Beth Kery's Blog, page 9

When I’m With You is now out in Portugal

And will release in Italy on June 11th!

In other news, my next three Berkley book subrights have been bought by Headline, UK, including Because We Belong, the next book in the Because You Are Mine series, and Since I Saw You, the book after that.

A few people have been kind enough to send in snapshots of the Recommended Read section from Target. Thank you! Check out Because You Are Mine:

I’ve just been chugging along, working on Since I Saw You and enjoying the spring weather whenever it’s not flooding or cold. :) Hope you are having a pleasant spring.

Happy Reading!

~Beth

I received the news this morning that Target has made Because You Are Mine a recommended read! Check it out at your local Target!

I have a lovely new cover for the mass market of Sweet Restraint. Here’s a bit about this contemporary suspense scorcher:

SWEET RESTRAINT is a tumble whirl of emotion, eroticism and suspense that will hook you and not let go. It is also a must read and Joyfully Recommended.

A Recommended Read from Joyfully Reviewed

This time, he’ll never let her go…

Chicago Special Agent Shane Dominic was in love with Laura Vasquez until the day she left him and married another man. Thirteen years may have passed, but Laura’s never disappeared from his fantasies, or destroyed his desire to learn the truth about why she left him. When her husband, the criminal mastermind behind an international ring of thieves, is murdered, Shane knows this is his one last, desperate chance to learn Laura’s secrets. And he’s not above using their scorching hot passion for one another and a little domination to do it.

One look at Shane, and Laura’s own memories come back to haunt her. Her feelings run deep, but she’d never divulge her secrets—a desperate vow that’s compromised when Shane stuns her by taking her as his captive to a secluded cabin. Here, she will finally belong to him, be subjected to his every torturously erotic whim, and be forced to trust him with a shocking truth she’s hidden for so long—one that will expose them to a danger closing in on the both of them.

December 3, 2013

I love to give a shout out to new authors, especially good new authors. I’m thrilled to have Kate Meader visit today. Check out the spicy excerpt here of the first book in her Hot in the Kitchen series, Feel the Heat…now available for only 2.99! What a deal! And be sure to follow Kate’s link to sign up for her special prize!

FEEL THE HEAT by Kate Meader

Hot in the Kitchen, Book 1

IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT . . .

Photographer Lili DeLuca spends all her time managing her family’s Italian restaurant, instead of following her dream of getting an MFA. When famous British chef Jack Kilroy unexpectedly challenges her father to a cook-off, Lili decides she’s tired of playing it safe and vows to seduce the tempting Brit. But once a video of her and Jack kissing goes viral and her luscious butt starts trending on Twitter, Lili fears she’s cooked up a recipe for disaster.

. . . GET INTO THE BEDROOM

Jack Kilroy’s celebrity has left him feeling used and used up. While Lili’s oh-so-sexy moans when she tastes his delicious creations turn him on, he’s even more aroused by how unimpressed this beautiful, funny woman is with his fame. He knows they could be amazing together, if she could only see past his bitch fork-wielding fan base. Now, as he’s about to start a new prime time TV cooking show, can Jack convince Lili to realize her own ambitions – and turn up the heat in his kitchen?

Excerpt:

In his voice, Lili heard compassion she didn’t deserve and kindness she had never received from any other man. Jack Kilroy might have just performed a miracle for her physical well-being, but he was big, bad, and dangerous for her mental state.

“I’m not used to being the center of attention,” she said. “It doesn’t sit so well with me.”

A flicker of something hard gave way to a smile that would make the angels sing. “Well, since about three a.m. yesterday, you’ve been the center of my attention. And I intend to keep you right where I can see you.”

Her heart lifted clear through the roof, and she couldn’t let such a lovely declaration go unrewarded. Her lips brushed against the hard planes of his face, taking momentary rest stops on those rock-hewn cheekbones. Twelve freckles—no, thirteen—lay scattered like a starry constellation across his nose. She wanted to memorize every beautiful smudge and contour because, after tonight, she would only have souvenir snapshots. Minutes passed while they slanted to find the best angles, exploring earlobes and eyelids, necks and jaws, and each time their mouths crossed paths, they whimpered in surprise that a kiss could improve with practice.

She combed through his silken hair until she found the ridge of his welt. “How’s your head?”

“Muddled.”

She traced a finger along his swollen lip. “And this?”

He smiled. “That was hot but in the future, we’ll have to negotiate the rough stuff. I can’t risk anything happening to my face. It’s my ticket to fame and fortune.”

“Bighead,” she said gently, and kissed him to stop any more talk about the future.

Moving his hand back under her skirt, he shaped her butt, his calluses brushing fiery tingles across her skin. “I adore this sweet arse of yours.”

Arse. Why did that word sound hotter and dirtier than ass? It must be down to the lips that formed it, the sonorous bass that spoke it. He squeezed one sweet arse cheek, making her mewl. She loved when a man gave her booty the attention it deserved, though with the kind of women Jack dated, she wouldn’t have had him pegged for an ass, or arse, man. For some reason, that made her giggle.

“What’s so funny?” It came out garbled because his hot mouth was sucking on the pulse at her throat, but she got the gist.

“I’m not exactly your type,” she murmured in his ear.

“This should be good. Tell me what’s my type, then.”

“Hipless, top-heavy blondes with sticks for legs. That’s your usual diet.”

“Well, mine eyes have seen the glory of one curvy brunette with a body that won’t quit and a mouth made for sin.”

She chewed her sinful lower lip and drew back to face him. “So you’ll have doubled your options. Just think of all that ethnic skirt you’ve been missing. Italians, Latinas, Jersey housewives…”

“Not interested. I’ve got all the ethnic skirt I want right here.”

***

Read the entire Chapter One of Feel the Heat here.

Buy at Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kate is offering Beth Kery readers a chance to win a Feel the Heat swag pack on her website at http://katemeader.com/blog : One grand prize winner will get a Feel the Heat Swag Bag containing a Supper Hero-Wonder Woman apron, a Feel the Heat tote bag, a Vespa-shaped pizza cutter, a “Grate Love” cheese grater, heart-shaped measuring spoons, a Feel the Heat fridge magnet, and a recipe card for goat cheese caramel gelato. Kate will also be giving away smaller swag bags of assorted kitchen utensils and more!

Tess Halim

Tammie Harms

Olivia

Linda Bordonaro

Doc Mary

Congratulations, ladies!

Please write to me at [email protected] with your choice of parts, I-VII. Also designate your retailer, which must offer ‘giftable’ items, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Beth

Leave a comment about the snippet HERE at my blog and qualify to win a copy of your choice of parts I-VII of When I’m With You. There will be 5 winners announced HERE Sunday evening, 4/14. Unfortunately, this will have to be a U.S. only giveaway, as I’ve discovered I can’t ‘gift’ ebooks in other countries.

Things are reaching the boiling point, and something is about to give. In When I’m With You part VII, When I Need You, Elise finally admits to that frightening, thrilling emotion: love. As a result, her trust grows and her and Lucien’s level of intimacy deepens to undiscovered levels of sensual bliss. Stunned by her degree of trust and passionate response to his challenges, Lucien realizes he’s falling too. But can he trust Elise enough to allow her to see the darkness that resides in his past…in his very blood?

Snippet:

“Lucien, we shouldn’t. Not when they might see us.”

“They won’t,” he assured, glancing into her face and seeing her anxiety. “But if the choice is worrying you, I will take it away from you. It is my desire to play with you while I feed you this delicious food and wine. And as my slave, you will fulfill my every desire without protest.” His tone was gentle, but he made sure she heard the edge to it as well. He would not be denied the smallest thing when it came to Elise tonight—not her sweet sighs of pleasure, her body trembling next to his hand, her wide-eyed look of surprise when she shocked herself by surrendering completely to him.

He removed the key from his neck. Her eyes grew large now with that mixture of amazement and arousal that he prized. He drew her wrists together. After he’d locked her bracelets together, he reached beneath the table and began to inch her skirt up her thighs. He felt her gasp against his neck.

“Lucien, must you?” she asked in a strangled voice when he lifted the hem of her skirt just above her mons, giving him access to her pussy.

“I must, and so you must allow it,” he said simply before he flipped the edge of the tablecloth over her restrained hands and her lap. “Now,” he said, reaching again to touch a plump nipple, “it’s time to enjoy this delicious fare set before me.”

Check out this awesome review of When I’m With You, parts I-III, at Book Crack. “And it’s finally getting goooood. Like it’s setting up to be Scandal gooood we can tell!”

If you’ve been waiting to jump on board, now might be a good time with the last installment coming out 4/23!

Elise and Lucien’s relationship enters a whole new level of trust in WHEN I’M WITH YOU PART V, When You Submit. PLUS, the trade paperback of RELEASE has gone to mass market paperback! Check out this smoking hot, thrilling erotic suspense novel, available now with a new cover and the nice price of 7.99!

Release

Mass Market Paperback

April 2, 2013

Read More

Check out the RELEASE book video at You Tube!

Aly P

Congrats Aly! Write to me at [email protected] to claim your book. Please state ebook or print, your retailer if ebook (it must have a giftable option) or your address if print.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

~Beth

Good news, my erotic suspense romance, RELEASE goes to mass market paperback on Tuesday, 4/2/13! Take an extended sneak peek into Sean and Genny’s intensely sexy and emotional romance right here! Warning: this is an adult excerpt, for people 18 years and older ONLY.

Scorchingly erotic, packed with raw tension, and starring a hotter-than-sin hero, RELEASE is an intoxicating read. Beth Kery has become an auto-buy!

New York Times best-selling author, Larissa Ione

His need for her was so absolute, he agreed to share her with another man in order to possess her.

Nominated by RT Book Reviews for Best Book, Erotic Fiction, 2010

Release

Mass Market Paperback

April 2, 2013

Read More

Genny loved her husband Max, but something was missing—a sexual charge that was instead ignited by his business partner, Sean. He was ruggedly handsome, with a heart-stopping smile and a slow, sexy New Orleans drawl that made Genny weak. The more time they spent together, the stronger the attraction between them became and when her husband offered to share her with Sean for one intoxicating night, both Genny and Sean were too tempted to refuse.

That night in the company penthouse, Max and Sean showed Genny the heights of ecstasy. But it was Sean who scored her very spirit, and one-on-one, they were red hot. But as Genny learns, there’s a price to pay for such impulsive pleasure. What began as a night of forbidden desire spirals into a whirlpool of murder, sensual submission, secrets, and a scorching passion that threatens to consume everyone it touches.

The Excerpt Set Up: When Genny’s house suspiciously is burned to the ground, she’s forced to return to the company penthouse–a location that symbolizes guilt, regret and thwarted longing for one man. She hasn’t been back for three years, the same amount of time she’s avoided Sean Kennedy at all costs. When she catches the only man she’s ever loved–the one man she believes she can never have–erotically engaged with another woman, she runs. But Sean isn’t about to let her go this time…

Note: Although an impulsive menage a trois does occur historically in this book, this is a male/female romance, not a classic menage book.

GIVEAWAY: Please leave a meaningful comment about the excerpt (below) to enter to win an ebook or print copy of RELEASE. Leave the comment here, not at facebook or twitter. Winner will be announced Sunday evening HERE. International entries okay.

EXCERPT:

The scar just above the waistline of his low-riding jeans was paler than the rest of his golden-hued skin. He’d been shot in Iraq, Genevieve knew; nearly died in an airless Army medical tent in the midst of the desert. When he’d finally regained consciousness in an Army base in Germany, they’d told him he’d won a medal for leading the successful rescue of a dozen soldiers being held hostage in a heavily guarded artillery station. He’d told them they could keep the medal and send him back to New Orleans for a reward.

They’d recruited him into the ranks of military intelligence instead. Sean always used to say he should have just accepted the medal and kept his damned mouth shut.

His nipples were copper-colored. Genevieve could easily see the erect, flat discs through the smattering of curly, light brown hair on his chest. As usual, his short, wavy hair was tousled. It fell on his forehead as he looked down at the

woman with a fixed, intent expression as he slowly pushed his cock between her widely spread lips.

Genevieve stared, held captive by the erotic sight. It was as if her brain had frozen right along with her muscles. She felt , she realized dazedly. It had become warm and achy between her thighs, but she was unconnected to her sexual arousal . . . as though she observed her body’s response in the same bizarre, detached manner with which she watched the man she’d once loved with all her body and soul having sex with another woman. Even though she throbbed in desire, Genevieve had gone numb.

When the woman strained forward with her head, drawing several inches of thick, veined flesh between her lips, Sean grunted in dissatisfaction. He tightened his hold on the handful of blonde hair he grasped at the woman’s nape. Genevieve knew from experience the restraint of his hand would be gentle.

But firm.

The woman moaned in obvious protest when he withdrew his cock from her mouth. It made a popping noise as it cleared her lips. His penis fell at a downward angle, weighted by the heavy, tapered cockhead.

“I’m about to spontaneously combust down here, you bastard.” Her voice sounded gruff . . . desire- roughened. Genevieve could see that the crests of her small breasts were pointed and hard.

He wrapped a big hand around his erection and stroked himself, his manner casual. “Didn’t you say you were a trader at the Mercantile Exchange? Doesn’t that job require the characteristic of patience?”

The woman tried to duck forward to get at his cock, but his hand at the base of her neck held firm.

“Damn you,” she hissed. She looked up at him, her expression both plaintive and irritated. He chuckled as he released her hair and stroked her jaw and cheek. The woman’s lips curved in shared humor. No one could resist Sean when he smiled.

“I’m going to have to do something about that itch you have, or you’re not going to play nice, are you, darlin’?” he teased with the soft New Orleans drawl that contrasted so sharply with all that hard muscle and brawn. Just the sound of his voice so close to her ear used to make Genevieve shiver . . . heat up her very core.

He helped the bound woman up from her kneeling position, his manner relaxed; his touch gentle.Genevieve blinked, realizing her gaze had been glued to his glistening cock. It looked magnificent as it poked out from the fly of his jeans, a ready tool awaiting its master’s bidding.

It didn’t surprise her that he seemed so controlled. Not really. Even when he’d allowed full expression of his wild, primitive nature on that New Year’s Eve three years ago, even when he’d lost himself in the depths of intense passion, Genevieve had guessed Sean wasn’t typically so expressive during lovemaking. He was usually so somber, so contained; his gaze alert, watchful. He lived like he was always ready for the other shoe to drop . . . like it was inevitable something was about to happen.

In Sean’s experience, that something was usually never good.

His steel blue eyes didn’t blaze with wild, inner fires like they had on that night so long ago when he’d looked down at Genevieve as he fucked her with long, powerful strokes. Genevieve hadn’t been able to move a fraction of an inch from Sean’s thorough possession of her body and spirit because Max had held her securely from behind.

Just like Sean had bid him to do.

Max may have been his boss. He may have been Genevieve’s husband. But in the bedroom that night, it’d been Sean who was the undisputed master.

Hold her tight. Don’t let her move. She’s all mine.

No, none of that feral passion was here tonight. Sean seemed focused but calm as he led the woman over to an upholstered chair. He unhooked the leather cuffs from her

wrists before he turned her around and seated her like a cordial gentleman.

Genevieve stepped across the threshold of the room, still in the shadow of the door. She didn’t want to lose sight of him as he walked behind the woman and the

chair.

He drew the woman’s wrists behind her head and bent her elbows, forcing her hands to fall behind the chair. He refastened the cuffs. The woman’s sleek torso stretched. Her back arched, sending her small breasts into further pronouncement.

Genevieve bit off a soft moan when he reached down and gently tweaked a distended nipple. The woman’s thighs clamped together and she squirmed in the chair.

“None of that now,” he chastised softly. He came around the chair and leaned over her lap, pushing her legs wide and draping her thighs over the corners of the seat.

The woman pressed down with her pelvis, trying to get friction on her spread pussy.

For a second, Sean’s head lingered near the junction of the woman’s thighs. The blonde tensed expectantly. Genevieve felt like a heavy stone dropped in her gut. She started to back out of the room, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but in that time and place.

But then he stood. Genevieve let out a shaky breath of relief, careful not to make herself heard. A distant, screaming voice shouted for her to leave. To escape. If Sean had glanced over to the door as he walked over to a bedside table, he would have seen her standing there like a stunned deer in headlights. The horrible thought couldn’t galvanize her into action, though. It was like she was stuck in an

emotion- filled, carnal dream.

An exciting, tortuous nightmare.

The woman cried out when he pulled out a flesh-colored dildo from the bedside table.

“No. I want your cock.”

“You’ll get it if you ever learn a measure of patience, darlin’,” he murmured as he walked back toward the woman. She’d heard him call other females “darlin’ ” before, and it never sounded insulting. Instead, his low, resonant voice and New Orleans accent made it into a tender endearment.

Dawlin’.

Strangely, Sean had never called Genevieve that.

His penis was still erect and bobbing in the air before him. He set down the dildo on the arm of the chair, ignoring the woman’s sound of disgust when he tucked his cock back into his underwear and fastened the first few buttons over the pronounced bulge.

He leaned over the arm of the chair and calmly, efficiently inserted the rubber dildo into her spread slit. The woman bucked her hips back and forth when he fully sheathed the sex toy. She whimpered in rising excitement and desperation.

Sean left the dildo inside her and sat down on the cushioned arm of the chair, his long, jean- clad legs bracing him. He placed one arm along the back of the chair, his pose casual but also effectively preventing the woman from lowering her restrained wrists.

He began to caress her perspiration-damp torso. His hand looked big and masculine spread over the female’s delicate, heaving rib cage. He caressed her ribs, belly, and waist languorously while the woman panted and moaned and flexed her hips against the penetrating dildo with increasing franticness. He played with her breasts, gently squeezing and stimulating the hard, small nipples until the woman growled in frustration.

“Make me come,” she begged. “Please.”

Her arousal felt tangible to Genevieve; as if she shared in it.

The female’s hips bucked against the inserted dildo. When her bottom slid forward in the seat as she tried to stimulate herself, Sean’s hand finally dropped, holding the base of the sex toy in place, giving her the resistance she required.

“That’s right. Fuck yourself,” he murmured as he watched her brace her feet on the floor, making her hips rise off the seat. She began to thrust her slit up and down on the rubber shaft.

“God damn it. Why are you making me work for it?” the woman squealed as she pumped wildly.

“You want something different?”

“I want to get it . . . hard,” the woman spat out as she thrashed against the dildo.

“Well, since you asked so sweetly.”

He stood and grabbed her splayed thighs, pushing them back firmly until the woman’s pelvis rolled back. He pinned her spread knees to the back of the chair with a forearm. He leaned over the side of the chair, his profile to Genevieve. With his other hand, he began plunging the dildo into the woman’s pussy, giving her the hard fuck she’d asked for.

The blonde keened and thrashed her hips in wild excitement.

He slid the dildo all the way into her and turned the rectangular base until it hit the woman’s exposed clit. His fingers pressed and circled, vibrating the hard rubber against the sensitive tissues.

The woman shook in orgasm. When her screams of passion quieted, he let go of her restrained legs. He leaned down and inserted an erect nipple into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing out as he supplied a firm suction. He vibrated the base of the dildo against her clit even more stringently than before.

The blonde woman cried out in agonized pleasure as her orgasm notched back up again to its original potent blast. Genevieve must have whimpered in mixed misery and arousal, because suddenly Sean’s head whipped around.

The woman continued to keen and moan while she gushed in climax, and Sean pinned Genevieve with his stare. His fierce, blue-eyed gaze hit her like a bolt of electricity. Her muscles jerked, the harsh movement awakening her from her trance.

The next thing she knew, she was flying blindly down the hallway. She heard him call out to her, his voice sounding flat with incredulity. He called out again, this time sounding closer . . . too near for her to make it all the way to the front door without him overtaking her.

She thought she might shatter into a million pieces if Sean put his hands on her at that moment. She fumbled for the master bedroom door and rushed inside.

“Genny. What the hell— ”

His exclamation was cut off when Genevieve slammed the door and swiftly turned the lock. The handle jerked. His hand thumped on the door. She pressed her back against the wood, straining to hear in the taut silence that followed.

“Genny.”

She clamped her burning eyes shut at the softly uttered plea. It must be a hollow-core door, because she could actually hear him quite well. It sounded like he’d spoken with his forehead pressed against the crack between the door and frame. They were only inches apart—

“You picked a hell of a time to come waltzing back into my life,” he said, his low voice vibrating with emotion.

“I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Obviously.”

She licked her tear- spattered lips. For the first time, she realized her face was soaked. She must have been crying for a while now . . . maybe since she’d first heard Sean’s easy drawl resounding from the depths of the penthouse.

“Go away , Sean.” Her heart thundered in her ears in the pause that followed. The door gave slightly, as though he’d just pushed himself off it.

“I was here first.”

“You can go straight to hell second, boy.”

His chuckle sounded appreciative . . . amused.

Sad.

“Just give me a minute to tell her good-bye.” For a second, she thought he’d walked away, but then his deep voice penetrated the crack of the door again.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

She stared at the enormous king-sized bed in front of her—the bed where the three of them had become drunk on pleasure three years ago.

Did something happen? She’d say it had.

Genevieve had been forever changed on the night Max had offered his young wife to his super- sharp, right- hand man . . . the night she’d burned beneath Sean’s touch.

“I’m fine,” she said blankly, her eyes glued to the bed as vivid memories played before her mind’s eye . . . memories brought to the forefront by being in the room where it’d all happened.

“Yeah, right,” she heard him reply wryly.

“Will you just leave me alone?”

“That’s likely.”

This time, she sensed for certain that he’d walked away. A minute later she still hadn’t moved. They passed within feet of her.

“You’re acting very rudely,” the woman accused petulantly as she moved down the hallway.

“Yeah, I’ve been told I have a problem with that,” Sean replied evenly.

“Is there someone here? Who were you talking to?”

But then their voices faded. She heard the front door open and shut, and knew Sean was escorting the female out of the tight Sauren-Kennedy Solutions security. He’d get her a cab. He may have grown up poor, friendless, and fatherless, one of the “conduct disordered” terrors of the mean streets of New Orleans, but Sean’s manners were impeccable.

Genevieve still hadn’t moved when he returned a few minutes later. She stood stock- still, her back against the door like she thought she was on the penthouse’s window ledge with the city looming below her toes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the handle turn. He spoke softly again near the crack in the closed door.

“You’d better open up, girl. You don’t really think that excuse of a lock is gonna keep me from you, do you?”

Her pulse threatened to leap right off her neck. She’d never heard him call another female gull, his drawl softening the “r” until it was only barely audible. The sound of it on his tongue had always felt like a caress.

She spun around and flipped the lock. Her gaze remained fixed on the carpet as she stormed past him. She grabbed the bag she’d dropped in the foyer and reached for the handle on the front door. His hand rose behind her, shutting the

door with a precise snap.

“What happened?”

“What makes you think something happened?” she asked irritably. She was hyperaware of him just inches away, leaning down over her. Heat resonated off his body.

“Don’t ,Genny. Haven’t you punished me enough by avoiding me all these years?

You know I’d never have wanted you to see what you just saw. Not in a million years.”

Her soughing breath was the only thing that broke the silence that followed. Her chin dropped to her chest. She did know it. She may have her doubts about him, but she knew instinctively Sean Kennedy would never purposefully hurt her.

The havoc he’d wreaked unintentionally on her life was another matter altogether.

“The house in Lake Forest burned down,” she whispered. “It’s . . . gone. Everything.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. His tall shadow loomed over her. She blinked in disorientation when he switched on the crystal chandelier.

He stared. The color washed out of his face.

“Come ’ere,” he growled, taking her hand. Genevieve stumbled after him into the living room. A bar lined the north wall. He slid one of the suspended goblets from the rack and grabbed an open bottle of wine. The crimson liquid splashed into the bowl of the glass.

“Drink it,” he ordered, all traces of his accent absent from the terse command. Genevieve hesitated before she glanced into his glittering eyes. She took the glass, draining half the wine in her first swallow. He pried the trembling goblet from her clawlike grip. He guided her over to the sofa and pulled her down next to him.

“Were you in the house?”

She shook her head as she released her hands from his warm grasp.

“I was working late on Oak Street. I drove home at around nine. I’ve been watching them try to put the fire out all night.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

She just stared at the carpet sightlessly. He didn’t seem to expect her to answer once he’d considered his impulsive question.

They both knew the days were gone when she would have leaned on Sean for support.

“Four engines were working on it when I got there, but they were just trying to contain the blaze at that point . . .keep it from getting to the trees and spreading. One of the firemen told me it had likely started in the garage and spread first to the kitchen. They had it out by the time I left. It was a nightmare. The police were there. The press . . .”

His body tensed for action but he remained seated beside her. She threw him an exasperated glance. Three years hadn’t dulled her almost preternatural ability to read him. Never mind that he’d been trained by the United States Army to be an intelligence operative.

She’d known her fair share of spies. Max had held a top position at the CIA before he’d retired and started his private intel firm. But while Max had proved to be an enigma to her, Sean was pretty much an open book.

“Go ahead, call if you want to,” she said. “There was a cop—Sergeant Gould. The chief from the fire department was a Martin McGruder.”

“I’m not going anywhere right now. What about Jim? Is he okay?” Sean asked, referring to Jim Rothman, Max’s longtime, live-in employee who did everything from house maintenance to grocery shopping.

“He’s fine,” Genny whispered. “He’d been out for the evening, like me. He came home from the movies at around eleven and stood with me, watching it burn.” Her breath caught on an inhale. “He was more upset than I was. He kept worrying he’d left some appliance running or hadn’t maintained the furnace the way he should. I must have told him a million times it wasn’t his fault, poor man, and even if one of us had done something inadvertently, it wasn’t intentional. He was worried sick. He’s staying with his daughter in Niles.”

“There was no indication it’d been set?”

“Set?” She sharpened her gaze on him. “Of course not. Who would have set my house on fire?”

His brows drew together as he studied her. His hand rose to cradle her jaw. “Was there a medical unit there? Did they treat you?”

“For what?”

“Shock.” Their gazes met and locked.

He didn’t try to stop her from standing. She returned to the bar where she lifted the wineglass to her lips. The crystal hummed when she set the goblet on the bar too forcefully.

She saw him watching her in the mirror lining the back of the bar. “Am I going? Or are you?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Genny.”

She turned around. “You can’t expect both of us to stay here.”

He shrugged and leaned back, spreading his arms along the back of the couch. He’d buttoned the crisp white shirt, but not completely. When he spread his arms, the fabric parted. Genevieve found herself staring at the sexy triangle of exposed skin and curling, light brown hair. She blinked when he spoke.

“I’m working on a big project. My assistant will be here first thing in the morning. It’s easier to sleep here when I’m staying so late in the office.”

“Sleep , huh?” she muttered sarcastically.

“You couldn’t expect me to know you’d show up here tonight. I said I was sorry about that.” He waved toward the hallway and the bedroom. When she glanced out the window dismissively, he added, “Right—I forgot. You’re good at ignoring my apologies. You’re an expert at the business of ignoring me in general.”

Heat flooded her cheeks. She opened her mouth to bring him to task for changing the subject but he interrupted her before a word left her tongue.

“I own this penthouse, too. Have you forgotten that?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten . Fine. If you’re staying, I’ll be the one to go. I’ll stay with my mother.” Her eyes widened when he just shook his head slowly, his expression implacable.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But until I can get some more information about what happened with the fire . . . until I know for sure nobody set it with the intent of harming you, you’re staying here. And so am I, Genny.”

Her muscles felt as if they’d snap like rubber bands stretched too tight when he said her name again. He was the only person who called her Genny. The only one who could and make it sound so natural . . . like her true name. Once Max had tried to call her Genny. It had sounded forced and foolish on his tongue. She hadn’t said anything, but Max had never done it again.

Max had encouraged her and Sean to spend time together. Her husband had confessed to her once that he felt a little guilty about the fact that he had so few interests in common with her, given their twenty-four-year age difference. Max had never shown an ounce of jealousy over the fact that Sean and she shared a love for taking in a Cubs game on hot summer afternoons or biking for miles along the lakefront. Sean had even taught her how to shoot at the Sauren Solutions in-house firing range.

It’d all been innocent . . . on the surface anyway.

Until that New Year’s Eve three years ago, when Max had suggested the three of them indulge in a night of pleasure.

Until five nights later, when Sean had murdered him.

CHAPTER TWO

Sean watched her closely, seeing her indecision, her exhaustion. He sensed something else in her; something he strongly suspected was fear. The realization that it was he who was making her practically vibrate with anxiety made him feel like he’d just tipped pure acid down his throat. He understood why she was so nervous around him . . .to an extent, anyway. He cursed himself at least once a day for his uncharacteristic impulsivity on that night three years ago. Genny had every right to avoid him like he carried a particularly potent version of the plague. When he’d been desperate to see her after Max’s death, he’d sometimes catch her wincing when she looked at him.

He’d made a mistake. But that’d been years ago. How long did he have to suffer for caring about something beyond wisdom and circumstances?

Beyond reason?

He knew he wasn’t good good enough for Genny, but that simple fact had never once stopped him from wanting her more than he’d ever wanted anything. Besides, Sean figured he possessed some kind of deep psychological flaw that made him rebel against the obvious.

Stubbornness stiffened his backbone and he sat forward on the couch, elbows on his knees. He’d grown up knowing that if you wanted something, you had to do more than just fight for it. You had to go into that fight like it was your last volitional act on earth. You had to be willing to sacrifice everything before you went into that battle, whether it was a back-alley scrap with a bully or an Iraqi who hated you so much it was like a poison in his blood. It hadn’t been hard for him as a kid to live by that code.

He’d had nothing of substance to lose but his own life—and hadn’t he gotten the message from plenty of people that even that was a worthless commodity?

He still had nothing to lose at age thirty- seven, Sean admitted to himself grimly. But Genny had wandered into his domain again, even if it had been unintentional on her part. Mistakes and sins be damned. He wasn’t going to let her go again without a fight. He just needed to work on regaining her trust. If he could just spend some time with her, get her comfortable with him once again, maybe she’d open up.

“You’re staying right here, Gen. There are two bedrooms. You can have your pick.”

“I don’t want to sleep in either one.” Her usually soft, soulful gray eyes turned as sleety as the hovering gray clouds outside the window, but Sean pretended not to notice.

“The couch is nice and soft then.” He stood and walked to the foyer. He locked the front door and keyed in the code for the alarm. She came up behind him as he finished.

“What are you doing?”

“Locking up for the night. Is this your stuff?” He picked up a huge leather carryall and peered inside, seeing hastily folded clothing and a bag of toiletries. “I’ll put it in the guest bath.” She ignored him as she stared at the alarm system mounted on the wall. She turned to him, an incredulous expression spreading on her face.

“That’s a different system than the one downstairs. I’ve never seen it before. I don’t know the code,” she said slowly. “You just locked me in here.”

“’Course I didn’t. I just locked everything else out.”

RELEASE, available in mass market paperback: 4/2/13