more soul to meet his quota. Amid the baubles and frivolity of the Winter
Carnival, he meets Holly Pendleton—a woman with emerald green eyes and a body
built for sin—and marks her as the final soul to end his contract. But now
Jonas faces a heart-wrenching decision: take what he needs to feed his hunger,
or sacrifice himself for the woman who has lit his own demonic soul on fire.
Tied up with red ribbons, Holly just might be Jonas's deepest Christmas wish
and the one woman who could set him free.
Holly Pendleton is still recovering from the death of her
husband and Dom. The holidays are especially lonely until a dark stranger walks
in the door to Harlowe's Bookery and Christmas Shoppe. The man's enigmatic gaze
holds her and ignites her body and her mind. When Holly accepts a job to
decorate the sexy client's apartment, she unknowingly steps into an age-old
battle between the forces of darkness. Jonas Corsair is a man who makes her
blood run hot and her dreams even hotter. But will she survive his hold on her
soul?
Buy Links:
Etopia Press: http://goo.gl/QxC433
Amazon Universal: http://rxe.me/9AU1QE
All Romance: https://goo.gl/LmnoQL
Excerpt:
Holly Pendleton balanced a pile of books in her arms and
made her way out of the stockroom. She glanced over at her boss and best
friend, Gracie Harlowe, at the register and smiled. She enjoyed the busy throng
of people at the winter carnival and usually looked forward to it. She had
worked other retail jobs in the historic downtown shopping district, but
working here was a dream come true. When Gracie had called her up three months
ago and offered her the assistant manager’s job, she had taken it and hadn’t
looked back.
Teetering on the edge of depression for months after
watching her husband die of cancer, Holly was having a hard time finding the
holiday spirit this year.
Derek had only been thirty-four, she thought bitterly.
They’d been married for nine years, but she had known him since she was a geeky
freshman in high school. The hole was too big to fill, and it left her feeling
empty.
Still, she was grateful to Gracie for kicking her in the
pants and getting her out of bed and back into the world again. Just in time
for the holidays too. It was a special time that she and Derek had always
shared. He would have wanted her to be happy.
She laid the stack of Christmas cookie books on a festive
table near the window display and straightened the array of titles. Her gaze
wandered to the small kitchen at the back of the store, and she made a mental
note to grab some more cookies to refill the party trays on the dessert table.
“Holly!” Gracie waved her arms. “Can you grab me another
stack of Fifty Shades of Grey?”
She glanced at the display where the books were and found
they were down to one copy. Not good. Sales had started to slow down, but
erotica had been steadily increasing over the past few months. It made her
laugh to see the smut novels near the holiday displays, but it made the
customers happy, so who was she to quibble? Besides, she loved reading them
herself.
“I’ll get them!” Holly wound her way back into the stockroom
and yanked a box off the overstock shelves. She grabbed a box cutter, deftly
opened the box and placed the books on a cart, adding some of the second,
third, and the new fourth book in the series, as they were getting a little on
the low side too.
Erotic romance books were one of the few things she let
herself enjoy these days, and she had several customers who came back to ask
her about the latest and greatest. It was a fantasy land that took her beyond
the walls of hospitals and now, the silence of the apartment at night. Reading was
safe. She never even considered dating again. That part of her life was over.
Holly shook off the melancholy and hoofed it back onto the
shop floor. Stacking the books onto the table, she arranged them in orderly
piles of gray covers with erotic masks, ties, and handcuffs. She passed the
romance section and gathered up some of her favorites to restock her promo
shelf at the storefront. Cherise Sinclair, Kallypso Masters, Jasmine Haynes,
Red Phoenix, Rachel Kramer Bussel…she loved them all. There were so many great
writers that had made bondage erotica take off. Fifty Shades may have gotten
the public reading again, but she had been a fan for years. Now the movie had
come out for the famous books, and she wondered how it compared.
Smiling wistfully, she caressed the covers and wished her
husband were still with her. She missed his firm hand and their power
exchanges. He had been more than just her husband. He had been her Dom. Losing
him had been the collapse of her entire world. If it hadn’t been for these
books and Gracie, she would still be huddled in a miserable ball, crying her
eyes out and wondering why he had to die. He was so young, and they hadn’t had
much time.
“Can you help ring for a second?” Gracie called out and made
a quick jaunt to the restroom in the back of the store.
Holly moved behind the counter and smiled as a woman arrived
in front of her to check out. It was a unique store, and she loved being here.
Gracie had crafted a special place for book lovers, and every holiday she
spruced it up beautifully. Even when she wasn’t working here, Holly loved to
come and check out the newest selections and pick up a couple of items for the
house. Halloween, Christmas, or whatever was happening, Gracie always seemed to
have the perfect balance of home décor and books to dive into, whether it was a
cozy mystery or a pulse-pounding thriller. In the early days, it had just been
decoration, but now she had expanded the business to selling the trees and
offering to spruce up clients’ homes. The shop was every bit as special as
Gracie, and it had, over the years, become Holly’s second home, even before she
started working there.
Decorating clients’ businesses and homes and working behind
the shop counter kept her busy. Putting up a tree gave her joy, and she saw how
other lives were touched by a few twinkle lights and some tinsel. She’d done
some decorations for the folks in the cancer ward, and this was a natural
transition. If she could bring happiness by hanging a wreath or by delivering
an order of books to a shut-in woman, then she was pleased to do it. It took
her mind off the loneliness and gave her a purpose. This time of year
especially.
The front door opened with a blast of snowy air, and an
imposing thirty-something man sporting a thigh-length leather coat blew in. His
chiseled features and mass of dark hair made her catch her breath and falter in
her task of ringing up the woman in front of her. The black sweater he wore
under his coat looked striking against the dark blue of his eyes. The gray slacks
draped over his frame, his black boots befitting the weather outside. He said
nothing to her, his gaze captivated by the display of holiday decorations.
How odd.
He reminded her of one of the Doms in her collection of
books. Heat spiked through parts of her she’d thought were as dead as her
husband. She wondered how it would feel to unwrap that package.
Blushing, Holly turned back to the customer in front of her.
Good grief, she hoped he hadn’t noticed her staring.
Holly finished ringing the books up and slipped them into a
bag. She tossed in a candy cane with a card offering their holiday decorating
services attached. “Here you go. Have a wonderful day.”
The woman waved good-bye and shuffled out the door into the
snow. Looking anywhere but at the enigmatic man in front of her, Holly fought
the sensation of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He was incredible. The
way his well-built form filled the space made her eyes automatically seek him
out. Warmth stirred in her lower belly, and she nibbled on her lip.
“Hello. Welcome to Harlowe’s.” She fiddled with the hem of
her sweater and felt a surge of heat rush up the sides of her face.
Ugh. How lame was she to just blurt that out?
The man raised an eyebrow, a dark and sensual smile sliding
over his features. “Thank you.” His voice melted over her like chocolate, and
she shivered.
Holly turned away and busied herself with stuffing bags with
holiday activity lists. What kind of horrible woman was she to even be reacting
to another man just a year after her husband’s passing? Lusting after the man
in gray. Her lips thinned. No. She wasn’t ready for those feelings. Especially
not from a stranger she had seen for all of thirty seconds.
She sneaked a glance at him while she straightened gift
bags. He walked up to the Christmas tree in the front window and stroked its
branches. Fingering the ornaments, he explored their small holiday store with a
reverence that reminded her of a priest in church. Men usually didn’t bother
with Christmas tree ornaments, but he was enraptured. It was mystifying.
A flush crept across Holly’s face. Stirrings of longing
zapped through her body as she wondered if this dark-haired stranger knew his
way around a flogger. Sighing deeply, she knelt down to pick up a bag that had
fallen off the counter while she worked.
“Time for a cold shower tonight,” Holly mumbled. Sensing
someone in front of the register, she stood.
“Hi. Did you need help finding anything…?” The very source
of her temptation stood right in front of her. Oh God. She wanted to reach
right across the counter and run her tongue over those amazing lips.
Erzabet Bishop is an award winning and bestselling author
who loves to write naughty stories. She is the author of Lipstick, Crave, Snow
(Three Times More Lucky Box Set), Malediction (upcoming-A Wicked Halloween Box
Set), Map of Bones (upcoming-A Wicked Affair Box Set), Sanguine Shadows
(Vampire Bites Box Set), The Science of Lust, Wicked for You, Heart’s
Protector, Burning for You, Red Hot (upcoming), Bayou Shadows (upcoming-Nola
Naughty Nine) Hedging Her Bets (Alpha Fever Box Set), Cat’s Got Her Tongue
(Alpha Heat Box Set), Arcane Imaginarium: Spirit Board, Holidays in Hell,
Mallory’s Mark (upcoming),The Devil’s Due (upcoming), Charity Benshaw’s
Enchanted Paddle Emporium (upcoming), Sigil Fire, Glitter Lust (upcoming),
Written on Skin, Club Beam, Pomegranate, A Red Dress for Christmas, The Black
Magic Café, Fantasies in Red, Sweet Seductions, Holiday Cruise, Fetish Fair,
Temptation Resorts: Jess, Temptation Resorts: Marnie, Taming the Beast, The
Erotic Pagans Series: Beltane Fires, Samhain Shadows and Yuletide Temptation
along with being a contributor to many anthologies. She lives in Texas with her
husband, furry children and can often be found lurking in local bookstores. She
loves to bake, make naughty crochet projects and watch monster movies.
Follow her on Twitter @erzabetbishop.
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