Genre:

ISBN: 1-59998-578-0
Length: Short Story
Price: 2.50
Publication Date: June 15, 2007
Cover art by Anne Cain

Is their passion real, or only a mirage?

A Midsummer Night’s Steam story.

On a lonely stretch of I-95 in the middle of the Nevada desert, journalist Savanna Blaine
and photographer Ben Lantano find themselves stranded by engine trouble on their way
back from an assignment. Their quest for a gas station leads them to La Mirage, a
beautiful resort nestled in a secluded canyon where they are the only guests.

Invited to spend the night in lush accommodations, passion flares between Savanna and
Ben who have suppressed their hidden desires long enough. A single touch ignites an
unforgettable night in each other’s arms, but the next day, when La Mirage mysteriously
disappears, they’re left to wonder, is their newfound intimacy real or nothing more than a
trick of the summer heat?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, oral sex and sexual games with
confectionary food delights.

eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an

infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are

products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be

construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or

organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

512 Forest Lake Drive

Warner Robins, Georgia 31093

La Mirage

Cover by Anne Cain

ISBN: 1-59998-578-0

www.samhainpublishing.com

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner

whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied

in critical articles and reviews.

First

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

electronic publication: June 2007

La Mirage

Jennifer Colgan

Dedication

For Tom, who taught me to question the unknown.

Jennifer Colgan

Chapter One

Sweat dripped down the back of Savanna Blaine’s neck and ran into

the collar of her blouse. She moaned in annoyance and stole a glance at

Ben Lantano who sat across from her behind the wheel of the ancient

Chevy pickup he lovingly called Delilah.

Ben gave her an apologetic grin. “She leaks Freon sometimes.” With

his dark brows arched over deep blue eyes, his sidelong glance caused an

involuntary tingle down her spine. Despite her discomfort, Savanna

found it hard to maintain her annoyance at the sweltering heat in the

pickup’s cab. Unfortunately, Ben’s smile only served to ratchet the

temperature up a few more degrees past the one-hundred mark.

Another drop of sweat rolled down Savanna’s neck and over her

collarbone, then made a dive into the deep valley between her breasts.

Why had she gone for the Vicky’s Mysteries push-up bra this

morning? In the late August heat wave the powder blue lace-and-satin

construction felt like a medieval torture device. Next time she had an

interview in the Nevada desert in August, she’d wear loose clothing and

make sure her photographer’s car had better air conditioning. She felt

like a wilted bouquet, cinched at the stems, her petals shapeless and

drooping.

“Why don’t we make a pit stop at the next diner and get some cold

drinks?” Ben, the eternal optimist, wore a sheen of sweat, too, but for

some reason on him it looked good. The collar of his light green T-shirt

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had darkened in a ring around his neck, and the ends of his short black

hair stuck out over his forehead and his nape in damp spikes.

“Fine with me. You’re buying.” Savanna smirked. She’d had her

doubts about Delilah when Ben picked her up at her apartment on

Thursday morning for the trek out to Jackson Deveraux’s secluded

desert ranch. Of course, then it had been overcast with a faint breeze,

the remnant of a passing storm. Her enthusiasm for the plum interview

with the media tycoon had overshadowed any thoughts about the

tenacity of a vehicle with silver duct tape patching a rust hole in the

driver’s side door.

“What’s that noise?” A metallic ping with a regular beat interrupted

Savanna’s thoughts and Ben’s grin faded. He reached over to shut off the

useless air conditioner and his fingers brushed dangerously close to her

left knee.

“It’s nothing,” he said.

It was Savanna’s turn to arch her eyebrows. “You don’t sound

convinced.”

“When we stop, I’ll take a look under the hood. Sounds like we kicked

up a rock. That’s all.”

Savanna eyed the landscape ahead, which was curiously identical to

the landscape behind them. Endless waves of sand and rock in romantic

shades like sienna and umber folded upon themselves in every direction.

The lonely stretch of I-95 seemed to go on forever.

“How far is it?”

“A couple of miles.”

The rumbling ping grew louder and then Delilah’s engine misfired.

Savanna shot Ben a sharp look. “That wasn’t nothing.”

“Probably needs a little water.” Ben licked his lips and Savanna found

herself concentrating far too closely on the movement of his tongue. It

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Jennifer Colgan

was too hot for these kinds of thoughts. She had to keep her mind on

business, which at the moment consisted of willing Ben’s ancient pickup

to keep moving along the empty highway.

“Don’t we all,” she said finally after managing to drag her attention

away from Ben’s profile. She looked around the cab. The thermos in the

footwell beside her legs held tepid coffee left over from the diner breakfast

they’d had at nine a.m. after an uncomfortable night spent at a motel

outside of Black Rock. They’d had to stay in the motel overnight after the

interview because the abandoned ghost town Deveraux was planning to

purchase with his newly minted millions offered little in the way of

amenities at the moment.

The coffee wouldn’t do any good for Delilah or her occupants at this

point.

“I just had a tune-up last week,” Ben offered when the engine

misfired again.

“How old is this thing, anyway?”

“Old enough. Delilah is my first. I love her and she loves me. Though

she’s been a little temperamental since I cut my hair.”

Savanna opened her mouth but decided to hold her comment.

Instead, she rolled her eyes and Ben laughed.

“Gets ’em every time.”

“Men.” Why did they think of their cars like women? If only Savanna

could find a man to be as loyal to her as Ben was to his Delilah.

The rumbling continued and the pickup’s forward momentum

slowed.

“Uh-oh.” With a practiced movement, Ben aimed the pickup toward

the side of the road. He gripped the steering wheel and grimaced as the

engine continued to cough and rattle. When Delilah finally sighed her

last asthmatic breath, he dropped his head in sympathy, or maybe

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defeat, and caressed the steering wheel with a tenderness that almost

made Savanna jealous.

Rather than comment, though, she stared through the blue tinting at

the top of the windshield and studied the utterly cloudless Nevada sky.

“Don’t blame Delilah,” Ben said, his tone an interesting cross

between jovial and apologetic. “It’s not her fault.”

“I wouldn’t dream of blaming Delilah,” Savanna replied, swiping at

the sweat that dripped in earnest now down the back of her neck.

Without the steady breeze from their forward momentum, the heat went

from merely oppressive to sweltering. “You, on the other hand…”

“Aw, come on. It’s not that bad. The next gas station is only about a

mile from here. We’ll get some water for the radiator and be back in

business.”

Savanna leaned forward and looked out the front, then the driver’s

side window. “We can see for ten miles in all directions and there’s

nothing out there but rocks.”

“It’s on the other side of the rocks.”

Savanna dismissed him with a wave and dove into the wheel well for

her purse. Her cell phone chirped when she flipped it open. “I have

Roadside Assistance.”

“That’s great, but we can walk to the gas station in the time it would

take them to send a tow truck all the way from Indian Springs.”

Savanna pursed her lips. “I’m calling.”

“Okay.” Ben folded his arms over his broad chest and leaned back in

the driver’s seat as if he were preparing to take a nap. His long eyelashes

fanned out against his tanned skin, making Savanna forget once again

why this man annoyed her so. She stared at him for a moment, torn

between wanting to smack him with the phone or climb into his lap and

run her tongue over the tight seam of his determined lips. If they’d been

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Jennifer Colgan

anywhere else but the middle of nowhere, she might have given the latter

a try just to assuage her own curiosity and growing frustration. It had

been a while—all right, six months—since she’d broken up with her last

boyfriend, and heaven help her, she needed a good lay. But now was not

the time to be thinking with her libido, no matter how enticing Ben

Lantano looked.

“Okay.” She took a deep, cleansing breath and dialed the phone.

“I don’t see a mile marker anywhere,” Savanna yelled into the tiny cell

phone she had clutched next to her ear.

Ben eyed her sideways from under his lashes, willing himself to look

at her face rather than the enticing crescent of blue lace that peeked out

of the neckline of her white blouse. Under any other circumstances, he’d

have praised Delilah for her timing. Getting stranded with Savanna

Blaine was no hardship even under the most adverse conditions, but the

relentless heat was making them both too cranky to enjoy this rare alone

time.

In the two years since he’d taken the job as a feature photographer

with Entrepreneur Spotlight magazine, he’d spent a lot of time with

Savanna on assignment. She was smart, cute and usually sweetly sassy.

Just his type. Her long legs and chestnut hair didn’t hurt her appeal

either. The only thing that had stopped him thus far from asking her out

was Dan Kramer. Not that Spotlight’s senior editor had anything going on

with Savanna, but Dan’s previous liaison with another Spotlight

employee had served as a glaring example of why office romances were

bad, bad news.

Dan had become a walking zombie since his acrimonious breakup

with Claire Henderson from accounting. Ben didn’t want to end up

sneaking around the office trying to avoid confrontations and vicious

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gossip, and he never wanted Savanna to hate him the way Claire had

come to hate Dan after their semi-secret romance tanked.

So, sitting in Delilah’s cab with Savanna now, watching from under

his half-closed eyelids while her lovely cleavage heaved in frustration as

she argued with a brain-dead operator at Roadside Assistance, was sheer

torture. The heat only made it worse by dampening her blouse enough to

plaster it to the contours of her lacy bra and forcing her to pluck at her

collar and moan now and then at her own discomfort.

I’m strong. I can handle all this temptation, he told himself over and

over. Even though he’d have much rather been handling Savanna.

“Let’s do the math,” she continued in an exasperated tone as she

dabbed glistening drops of sweat from her forehead with a crumpled

tissue she’d fished out of her voluminous purse. “We left the diner

outside of Black Rock at nine, and our average speed on the Highway to

Nowhere was about sixty miles an hour. If it’s noon now, that means

we’re a hundred and eighty miles from Black Rock, give or take, right? I

knew all those damn high-school math problems would come in handy

someday. So if the diner is at mile marker two-ten, then we must be

somewhere around mile marker—”

“Three-ninety,” Ben said.

Savanna mouthed a thank you and Ben lost himself momentarily in

the shimmer of her coral-tinted lips.

“Three-ninety. No, I can’t actually see the marker. The car is a dark

blue Chevy pickup truck… What year? Why does the year matter?

Oh…so you can pick us out from all the other dark blue Chevy pickup

trucks stranded by the side of the road. I see. Puh-lease. We’re the only

car on the road for a hundred miles in any direction. You can’t miss us…

No, I don’t know what year—”

“Eighty-six.”

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Jennifer Colgan

“Nineteen eighty-six,” she repeated into the phone then turned a

sidelong glance at him. “It is nineteen eighty-six, right?”

“Ha. Ha.”

She smiled at him and by God, the temperature rose another degree.

Why couldn’t it be the middle of winter in some high northern town

where they could huddle together for warmth until help came, or they

came?

“Yes, I’ll hold.” Savanna sighed and rolled her eyes. They’d gone dark

green with frustration. It had always fascinated Ben the way her hazel

eyes changed shade with her mood, her outfit or the ambient light. He’d

often fantasized about drowning in those eyes, being close enough to

inspect their depths for errant flecks of brown and gold…

She covered the cell phone’s receiver with her fingers. “They’re

checking their maps now. How hard could it be to locate us, for heaven’s

sake? We’re on the longest, straightest, emptiest road in Nevada—yes?

Three hours? It’s a hundred and ten degrees outside! We’ll roast in three

hours. What? I can’t hear you, you’ll have to—ah!”

She smacked her phone against her palm. “The charge is gone. How

can that be? I charged it last night.”

Ben shrugged. Three hours in a hot car with Savanna and no way to

blow off steam. Why, Delilah? Why now?

She waggled her fingers at him. “Let me have your phone so I can call

them back.”

Ben fished his own phone out of his back pocket and handed it over.

She pressed buttons and frowned, her perfectly arched eyebrows

drooping in consternation. “Yours is dead, too.”

“Can’t be.” He snatched it back from her and their fingers touched

briefly. The mercury shot up another degree at the contact. It had to be

pushing one ninety by now. Sure enough, there were absolutely no bars

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La Mirage

on the LCD display and no little battery indicator either. The phone was

completely dead, or at least comatose, much like Delilah.

Ben dropped the phone into his empty cup holder and stared at the

sweltering macadam ahead. Waves of heat rippled the landscape in the

distance, making it appear that a big, silvery puddle washed across the

road about a mile away. It would be one hell of a walk, but they’d

certainly make it to the service station in less than an hour. Savanna

was right. With no AC, they’d roast if they remained in the cab for three

hours, even with all the windows open. “Let’s go for it. We can leave a

note for Roadside to come look for us, if they get here before we get

back.”

Savanna gave him a look that did something to his insides. For the

briefest second she looked scared, then skeptical, annoyed, then

resigned. Finally, she batted her long lashes at him and pursed her

luscious lips. “You’re sure there’s a gas station beyond those rocks?”

“Yep.” He cracked open the driver’s side door and the oven-like heat

rushed in accompanied by the faintest stirring of the otherwise dead air.

“We can make it. It won’t be any worse than the Chili Festival last year.”

It had been a hundred and ten in the shade the day they’d been assigned

as taste testers in the Texas Turkey Chili Challenge. Why they’d ever

agreed to cover that debacle was still a mystery. The feature on the man

who grew a Texas Chili empire one local street fair at a time hadn’t been

one of Spotlight’s best, but it was certainly one of the hottest.

“What are you doing?” Ben got out of the cab and followed Savanna

around to where her luggage was stored in a narrow cargo compartment.

With lightning efficiency she retrieved a cosmetic case from her overnight

bag and whipped out a bottle of Coppertone. A second later she was

slathering sweet-smelling sunblock on her arms and face. When she bent

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over to rub the lotion on her legs, he raised one eyebrow and pulled at

the suddenly tight collar of his T-shirt.

The slit in the back of her slim denim skirt was probably only two

inches long, but it was just enough to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of

creamy inner thigh. God, how much hotter could it get?

Ben almost dropped the slippery plastic bottle of sunscreen when she

handed it to him. “Do yourself,” she told him in a tone that left no room

for argument.

The command certainly opened up a world of possibilities. “Huh? Oh,

I don’t need this stuff. I’m Italian. We don’t burn.”

Her delicate brows knit together and she shook one French-

manicured finger at him. “Benjamin Lantano, I don’t care how tan you

are, put some sunscreen on. If you don’t, you’ll end up looking like a

lobster.”

Next thing he knew, she had poured a puddle of milky lotion into her

palm. When she slapped it on his bare forearm and started rubbing, he

was certain his blood would boil.

He should have taken over from her, but it just felt too damn good

having her rub the coconut-scented stuff into his skin. He watched her

as she poured more of the sunscreen into her palm, then reached up

with one finger to dab at his nose and ears.

“Turn around. I’ll get the back of your neck.”

For some reason, having her order him around was a huge turn-on.

When her fingers skimmed over the hot skin above his collar, he had to

brace himself against Delilah’s tailgate.

“Here. Now do me,” Savanna said and shoved the bottle back into his

hands.

Oh yes. There was a command he certainly wanted to follow. When

he turned around, he found she’d swept the hair off her neck and had it

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piled in a curly mass atop her head. She secured it with an elastic band

while Ben worked lotion into the smooth skin of her nape.

He hoped she didn’t hear the feral hum coming from the back of his

throat as he pushed the sweat-damp collar of her blouse aside to apply

some lotion where she obviously didn’t need any.

“All right. That should be fine for now,” she said after a moment. She

snatched the bottle back from him and stuffed it into her purse. “Lead

the way. Oh…what about your equipment?”

Yes, my equipment needs some slathering, too… “What?”

“Your cameras?”

Tucked into the cargo space behind Delilah’s driver’s seat, zipped into

dark thermal bags, his four cameras and his film supply were as safe as

they could be. They’d weigh him down and make the trek to the gas

station even more difficult if he took them along. Plus, they were insured

by the magazine.

“They’ll be fine. Besides Roadside, who’s going to come along?”

Satisfied with his reasoning, Savanna jotted a quick note which they

left under the driver’s side windshield wiper blade. Then they started off

toward the only visible landmark, a striated mini-mesa that hopefully hid

a fully stocked, air-conditioned gas station/convenience store from their

view.

“How come it doesn’t look any closer?” Savanna stopped dead center

in the middle of the highway in the blank space between one painted

white dash and the next and put her balled fists on her hips.

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Jennifer Colgan

Three strides ahead of her, Ben stopped walking. He turned around,

arms wide, his expression sarcastic. “Because it’s a big rock. It’s a trick

of perspective.”

“Trick of perspective, my ass. We’ve been walking for…” She glanced

at her watch. “Fifteen minutes? How can it only be fifteen minutes?”

“We’ve been walking more than fifteen minutes.” Ben checked his

own watch, blinked some sweat out of his eyes, and checked again. “I’ve

got twelve-fifteen.”

“Me, too.”

“My watch stopped.”

“Mine, too.” Savanna twirled around and took a long look down the

very empty highway behind them. Delilah was just a dark spot at the

side of the road, shimmering in the waves of heat rising off the blacktop.

When she turned back, Ben was next to her. He lifted her wrist and

checked his own watch against hers.

“The second hands on both watches stopped in the same spot,” he

said.

“That’s impossible.”

“Twelve-fifteen and twenty seconds, exactly.”

“That’s when my phone went dead.” A cold tingle swept up Savanna’s

spine and raced back down. She might have been grateful for the sudden

internal chill, but the weight of Ben’s hand on her shoulder ratcheted the

mercury back up to sweltering barely a second later.

“It’s nothing. Just a coincidence.”

“Right.” She gave him a skeptical look. “I’m a journalist. There are no

coincidences.”

“Come on, let’s keep walking.” He tugged her towards him and

reluctantly she forced her tired feet to move. In the distance, the sun

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glinted off something and the sound of a revving motor reached them on

the dead air.

“Is that a car?” Ben shielded his eyes and squinted at the bright

glimmer racing toward them.

Savanna did a victory hop. “It’s Roadside! Three hours, what a crock.”

She applauded as the silhouette of a small car grew larger on the

shimmering horizon. After a second, her grin faded when the

approaching vehicle picked up speed, its engine rumbling low enough

that she could feel it in her belly. It hurtled right toward them, bearing

down fast and straddling the median line on which they stood.

“What the hell?” Savanna only had time to register that the low-slung

silver Camaro had all-around privacy glass and mag wheels. It had to be

doing ninety.

The next thing she knew, she lay beneath Ben on the blistering

macadam. He’d pushed her out of the way barely a second before the

speed demon sailed over the spot on which they’d been standing.

The revved-up engine roared into the distance while the two lay

panting in each other’s arms.

“Are you all right?” Ben’s concerned face obscured the scorching sun

for a moment and the worry in his eyes made Savanna’s stomach

somersault a little. They lay pelvis to pelvis, one of his legs interposed

between hers. One of his hands rested just above her left breast and his

other cupped the back of her head. If the backs of her legs hadn’t been

on fire from contact with the sizzling road surface, she’d have gladly

stayed in this position forever.

“I think I’m okay. You?” She wondered if he could feel her heart

ramming itself against her rib cage. She could certainly feel his, not to

mention the pressure of a very solid ridge in the area of his button fly.

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Jennifer Colgan

“I’m good. Did you happen to get the license number?” He grinned as

he rolled off her.

“I don’t think there was one.” Savanna hid her frown as he pulled her

to her feet.

“Maybe we should walk along the side of the road, rather than down

the middle.”

“Do you think that would have made a difference to that maniac? He

was out for blood.”

“And he got some, too.” Ben showed her his elbow, rubbed raw and

oozing where it had connected with the blacktop.

“Ooh.” She sucked in a sympathetic breath. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged and shook it off. “I’ve had worse. Are you sure you’re all

right?”

She managed a shaky smile. “Well, my butt hurts, but I’ll live.”

When Ben took her hand and laced his fingers through hers,

Savanna caught her breath. The protective gesture made her heart race

just a little faster, as if that were possible. Nevertheless, she reminded

herself, it was only a gesture. Ben was a gentleman, after all. It was one

of the things she liked about him, most of the time. Even when he

managed to infuriate her, he always treated her with respect and

professional courtesy. Savanna knew she was safe with him, and for

once, that thought brought her absolutely no comfort.

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La Mirage

Chapter Two

When they reached the shadow of the rock outcropping, Ben would

have whooped for joy if he’d had the energy. At least there was some

relief from the sun here. The jagged sandstone stretched above them,

forming a triangle of blessed shade that just touched the edge of the hot

pavement.

Behind him, Savanna leaned against the cool underside of the rock

and rubbed her calf muscles. From this angle, Ben could see down her

shirt. He licked his lips and forced himself to look away. Dan and Claire,

he repeated the mantra of doomed relationships. Look what happened to

Dan and Claire.

“What time do you think it is?” she asked between panting breaths.

Ben checked the sky. “It can’t be much later than one-thirty.”

“I could sleep for a week.”

“Come on, let’s not get too comfortable.” He held out his hand and

she rewarded him with a scathing look.

“I just sat down.”

“And if you sit too long, you won’t be able to get back up.”

“The muscles in my legs are pinging.”

“Pinging?”

“Yeah, you know, like little sparks of pain at the backs of my knees.”

Ben couldn’t help himself. He glanced at her knees. He would have

been happy to investigate those little sparks, but right now the need for

something to drink outweighed all other desires.

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“Come on, let’s just look around the other side of the rock. When you

see the gas station, you won’t want to waste your time sitting here.”

“Ugh.” She stuck her tongue out at him as he pulled her to her feet.

“Slave driver.”

“I can be. Now get moving before we both die of thirst.” Despite

himself, he gave her a quick smack on the rear when she walked past

him. The jaunty look she shot him would have been invitation enough to

start something if they’d been anywhere else.

God, it would be so easy to pull her into his arms and… Dan and

Claire. Dan and Claire. Ben rubbed his eyes with one hand and when he

looked up, Savanna was gone. She’d rounded the rock, leaving its

sheltering shade, and disappeared beyond the jagged point that still

blocked their view of the coveted mecca of the local Pump ‘n’ Pantry.

He jogged around to meet her and almost knocked her over.

“Do you see that?” she asked. Her voice had gone husky, whether

from thirst or unbridled lust, he couldn’t tell.

“I see it, but I don’t believe it. It’s not on the map.” Nestled

inconspicuously in a box canyon with a steep wall of rock rising behind it

sat a collection of low, Spanish-style buildings. This was no gas station,

but next to Savanna it was certainly the most inviting sight Ben had seen

all day.

Savanna grabbed his hand and dragged him forward down the sandy

slope that canted off from the base of the big rock. “You were right. I

don’t want to waste my time sitting under a rock when this is here. Let’s

go!”

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The resort’s stuccoed walls were the color of peach sherbet. A dozen

small fountains lined the sloping driveway that led to the main entrance

which was covered by a sweeping portico of sculpted desert stone.

An elegant marquee bore the very appropriate moniker, La Mirage.

Savanna wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh in sheer amazement at

their good fortune or cry with relief. The burbling of the blue water in the

fountains made her instantly cooler and the thought of setting foot into

what most assuredly would be an air-conditioned lobby practically gave

her goose bumps of anticipation.

She yanked on Ben’s arm to get him to hurry up. The sight of the

place seemed to have stunned him into lethargy. When she looked back,

he was frowning at the gorgeous tableau.

“What’s the matter? This is way better than a gas station.”

“Yeah. True. But it’s not on the map from the auto club, and we never

saw any signs for the place today or yesterday. Hotels on desolate

stretches of highway usually advertise for miles in every direction.”

“Gift horse,” Savanna reminded him. “Mouth. Don’t look. Obviously

the place is brand new. Look at the driveway. There’s not even a tire

mark on it. And look! There isn’t even a single penny in any of the

fountains.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little weird? People will throw coins into any

standing body of water, it’s…irresistible.”

“Like I said, the place is new. Come on, I’ve got to get inside before I

pass out.” Savanna practically had to get behind Ben and push him

through the lobby doors.

When the first blast of cool air hit her burning cheeks, she sighed in

ecstasy. “This is heaven! Hea-ven!”

“There’s nobody here.”

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Jennifer Colgan

She rolled her eyes at Ben. Why was he being so difficult? “No cars in

the parking lot. What part of new don’t you understand?” She shrugged

and left him standing near the door. She resisted the urge to pull off her

shoes and rest her weary feet on the cool marble tiles. Maybe later. Right

now, she needed to get herself a room with a courtesy bar full of ice-cold

drinks. She strolled over to the front desk and placed her hands on the

surface of the spotless countertop. Between the artfully arranged potted

plants and crystal bowls of potpourri, there wasn’t so much as a

fingerprint marring the polished marble.

A petite Asian woman appeared instantly, drifting in through an open

door behind the desk. “May I help you?” Her voice was melodic and

friendly and her smile lit up her pretty face. Her gold-embossed name tag

bore the words, Mae Lin.

“Our car broke down about a mile down the road and our cell phones

don’t seem to be working. Could we use a telephone to check with

Roadside Assistance and maybe get something cold to drink?”

“Our phones aren’t completely installed yet,” Mae Lin replied with an

apologetic lilt in her faintly accented voice. “But we do have a mechanic

on hand. I can send him to take a look at your car.”

“Oh, thank you! I’m sure Roadside will be showing up soon…but

maybe we could get a couple of bottles of water…?”

“Nonsense.” Mae Lin’s smile brightened even more when Ben joined

Savanna at the counter. Savanna noticed his gaze skim over the

beautiful young woman but didn’t linger. For some reason his lack of

interest in the pretty concierge buoyed her spirits. “Here’s the key to

room 107,” she said, handing a magnetic card across the counter. “It

overlooks the pool. You can freshen up there. And I’ll have room service

bring you some refreshments while Jack—that’s our mechanic—takes a

look at your car.”

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“We’re not checking in,” Ben put in hastily. “We just need—”

“Oh, there’s no charge, sir. We’re not actually open yet, so you can be

our test subjects, so to speak. You can let us know what you think of the

place.”

“We couldn’t possibly…” Savanna’s protest was half-hearted at best.

A room and a pool for free? Who could turn that down? She elbowed Ben

and he grunted. “We couldn’t, really.” Could they? It would be so nice to

relax in the gorgeous place, just for a little while.

“Nonsense.” Mae Lin pushed the keycard into Savanna’s hand.

“Room 107. Refreshments will be coming right up.” She shooed them

away from the counter and they shared a curious glance.

“Gift horse,” Savanna warned when Ben opened his mouth to

comment. He leaned close to her then, and another chill of anticipation

raced down her spine when his warm breath caressed her earlobe.

“Don’t you think all this is just a little weird?”

“No. Weird is what happened to Francine Costanza at the office

Christmas party last year. You know, when she told everyone she was

channeling Elvis, and she used his actual voice. That was weird.”

“That was nine vodka tonics on an empty stomach. If we’d all had

that much to drink, she’d have looked like Elvis, too.”

Savanna giggled. She realized the cool air, the comfortable

atmosphere and the relief at being out of the sweltering sun had made

her a bit giddy. With a silent prayer in honor of Francine, she hoped she

wouldn’t lose control altogether and start acting weird around Ben. As it

was, she could still remember the exact placement of his hands when

they’d been lying together on the ground in the wake of the speeding

Camaro.

Maybe sharing a hotel room with him, even just for a few hours while

they waited for Delilah to be fixed, was a bad, bad idea.

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Chapter Three

Room 107 had one bed. One very large, opulent, round bed set in an

alcove surrounded at the top by a semicircular mirrored wall.

The rest of the room was ice-white and spotlessly clean. Cool blue

accents added just enough color to give the place an elegant panache.

Ben studied his reflection in the round mirror above the bureau while

Savanna washed up in the adjacent bathroom. The Jacuzzi tub could

have fit eight people comfortably and there were no less than twelve

water jets positioned at various levels in the shower stall to provide all

manner of bathing experiences.

Savanna had called it heaven. She was right. When she appeared in

the reflection behind him, he smiled at her. She’d wet her hair and

brushed it back from her face, scrubbed off her makeup and re-applied a

fresh coat of salmon-colored gloss to her luscious lips. She held a half-

empty bottle of mountain spring water, which she offered to him. “This is

the best water I’ve ever tasted.”

It wasn’t curiosity about the water that had him accepting the bottle

from her, but the desire perhaps to put his lips where hers had been a

moment ago. The icy liquid rolled down his throat in one smooth

swallow, carrying with it a refreshing chill that calmed his fevered blood.

He drained the bottle. “You’re right. This stuff is great.”

“There’s more in the minibar along with a little bottle of champagne.”

Just what they needed. Champagne. Ben set the empty bottle down

and crossed the room to where heavy drapes obscured sliding glass

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doors. He pulled them open to reveal the breathtaking poolside vista Mae

Lin had promised them.

Natural stone waterfalls cascaded into a sparkling oval pool

surrounded by lounge chairs and umbrella-shaded tables. Bamboo tiki

torches lined the perimeter of the pool area and a thatch-covered bar

dominated a cozy grove of dwarf palm trees. There wasn’t a soul in sight.

“Oh. I’d love to go for a swim.” Savanna joined Ben at the door and he

gave her a wry grin.

“I’m all for skinny-dipping. Think the management will mind?”

“They said we’re the only ones here.” She shrugged and there was

mischief in her eyes that arrowed right to his gut. An uncomfortable

pressure had begun to build again beneath his zipper. While a full body

dip in cold water would probably do him some good, he knew he’d be in

hot water if Savanna stripped off her clothes anywhere near him.

He chanced a quick look in her direction and saw the question in her

eyes. What the hell are we waiting for?

Life’s too short not to take chances, his grandfather had always told

him. And this was certainly one of those opportunities that only came

around once.

Savanna smirked at him and her trembling hands went to the

buttons of her blouse. If one more inch of that sexy blue lace bra was

revealed, Ben was a goner. He’d lose control for sure.

Before she got to the second button, a quiet but insistent knock on

the door of their suite broke the moment and backed the mercury down

from dangerous heights. Would it be rude to suggest that their

benefactors not disturb them while they enjoyed the free

accommodations?

He shook off the naughty thoughts and left her standing by the patio

door. “I’ll get it.”

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Savanna took an unsteady breath as Ben crossed the room to answer

the door. What had come over her? She’d never denied to herself that she

found Ben Lantano incredibly attractive. With his dark hair, blue eyes,

slim hips and sculpted biceps, he was the perfect balance of rugged

outdoorsman and smooth sophistication. He looked equally good in jeans

and a T-shirt or a tuxedo, and she’d seen him in both. Now all she could

think of was seeing him in nothing but cool, chlorinated water.

Her carefully maintained professional detachment had been

crumbling since the moment she’d looked up at him from flat on her

back in the middle of the road. The feel of his strong thighs pressed

against hers and the concern in his eyes had turned her on like nothing

ever before. Now she found herself thinking about what she’d need to do

to lure him into her arms.

Ben was a great guy, a great friend, a wonderful photographer and

the best coworker she could ask for, when he wasn’t making her slightly

insane. How could she be so selfish, and so horny, as to want to screw

that up in favor of a quick roll in the sack? She glanced at the bed. And a

nice sack it was, too.

Her gaze tracked farther around the room to the door where Ben was

leaning against the open frame, laughing while Mae Lin smiled up at him

like a love-struck puppy.

Visible in the corridor beyond, a linen-covered rolling cart held a trio

of silver-domed dish covers and a bottle of champagne nestled in a

bucket of ice. The spring water from the minibar had seemed more than

adequate refreshment a moment ago, but the need to investigate the

contents of the cart and to put herself between Ben and the concierge

overwhelmed Savanna’s better judgment.

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In four determined strides, she crossed the room, hoping her eyes

didn’t bore too much of a hole in Mae Lin’s lovely forehead. “What’s up?”

“Their mechanic towed Delilah back here.” Ben sounded as though

nothing in the world could have made him happier. “Apparently one of

the hoses is leaking. He can pick up a part and have it repaired by

tomorrow morning.”

Mae Lin’s smile was beatific.

“You’ve really been very kind, but we don’t want to put you out…”

“It’s our pleasure.” Mae Lin put her delicate hand on Ben’s arm and

the gesture caused an unwelcome surge of jealousy in Savanna. It

bothered her to feel so possessive. After all, she had no claim on

him…yet.

“Since Delilah is here,” Ben said, “I’m going to go get our stuff.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Why don’t you stay here and relax? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Ben was already out in the hallway, and after wheeling the cart into the

room, he followed Mae Lin, who seemed to sway provocatively in her

three-inch canvas mules. Why would a hotel with no guests need a

concierge? Savanna wondered. Maybe the whole thing was a little weird,

but not enough to make her want to leave the gorgeous suite and trek

back out into the relentless desert heat.

After they’d gone, Savanna closed the door and leaned against the

cool wall. “What’s wrong with me? Get a grip. I’m not going to seduce

Ben. I’m not. Not. Not.” But hell, I’d like to.

She forced herself to concentrate. Maybe something to eat would take

her mind off her desires. Cautiously, she lifted each of the silver domes.

Her jaw dropped and her skin began to tingle in anticipation. Along with

the expensive champagne, Mae Lin’s idea of refreshments included

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mounds of ripe red strawberries with snowy mountains of whipped

cream and a crystal bowl of deep, dark chocolate dipping sauce.

Bunches of juicy, purple grapes, perfect for peeling and feeding to a

lover one by one, filled another of the covered dishes and the last of the

three contained what appeared to be small flagons of honey, a sweet red

syrup that smelled like raspberries and a bowl of multicolored sugar

crystals.

Savanna snagged a grape and popped it into her mouth while her

mind ran through a number of wild scenarios. Obviously Mae Lin had

the wrong idea about her and Ben…though it wasn’t necessarily a bad

idea.

Chocolate. Honey. Champagne. There were so many things she could

think of to do with those items…

“Stop.” Savanna had to get a grip before she did something she might

regret later on. Determined to find a way to cool herself off, she looked

across the room and out at the dark water of the pool. Maybe skinny

dipping was out of the question but it wouldn’t hurt to dip her feet in and

get some fresh air to clear her head before Ben returned.

Ben was dripping with sweat again by the time he got back to the

room with their overnight bags and his camera cases. Mae Lin had

introduced him to the mechanic who told him the specifics of Delilah’s

problem and politely refused any kind of compensation for his trouble.

Perhaps their exaggerated kindness was a publicity ploy. Word of mouth

could be the most potent form of advertising for a new business, after all,

and so far, Ben had to admit, he’d have recommended La Mirage to

anyone.

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In fact, he’d already considered talking to Dan about a photo spread

for Spotlight’s travel section. A place like this would certainly spell huge

profits for its owners and maybe a little healthy competition for Jackson

Deveraux’s exotic getaway in Black Rock.

As soon as he made his way through the door of Room 107 with all

the bags, all thoughts of business fled. Savanna sat by the pool. She was

leaning back, hands behind her on the shale tiles of the landscaped

patio. Her shoes sat beside her and she scissored her legs back and forth

in the dark blue water.

Damn. She looked magnificent. All lush curves, wavy curls and

porcelain skin. She looked like a 1940s pinup girl from the wartime

calendars his grandfather always hung up in the garage.

With a low wolf whistle that he hoped she couldn’t hear, he placed

the bags at the foot of the bed and hurriedly removed his digital camera

from its pack. He’d tell her about it later, but right now, he wanted that

shot because she was so beautiful, he had to have her on film.

From just within the doorway, he snapped half a dozen quick

pictures, including one in a soft focus that made her look like something

out of a dream. Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind that he’d taken the candid

shots. He already had a place picked out on his office wall to hang the

best of them.

Silently, he replaced the camera in its case and joined her outside.

The heat hit him like a wall after those few minutes in the air-

conditioned suite.

“How’s the water?” He crouched down beside her and trailed his

fingers in the pool, then scooped up a palm full of water and slapped it

on the back of his neck.

“Beautiful.” Her voice sounded dreamy. She glanced up at him

through her thick lashes. “How’s Delilah?”

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“She’ll be fine. I feel kind of bad. They won’t let me pay for anything.”

“We probably couldn’t afford it anyway. Imagine what a night in a

place like this goes for.” Savanna grinned and climbed to her feet. “I’m

going to be bad. Since no one’s around, I’m going swimming. What about

you?”

Ben coughed. The skinny-dipping battle had raged on while he’d been

engaged in retrieving their bags. Visions of Savanna’s naked body

stretched out across the water, arms and legs reaching, skin glistening,

had battled with his professional decorum and won. Now, he sat in

Savanna’s slim shadow, drooling while she peeled off her blouse and

skirt to reveal the delicious powder blue panties that matched her bra.

Good Lord, he couldn’t look away. His gaze traveled up from her

ankles to her bellybutton, pausing briefly on the delicious, heart-shaped

birthmark above her right knee.

“Come on,” she said with a wink that went straight to his burgeoning

hard-on.

“What the hell.” He stripped off his shirt and she dove in, slicing the

water in a perfect, splash-less dive. Wicked thoughts assailed him while

he watched her glide beneath the glassy surface of the water from one

side of the pool to the other.

The first rumble of thunder stopped him at the top button of his

jeans. The ominous sound traveled up through the soles of his shoes and

drew his attention over to the dark silhouette of the rock that blocked La

Mirage from the highway.

The clouds gathered there were the thickest, blackest thunderheads

Ben had ever seen. The son of a salesman, he’d lived in every part of the

U.S. and he’d seen storms come up out of nowhere and disappear just as

fast. While he watched, the shadow of the thunderheads crept toward the

pool, and a flash of blue lightning cleaved toward the distant horizon.

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When Savanna’s sleek form broke the surface at the far side of the

pool, he pointed to the sky. “You’d better get out of there.”

Her smile turned to an alluring little pout, but she dutifully hoisted

herself out of the water. Fat raindrops splattered a trail behind her as

she ran across the patio, bra and panties transparent now and clinging

suggestively to every curve.

Ben’s mouth went bone dry.

He didn’t breathe at all until the next lightning bolt illuminated the

darkening sky. The accompanying thunder shook the ground. Savanna’s

damp body slid past him through the patio door before the third flash

and rumble, and a sheet of silver rain swept across the pool area thick as

liquid mercury in her wake.

“Holy cow, it’s cold in here!”

Gooseflesh rose all over her shivering body the moment the air

conditioning hit her. She crossed her arms over her chest and jumped up

and down as she peered out at the sudden deluge. When lightning arced

across the sky a fourth time, the accompanying thunder sounded like the

splintering of dry wood. With a squeak, Savanna jumped back, away

from the open door and right into Ben’s arms.

He never would have figured holding her wet, trembling body in his

arms would turn him on so fast. She clung to him, her nipples rubbing

against his bare chest through the sodden, see-through fabric of her bra.

“You’re not afraid of a little lightning, are you?” He looked down at her,

perversely hoping her answer would be yes. He liked having her cling to

him, her hips pressed against his. Holding her all night while the storm

raged didn’t sound like a bad way to spend an evening at all.

“Me? No, I’m not—”

Another crack of thunder made her jump again. He pulled her tight

against him, reveling in her rising heat. “I don’t like loud noises.

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Jennifer Colgan

Thunder, cars backfiring, starter pistols…” She laughed self-consciously,

but there was apprehension in her eyes when she looked up at him. It

obviously bothered her to admit her weakness.

“You’re safe,” he said, lowering his face toward her as a tide of feeling

welled up in him. He could protect her. He wanted nothing more than to

keep her safe and warm in his capable arms. In fact, he wanted to love

her until she wasn’t afraid of anything.

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Chapter Four

Ben’s lips came down on Savanna’s at the same moment a peal of

thunder rattled the glass in the sliding door. The room lit electric blue for

an instant and her body shuddered with fear and the hot, erotic

sensation of surrender.

He held her still in his strong grip, enveloping her in the heat of his

body and his masculine scent. Against her still-damp skin, his felt like

fire. She curled her arms around his neck and opened her lips, inviting

him inside to explore. He tasted cool and hot at the same time and she

moaned into him when he reached down to cup the wet silk that covered

her bottom.

Without thinking, she pressed against him, urging him toward the

bed. Was the shiver in her limbs from the air-conditioned chill or from

the anticipation of having him lie down beside her?

She wasn’t sure her body even registered the ambient temperature

anymore. The only sensation was the raw ache of her nipples crushed

against his hard chest and the heat radiating from all points below the

waistband of her thin panties.

“Get these wet things off.” Ben’s voice had a husky edge to it she’d

never heard before. If he’d sounded like that all the time, she’d probably

have thrown him down on her desk and had him right there in the

Spotlight office.

The office. Why was she thinking about the office in the middle of all

this? She broke their first searing kiss and stared up at him. His eyes

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were hooded, dilated to almost black. She tasted him on her lips and

every nerve ending in her body screamed for his touch. “Ben.”

“Do you want to do this, Savanna? If not, we’d better stop now

because—”

She put a finger across his lips and planted her bare feet on either

side of his. “Shh. Ben. I want you. God, I want you.”

He didn’t need any more convincing. He slid his hands under the

straps of her bra and pushed them off her shoulders. Then he kissed the

faint white lines where they’d been, trailing his lips down as she drew the

satin cups from her breasts. She went limp and liquid in his arms when

he pulled one nipple into his mouth and rolled the hard tip against his

tongue. Her whole body surged forward while he suckled her, as if she

wanted to climb inside him.

Savanna tossed the bra aside and guided Ben’s hands down to her

waist. He slid the powder blue panties down her thighs and stopped to

kiss the spot where the lace had rested beneath her navel. She moaned

and thrust her hips forward. Her skin tasted cool and clean, and she

smelled like summer and hot sin. Just as he’d always imagined.

He couldn’t wait any longer to push her down on the bed. She

reached for him while he finished unbuttoning his jeans and slid them

off, followed by the old blue boxers he wished he hadn’t worn. Should’ve

gone with the briefs today, he admonished himself, but Savanna didn’t

seem to mind.

She laid back, her hair in dark disarray around her bare shoulders,

her legs spread, breasts rising with each shallow breath. Another bolt of

lightning lit the room as he stretched out beside her, followed by thunder

that sounded like bombs exploding overhead. Savanna gasped and Ben

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wrapped his arms around her, quieting her with a kiss that woke a long-

ignored desire in him.

“It’s okay.” He brushed her damp hair back and kissed drops of water

from her skin. “You’re safe with me.”

Safe. Safe…ah crap. He kissed her deeply, drinking in her need and

stoking his own lust, then he pulled back. “Hold on a second.”

He kept condoms in his big camera case. Not because he needed

them that often, but because he didn’t want to be without one at a time

like this. He jumped off the bed and fished out a foil packet in record

time.

Savanna grinned at him. “Do you know how hot you are? Come

here.” She took the packet from him and set it on the nightstand. “We’ve

got a long way to go before we get to that.”

“Oh? Oh.” Ben followed her back down to the bed and sighed when

she rolled her luscious body on top of his. Heaven, she’d said. That was

no lie.

Straddling him, Savanna rose above him and dropped her hands to

his chest. She teased him with long kisses and gentle caresses as he

arched beneath her. Sinuous and graceful, she stretched her body over

his chest, nipping with her teeth, licking lazy circles around his nipples

and tracing lines of lustful fire along his abs with her skillful fingers.

Finally, when he was near the breaking point, she arched her back

and gave him a wicked smile. “I’m hungry.”

“What? Now?” How could she be thinking about food at a time like

this?

When she tilted her head toward the catering cart Mae Lin had

brought for them, he began to understand. Sitting forgotten on the far

side of the room, across from the door, its polished domes glinted blue in

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the strange electric bursts of lightning. What wicked delights could be

hidden underneath?

“Stay right there.” Her command made him shiver with anticipation.

He couldn’t imagine what she had in mind. What could be sexier than

having her writhing above him like some silvery sex goddess?

Moving quickly, but with sensual grace, Savanna retrieved something

from the cart. She returned to the bed with a bowl of frothy white waves

in one hand and a carafe of golden liquid in the other.

“Whipped cream or honey?” she asked, her voice silky and just as

sweet as either of the choices she’d given him.

“Uh…” His mind blanked and he made an incoherent noise.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She placed the whipped cream on the

nightstand and scooped up one of the stiff, white peaks. She then

proceeded to brush the cool confection across his lips.

Ben licked the sweet froth and swallowed. Heaven, Savanna had said.

Well, heaven was a few doors down and to the left of this place. None of

his fantasies had even come close to the reality of having Savanna

Blaine.

“I want more,” he said, reaching for her. The night would not end

without him licking sweet cream from her nipples or the enticing slit of

her taut navel. His cock pulsed at the thought.

“Be patient,” she admonished, adding a saucy tilt of her hips when

she climbed astride him again. “The whipped cream is all for you to play

with, but the honey is mine.”

With that she tipped the flagon of amber liquid and a thick, golden

drop of its contents stretched lazily down, landing in the center of his

chest. With one finger Savanna spread the sticky sweetness over his

skin, then bent her head and touched her tongue to the now warm spot

above his heart.

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The vision of her bent over him, head down, her tongue working

against his skin, almost set him off. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d

burst.

But she had further plans for him, apparently, that didn’t include

him getting his way in the near future.

Something primal had taken over Savanna the moment Ben had

kissed her. The world outside Room 107 seemed to fade away, leaving

her suspended in the middle of every sexy fantasy she’d every

entertained about him.

His hard body, spread beneath her on the bed, was more muscular

than she’d imagined. His erection was longer and thicker than she’d

dreamed on those occasions she’d guiltily indulged in games of “What if”

with herself.

Fixed in his dark blue gaze as she rose over him, she felt like a dream

herself, a wispy phantom, entirely free of all earthly constraints. Here, in

this moment, she could do whatever she wanted and indulge her every

wicked desire.

Ben gasped when Savanna exerted a gentle pressure with her thighs

against his hips, as if holding him in place for her sinful games.

Dedicated to her task, she delighted in each movement of his body while

she worked her tongue across his skin. The rich, sweet taste of the honey

mixed with the tang of salt and a flavor that was his alone.

When she finished licking the honey from the smooth skin of his

chest, she lifted her head and matched his feral stare.

Her gaze flicked to the condom lying on the nightstand next to the

bowl of whipped cream. She wanted him hard and fast, but if she took

him in too soon, the fantasy might end. How could she make this illusion

of being completely alone in the universe last all night?

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Biting her bottom lip, she moved down his body until she straddled

his legs. Her clit ached for contact with his cock, but there would be

plenty of time for that later. She couldn’t let the honey go to waste.

She tipped another heavy drop onto the head of his erection and

delighted in the way his eyes went wide. His gorgeous lips opened just a

bit and he licked the lower one in anticipation as she swirled the sticky

substance over his glans, then worked it down his rigid shaft.

What would he do when she took him in her mouth? She couldn’t

wait to find out.

Ben’s entire body shuddered with sensation when Savanna lowered

her lips to his cock. She flicked her tongue over the tip which glistened

with a combination of thick honey and precome, and began a gentle

massage of his aching balls with her hand.

Good Lord, he’d never last if she kept this up. At this point, he wasn’t

sure he wanted to. If he let himself go, let himself come now, the second

time around would last longer and be that much sweeter.

“Ah…Savanna—”

“I know.” She glanced up, a lock of her still-damp hair obscuring one

eye. “I can feel it. You’re so close.”

Close was too mild a word. While she licked honey from his shaft and

squeezed his balls, his orgasm gathered. He fisted his hands in the cool,

crisp sheets and held on as long as he could, but when she lowered her

lips over him again and laved him with her hot tongue, he had no choice

but to give in to every erotic sensation.

He erupted with a force that rivaled that of the storm outside. With

her sensuous lips clamped around him, Savanna still managed a wicked

grin before she drank him in. Ben thought he’d burst from the pleasure

of it. More than the glorious slide of her mouth along his pulsing cock,

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more than the sweet release, he reveled in the knowledge that it was

Savanna doing this to him.

With the salty/sweet mix of flavors still on her lips, Savanna sat up

and leaned forward across Ben’s body. The look in his eyes made her clit

throb for him, but she was willing to wait a bit for her own release.

“Would you like your cream now?” she asked as she climbed him. “What

would you like to taste first?”

“You.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over, pulling

her beneath him. She accepted his kiss, drawing his tongue into her

mouth for a battle that left them both breathless.

“My God! That was phenomenal.” He panted the words between

kisses planted on her throat and breasts.

“Mmm.” She nodded. “Do you still want more?”

He laughed and reached for the whipped cream. “I haven’t even

begun to want yet.”

She writhed under him while he dipped his fingers into the sweet

white waves.

Ever the artist, he painted on her, swirling white circles around her

breasts and dotting pointed peaks on her nipples. He formed an arrow

down her belly and dropped a dollop into her navel. By the time he’d

finished decorating her, her body hummed with pent-up need.

“I’m starving,” he told her as he set the nearly empty bowl aside. “And

you’re dessert.”

Her giggle ended in a gasp when he grasped her hips and lowered his

mouth to her skin.

Ben’s cock went hard again almost instantly when he began licking

the cream from Savanna’s body. Her nipples peaked beneath his

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onslaught and the muscles of her belly bunched when he alternated

long, sensual strokes of his tongue with quick nips of his teeth.

He wanted to devour her.

How long had he fantasized about this? Since the day they’d covered

their first assignment, probably. Ben didn’t remember the story, but he

remembered how he felt when she’d first turned her smoldering gaze on

him. Every moment since then had been torture trying to keep their

relationship professional.

Now he had her where he’d always wanted her and he wasn’t about

to let her go until they’d concluded every last bit of business he could

think of.

When he’d stripped her completely of whipped cream, and she lay

panting, her taut body shivering with desire, he reached for the condom

and tore open the packet. Her expression was pure sin as she watched

him roll the latex over his erection.

“Do you want to be on top or bottom?” she asked, licking her lips for

emphasis.

“Oh…” Ben’s mind leapt from one wicked image to another. “Top.” A

voice in his head told him he wanted her under him, like when he’d

pushed her out of the way of the speeding car. He’d looked down at her

cradled beneath him, and thought how she belonged in his arms,

protected and possessed by him.

With a dark grin, he rose over her. She wrapped her legs around him

and gazed up into his eyes with such complete trust that his heart

skipped a beat. He kissed her again and gathered her beneath him.

Savanna threw her head back and drew in a trembling breath as Ben

slid into her. God it felt so good. He filled her perfectly, just as she’d

imagined he would. The claiming was deep and commanding, as if he

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La Mirage

were taking what he already knew was his, and she loved it. With his

strong arms around her, his breath warming her, he found a rhythm that

sent her over the edge of reason. She’d dreamed of this, fantasized what

it would be like to take him in, draw him up into her body and let herself

go. “God, Ben… I’ve wanted you…” It felt right to finally admit it. Despite

the fear of ruining a nearly perfect working relationship, despite the ever-

present fear of getting hurt, she wanted him over and over again. Even if

their fantasy only lasted one night, it would be worth whatever came

after.

He held her tight and kissed her hard. While his hands roamed,

caressed and possessed, he pumped his hips in an increasing rhythm

that had her frenzied for more. When she thought she couldn’t last

another moment, his body went rigid. Savanna tensed. On the brink of

the precipice from his whipped cream adventures, even the slightest

breath might send her spiraling into oblivion. Any movement would have

done it, but it was the look in his eyes, feral, piercing, that set off her

climax.

The electric pulse washed over her in molten waves and she gasped

his name, arching to meet his final thrust. Together they trembled.

Rain continued to sweep across the pool area in blinding sheets for

hours afterward, but thankfully the thunder and lightning died off just

about the time Ben and Savanna rolled out of bed.

They stood together by the sliding door, wrapped in each other and

layered in sex-warmed sheets, admiring the beauty of the storm.

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Jennifer Colgan

Ben nuzzled her neck, causing a tingle that shot straight from her

nape to her womb. When he moved his lips to the soft spot beneath her

ear, she moaned and turned in his arms.

She captured his lips and wound her legs around his. “Have you got

another condom?”

He laughed and nodded. “A few.”

“Good. I’d hate to run out.” She slipped out of the sheet and arched

her body against him. “Wanna try out the Jacuzzi next?”

“Do you have to ask?”

After their hike in the sweltering sun, Savanna would never have

imagined she’d enjoy the feel of hot water sliding over her body, but when

she lowered herself into the steaming Jacuzzi and twined her arms

around Ben’s neck, every possible care she might have had melted

instantly away.

Her muscles relaxed and her rapid breathing slowed. She closed her

eyes and allowed herself to float on the dual sensation of bubbles tickling

the undersides of her thighs and Ben’s strong fingers massaging her

lower back and bottom.

Despite the soothing heat, her nipples hardened again when Ben

flicked his thumbs over the tips. She ran her fingers through his damp

hair as he bent to suckle first one, then the other.

Even with the soft churning of the water lulling her, she responded to

his demanding touch until she seemed to float in a place between waking

action and dreamy desire. Without conscious thought, she thrust herself

forward and up so that she could feel his mouth on hers as well as his

delving fingers parting her folds.

At the juncture of her thighs, his erection grew until it began to part

her swollen lower lips. She ached for him all over again, and wondered if

they dared join now, without benefit of a condom.

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La Mirage

She’d been on the pill for years, so that wasn’t an issue, but was it

too soon to suggest such an intimate step?

Savanna rose up, with Ben guiding her hips, and prepared to take

the plunge. Beneath the hot swirls of chlorinated water, she would have

let him inside her with nothing between them. She’d have done it eagerly,

but he stopped her downward momentum. Holding her firmly above him,

he met her gaze.

“I want you under me, on the bed. There’s more I want to do to you.”

His words made her tremble. Anything he wanted. She kissed him

hard and let her clit brush along his erection just long enough to promise

so much more.

Languid from the heat again and dripping, they rose from the tub

and dried off with the discarded sheet before making their way back to

the bed.

“Time to work up another sweat,” he said before retrieving the second

condom from the nightstand.

Savanna threw herself backward onto the satin-covered mattress and

shuddered with pure desire when Ben joined her. He knelt between her

ankles and drew one leg up on his shoulder. While he kissed the

sensitive skin of her inner calf, he massaged her thigh with deep,

determined strokes. Savanna squirmed in delicious anticipation, and her

body grew tighter as he inched his way farther up her leg. By the time he

reached her hip, she was on fire again, moaning and begging for him.

“Do you want me here?” he asked, planting a kiss on her inner thigh

that had her panting. She nodded, struggling to stave off the beginning of

another orgasm. She didn’t want to come without him inside her and if

he kept this up, she’d lose it.

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Jennifer Colgan

“How about here?” He laid his lips on the soft skin below her navel.

She whimpered and nodded. “Or here?” Without warning, he circled her

clit with his thumb and the sudden pressure sent her over the edge.

“Oh…more…” She held his hand against her mound and bucked her

hips. “I want more…”

“Ah, maybe you want me here…” Gently, he thrust two fingers inside

her and her body clenched around the erotic intrusion. “That’s it…come

for me again. Let me feel it.”

Savanna obeyed with a moan and urged him with her movements to

thrust deeper. The waves of her orgasm seemed to go on forever and she

was still pulsing when Ben withdrew his fingers and slid his erection

inside her. She seemed to have grown tighter since their first round of

lovemaking, or he’d grown much larger. He filled her to the hilt and she

held her breath for a moment, waiting for her body to adjust to his length

again.

No man had ever fit her so well, or felt so good. If she’d known this

was what she’d been missing by maintaining their flirty but professional

friendship, she’d have made some changes a long time ago.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked when she let out a small gasp. That

look of concern in his eyes completely did her in.

“No…I’m fine…fine. Ah…” She relaxed beneath him, opening farther

to draw him in as deep as he would go. “That’s it, Ben…oh, now! Now!”

She bit her lower lip and rode the ebbing waves of one orgasm all the way

to the next, matching him movement for movement until his own climax

took him.

Eager for everything he had to give, she curled around him, breathing

in the warm masculine scent of him tinged with the sweet hint of honey

that still lingered on her lips. He held her while he came, pulsing against

her inner walls, his body hard and commanding. When he finished, he

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La Mirage

kissed her once and held her gaze for a moment that made her heart skip

a beat.

“Savanna…” Ben whispered when his body relaxed across hers. “Why

did we wait so long?”

She’d been wondering that herself. “Maybe we just needed to find the

right time. This couldn’t be more perfect.”

Later they lay panting together, listening to the thrum of the rain fade

into silence as the storm finally ended. Entwined in each other, they

slept.

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Jennifer Colgan

Chapter Five

“She purrs like a kitten,” Ben announced the next morning when he

turned the key in Delilah’s ignition. Her engine hummed like it never had

before, even when the old gal was brand new.

Savanna gave him a sweet smile. “Who could blame her?” One hand

rested on Ben’s knee. In the other she held a thermos of fresh coffee,

compliments of the staff at La Mirage. At the front door of the hotel, Mae

Lin and Jack, the mechanic, stood waving as Ben and Savanna pulled

away.

It was just after eight a.m. and they had a long drive ahead of them

and a lot to talk about. As the pickup bounced back onto the highway,

Ben looked over at Savanna and grinned. “I’d definitely recommend the

place. What about you?”

“Absolutely. Maybe we could come back here some weekend…” There

was no mistaking the question in her voice. Would there be weekends

together and more nights like the one they’d just spent making love over

and over again?

“If it was up to me, we’d never leave.”

She nodded, apparently satisfied with his unspoken promise. He stole

glances at her every couple of minutes for a few miles, and debated

whether or not to pull over and kiss her breathless once or twice before

they got all the way back to reality.

After another ten minutes of companionable silence, he tapped the

brake and Delilah slowed to a crawl. “Ah…you know what? I think I left

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La Mirage

my T-shirt on the patio by the pool right before the storm started. Do you

mind if we go back before we get too far away?”

Savanna shrugged and brushed her fingers through her sexily sleep-

tousled hair. “I’ve got all day.”

Ben executed a U-turn on the empty road and headed back toward

the big rock that hid the resort from oncoming traffic. After fifteen

minutes of backtracking, he pulled over. “Did I miss the turnoff?”

“You must have.” Savanna twisted around in her seat and pointed to

the outcropping which was once again behind them. “You should have

turned back there, right?”

“I guess so…” Ben shrugged and turned Delilah around again. He

supposed he had a right to be a little muddled this morning. His brain

was still full of erotic images of Savanna stretched out on the bed,

lounging in the Jacuzzi and doing a hot little strip tease for him just after

midnight when they’d gotten up the nerve to order more whipped cream

from room service. “I seem to have other things on my mind this

morning.”

Savanna winked at him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Ben cut the wheel on the far side of the rock and pulled around into

the unfinished lane that led down to La Mirage.

But the box canyon was empty.

He hit the brakes hard and glanced at Savanna. “This had to be the

turn off.”

“We’ve only been gone twenty minutes, we can’t be that far off…”

“We must not have gone back far enough.” Ben threw Delilah into

gear and rolled back onto the highway. This time he headed farther down

the road, looking for the spot where they’d broken down the day before.

When he reached a stand of rocks that looked familiar, he stopped and

did another one-eighty.

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Jennifer Colgan

“There’s the big rock,” he said. “The hotel is right on the other side of

it in the canyon.”

Savanna nodded. “I remember this. It looks familiar.”

“Okay…” He eased the pickup forward at ten miles an hour, his eye

on the horizon and the landscape. At the pointed tip of the big rock, he

turned off the road once again.

And once again they faced an empty expanse of dusty, undeveloped

earth and rust-colored rocks. A single white cloud floated near the

horizon and Delilah’s shadow in the morning sun stretched before them

down the slope.

“Ben?” There was a fragile edge to Savanna’s voice.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s just forget about your T-shirt, okay?”

“Yeah…” Without further comment, he threw Delilah into reverse and

they left the lonely stretch of Nevada highway in the dust.

Two hours later they rolled into the parking lot of an ancient-looking

roadside diner. The place seemed to have no name and few customers.

The only other vehicles around were a beat-up brown sedan that sported

half a U.S. map full of brightly colored state stickers across its rear

window, and a tractor trailer bearing the word PRODUCE in mud-

splattered letters across its side panel.

Ben shut off Delilah’s engine and let the quiet settle around them for

a minute. He’d begun to wonder if the whole experience had been

nothing more than a very imaginative dream on his part, and he wasn’t

quite ready for the fantasy to end.

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La Mirage

Next to him, Savanna seemed to be concentrating on her cell phone.

“I have service now,” she said finally. “What about you?”

“Hmm…” He retrieved his phone from the cup holder and the tiny

screen glowed to life the moment he pushed the on button. “The batteries

were dead yesterday… How the hell…”

“I guess we should call in to the office now, while we can.” Savanna

began dialing and Ben’s thoughts came crashing back to reality. The

office. Dan and Claire. Why did he have to think about them now?

While Savanna relayed their general whereabouts and ETA over the

phone, Ben tried to figure out how he’d allowed himself to break his

promise never to get involved in an office romance. What happened if

they couldn’t maintain the level of passion they’d shared last night? It

seemed the farther away they got from La Mirage, the less plausible it

was that they could actually have spent the night there. Right now, the

vanishing hotel bothered him a lot less than the prospect of having their

newfound relationship disappear just as quickly.

“I had to leave a message,” Savanna said. “I guess nobody wondered

where we were yesterday.”

That was another mystery, but one he’d have to worry about later.

“Why don’t we go inside and get something to eat?”

With a skeptical glance at the diner, Savanna agreed. It was better

than nothing, and out here, who knew when they’d find another place for

a pit stop, since the Auto Club map was apparently good for nothing.

She jumped out of Delilah’s cab and practically raced across the

parking lot. Ben followed at a slower pace, not sure he wanted to know if

this place was real or not.

The fact that the heat inside was only slightly less oppressive than

the heat outside tipped his vote toward real. A fantasy diner would have

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Jennifer Colgan

been cool and clean and would have smelled like warm apple pie and

dark roast coffee, not greasy burgers and overcooked fries.

A lanky waitress wearing jeans and a Grateful Dead T-shirt

descended on them the moment they slid into opposite sides of a booth

near the door. “What can I getcha?”

“Just iced tea,” Savanna said. Ben nodded and with a disappointed

sigh, the young woman sauntered away.

“I think I can hold out for lunch,” Ben whispered with an upward

glance at the squadron of flies circling overhead.

“Me too. Maybe somebody here knows something about the hotel,

though. We should ask.”

“Okay, on the way out. I think we need to talk, first.”

Ben’s words cut Savanna to the quick. She hadn’t wanted to think

about the consequences of their night together, at least not until the

pleasant buzz of lust wore off. Judging by the look in Ben’s eyes, though,

the moment of truth was going to come a lot sooner than she’d hoped.

“Look, Ben, we don’t have to pick out china patterns. I know this

kind of stuff can be…awkward and you don’t have to worry that I’m going

to take over your life or anything.” Her throat went bone dry on the last

syllable, and she glanced over her shoulder, wishing the waitress would

hurry up with those cold drinks.

“Savanna, that’s not—”

She held up a hand to stop his reply. She’d heard all the morning-

after excuses before: I’m not looking for a commitment. I just got out of a

bad relationship. It’s not you, it’s me. Should she beat him to the punch

and save herself the inevitable heartache, or allow him to flounder a bit

before he handed her one of those well-worn clichés? She opted to let

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La Mirage

him off the hook. “Seriously, Ben. You don’t have to say anything. We

had a great time and it’s fine just to leave it at that.”

“You’re right.” He nodded, dropping his gaze. The waitress finally

returned with two tall glasses filled with square ice cubes floating in

amber liquid. The tea looked weak, but at least it was cold. Ben sipped

first and made a face. He reached for the sugar dispenser and dumped a

couple of teaspoons into his drink before continuing. “We’re friends,

right?”

Ah, the kiss of death.

“Absolutely.” She forced a smile and sprinkled sugar in her own tea,

though no amount of sweetening would make his words go down any

easier.

“Good. Then I can be perfectly honest with you.”

Oh, please don’t. “Sure.” Her fingers tightened on the cool surface of

the glass. Ice cubes clinked and condensation ran down to pool on the

scuffed linoleum tabletop.

“I don’t want to end up like Dan and Claire.”

Savanna blinked. Dan and Claire? “Oh…right. That whole thing.”

“Yeah. Do you think we can avoid the big crash and burn? I mean,

without stopping right now and pretending last night never happened?”

Savanna had already begun to wonder if their blissful night hadn’t

been merely a dream. It seemed so far away now. “How do we do that?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. But I’m willing to try.” He caught her

fingers in his and squeezed. “Promise me we’ll give it a shot…if that’s

what you want to do.”

Savanna let out her breath and took a sip of her tea to hide the giddy

smile tugging at her lips. “That’s what I want to do. That, and find out

what happened to our hotel. Come on, let’s go ask around.”

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Jennifer Colgan

It didn’t surprise Ben at all that no one in the diner had heard of La

Mirage. In fact he’d probably have been shocked if someone did know of

the place.

“I’m beginning to wonder if we really did imagine it all,” Savanna said

when they reached the parking lot. Waves of heat still rose from Delilah’s

hood and the door handles were almost too hot to touch. Ben walked

around to the passenger side to help Savanna get in, but before he

opened her door, he slid his hand around the back of her neck and

pulled her toward him. She tilted her face up at just the right angle and

he dove in for a kiss that made his palms sweat and his entire body taut

with need. If he could, he’d have turned right around and headed back to

the phantom hotel for another unbridled night with his dream girl.

“Ah!” He broke the kiss, dragging his lips away from hers so quickly

that she stumbled against him.

“What? Did something bite you?” Savanna looked around, startled.

“I have proof!”

“Proof of what?”

“Proof that La Mirage exists. Or that it existed yesterday. I took your

picture.”

She blinked at him. “When?”

“When you were sitting by the pool.” He guided her away from

Delilah’s cargo compartment and retrieved the small bag that held the

camera he’d used in Room 107. His fingers shook a little as he removed

the equipment from the bag.

Savanna peered over his shoulder while he called up the six shots

and displayed them one by one on the digital screen.

“Uh…hmmm.” She reached around and pulled the camera closer for

a better look. Ben scratched his head. “I don’t think we should show

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these to anyone, do you?” she asked after cycling through the pictures

for a second time.

Ben sighed. “I guess not. I don’t understand how—”

She put a finger across his lips and handed the camera back to him.

“Maybe it’s better if we don’t ask. Whatever happened, it’s just too hard

to explain.”

“Are you saying we should just forget about it?”

She winked at him and brushed a kiss over his lips. “A journalist

never forgets about anything. We just choose not to pursue certain

stories, and this is probably one that’s better left alone. For now.”

Ben put the camera away and while Savanna climbed into the

passenger seat, he started up Delilah. They roared out of the parking lot

and headed back to civilization.

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Jennifer Colgan

Chapter Six

One Month Later

Ben leaned on the wrought iron railing on the balcony of his

apartment and breathed in the cool morning air, warmed by the scent of

fresh-brewed coffee wafting from the kitchen behind him. He turned

around just as Savanna appeared with two steaming mugs. She looked

fabulous dressed in nothing but one of his long-tailed work shirts. She

handed him a mug and kissed him before taking a sip.

“You’re up early.”

“I got an e-mail reply from the Nevada Tourism Commission. They

say there’s no hotel chain with a property listed anywhere near mile

marker three-ninety between Black Rock and Indian Hills. In fact, all the

land bordering the highway in that area belongs to the State of Nevada

and it’s never been for sale to commercial ventures.”

“Hmm.” Savanna stared into her cup. “I guess there’s nothing else to

do. We’ve investigated every angle.”

“So you’re content with the knowledge that we spent the best night of

our lives out in the middle of nowhere in a hotel that doesn’t actually

exist?”

She gave him that sweet, shy smile he’d come to love. “You’re saying

it was the best night of your life, huh?”

He put his arm around her. “Up until that point. Of course, all the

ones since then have been just as great.”

“So it doesn’t bother you that…we can’t go back?”

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La Mirage

“Nah. You?”

“Not really, considering we didn’t do anything there that we can’t do

right here.” She took his coffee mug back from him and set them both on

the small patio table. Next, she wrapped her arms around his neck and

kissed him until he forgot everything but the feel of her body in his arms

and the taste of her on his lips.

“So do you think we imagined the place?” he asked when he’d

regained his equilibrium.

“That’s what the picture says.” She nodded at the framed 8x10 he’d

hung on the wall above his computer just inside the patio doors. In the

photograph, one of the six Ben had taken at La Mirage, Savanna sat on a

low outcropping of rock. Her bare feet dangled over the edge as if she

were dipping them in the rippling waves of sand that stretched out

beyond the rock. There was no sign of a pool or babbling waterfalls, no

tiki torches or thatch-roofed cabana, not a single table, umbrella or

chaise lounge anywhere in the frame.

All of the other shots were the same, as if Ben had taken pictures of

Savanna lounging in the naked desert.

“I think we should just blame the whole thing on the heat, don’t

you?” She tugged him back inside where the rumpled bed lay waiting.

“Mmm, the heat can make you do some wild things, I suppose,” he

agreed and followed her obediently into the bedroom where he planned to

demonstrate all the wild things the heat could make him do.

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About the Author

Drawn to spicy tales of adventure from an early age, Jennifer Colgan

made the leap from writing hard science fiction to writing romance in

2005 and has never looked back.

Now multi-published, Jennifer writes romance and erotica in the sub-

genres of paranormal, fantasy and contemporary as well as science

fiction [under the name Bernadette Gardner]. When not exploring distant

galaxies or alternate universes, Jennifer can be found at home with her

husband of fifteen years, two children and one slightly neurotic

Dalmatian. She spends her spare time reading, quilting and haunting the

local craft stores and looks forward to bringing steamy stories to her fans

for decades to come.

You can visit her websites to learn about her upcoming releases at

www.jennifercolgan.com

and

www.bernadettegardner.com.

Look for these titles by Jennifer Colgan

Now Available:

The Rebound Guy

La Mirage

When two friends share a night of unbridled passion, can their

relationship withstand the consequences?

The Rebound Guy

Catching her boyfriend in the act with another woman should have

made Lauren James angry, indignant or even depressed. Instead, it made

her horny. The only man in the world she trusts enough to help her

through the sting of betrayal is her best friend, Eric Reynolds.

When Lauren shows up at Eric’s apartment, it doesn’t take much for

her to seduce him. She finds solace for her trampled heart and bruised

ego in Eric’s capable hands. After an unforgettable night of passion,

Lauren wakes to the cold reality that she used Eric to get revenge. Will

Eric forgive her, even if she can’t forgive herself?

Enjoy the following excerpt for The Rebound Guy:

Lauren wanted him. Lauren James. His best friend. Had the world

turned upside down when he wasn’t looking?

Lauren dropped her purse on the floor and pressed her body against

him. Together they stumbled back a step. She gazed up at him, her

luminous green eyes dilated to huge pools of endless black. Her plump

lower lip beckoned him and he leaned in close. His gaze plunged into the

deep valley of her cleavage visible in the open neckline of her blouse and

his mouth went dry.

She smelled like sultry sex perfume and strawberry shampoo. Would

she taste like peach lip gloss and coconut rum the way she had that one

reckless moment last July when he’d kissed her and indulged in the

fantasy they might be good together as more than just friends?

“Don’t say no, Eric. I know you want me. Don’t you?” Did she look

hopeful, or desperate? God, did it matter?

“A favor…” He repeated the words as he dipped his head into the

space between her neck and shoulder. He took in the alluring scent of

her skin and thought about planting his lips on the pulse point below

her jaw.

“I need you, Eric. I need you to make love to me tonight.”

“You’re a little drunk, aren’t you?” asked the good Eric Reynolds, the

corporate security consultant who spent his days building computer

firewalls and tweaking virus protection software. Drunk and horny,

thought the bad Eric, the one who hated being the guy all the women

turned to for moral support because he was always honest and

trustworthy.

Women liked bad boys. He’d been reminded of that time and time

again when his girlfriends left him for ex-cons, compulsive gamblers and

rock musicians with coke habits.

Good guys finished last. That was his motto.

“I had one frozen margarita with the girls. I’m not drunk, but I took a

cab here since Tara was driving.” As she spoke, Lauren lowered her lips

to his chest, to that little hollow at the base of his throat, and licked him

there. He groaned as his balls went tight.

Instant hard-on. Bad Eric grabbed her ass and squeezed, pushing

her pelvis against the growing bulge of his erection.

Lauren smiled up at him, letting him know she had him right where

she wanted him.

The good Eric demanded to know what brought this on. Lauren

James was one of those nice girls. She wasn’t loose or slutty. She didn’t

bang every guy she met just for kicks. Therefore there had to be a reason

for her sudden…attack.

They’d met at one of Roxy’s legendary Christmas parties four years

ago and, like ninety percent of the women Eric met, she’d immediately

turned to him for advice on how to deal with her current boyfriend. The

Neanderthal hadn’t wanted her to have any friends he hadn’t picked.

She’d dumped the guy on Eric’s advice, and they’d been friends ever

since. Up until this moment, that meant Sunday afternoon matinees,

lunch when his job took him to see clients in her office building, and all

the requisite birthday, holiday and what-the-hell-it’s-Friday parties

thrown by their large circle of mutual friends. Except for that Fourth of

July kiss, they’d never even considered…well, that wasn’t true. He’d

considered quite a lot of things.

“Have you got condoms?” Her breathy question came with an expert

flick of her wrist that caused a button to pop off his shirt. She giggled.

“Sorry.”

“No problem.”

“Condoms?” she asked again.

“As in, more than one?”

She gave him a wicked grin and spread his shirt open down to his

navel. Her hot tongue branded a line of fire down his sternum. She licked

her lips and when she looked up at him, her eyes smoldered. “How many

have you got?”

A mental inventory told him he could dig up at least four. “Laur, are

you sure you—” The good Eric’s question was lost in a heart-stopping

kiss. She drew his tongue into her mouth, playfully at first, then with a

sensual determination. She held herself to him with one hand, fingers

laced through his hair. Her other hand eased down and popped the final

button of his shirt, then grazed naughtily into his jeans to tease at the

waistband of his briefs.

When she broke the kiss, good Eric was a memory. Bad Eric was

ready to give her everything she wanted and then some. After all, that’s

what friends are for.

Her boyfriend is back…and that’s a major problem. Antonia isn’t ready to

face the one man who shakes up her world…

Full Disclosure

Antonia doesn’t need to look at forbidden fruit. The taste still clings

to her lips, haunting her with just how good she and Danton had been

together…

…Right up until he informed her that he had to get married because

he was going to be a father. That just made it worse. Inside him was a

man worth dreaming about, even if she knew it was in vain.

Danton always double-checked his facts. It was a habit that kept him

alive during missions that should have killed him. His impromptu

wedding was no exception. There wasn’t going to be any consummation

of the vows until he had a paternity test. But doing the right thing had

cost him the one woman he loved.

Until the test came back negative. Now there is nothing that will stop

him from coming back with the prize he’d been forced to abandon three

months ago. Toni was going to be his, right after she got the full

disclosure on his hasty wedding and the blunt fact that he loved her.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language and bondage bedroom games with toys.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Full Disclosure:

Her gaze moved back towards Danton and disappointment shot

through her. He was gone. Vanished, just like he had three months ago.

If Brenda hadn’t seen the man as well, Toni would be questioning her

own eyes. It was an honest fact that she thought about him too much.

He pranced through her dreams in spite of numerous self-inflicted

lectures to forget him. Falling in love was a high-risk thing because

sometimes you ended up being alone with the emotion. In spite of

months of lonely nights, her fickle mind refused to let his memory go.

Her pager went off, and she grabbed it gratefully. She recognized the

local sheriff’s station’s number and was already walking towards the

back of the bar before she reached for her cell phone to call in. A social

worker had to be on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week but

tonight she was grateful for a reason to slip out of the bar early. She was

going to let her job be the cover for her quick exit. It wasn’t grand, but it

would serve as an escape route. The only part she didn’t like was the fact

that she’d have to put on a blazer to make herself presentable in the

professional work world. Anything with sleeves made her frown; a suit

jacket was cause for profanity.

She moved towards the back door, looking for a quiet-enough spot to

hear the desk sergeant. People were crowded into every square inch of

the place in an effort to soak up the air conditioning. Pushing through

the back door, she flipped open her cell phone. The night air was warmer

than it had been inside but the door closed off the music. She punched

in the first digit of the sheriff’s station’s number.

She never got to the second. The phone shut as her hand was

gripped in a much larger one. She opened her mouth to let out a scream,

but a hard palm covered her lips as she was pressed up against the wall

behind her. A moment of terror gripped her, sending her heart into a

frantic pace that made her lungs draw deeper breaths. The scent filling

her senses was recognized instantly. She shivered as Danton’s solid body

held her captive with the door behind her. Her nipples tightened into

twin points that stabbed into his chest. It was that quick and beyond her

control. There was no thought, only reaction. Her temper exploded as

their eyes met in the dark. Only Danton did this to her. One touch, one

stroke, and her body transformed into a traitor. It just made it worse that

the arousal came in the wake of him scaring her half to death. Men were

inherently jerks. It was a cruel twist of fate that she wasn’t a lesbian and

therefore immune to males.

“Hello, Toni. I’ve missed you.”

He leaned completely against her and she gasped as the clear proof of

his statement made itself known. His cock was hard. The muscles of her

belly quivered as he pressed against her, while he watched her intently.

She was helpless in his hold, but true to his nature, Danton never

tightened that grip enough to hurt her. The amount of weight he used to

secure her bordered on suffocating but he managed to keep it from

becoming painful.

That was one of the things that frustrated her the most; his control.

In everything he did, the man was a study in focus. Even the most

intimate things became soul-meshing experiences under his tight

handling.

The man could make her scream.

This summer, it’s going to be Steamy…

Samhain Publishing Presents

Midsummer Night’s Steam

24 Sizzling ebooks

$2.50 each

Duty wars with affection when Racor’s greatest spy must decide who to

trust, the evidence against her sexy suspects, or her heart?

A Scorching Seduction

Lt. Col. Trace N’Tre and Assassin Vaan C’Vail are hiding out in the

only place the military can’t touch them—on a pleasure planet in an

island resort owned by Vaan’s cousin. Gathering evidence on the outside,

they know it’s only a matter of time before they’ll have to face their

accuser, a high official in the Racor government.

Unbeknownst to them, Myst, Racor’s greatest spy, has had her eyes

on them for some time. The puzzle of these two alleged traitors doesn’t

fit, and Myst has made it her mission to find out why. But when the

tables are turned and she’s caught spying under the planet’s hot

summer suns, pleasure and affection confuse the issue, making her

wonder who to trust—her heart, or the evidence against her lovers.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, frank

language, ménage, m/m action, and hot sweaty adventure.

A young minister’s celibacy is challenged by an earthy, Appalachian

woman.

Blackberry Pie

On a blistering summer afternoon, Reverend Nathan Andrews climbs

a mountain to meet backwoods members of his congregation. Fresh from

seminary, the young man isn’t prepared for the onslaught of lust that

hits him when he encounters a sensuous girl picking blackberries.

Determined to implement his outreach plan, he helps her harvest the

fruit. But their potent sexual chemistry is too intense to deny and they

engage in passionate sex surrounded by the beauty of nature.

Grace is earthy and primal, the opposite of the proper young lady he

expects to take as a wife some day. Can there possibly be a future for a

college-educated minister and a primitive mountain girl?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language.

Can a straight-laced business student and an indie boy with a thing for

extremely personal electronics turn one night’s wild ride into a trip to last

forever?

Catching a Buzz

Adam Holderman isn’t your typical twenty-something college boy. He

prefers jazz to Goth, shuns body piercings and street-waif clothing, and

despises the lack of vocabulary among his peers. Some call him uptight,

but Adam doesn’t see it that way. Just because he prefers his men

articulate and well-groomed doesn’t make him a stick-in-the-mud. He

simply has standards, unlike most guys his age.

The new employee at Wild Waters Park, where Adam works, single-

handedly throws a monkey wrench into Adam’s orderly world view. Buzz

Stiles wears eyeliner and black clothes, listens to emo bands, and talks

like a teenage skate punk. He’s the polar opposite of Adam’s avowed

“type”. So why can’t Adam get him out of his head?

When Adam finally agrees to go out with Buzz, he finds there’s much

more to Buzz than a hot body, a sharp wit, and a Goth fashion sense.

Buzz is someone Adam can see himself being with for the long haul. But

you need more than mind-melting sex to make a relationship last. Can

they keep their hands off each other long enough to find out if they have

what it takes?

Warning, this title contains the following: graphic language, explicit

male/male sex, inappropriate use of personal electronic devices, and

gratuitous disco dancing.

Her boyfriend is back…and that’s a major problem. Antonia isn’t ready to

face the one man who shakes up her world…

Full Disclosure

Antonia doesn’t need to look at forbidden fruit. The taste still clings

to her lips, haunting her with just how good she and Danton had been

together…

…Right up until he informed her that he had to get married because

he was going to be a father. That just made it worse. Inside him was a

man worth dreaming about, even if she knew it was in vain.

Danton always double-checked his facts. It was a habit that kept him

alive during missions that should have killed him. His impromptu

wedding was no exception. There wasn’t going to be any consummation

of the vows until he had a paternity test. But doing the right thing had

cost him the one woman he loved.

Until the test came back negative. Now there is nothing that will stop

him from coming back with the prize he’d been forced to abandon three

months ago. Toni was going to be his, right after she got the full

disclosure on his hasty wedding and the blunt fact that he loved her.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language and bondage bedroom games with toys.

Does a full moon really cause naughty behavior?

Bad Moon Rising

Hailey Burke has heard that full moons cause people to behave in

strange ways, but she never thought it would apply to her until the night

she winds up in bed with a man she doesn’t even like. So she’d had a

temporary loss of sanity when she slept with Zack Creighton, the

womanizing photographer. Big deal. Doesn’t mean she’s going to do it

again, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, Zack has something else in store for Hailey. He’s liked

the sassy redhead from the moment he met her, but he can’t get the

stubborn woman to let go of the misconceptions she’s formed about him.

Sure, he’s played the field, but Zack is no womanizer, and he has no

intention of leaving things at one night. Once he’s had a taste of Hailey,

he wants another. And he’s determined to convince her that he’s not the

bad boy she’s always thought.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language.

How can masturbating in a hotel Jacuzzi lead to love? Cassidy Yates is

about to find out.

Beyond the Tears

A year after her husband died while serving in Iraq, Cassidy Yates

still nurses a broken heart. Thinking a vacation will help, she agrees to a

week in Key West with her best friend, April. Upon arrival, April suggests

a way for Cassidy to ease her pain—sleep with the sexiest stud she can

find.

Not the type to bed hop, Cassidy refuses April’s idea and ends up

alone. Abandoned by her friend, Cassidy decides to take a nighttime

swim. In the Jacuzzi, she masturbates to the memories of making love to

her husband. Mortified by her own behavior, Cassidy retreats to her

hotel room, hoping no one witnessed her exhibition.

Chase Dempsey is a man with rugged good looks and a killer smile.

He isn’t looking to fall in love and only wants few days of relaxation

before returning to his Texas ranch. Still, he’s curious after watching

Cassidy’s erotic display and wonders what makes the gorgeous redhead

tick. When he finds her dropped sarong, he realizes she’s just given him

the opportunity to find out…

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex and graphic

language.

One tempting heiress. Two sexy cowboys. Three means fun beyond her

wildest dreams—until her Cord starts to unravel.

Take Me

Thoroughbred rancher’s daughter Caitlyn Culver has always wanted

playboy Cord Daily, even after her daddy threatened to bankrupt him.

But winning a racehorse in a poker game means Cord is no longer just a

cattle rancher. He’s come back wealthier and more wicked than ever.

Snaring this cowboy won’t be easy for Cait, and keeping him will be

even harder. Still, his sexual antics and taste for ménages won’t scare

her off. She knows the best way to snag a man like Cord is to pretend

indifference. So when he comes onto her in the barn, she plays along—

only to leave him tied to a ladder, aroused and unfulfilled.

It’s payback time.

Cord seeks out Cait and brings along his playboy cousin, Dolan

Crane. The two cowboys are enough to set her body afire. She’s bound

and determined to resist their sexual allure, but ends up experiencing a

night beyond her wildest fantasies. Now Dolan wants Cait for himself.

Cait’s father wants Cord’s racehorse. And Cord wants Caitlyn to choose—

her father’s money or her cowboy’s love.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, ménage a trois, and BDSM.

Can a jaded lawyer and a reformed criminal really find true love in the

tropics?

Fijian Fling

Dumped by her boyfriend and on thin ice in her law career, Sophie

Edison badly needs to re-evaluate her life. She escapes to her favorite

hideaway on the tropical island of Fiji, where the attentions of the resort

owner – the enigmatic and lethally sexy Dominick ‘Nick’ Dufour – prove a

temptation too great to resist. Nick’s obvious desire to take her to bed is

just the salve her battered confidence needs, and she embarks on an

affair that leads her to unchartered waters. Before long she starts to

wonder if she can ever go back to her old life.

Nick has lusted after Sophie for years. When she turns up at his

secluded resort alone for the first time he wastes no time in making her

his lover. Sophie is his perfect match in bed, and in the ocean and the

shower…but although he might long for something more, Nick knows

theirs is just a holiday fling. For he is keeping the secret of his checkered

past from Sophie and it could prove the ultimate deal breaker…

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language.

Newlywed Catalina Robinson thinks it’s not possible to be more

satisfied…but then she learns what it’s like to love two men.

Honeymoon Castaways

Cat has just married Dave Robinson, the man of her dreams. Their

Best Man, Andreas Bailey, is flying them to their honeymoon resort in

Barbados. But over the middle of the ocean, something goes horribly

wrong…

Cat, Dave and Andreas find themselves stranded on an uninhabited

Caribbean island. Though she’s never thought of him as more than a

friend, Cat finds herself connecting to Andreas in a way she never

expected and is shocked and aroused to learn that her husband feels the

same way. Together, the three of them discover a heat and passion

uninhibited by the conventions of society. But will they ever be rescued?

And what will happen to their unusual relationship once they return

home?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, ménage a trois, voyeurism and skinny dipping.

Two men and a bottle of nut cream…

Nut Cream

Nut [nuht] noun, verb.

1. A dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a

woody or leathery shell.

2. Slang, Vulgar – a testis.

Cream [kreem] noun.

1. A soft solid or thick liquid containing medicaments or other

specific ingredients, applied externally for a therapeutic, or cosmetic

purpose.

2. Slang, Vulgar – to have an orgasm.

Toby Madison is coming into his mating phase, and is leaking

pheromones all over the place. He is about to find out what happens to

bad little wolves, in the best possible way. Cliff Bullen is more than ready

to place his mark on the man he has always wanted as his mate – with a

little help from a bottle of nut cream.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit male/male sex and

graphic language.

Welcome to Fantasm Island! Leave your inhibitions at the door and let

your fantasies soar.

Fantasmagorical

That’s what the brochure said anyway. A week long fling with a

stranger. Where’s the harm in that? Take a compatibility quiz and a slew

of other health tests, sign a strict privacy agreement and give license to

any sexual fantasy you’ve ever had. Evan Knight couldn’t wait.

Gabe and Lance have been searching for their perfect third for what

seems like forever. One look at the woman he and his best friend and

lover Lance have chosen to claim during her time on the island, and

Gabe thinks they may have finally found her.

But what if Evan isn’t interested in more than the fling she signed up

for? Or worse, what if she can’t handle two men who are into each other

too? Gabe and Lance have one week to convince Evan that the three of

them belong together…and they’ll use every bit of seduction in their

arsenal to make sure when the fantasy ends, their reality together will

only just be beginning.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit fantasmagorical

sex, graphic language, ménage a trois, and hot nekkid man-love.

Falling in lust with a sexy Elvis impersonator gets complicated when

Vanessa discovers the real Elvis Presley may have hoaxed his death.

Hunk of Burnin’ Love

Summer should mean hot men and toe-curling sex—at least that’s

what Vanessa believes, but a bad break-up has left her spending her

summer nights alone. Then her sex life erupts into flames when she

meets two very different Elvis impersonators on the same night. One is a

sexy young musician who gets her all shook up in a steamy midnight

swim. The other is a graying older man who looks just a little too much

like Elvis Presley for comfort.

Vanessa can’t help falling in love with her new summer hottie. But

their burning love gets complicated when the mysterious older

impersonator begins dropping disturbing hints about his true identity—

hints that suggest Elvis Presley never died at all.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex and graphic

language.

Chastity Cuthbert is determined to bring love and romance to the Last

Frontier.

Ladies! Meet Red Hot Alaskan Men

Chastity Cuthbert is in love with love. Its too bad that she’s so busy

working on everyone else’s happily ever after that there’s no time left to

work on hers. Her company, The Alaskan Connection, matches single

women with sexy Alaskan hunks. Business is booming. Until Dave

Wellington drags his personal vendetta against outsiders right to her

doorstep.

Dave Wellington, Mayor of Smithfield, Alaska won’t allow Chastity’s

cadre of red-lipped floozies to take over his town. A she-bitch from the

lower forty-eight broke his brother’s heart and no one else is gonna go

through that. Not if he can help it. Besides, Smithfield is welcoming

tourists for the first time. The male residents need to keep their minds on

business. Not sex.

Determined to change Chastity’s mind, he travels to Chicago to talk

her out of her plan. Chas is so pissed off at the sexy mayor that she

forgets her “no one-night stands” motto. Right into Dave’s bed.

Now she has to travel to Smithfield and face him. She’s strong. She

can face Dave again. Just because she snuck out of his hotel room in the

middle of the night doesn’t mean she’s a big ole chicken. Right?

Warning: This book contains hot naked Alaskan guys, all looking for

love. Read it at your own risk. I am not responsible for any sudden urges

to go to the Last Frontier, nor travel costs incurred. Oh, and there’s

explicit sex too.

One hot summer night and a scorching balcony interlude light the fuse of

hidden attraction between neighbors Jill Reed and Cole Adams.

One Night on a Balcony

Jill Reed has spent her entire life denying her sexuality, but living

next door to Cole Adams the past few months has made it near

impossible.

Cole is fresh off his third divorce and considers himself a one-man

relationship train wreck. He purposefully keeps his lust for Jill in check

because, after all, she’s the kind of woman a man keeps.

Jill and Cole have been denying their bone-deep attraction for

months, but one night on a balcony, passions ignite, an adventure starts

and everything is about to change—forever.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, sex in a public

place, graphic language.

Sometimes the truth is the greatest aphrodisiac.

Liaisons in Jubilee

Katie Mayes is the Executive Manager for a large, east coast beach

resort. Unfortunately, her boss has discovered her one secret – her

seasonal flings with Caleb Beckett, the Entertainment Director for the

resort. Company policy dictates no internal fraternization, especially

between managers and their subordinates, so her boss gives Katie a

choice. Caleb or her job.

She avoids personal encounters with Caleb, until one fateful night a

week before the resort’s big summer launch. Then, she runs into him at

a local nightclub. When Caleb approaches her, she tries to give him the

cold shoulder, but he follows her onto the dance floor where the music,

her desire, and his persistence break her will. She claims it’s only one

more night before they break it off completely, but Caleb insists on more.

Far from an ending, he views the summer as their true beginning.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, spanking, light bondage.

A bad marriage is like a fierce thunderstorm on a fragile field of wheat.

Will a proud Texas cowboy and a stubborn Boston-bred lawyer find

shelter from a real summer storm long enough to rebuild their love?

Second Wind

Cocky cowboy Rafe Walker doesn’t plan to meet a beautiful woman in

designer jeans and ostrich boots at the rodeo, but the beauty catches his

gaze just before the gate opens for his bull ride. Talk about losing focus!

With one glance, his thoughts are of sex-scented sheets, not hard,

sawdust-covered dirt.

A city girl like her would never fit in on his ranch, but a weekend in

Dallas? Yes, Ma’am, she’ll do just fine. Little does he expect a ride wilder

than with any bull. She grabs hold of his heart and his hottest fantasies

and holds on tight.

Cathy Fitzgerald, raised in a wealthy eastern family, half falls in love

with the rakish cowboy after one impulsive weekend of wild sex. She

returns to Boston, breaks off her near engagement and waits to hear

from Rafe. After months of silence, he surprises Cathy with a proposal.

It’s a shock to both of them when she accepts, and moves to his ranch in

nowhere, Texas.

They soon find that passion alone can’t sustain a marriage. Rafe’s

pride and Cathy’s long hours at work breed distrust and broken hearts.

Giving their marriage its second wind will take an act of nature.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex and graphic

language.

Life’s not always about the journey, but who takes you on the ride.

Custom Ride

A stint in the Air Force left Ryan MacRae with a bitter memory of life

in the closet. Jeff Allstein is a mechanic who has too much to lose if his

private life becomes public. The heat of their attraction boils over on a

stormy summer night, but satisfying that need only makes them both

crave more.

Their searing connection makes it hard for Ryan to understand the

road blocks Jeff continually puts down. Ryan will have to buckle up if

he’s going to find love at the end of his custom ride.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit male/male sex,

graphic language.

What Leilani wants, Leilani gets…and she always gets her man.

Skin to Skin

What Leilani wants, Leilani gets. That is, until she meets the

enigmatic Oliver Clayton, her new neighbor. For some reason, Oliver

seems to be intent on avoiding her even though he’s obviously interested.

Leilani has tried to everything to get his attention, from wearing skimpy

little outfits to walking a neighbor’s dog six times in front of his yard.

Leilani wants Oliver…and she always gets her man.

In the heat of the summer, the temperature’s not only thing rising.

Luckily, Oliver has that pool in his backyard and Leilani knows just how

to cool off…

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, light bondage.

Hot summer nights make people do crazy things.

Spontaneous

Sophie Kincaid doesn’t want to be attracted to her boss but she is.

Sick and tired of being used by men, she’s sworn them off. But her hot

and now slightly drunk boss just became too hard to resist.

His girlfriend dumped him and now Ian Grey is drowning his sorrows

in alcohol, something he never does. Flirting with Sophie the sexy

bartender inspires him to do even more things he’d never consider. Like

have hot sex with her in the storage room.

They can’t deny their attraction for each other but Sophie’s afraid she

doesn’t measure up. And what does Ian want from her anyway? She’ll

have a naked good time figuring it out…

Warning this title contains the following: Hot, steamy, explicit sex

and graphic language.

Roping the naughty girl is all fun and games until someone falls in love.

Knotty Girl

Shelby Langley was not sub, slave or Mistress, she was merely kinky.

Point her to a BDSM club where she could watch and experience pretty

much anything the mind could conjure, without the tangled web of an

actual relationship, and she was in orgasmic bliss.

Long into the lifestyle, Craig Jensen was able to spot a submissive in

denial from a mile away. Usually he left them be to find their own way,

only keeping an eye out for their safety while on his turf, but there was

something about the sweet, young blonde who had a love for rope

bondage that called for him to claim her as his own.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, anal play and an overall spanking good time.

When a school teacher with a backbone of steel meets a hard-nosed

lawman, more than the desert will heat up.

Marielle’s Marshal

Marielle Bloom never expected to be the victim of a stagecoach

robbery stranded in the desert in the middle of summer with a sexy

marshal who sets her body on fire with one look from his steely eyes.

Marshal Ramsey Whitfield doesn’t know what to make of the

outspoken teacher, but he does know she feels perfect in his arms. As

they trek together across the barren landscape, searching for civilization,

they discover that their desire for each other is hotter than the desert

sand.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, violence.

When a man who isn’t human is accidentally enslaved by a woman who

has no idea what he is, the result is magical.

Sealed With a Kiss

Signing up for a one-week adventure vacation, Helena expects to be

kayaking in the Pacific, not having every sexual fantasy fulfilled in her

guide’s bed.

Ocean is more than he seems, his kayaking business a cover for his

deepest secret.

When Helena accidentally enacts old magic, enslaving Ocean, he

doesn’t know if she is the luckiest girl on earth, or an enemy of his kind,

bent on imprisoning him forever. Ocean’s strange behavior worries

Helena but she’s distracted by the mind-blowing sex.

After the truth is revealed, will their budding love be Sealed with a

Kiss?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, voyeurism, and fantasy fulfillment.

When his girlfriend demands he settle down and start a family, Cole

Winchester has some hard decisions to make. Marry his girlfriend, or

finally own up to his taboo attraction to other men.

Taboo Desires

Cole Winchester feels like a rat, boxed into a corner. Faced with the

prospect of being trapped in a passionless marriage, he makes the hard

choice to end his relationship.

A run in with an old friend on the beach, propels Cole’s fantasies out

into the open and forces him to confront his taboo desires. Before him,

lies the choice of a lifetime—embrace his desire for another man and all

the pitfalls that come along with it, or return to his girlfriend and live out

the safe half-life he carved for himself.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic

language, and hot nekkid man-love.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

It’s all about the story…

Action/Adventure

Fantasy

Historical

Horror

Mainstream

Mystery/Suspense

Non-Fiction
Paranormal

Red Hots!

Romance

Science Fiction

Western

Young Adult

www.samhainpublishing.com

Document Outline

“La Mirage” by Jennifer Colgan

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