[EXCERPT & TEASERS] THE HOOKER AND THE HERMIT BY L.H. COSWAY & PENNY REID

Here is an excerpt of the new joint work between Cosway & Reid! I am very excited to get my hands on it!

 

 

 

RELEASE DATE: 2/5/15

 

 

EXCERPT

 

 

My musings were cruelly interrupted by another knock on the door. I yanked my hand away, splashing water and some of the miraculous bubbles on to the marble floor; I sat upright in the tub.

I glanced at myself; everything below my shoulders was still neatly hidden beneath the layer of white foam. “I- uh- come in. I’m nearly finished.”

My exhale was unsteady, my heart beating excitedly, and I knew I was flushed with the evidence of my almost orgasm. Hopefully Patricia would assume the blush was caused by hot water and not hot thoughts.

But it wasn’t Patricia at the door. It was Ronan.

And he wasn’t exactly dressed. He was wearing a towel around his narrow hips, a glimpse of swim trucks visible, and nothing else.

I gawked at him—this being my first time seeing his body live, in person, and not in the static pages of a magazine or pixilated on the internet—and knew nothing virtual or imaginary could come close to the reality of that chest and torso. He was all rigid muscle and sharp angles. A tribal tattoo of some sort snaked up his hip, it originated from beneath the towel and spiraled up to his ribcage and chest. I wanted to trace it with my fingers, the curling lines. I wanted to press my mouth against it and taste his skin. He looked like he’d be hard to the touch, but I knew he’d also be warm.

“Annie?”

I blinked, startled and mortified to realize I’d been staring, and snapped my mouth shut. With effort, I lifted my gaze to his and set my jaw, fighting the urge to return my attention to the perfection of his body and the mystery of his tattoo.

“I- um- yes?”

Ronan shut the door behind him and stalked closer. His eyebrows lifted as he drew near and his gaze moved over my face, dipped to my shoulders, detoured on my mouth.

“Enjoying your… bath?”

His eyes reminded me of chocolate in that moment, velvet dark chocolate, the kind used in succulent desserts, hot and silky; the kind you dipped strawberries in and savored as the juice from the berry and the sweet bitterness of the chocolate danced a euphoria over your tongue and down your throat…

I squirmed, my breath coming short, my arousal making me feel unsteady and lightheaded.

“Yes.” The word emerged as a breathless whisper, drawing his attention back to my eyes.

“You look uncomfortable. Is the bath too hot?”

I shook my head.

He hovered for a moment, surveying me—him and his epic torso—then sat at the edge of the tub and dipped his fingers into the water.

“What-what are you doing?” Again, my voice was breathless.

Part of me hoped he was going to say, Finishing what you started.

Another part of me hoped… oh, hell. Who was I kidding? Every part of me hoped he would say, Finishing what you started.

Instead he said, his lips twitching with poorly hidden amusement, “Just checking the temperature. You look flushed.” The back of his fingers brushed against my thigh and I jumped, an inelegant squeak escaping my throat.

This was met with the rumbling sound of Ronan’s laughter and a rather obnoxious smirk. “You need to relax, maybe you should take a nice, long bath.”

I glared at him and his grin, bringing my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around my calves. Nothing of my body was visible besides my shoulders, but I felt suddenly quite seen. “I was… I am perfectly relaxed.”

“I could help, you know.” He nodded at this assertion, his hand still in the water, his fairytale body and warm, silky chocolate eyes filling my vision. “I could give you a massage… or a rub down.”

 

TEASERS!