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.
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