Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Hump Day HUMP


"Dammit, Jake! I can't do this! I can't be your dirty little secret, and I can't be part of this team with you."

"Why? You're one of us. An elite. You belong with our group." Jake looked sincere, she'd give him that. He believed every word he was saying. What he didn't understand, what she couldn't tell him, was that if she let herself become part of his team and let him into her life, when they split, Jake could very well be the kind of man to take her heart with him.

"Because I just can't," she snapped. "I don't sleep with co-workers. It's awkward when it ends, and in this business, awkward equals dead!"

"Haven't you figured out yet I'm in this for the long haul? This thing between us isn't something everyone experiences, and I'm not an idiot. I'm not throwing it away, so no need to worry about anything being awkward at work."

"Bullshit," she spat. "Bullfuckingshit! I've seen the women hanging all over you when we were in Rafe's club. I know the kind of women who gravitate toward men like you, and I know what kind of man you are, Jake Carver. I'm not your type."

He lunged for her, circling her throat with his hand, and pressed her back against the wall. It was like someone punched her in the gut the lust hit her so hard. This was the male she longed for. Dominant. Willing to take what he wanted.

Baring his teeth, he loomed over her, leaning close to look her in the eyes. "What kind of woman do you think I want, Linda? What is it you think will satisfy a man like me?" He seemed to be challenging her. Wanting her to lay out all her reasons they could never be together. She knew it was a bad idea. Knew that, once she did, he'd find a way to refute it, and then what would she do? Still she pushed on.

"A submissive! You'd want a submissive to be at your beck and call in bed. Maybe not out of bed, but you'd demand I submit to you, and it's just not in me to do that!" Once started, she couldn't seem to stop herself. "I'm an aggressive lover, Jake. I take what I want. Any man who can't handle that doesn't have a chance at even one fuck with me!"

She expected Jake to balk, even to back away from her. Instead, he leaned in closer. Closer. Until his lips brushed the tender flesh of her neck. Then he bit down. Not painfully, but a warning nonetheless.

"Understand me, Linda. I want you exactly the way you are." He bit down again on her neck before backing off, laving the small sting with his tongue. "I want a lover who isn't afraid to wake me up in the middle of the night if she needs my cock. I want a lover who wakes me up with head only to demand I eat her in return. My woman will always demand from me what she wants because she'll want the same from me. And, most of all, I want my woman never to be afraid to tell me what she needs because it's the only way I could ever be sure I was satisfying her every want and desire." He framed her face in her hands as he looked into her eyes, holding her gaze. "That's the kind of woman a man like me needs, Linda. Are you that woman? Are you that aggressive of a lover? Because if not, you better stop me now. That's what I'll demand of you."

Almost before he finished speaking, Linda lunged for him, fusing her mouth to his. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she held him to her as tightly as she could. Fingers threading through his hair, she forced him where she could better kiss him. Deeper. Harder.

His tongue met hers aggressively, not put off in the least by her demands. The lust seemed to build and build between them with every sweep of his tongue against hers. Never had she experienced such depth of feeling, such an emotional connection to another. The kiss seemed magical in its intensity, bonding them with invisible ties she knew she'd never be able to undo.

Jake maneuvered his hands between them to find the edges of her blouse. With one hard yank, he ripped it open, scattering buttons everywhere. His hands found and squeezed her breasts through the lacy bra. His thumbs found her nipples and brushed, a seductive touch in the middle of such intense hunger.

"Does this feel like I want a submissive lover?" Jake’s growl sent chills through her. The kind of chills that wet her panties. "I need a hard lover. One who can give as good as she takes."

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Tasty Tuesday -- Mini Corn Dog Muffins


INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (8-1/2 oz.) corn muffin mix

2 oz. VELVEETA®, cut into 24 small cubes

4 OSCAR MAYER Beef Franks, each cut into 6 pieces

1/2 cup GREY POUPON Savory Honey Mustard


DIRECTIONS


Heat oven to 375ºF.


Prepare muffin batter as directed on package; spoon into 24 mini muffin pan cups sprayed with cooking spray.

Press 1 each VELVEETA cube and hot dog slice into batter in center of each muffin cup.

Bake 10 to 12 min. or until golden brown. Cool 5 min. before removing from pans. Serve warm with mustard.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Irish Sugar -- Hump Day goodness

Ice fills my soul. Nothing matters to me but my brothers. I'd kill for them. Every death chips away at the hint of humanity still clinging to me. And when the day comes to pay for my misdeeds....I don't think about that... Until then I will bask in my transgressions allowing the passion of my chaos to keep me warm. I'm the thing you fear when darkness surrounds you. If you're in my cross-hairs, you're as good as dead. My name is Fionn O'Shea. Death is all that matters...

Until...her.

She alone fills the gaps in my soul, returns my humanity. By protecting her, perhaps some part of me will be redeemable when I must answer for my sins. She brings order to my chaos, keeps me warm when the ice threatens to over take me.If you threaten her, you'll pray for the monsters in the dark to take you. But they won't. I'll bring your pain. I'll bring your suffering. I'll live for nothing else... 

 
This contemporary, interracial romance is filled with sex and just enough violence to tickle your fancy. Fionn is a gangster and a killer. His character reflects that. While Fionn and LeeAnn may not have a conventional love, they still love hard. Just like they kill. And, oh, what a time they have...


EXCERPT!


Why the fuck was he torturing himself like this? Fionn was so captivated with LeeAnn he could hardly contain himself, yet he knew he couldn’t have her. Which puzzled the shit out of him because there were very few women he wanted who were out of bounds. Normally he’d have enjoyed her for a few days until Shannon told him his next move, then been done with her. If that meant he killed her father, if that meant he had to kill her, he’d have done it. Without regret or hesitation. He’d have made sure she had a clean, painless death, but other than that he never felt anything for anyone other than his brothers. Even those feelings were muted. But the need to make this woman feel safe, to protect her, was making him seriously edgy. For a man who though he was long devoid of feeling, this was a very uncomfortable place to be.
He stepped out of LeeAnn’s line of sight, but watched as she undressed and climbed into the steaming tub. As he’d noted when he’d undressed her for bed, the woman was stunning. Dark, dark, creamy skin looked as if she’d been airbrushed to perfection. If there was a mark on her body, he couldn’t find it. Her skin had a healthy, sexy glow about it that made him want to lick it to see if she glistened with honey. Which made him want to cover her in honey dust just so he could lick her from head to toe.
Note to self…purchase honey dust ASAP.
She groaned as she slid deeper into the water. A pang of regret for drugging her punched him in the chest, but he didn’t regret taking her. Only the means by which he’d acquired her.
Once she was safely in the water, he entered the bathroom, moving to lean against the vanity so he had an unimpeded view of her. When she gasped and covered her breasts, he felt the corners of his lips tug upward.
“It’s not as if I haven’t seen all of you. Besides, I have some questions for you. I promise I won’t look any more than necessary.”
“Can’t your questions wait until I’m decent? And sober?”
“I find that a little inhibition often loosens the tongue.”
She shrugged, still not moving her arms from her exquisite breasts. “I have nothing to hide. You don’t have to pull information out of me. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Everyone has something to hide,” he said. Fionn knew his voice and expression had gone suddenly cold. Secrets were a fact of life. One he hated, but, in his experience, anyone who said they had nothing to hide was a liar.
“I’m not everyone,” she said simply, meeting his gaze steadily. Fionn held it, wondering how long she could hold his stare. Surprisingly, she didn’t back down, didn’t gaze at him in fear or disgust. Who was this woman? LeeAnn Bates was either the bravest woman he’d ever met or the stupidest. Worse, he could detect no deception in her. She was simply stating a fact as she saw it.
Finally, he began his questions. “What do you know about your father’s ambitions regarding O’Shea business?”
“As far as I know, he has none,” she said simply. “All he’s ever told me about you is that I should stay away from anything to do with the O’Sheas. In fact, had I listened to him, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“He told me to stay away from the Irish. That the O’Shea family frequented the place and I didn’t want to be mixed up with them.”
“He was right, you know.”
“Yeah,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “I sort of figured that one out on my own. Now, can you please leave?”
“One more thing,” he said. “Is there a good chance your father will pay a ransom for you if we offered one?”
“Are you kidding? Of course! He’s probably worried sick about me! You are going to send me home. Right?” She gave him a look so innocent and trusting, Fionn scowled, rubbing his chest because something felt like it was stabbing him.
“We’ll see,” he said before exiting the bathroom. He left the door open, not wanting her to think she could simply dictate to him.
Fionn used the time to center himself. To get a grip on his raging libido. He’d blame it on not having been satisfied earlier but he hadn’t been in a bad way until he first laid eyes on LeeAnn. The woman had looked at him, not like the killer he was, but with complete trust he’d ransom her back to her father. Why would she do that?
She had to be willfully ignorant. Which meant she wasn’t the kind of woman he wanted hanging around. He knew she was intelligent, but sometimes intelligent people were so caught up in whatever seemed important to them, they couldn’t see the problems inherent in the real world.
It wasn’t long before she peeked her head around the door. “Um, I need something to wear.”
“You have my shirt. That will do for now.” He was curious to see how she’d handle this situation. And, God help him, scenario after scenario as to how he’d get her back in his bed—with him on top of her—was running through his mind at lightning speed.
“Panties?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” she said with a huff. “No panties.” Opening the door wide, she exited the bathroom. All that dark, dark skin beneath his white shirt made him want to strip it off her quicker than she ever could have put it on. Those long, slender legs seemed to go on for miles. As she walked across the room to sit primly on the edge of the bed, Fionn took in her every move. Unfortunately, the shirt was long enough he wasn’t catching a glimpse of her sex or her ass, but he’d had hopes.
She pulled the shirt tight over her knees, covering every inch she could. Still, she didn’t flinch away from his gaze. “So, now what?” She might as well have been asking “What’s for dinner?” for all the emotion she showed. LeeAnn wasn’t afraid of him like she had been in the car.
“You don’t seem as…agitated as you were in the car. Have you forgotten how you got here?” Fionn had no idea why he was trying to stoke her fear. He’d hated it earlier, but now, he was puzzled as to her abrupt turnaround.
“No,” she said simply, with a shrug. “But you’re not a bad person. Besides, if you were going to hurt me, you’d have done it way before now.”
“You know nothing about me,” he snapped.
She blinked at him, as if he’d startled her with his outburst. “Well, no. But, like I said, you could have already done horrible things to me if you’d intended to. I don’t exactly want to buddy up with you but I’m not going to spend energy on useless worry.”
It was his turn to blink at her. Was she for real? “You’re shitting me. Aren’t you?”
“Why would I do that?”
“To get me to let my guard down. Let me assure you, better women than you have tried.”
“I’m not trying to do anything. But I would really, really like to have some underwear. It’s a bit drafty.”
After a lengthy pause, Fionn finally said, “You’re insane. Utterly insane.” There was no way to keep the dismay from his voice; he even chuckled a little before he caught himself.
Instantly her face changed, hardened. Fionn got the sense that she was only just now giving him her full attention. “I assure you, Mr. O’Shea, I’m perfectly sound of mind.”
What a puzzle! She was totally captivating. “I’m not convinced,” he muttered. “You’re in the home of a man who drugged and kidnapped you. You’re being held for ransom. And you’re more worried about not wearing panties?”
“It’s a valid concern.”
“I’m more interested in why I’m only now worthy of your notice.”
“I don’t like people assuming I’m not intelligent just because I don’t concern myself with trivial things. You said you weren’t going to hurt me. You said you were only waiting to ransom me to my father. If you were going to hurt me, you already would have. Why should I dwell on these things when there are other, more important things to do? Worry wastes energy I could spend on work.”
“You don’t have a job. You’re a full-time student.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not working. I’m working on my doctorate in aerospace engineering with my emphasis on astronautics. That means I’m doing research when I’m not teaching classes. Once my project is complete, the research I’ve done will be enough to finish my Ph.D. So I have more on my mind than a man who has said he wasn’t going to hurt me.”
“Did it ever occur to you I could be lying?” Anger was beginning to smolder inside Fionn. Not because she was arguing with him or because she was disrespecting him. The woman had no concept of saving her own skin. There truly was no fear due to her situation. She should be begging him to let her go, offering to do anything he wanted if he’d just not harm her. Instead, she was taking him at his word? What was wrong with the woman?
“Why would you do that? You already have me where you want me. There’s no reason to lie to me.”

She sounded so reasonable, rational when he felt anything but. With a growl, Fionn stalked toward her, not stopping until he snagged her arms, pulling her to her feet. Fisting a hand in her hair, Fionn fastened his lips to hers. If he was turned inside out by her on every emotional and physical level possible, then, by God, she was going to be as well.



Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Tasty Tuesday -- Crescent-Wrapped Chicken Parmesan



8
uncooked chicken tenderloins (about 1 1/4 lb)
1/4
teaspoon salt
1/4
teaspoon pepper
3
tablespoons butter
2
oz deli mozzarella cheese
1
can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
3
tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1
cup marinara sauce

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat; cook chicken in butter 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is well browned on all sides. Remove from skillet; cool slightly.

Cut mozzarella cheese into 8 pieces; cut small slits in side of each chicken tenderloin, and insert piece of mozzarella cheese. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Place piece of chicken on wide end of triangle; roll dough around chicken, and place on cookie sheet. Repeat for remaining dough and chicken.

In small microwavable cup, microwave remaining 1 tablespoon butter uncovered on High 15 to 30 seconds or until melted. Brush crescents with melted butter; top each with about 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese.

Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. In microwavable measuring cup, heat marinara sauce covered on Medium-High (70%) 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve chicken with heated marinara sauce.


Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Hump Day excerpt... Men of Honor: Jake

Traveling all the way to Arizona in a vehicle with Jake. Thank God Gunnar would be there too. Linda didn't trust herself not to make a move on Jake otherwise. He was a thorn in her side, a pain in her ass, and possibly the biggest player she'd ever met, but the man was seriously hot. How could any red blooded woman keep her hands off him? Which was the whole problem with Jake. She had to keep her hands off him.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Jake moved closer to her. That slow, lazy swagger was nearly her undoing. He wore casual clothing -- jeans and a button up shirt -- but he wore it like a boss. Thick, strong thighs, lean hips, a broad chest, and bulging arms all beckoned her like a moth to a flame. If she could have picked any man in the world for physical beauty, it would have been Jake. Combined that with his protective tendencies and she was a total goner. Too bad he didn't have the same desires. The man could have -- and often did have -- any woman he wanted. Linda knew she was a good looking, even sexy woman. Given they were working together and he intended to make that a more permanent situation, and she didn't sleep with co-workers, there was absolutely no shot in hell to sample that luscious body.

"Should be an interesting operation," he drawled. That sexy roll of his words send shivers down her spine straight to her cunt. "Might require some undercover work."

"You're a bastard, Jake Carver," she bit out. "You keep to yourself and I'll do the same."

And there went that panty melting grin. "What? All in the name of the job. I might have to pretend I'm selling you to them to get us in. Isn't that undercover work?"

With a scowl, Linda pivoted around to exit the office. What else could she do? If she stayed there, she'd do something crazy like slap his handsome face. Or kiss him until he surrendered to her. Neither seemed like a sound option.

"Woah there, sunshine," he said, snagging her arm and pulling her back. He maneuvered her close enough to be all up in her personal space. "You're not leaving yet."

"Why the fuck not?" She let her anger show. "This isn't funny. This is my sister. I'm not playing some kind of twisted sex game with you. Not to pass the time on a lengthy trip. Not as a prelude to some kind of perverted sexual relationship. And I have no intention of leaving vice once this is done. I'm perfectly happy where I am."

"Ok. First of all, we've already established you want to play with bigger guns and explosives -- which is sexy as fuck. It's in your make up. Second, you don't know me, so you have no idea why I'm flirting my ass off with you. Third, and this is really the most important of the three, you will be in my bed before this operation is over. We're going to have nasty, dirty, sweaty sex in every position you've ever dreamed of. When it's over, we'll move from the bed to the back yard pool. From there, we'll try parking and see just how good an investment that Excursion I bought was. In each event, sex will be front and center. But, I will never -- never -- do anything at the expense of getting your sister back and closing down this drug highway. I expect you to put the mission first, too. I also expect you work as hard as you can to figure out where you're going to fit in with our team because you belong there. I know it. You know it. Accept it."