STORY EXCERPT

“Don’t give up now, skjebne,” Thor said, exchanging Marisol’s name with the Norwegian word for destiny. “Eventually they’ll make a mistake and I’ll get us out of here.”

She sat up, straddling him and even in the dim light he recognized the fire in her eyes. A slender finger dug into his chest.

“You only call me that when you lie to me. You said you don’t believe in destiny and you promised to always tell me the truth.”

“It is the truth so calm down. We just have to stay alive long enough to escape.” He wrapped his hand around her nape, pulled her down and slicked his finger over her lips. “Every time you pout these lips, I want to slide something tasty between them.”

He ignored a disrespectful roll of brown eyes and let her go when she pulled away form him.

“I’m not pouting and you’re not going to distract me that easily.” She glanced at their prison. “Look at this place—we’re chained in a filthy barge. It’s damp and it stinks, and there are rats, Thor. Rats!”

Raising his head, he glanced at the area she indicated. “I’ve been in worse places, so I’m not sure where you’re coming from, baby.” Smiling up at her, he ticked off several points on his fingers. “First, we’re out of the rain. Second, we have room service, and third, I keep the rats off you.” He pointed to the door and the chain rattled again. “We even have security. What more could you want?”

“Bastard.” She slapped his chest. “Sometimes I hate your sense of humor.” She tried to slide away from him but he held her in place.

“What else has you riled up?” Ignoring her effort to move away, he arranged her the way he wanted her. Her breasts against his chest, her belly against his and her legs resting on top of his. “Come on—talk to me.”

She took a deep breath then sighed and he knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

“Mendez orders me to hurt you. When I refuse he has his men hurt you. He orders his men to hurt me. When you protect me, he orders his men to hurt you. Your wounds are infected and you have a fever.”

“What’s your point?”

“You want me to continue to fight Mendez, so here’s the deal…I’ll agree to do that if you promise to stop protecting me.”

He slid his hand around her nape and pulled her lips to his. The kiss was soft. As soft as the trail of kisses he left over her cheek to her ear. He’d promised to tell her the truth but he couldn’t promise this and mean it, so he chose his words carefully. “I’d rather take a beating than stand by and do nothing while a woman I love is abused.”

She slipped her arms beneath his shoulders and gently combed her fingers through his hair. Cushioning his head on her hands she locked her gaze on his. “You suck at lying to me.”

“I do love you.”

“Meaning you love me like you love Addison, Jenna, or Cassie?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

She ran her finger down his nose then tweaked it. He batted her hand away and she laughed. Leaning down, she moved slowly, giving him time to move away but he didn’t. She kissed him while she moved her knee closer to his cock. “The next time you say the L-word to me you better mean it or be prepared to face the consequences.”

Knowing he’d pushed her as far as she’d go, he accepted the advice then slipped his hands beneath her long hair and stroked her back, careful to avoid the healing marks on her soft flesh. “We’ll get through this.”

Marisol rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m afraid Mendez is going to separate us.”

“I’ll fight to keep us together but if he separates us I’ll find you. Don’t ever stop believing that.” He grasped a handful of hair and lifted her head until their gazes met again. “Promise me.”

“I promise, and the same goes for you. I’ll never stop looking for you.”

He nodded even though he knew Mendez would have to kill him before he’d give her up to him. Sighing again, he admitted to himself how much she’d come to mean to him and decided to give in, but just a little. “Okay, I do care about you. I might even love you, a little, but I’m not sure.”

“You don’t sound very happy about it.”

“I’m not. The last thing I want is to get tangled up in a permanent relationship.”

She patted his shoulder. “Well, look on the bright side—it may not last. You know what they say—familiarity breeds contempt.”

“Chaucer,” he said, squeezing her bottom. “Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.”

“Tagore, and I can live with that as long as you promise to give us a chance.”

“Only if you’ll try to eat the food they bring us.”

She made a gagging sound and he laughed. “I’ll try but the food is slop, the water is gross, and the accommodations are filthy.” She nipped his pectoral muscle. “I’ll hold my nose and eat that crap if you’ll admit this is the worst first date ever.”

“You’re so cruel, and just when I was congratulating myself on the most unique first date ever.”

“Not to mention the longest,” she added.

He brushed his hands down her sides, sweeping away small flakes of rust before resting his hands on the lush curves of her bottom. “I was going to take a rat home as a pet.”

“Over my dead body,” she said and yawned.

He chuckled and hugged her. “Go to sleep, skjebne.”

She snuggled up to him, sighed, and whispered, “Night, Thor.”

He held her as her breathing slowed and she drifted to sleep. Without thinking about it, he found the ridge of a scar on her hip and ran his index finger over it. Mendez had left that mark on her and she’d have a scar for the rest of her life. He’d know every time he saw it that he’d failed to protect her.

ADULT EXCERPT

She shrugged and the shoulder of the oversized T-shirt slid down her arm. He took advantage of the exposed flesh and nibbled a line up her arm to the curve of her neck. Nipping her he moved his lips to her ear. “We’ve got twenty minutes to play around while they cook.”

She turned until her lips were beneath his. “That’s not enough time for what I need.”

He chuckled. “I’ll bet you it is.”

Before she could move, he whipped the shirt over her head, grabbed her, and stood up. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

She did and felt his hand between them undoing the drawstring on his shorts. They dropped away and a second later he lifted her. His cock probed her slick entrance and he loosened his grip on her waist. She pressed forward but he held her away for a few seconds. She wiggled and he let her slide down onto him.

The large head slipped through first, stretching her and exposing her swollen clit. Streaks of pleasure tightened her lower belly as she took him inside her. Shivering with pleasure, she wiggled, brushing her clit against him over and over. Her breath hitched and she pressed harder, froze, then rocked against him. The orgasm flared through her, beginning between her legs and exploding out to the rest of her body. She shook and screamed his name against his chest.

Thor pressed her breasts into his chest as he thrust inside her.

“Oh, Amo.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed and nibbled on his neck. Each thrust was deeper than the last. Harder than the last.

He dropped his head to her shoulder. “Marisol.”

He whispered her name against her neck but it sounded like a prayer. Like a homecoming long awaited.

Holding her against him, he braced one hand against the rock wall and thrust into her. She flexed her vaginal muscles and pulled a groan of pleasure from him. He thrust several more times then thrust deep and held himself there as he filled her with his seed. She shivered and came again, the walls of her vagina fluttering around his hard shaft.

Resting his weight against the wall he held her then stumbled to their bed, dropped to his knees, and lowered her. Hovering over her, his hair fell forward, forming a golden shield of intimacy around them. He pressed into her then began to slowly withdraw. “Don’t move.”

She forced herself to obey him even though the need to keep him a part of her overwhelmed her. Holding still, she let him unwrap her legs from his waist and lower them to the blanket. He rested his weight on her, pressing her into the blanket and the soft sand beneath hit. Gradually, their hearts slowed and their breaths calmed.

Drawing in a deep breath, he sucked on her neck then released her and sat up.

She ran her finger down his back. “You were right. Twenty minutes was plenty of time.”