Winter’s Heat
by Cristin
Harber
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
After
putting her life on the line to protect classified intelligence, military
psychologist Mia Kensington is on a cross-country road trip from hell with an
intrusive save-the-day hero. Uninterested in his white knight act, she’d rather
take her chances without the ruggedly handsome, cold-blooded operative who
boasts an alpha complex and too many guns.
Colby
Winters, an elite member of The Titan Group, has a single objective on his
black ops mission: recover a document important to national security. It was
supposed to be an easy in-and-out operation. But now, by any means necessary
becomes a survival mantra when he faces off with a stunning woman he can’t
leave behind.
When
Titan’s safe houses are compromised, Colby stashes Mia at his home, exposing
his secret—he’s the adoptive father of an orphaned baby girl. Too soon, danger
arrives and Mia lands in the hands of a sadistic cartel king with a taste for
torture. As hours bleed into fear-drenched days, Colby races across the globe
and through a firestorm of bullets to save the woman he can’t live without.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Excerpt:
Setup- Colby Winters and Mia Kensington are waiting for her attackers to make
another move. They’re trying to appear distracted outside a motel room, as if
they let their guard down.
What was it
like? Oh, man. He had a thing for her in a bad way. Winters bent his head
toward her. Their foreheads kissed, and there was no question. While she was
with him, she was his. His to protect. His to savor. A woman like Mia was rare.
At least he had brains enough to notice.
He never
should’ve put her in this position. He could’ve packed her off in a plane, back
toward the East Coast. Someone from Titan could’ve kept her safe while he
finished his original job. But selfishness and curiosity made it so he wouldn’t
push her away. He couldn’t, because an irrepressible desire consumed him,
powering lust through his veins.
“Colby.” Her
hushed whisper tickled his skin. “What are we going to do?”
His pulse
thumped in his neck, and he tightened the forearm wrapped around her waist,
melding her onto him.
I’m on the
job. Serious danger ahead.
He’d missed
it before and couldn’t let that happen again. No time for arousal. No time for
fantasies.
Images
flooded his brain, searing his senses. He remembered the taste of her tongue.
Red-hot cinnamon. A sweet, delicious burn of aphrodisia.
What were
they going to do? Where to begin... A million ideas popped to mind, starting
with making good use of the wall behind him.
No woman had
pressed against him like this, so pliable, supple, and luscious. They had
always draped him like sex kittens on steroids. Those other women were as over-sexed
and one-dimensional as they were obvious, all self-fulfilling prophecies, and
they were the definitive opposite of Mia Kensington.
Before Mia’s
hands explored him, before her beautiful body had even disrobed, she toyed with
his mind like it was the first of many playgrounds. And he wanted to play so
bad.
“I’ve started
a list.” His lips flitted over hers. “Want me to share?”
Her eyelashes
fluttered. “What kind of list?”
“I have you
thirty feet from a bed. What kind of list do you—” A drunken couple stumbled
out of the bar. Actually, more likely a john and a pro. He should have seen
them before he heard them. “More on the list later, doll.”
Men were
coming to hurt her, and his hard-on could pick another time for games.
“Okay, Mia,
here’s what we’re going to do. When they pull up, act like we let loose. We had
too many drinks.” He motioned to the karaoke bar with a tip of his head, then
dipped his lips to her neck, lingering under her ear. “I’m convincing you to
come to my room. You’re not putting up too much of a fight. Just enough to keep
it fun.”
He nipped her
earlobe, and she took a tiny gasp. It made his gut jump. Her taste drugged him,
intoxicated him. Temptation was a cruel mistress. Giving him a little and
making him wait.
“That’s your
plan?”
“Not my whole
plan, no. But that’s the part you have to play.” He traced the slide of her
neck. “Think you can act mildly interested?”
“You’re
crazy.” Her voice was husky. “Men are trying to kill us. How can you think
about sex?”
“You’re not?”
“I’m… I’m—”
“You’re what?
I’m getting into character. You should give it a try.”
“You’re
rubbing your hard-on against me, is what you’re doing.”
“All part of
my cover. Believable, huh?” Her innocent act was toast. She was far more like
Jessica Rabbit than Snow White. “If I tried to drag you off to bed right this
second, you wouldn’t join me?”
There was
only one answer. He knew it. Felt it as sure as he felt her body mold against
him. She couldn’t fight their hunger either.
Her breaths
escalated. The quick rise and fall of her breasts fueled him. Winters cupped
her chin in his hands, palms caressing her cheeks. Sweet Mia. If he could
freeze this moment, it’d be one he’d put on repeat.
“I would,”
she whispered. “But…”
“Forget
everything else. It’s just you and me.” He thumbed her lips, dragging the
bottom one down.
Slowly, his
hands drifted into her hair. Lust hung heavy in the cool night air. Her dark
lashes fluttered, and her hard nipples pressed against his chest.
How beautiful
would she be naked? How would she feel? Impossibly smooth. He would whisk
across her sensitive spots, watching those succulent breasts rise and fall in
anticipation. He would make sure she ached for him. As much as he ached now.
His fingers
tangled into her hair, and Mia leaned her head back, heavy lidded and heady
breaths.
“Shouldn’t
you watch for the bad guys instead of torturing me?” Her eyes were sealed shut,
defenseless.
His lips
grazed her neck, and she purred, the sinful sound acting as a deft stroke to
his already engorged shaft.
“You don’t
think I can multi-task?” He kissed behind her ear, dancing his mouth down her
neck. It was a tease. A simple promise of what was to come. When he had a
moment to concentrate on her, he’d do whatever it took—lick, kiss, caress, and
suck—to make her cry out for him.
His fingers
slid to her nape, trailing to the front of her shirt. The fabric felt fragile
under his palms. He was losing a battle to a ripped shirt on a pretty girl, but
revenge would be amazing.
“How can you
do this,” she nudged her head down to where he nuzzled his erection, “and pay
attention to anything else?”
“Can you
imagine what it’s going to be like between us when I don’t have to worry about
anyone but you?”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Cristin
Harber
Romantic Suspense
Author: Higher Stakes. Hotter Action.
Bio:
MOM. WIFE.
AUTHOR.
Lover of all
things sexy and happily ever after.
I live
outside Washington, DC with my family: my husband (who doesn’t mind my
collection of book boyfriends), an independent toddler, and an English bulldog
named Britta who loves to be a conversation piece. Oh, we have a baby on the
way—arriving about the same time as WINTERS HEAT debuts!
I love
southern food, listen to country music, am always too hot or too cold, and
spend hours reading and writing. I cheer on my University of Louisville
Cardinals-GO CARDS! When I’m not pregnant (or nursing), I like a little bourbon
or sweet wine. Pregnant or not, I love a lot of chocolate.
I can’t save
the world, so instead, I write about those that do. There’s a special place in
my heart for those who keep us safe. My Titan series debuts this fall with five
titles available in 2013: WINTERS HEAT, GARRISON’S CREED, WESTIN’S CHASE,
CHASED, and GAMBLED.
NEWSLETTER
signup for series info: http://bit.ly/11aWFzM
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7192034.Cristin_Harber
WEBSITE:
http://cristinharber.com
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/cristinharberauthor
TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/CristinHarber
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