Josh Keller never thought he’d host a wedding reception—his kink club is a place where he tends bar and chains willing men to the padded wall in his private room. He also never thought he’d see the love of his life again. When both happen on the same day his life will never be the same.
Pax Dupont never stopped loving Josh, not when they fought and broke up and not during the fifteen years they spent a thousand miles apart. Coming face-to-face with the man he left behind is a surprise, but learning Josh is part owner of the club intrigues Pax enough to share his own love of silk, lace, and domination.
Will Josh and Pax put past hurts behind them and admit their feelings still run hot, or will Pax’s attempts to dominate Josh break them up for good?
Warnings: This book contains a brief scene of violence and a hero in peril, mentions of past abuse of a child, grief over the death of siblings, a man who loves the feel of silk and lace, and one who thought he understood his own kinky nature.
Pax shot him a look over his shoulder. That look was full of heat and promise as much as the question of what the hell did Josh have running around in his head.
Josh stood behind him as he flipped through the folders in the box and rested both hands on Pax’s shoulders. Leaning close, he whispered in Pax’s ear, “What can I do to help?”
Pax’s exhale seemed to go on forever. As he sighed, he also relaxed under Josh’s hands and leaned back so their bodies touched—Pax’s back against Josh’s chest. The same way they’d slept when they were teenagers after a long night of making out. Among other things.
“Fuck, Josh, I really have work I need to do.”
“I’m not trying to stop you.” Josh moved one hand to circle Pax’s waist and pull him closer. Gently, but leaving no room for doubt that he wanted Pax, that the anger and hurt and resentments of their past were just that: of the past.
Pax dropped his head back onto Josh’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have left so fast. I thought…”
“You thought what?”
“That you were just being kind, and that this—” Pax turned so his lips brushed against Josh’s ear. “—was all in the past.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t…Fuck, Pax, I still feel it. All of it.” Josh wrapped his other arm around Pax’s chest and held him tight. Pax shivered in his embrace, his ass pressed tightly against Josh’s growing cock. Josh knew he couldn’t say any more—he’d already said too much, even if Pax hadn’t been on the clock. It was way too soon to be making any grand pronouncements, even if he would mean every word.
Josh made a soft squeaking sound when Pax took him by the wrist and moved his hand to rest on Pax’s waistband. Josh’s thumb slid into Pax’s slacks and against something silky.
“I’d love to take you right here—” Josh dragged his thumb across Pax’s stomach, loving the contrast between his firm body and the surprising silkiness of whatever he was wearing. “—but someone could walk in any minute.” Pax groaned and leaned back harder against Josh, pressing Josh’s hand tight against his abs as he did. Josh thought Pax’s knees might have weakened at the thought of someone walking in and catching them together and filed that knowledge away for when he could make good use of it.
Charley Descoteaux is the author of the Buchanan House Love Stories. Book One is a USA Today Must-Read Romance.
Charley has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough. In exchange, they’ve agreed to let her sleep once in a while. Charley has survived earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods, but couldn’t make it through a single day without stories.
Charley also writes under the pen name Charli Coty. Under that name you’ll find LGBTQIA+ fiction that’s a little different but always has a happy ending.
My life has never been easy. Not from the day I took my first breath until now. Only days old, I was placed in a laundry basket and left in front of a firehouse. I never knew who my parents were before being shuffled around from one bad foster home to another. Until the day I arrived at Kerrighan House.
My safe haven.
My home.
I was welcomed with open arms into a world where love and sisterhood were the rule, not the exception. From that moment on, I believed I was safe. That nothing bad could touch me.
I was so wrong.
Neither my success as a full-figured lingerie and fashion model nor my street smarts as a born and bred Chicago native, safeguarded me against walking into the clutches of a monster.
As I try to pull my life back together, I’m brought face to face with a man whose wounds mirror my own. Under his protection, I’m gifted the opportunity to find beauty where there has only ever been pain. And yet, danger lurks, as a new evil threatens to bring me to my knees.
Can my savior protect me, or has my fate been sealed?
Killian came over to me and stopped a couple feet away. “You doin’ okay?”
I nodded and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear suddenly feeling shy. “Everything is a little awkward but I’m rolling with it. Thank you for sharing your space and willingly shooting in your home. This can’t be fun for you.”
He smiled softly. “Why wouldn’t having something unearthly beautiful to photograph in my home not be fun for me?”
I bit down on my bottom lip and looked at the floor, trying to hide how much his compliment lifted my confidence.
“I’m still scared.”
“Of the guy who hurt that girl?” He clarified.
I shook my head. “No…actually, yeah, that too. It’s just… This is my first shoot back after the other thing and now it’s blowing up again. I just want to apologize in advance if I randomly I stare off into space or have one of my moments.”
He stepped so close I could almost feel the heat of his larger frame cocooning mine, reminding me that there was someone perfectly capable of protecting me. Him.
“Last time when you paused during the shoot, you went somewhere. What happened then?” he asked.
“I…uh, went back to that horrible place where I was kept. The guy, he took pictures and video of me. Sometimes the sound of the flash or a picture being taken can send me back there.”
He lifted up a finger. “I’ve got an idea. What if we drown out the sound?”
I tilted my head. “How so?”
“Music, of course. What do you like?”
I shrugged. “Most everything, but I’m really into Lana Del Rey right now.”
“She’s awesome. Why don’t you go get your hair and makeup done while I set up and get some music on? I need to choose the first outfit and props to see what we’re working with.”
Without any preamble, I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. I lifted up onto my toes so I could whisper against his ear while hugging him. “Thank you. For making me feel safe. For giving me a private space. For understanding my issues…”
He wrapped his arms around my body, bringing me flush against his hard frame. I relaxed into his return hug.
“When I say it’s my pleasure, I really mean it, Addy. There’s something about you. About your beauty. About your body. About your entire package that calls to me, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I have to capture your beauty on film. It feels…important somehow.”
I trembled in his hold, not because I was afraid, but because the things he said turned my insides to mush and my body to nothing but liquid desire.
I wanted him.
Badly.
“We’re going to break all the rules about models and photographers getting mixed up with one another, aren’t we?” I whispered against his thick, manly neck where I scented a light cologne mixed with a heady, earthy musk that had to be all Killian. “I sure as hell hope so.” He ran his hand up my back and cupped my cheek, his thumb tracing my bottom lip in a feather-light caress. His gaze seared straight through to the heart of me.
Audrey Carlan is a #1 New York Times and International bestselling author. Her titles have appeared on USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. Audrey writes wicked hot love stories that have been translated in over thirty different languages across the globe. She is best known for the world-wide bestselling series Calendar Girl and Trinity. She lives in the California Valley where she enjoys her two children and the love of her life. When she’s not writing, you can find her teaching yoga, sipping wine with her “soul sisters,” or with her nose stuck in a steamy romance novel.
Title: Twice Tempted Author: Jeaniene Frost Series: Night Prince #2 Genre: Paranormal Romance
Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges…
Leila’s psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn’t sure what the future holds. If that weren’t enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she’s also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won’t admit that he loves her.
Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity…
Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.
Leila and Vlad’s relationship is far from perfect. In fact, the book starts out with quite a row and Leila walking away – with Maximus on her heals for protection. She returns to the carnival circuit to find her old friend and partner, Marty. But what she thought was a return to her old life, is no such thing. Marty appears to have moved on with a new partner, and she flounders trying to figure out what to do next.
Unfortunately, that seems to be Leila running for her life with Maximus at her side. This makes things a little uncomfortable since he has a crush on Leila, and she never seems sure of what his motives really are. How much would he be willing to say and do just to turn her away from the idea of returning to Vlad?
In the long run, Vlad and Leila find themselves up against a new enemy and will need to rely on each other to get things taken care of. But if Vlad wants to get Leila back, he’s going to have to make some major changes, both emotionally and in the location of his bathroom.
This book did hit a little bit of the book 2 hump that seems to plague so many second-in-series. It felt a lot more like a transition between book one and book three than a complete story unto itself. The cliffhanger ending really added to that impression as well. Getting ready for book 3 was an exciting trip though, and it looks like there’s only more excitement to come.
