Nothing he said anymore made sense, even to himself. Frustrated, he left her alone in the
bedroom. All those months--after all of
those notes postmarked from around the world--all of those images of her on
television--he’d imagined the men drawn to her.
He had imagined her lonely and hurt by his silence seeking comfort from
another lover. Hell, maybe it had been
easier to imagine that instead of believing his actions hurt her.
“You don’t have any faith in me at all, do you?” She stood
behind him. “Not one ounce.”
He flinched.
Needing more space, he moved to the kitchen and preoccupied himself with
looking into the refrigerator. What to
eat, what to eat...
Arms folded across her chest, she stared at her feet.
“God, I’m an idiot. A big fool, that’s
what I am.”
“I have faith in you. It’s me that I’m not so sure about
these days,” he said to the orange in his hand. He peeled the orange without
looking at her but knew she paced next to him in the small kitchen. He chanced a glance up at her and winced at
the distant expression on her face. He
hated looking up at her. Hated it. He had once been able to lift her up and
screw her against the wall if he wanted, but now...now he peeled an orange and
wondered what the hell to say next.
It would be easy to let her back in, as easy as breathing.
Talking to her felt like a much needed shot of normalcy. He dropped the orange to the counter. “You said we don’t know anything about being
married and you’re right. We don’t. So what do you want?”
She perched on the counter, her dress rising up her thighs
again. “I’d like to eat the Chinese I
brought. Devon’s picking me up in a few
hours. We’re meeting a source in the park at midnight. There’s someone we need to find...anyway, I
needed a break and, for some reason, I thought you’d be a nice change of pace.”
He grinned without looking away from the skin exposed
between the hem of her skirt and the top of her boots. “You dress like this for a source?”
“I dress like this for you.” Her fingers touched his
forehead. “I never really got to dress
sexy for you, except in Greece.”
He dragged his gaze over her body before looking in her
eyes. He had no idea what to do with
her. “Who’s Devon?”
“My producer slash photographer. She’s good...I like her.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth
and stared at him.
“Meeting a source at midnight sounds dangerous.” He smiled because he knew it probably was and
that she’d always tempt Fate. People
like her ran in when others ran out. His
smile faded at the memory of her running back into the line of fire to save
him. “I thought we were fighting a
minute ago, now you want to eat Chinese with me?”
“Yeah, well, I’m unpredictable like that.” She broke the
gaze and reached for the bags he hadn’t noticed sitting next to her hip.
His hand slid up her thigh. Her skin felt like heaven beneath his
hands. His thumbs pressed against her
inner thigh. Both hands moved up her
leg. He wanted to undress her. Taste her.
She opened her knees...just a little...enough. He pulled her close and kissed her knee. His hand caressed her thigh beneath the hem
of the dress. His fingers skimmed across red silk panties.
“I don’t want to hurt you and am afraid I might. PTSD, they tell me in all this therapy they
make me do. I hear stories of men
turning on their wives in the middle of the night, being lost in a nightmare
and I’m capable of that, Hope. I am,” he said against her skin.
“I can handle you.” She pulled his hair. “Have a little
faith.”
“Do you really want to deal with me? Isn’t your life complicated enough?” Damn,
she felt good. His hands curved over her
hips.
“Not really. I’ve
been a little bored.” She slid toward
the edge of the counter.
He didn’t know what he was doing. Stay.
Go. Fight. Flee.
But he did know that this felt right.
Being with her was the only thing in months that felt real, that felt
natural.
His fingers slid beneath the panties and pulled them
down. He met her gaze, thumbs pressed
against her wetness.
She bit her lip, eyes alive with a dare.
“This is crazy,” he whispered without looking away from
her. “You and me together again. It’s
not realistic.”
“We’re unconventional, remember? A colonel and a reporter falling in love in a
war zone was pretty unrealistic, too, yet we did it. We couldn’t get enough of each other, that’s
what I remember.” She slithered her hips
closer to the edge of the counter, the heels of her boots resting on the arms
of his wheelchair. “You want to touch me
and guess what? I want you to touch me,
too.”
Oh, yeah, he wanted to touch her. Taste her.
Bite her. Fuck her. But if he did any of the things he wanted to
do, that would seal the deal, reunite them, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be
anyone’s husband.
“You’re bad for me.”
He bit her knee while his fingers slid down the zipper of the boot. “You’re gonna send me over the deep end. Is that your plan? To have me committed?”
“I never tell my plans.”
She drank from the bottle of ouzo and he briefly wondered when she’d
grabbed it.
He removed first one boot and then the other until her
legs were bared and open in front of him.
He’d always loved her shapely legs, the way the muscles curved, the way
her skin felt beneath his fingers. He
ran his hands over them, always so smooth, and cherished her compliance.
She held the bottle down to him and he took a drink
without looking away from her face. He
loved that she was equal parts naughty and nice, half badass and half
angel. The liquor burned his throat,
reminded him that he had most definitely survived.
“I can’t make you any promises,” he said before licking
the inside of her thigh.
“I wouldn’t believe them anyway.”
He grinned against her skin and inhaled the heady scent of
her. His fingers slid inside of her as
he closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her closing around him. Her hands were in his hair, her ankles linked
behind his neck. He pushed the skirt up
higher with his free hand before grabbing the liquor bottle and pouring ouzo
between her legs. He licked her, sucked,
delighting in the combination of tastes.
His fingers moved in and out, faster and faster. She poured more alcohol for him as if feeding
him from above. He sucked it up, unable
to get enough.
She wiggled her hips closer, hands gripping his hair, feet
pressing against the backs of his shoulders.
When her thighs pressed against his ears and her buttocks clenched, she
moaned, “I’ve missed you so much.”
And then she was sliding down and over him until their
mouths were clinging to each other like two people long starved for the
other. He pushed the dress up even
farther, the palms of his hands molding her breasts over her bra.
“You’re the best medicine a guy could ever dream of
having,” he said when she broke away to breathe.
“You’re the same guy I married, never doubt that.” Hands
framing his face, she stared into his eyes.
“You’re still that guy.”
He buried his face into the hair tangled around her
shoulders. He wished it were true.
A knock on the door had her abruptly leaping from his lap
and yanking the dress down. He felt cold
with the absence of her hot body against his.
He blinked at the sudden change, hand going to his mouth still wet from
her.
“Michael?” Becky’s voice.
The door slammed open after another brief knock. “Warren and I are here to go over the custody
papers.”
“Ever hear of privacy?”
Hope met his gaze, disappointment in her eyes. “A closed door means wait to be asked in, at
least that’s how I was raised.”
“You again. Damn,
it smells like a liquor store in here, what’s going on?” Becky stood, hands on
hips. Her husband, Warren, stood behind
her looking like the over-worked lawyer he was with his tie askew and black
hair a mess. “I thought you’d be out
stirring up some trouble.”
“I came here to cause trouble instead.” She shrugged
before grabbing her boots from the floor. “I didn’t know you were meeting with
Warren tonight. I should let you go.”
He nodded and fisted her panties in his lap, effectively
hiding them from view. His gaze drifted
down to her thighs. “Yeah, that’s
probably a good idea.”
“I’ll call Dev...tell her to meet me at my place instead.”
She lingered in front of him. “At least
you’ve got Chinese food.”
“Well, I’m glad we...got that out of the way, you
know...talked and stuff,” he said, ignoring Becky and Warren who watched
them.
“Me, too.
Progress.” She met his gaze with
a grin on her swollen lips.
Book blurb…
Sometimes heroes fall and take the ones they love down with
them. Colonel Michael Cedars and reporter Hope Shane fell in love in a war
zone, but then the world blew up, and splintered their lives in two.
Michael Cedars returns home from Afghanistan wounded and
unsure where he fits in this 'new normal' of civilian life. Unsure if he'll walk again, he questions his
abilities as a man, husband, and father. Accustomed to giving orders, he's
thrown into a world where he doesn't know the rules anymore and no one is
respecting the officer in the room.
Hope isn't one who gives up easily—not on her marriage and
not on the innocent victims of a human trafficking ring she's investigating. As
the danger of her story intensifies, she struggles with her own post-traumatic
stress disorder and a husband who resists her love.
Danger intensifies as Hope searches for truth and justice.
Everyone she loves is at risk. Will her reckless pursuit of the human
trafficking ring jeopardize their lives?
Michael knows she needs him, but doubts his ability to be
the hero she still believes him to be. Is he still the man she married or has
he become a liability that could get her killed?
What the reviews say…
5 stars Extremely talented
By
Although this book is marketed
as romantic suspense it also covers some serious issues, such as people
trafficking and post-traumatic stress disorder, adding further depth to a book
that is rich in plot and personal conflict already. Nothing prepared me for the
literary quality of this novel. Regular romance and suspense fans get more than
enough here to be satisfied by the great chemistry between the main characters
and the intriguing story lines. However, if you - like myself - want a little
bit more out of a book than you will find it in the well-handled and insightful
passages about trafficking and PSD, issues that are handled with care rather
than in an exploitative or decorative manner.
Easton clearly
cares about what she writes and it pays dividends, her book is surprisingly
impressive and certainly recommended. (see full review: http://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Endangerment-Amber-Lea-Easton/product-reviews/0615801617/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty At Times, Realistic, With
An Immensely Satisfying Romance and MysteryBy
This review is from: Reckless Endangerment (Kindle Edition)
By the end of
Reckless Endangerment I can sum it up by saying it's
Triple-H......heartbreaking, heartwarming, and heartpounding. It's full of
likable and fully fleshed-out characters, realistically depicted issues related
to the aftermath of war, and it presented a fast-paced mystery surrounding
human trafficking that kept me on the edge of my seat. It shows that atrocities
not only occur in faraway lands but outside our front door as well. As two
people deal both mentally and physically with the hand war dealt them it's only
through love and acceptance that true healing can begin and a HEA can be fully
achieved. (Read full review: http://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Endangerment-Amber-Lea-Easton/product-reviews/0615801617/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Reckless Endangerment (Kindle Edition)
I
love this book! The author did a great job of writing a contempary novel with
all the twists and turns that make it impossible for you to put the book down!!
I am really impressed with the author's use of hard hitting problems facing
today's society and intergrating them into the story line. This is not just
another cookie cutter, predictable romance!! I highly recommend this book for
all who looking for a novel with a little something extra! (Read full review
at: http://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Endangerment-Amber-Lea-Easton/product-reviews/0615801617/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1
Buy it now
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/Z4F3qj
All Romance Ebooks: http://goo.gl/d7RRSt
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/14lTKrb
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