A Country Roads Novella
Forever Yours, Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: November 1, 2016
— SYNOPSIS —
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN LOATHING...AND LUST.
It's been a tough year for Beth Boone. She's lost the person she cared about the most: her big sister. But Beth isn't grieving alone. She's now guardian to her sister's three children and though she loves them fiercely, so far she's not exactly winning at parenting. In this noisy, peanut-butter-everywhere chaos, there is no calm. None. So Beth has zero patience with the infuriating guy next door-not to mention his destruct-o "puppy"-wreaking more havoc in her life.
Except that Tripp Black is all muscles, deep brown eyes, and lips that promise way-too-delicious things. Every time Tripp and Beth confront each other, there's an undercurrent of red-hot sexual tension, one that threatens to break down all her carefully constructed walls. She's been burned before, and Tripp is a self-proclaimed bachelor for life. There's no way that Beth's too-hot-neighbor-from-hell could ever be the man for her-until their uncontrollable attraction becomes so much more.
— PURCHASE —
— EXCERPT —
Tripp knew within an instant that Beth
Boone tasted better than anything he’d ever had in his mouth. There was no
gentle coaxing necessary in the kiss. The second his lips were on hers, she
opened for him, her tongue sliding against his.
And it wasn’t just her taste, either;
she felt better than anything he’d ever touched…or had been touched by. Her
hands were under his shirt, her bare palms moving across his abs. She flexed
her fingers, her nails just biting into his skin.
Okay, so she liked it a little rough. He
could work with that.
He repaid the slight sting she’d left on
his lower belly by nipping at her bottom lip. Her answering moan sent him
over
the edge and just like that he had her pushed up against the counter. He
gently
tugged on her hair, getting her to tilt her head and allowing him to deepen
the
kiss.
It was a whole new experience kissing
Beth, the shock to his system setting off a chain reaction in his body. His
blood ran hotter, his heart beat faster, his skin felt
over-sensitized…stretched
too tight and tingling.
The feel of her against him—her mouth,
her hands, the scent of her, the taste of her— burned
him.
She burned him.
Kissing this woman was like something he’d never
known.
“Holy shit.” He pulled back, needing a
full breath of air before his lungs exploded.
Beth’s head was cradled in his palm and
he took in the full picture as he looked down into her face. Her blue eyes
were
dazed, blond hair wild, lips slightly swollen, breath coming in and out in
uneven gasps.
So damn beautiful it was
insane.
“What are you doing to me?” he asked,
shaking his head.
But he didn’t give her a chance to
answer before his mouth was on hers again—tongues tangling, breaths
mingling,
need consuming.
Yeah, consuming was the right
word, which was why it probably took both
of them entirely by surprise when two
dogs barking echoed around them. Tripp pulled his mouth away from Beth’s,
keeping his hands firmly in place as he turned.
Duke and Frankie were already wrestling
on the floor in front of Finn, who was standing in the living room. His
eyebrows were raised in surprise at the scene before him. “I, uh, knocked…
The
door was open so I figured you were outside or
something.”
“I was just leaving.” Beth pulled away
from Tripp’s hold, her face and neck flushed. Whether it was more from the
kissing or being caught he wasn’t entirely sure.
What he was sure about was that he
really didn’t like the fact that she wasn’t under his hands
anymore.
“You sure? I can just come back so you
two can finish up.” Finn pointed to the door as he bit his bottom lip,
trying
and failing to hide the smirk that was making his mouth
twitch.
“That’s not necessary.” Beth moved
farther
across the kitchen, putting distance between her and Tripp. “I’ll see you
later. Enjoy the pie,” she said before she turned and practically ran down
the
hallway.
But that wasn’t how this was going to
end.
“Give me a sec.” Tripp made to follow
Beth before he turned quickly and looked at Finn. “And don’t eat my
pie.”
Beth practically sprinted from Tripp’s
house, her mind, heart, and pulse racing. Tripp Black had just kissed
her…and
she’d had absolutely no problem kissing him back. The instant his lips had
touched hers she’d opened her mouth for him. Good gravy, if Finn hadn’t
walked in
there was no telling what else she would’ve opened for
him.
Oh, that was a lie; she knew exactly
what else she would’ve opened for him. She’d have let that man carry her
off to
any hard surface and spread her out. Let him do whatever the hell he
wanted.
He’d had his hands on her, those big
masculine calloused hands that had been gentle and demanding at the same
time.
It had been so long since she’d been touched by a man…but no one had ever
touched her like that.
And she’d touched him back. Her palms
still burned with the feel of his skin and she balled her hands in an
attempt
to hold onto the sensation.
She was almost to the side door that led
to the garage when the sound of her name had her turning around. Tripp was
rounding the side of his house at a jog, a look of fierce determination on
his
face.
Her stomach started to somersault
immediately.
What
are you doing to me? Tripp had asked that question right before he’d
started the second round of kissing that had been damn near close to
destroying
her.
No, the real question was, what was
he doing to her?
“What the hell was that?” he asked when
he was only a few feet away. “You just walk away?”
“Tripp, I—”
But that was all she got out before he
pushed her up against the brick wall. “I wasn’t done kissing
you.”
His mouth came down hard on hers, and
just like before, she didn’t fight him one little bit. And why the hell
would
she?
He’d awakened a hunger in her that had
been dormant for way too long, a hunger that in that moment was stronger
than
it had ever been. Maybe it was stronger because it was shared—the man seemed
pretty hell bent on devouring her.
She had her hands in his hair this time;
she hadn’t reached that high before as she’d gotten distracted by touching
his
body. The strands were soft and damp between her fingers. He must’ve just
showered; the scent of soap on his skin strong.
“God,” he groaned as he trailed his lips
down her neck. “If I’d known this was what kissing you was like, we could’ve
saved ourselves a lot of arguments.”
“Is that right?”
“You wouldn’t have been able to yell at
me if your mouth had been occupied with mine.”
“But then you wouldn’t have gotten
cookies…or pie,” she countered as his lips started to make the return
journey
up her throat and across her jaw.
“I’d rather have your mouth.” And just
like that he was kissing her again, his tongue stroking against hers and
taking
control.
When Tripp pulled back from her a
minute—or five—later, Beth was slow to open her eyes, taking more than a
second
to focus on him.
“Consider everything forgiven.” He
brushed his lips against hers, the scruff of his beard just rasping against
her
cheek as he moved his mouth up to her ear. “And
Beth?”
“Hmmm?” she hummed, unable to say any
actual words.
“I’m still not done kissing you.” With
that he stepped back from her and walked away.
She stood there, unable to pull her gaze
from him as he disappeared around the side of the
house.
Holy fuck. Did that really just
happen? Yes, yes it had. Tripp had kissed the ever living daylights out of her. He’d thoroughly decimated her brain…which was probably why her back was still fused to the brick wall and she hadn’t moved at all.
She’d go inside just as soon as she remembered how to walk again…whenever that was.
— ABOUT THE AUTHOR —
Shannon Richard grew up in the Florida Panhandle as the baby sister of two
overly protective but loving brothers. She was raised by a more than
somewhat eccentric mother, a self-proclaimed vocabularist who showed her
how to get lost in a book and a father who passed on his love for coffee
and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a
BA in English Literature and still lives in Tallahassee where she battles
everyday life with writing, reading, and a rant every once in a while.
Okay, so the rants might happen on a regular basis. She's still waiting for
her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy, and in the meantime writes love stories
to indulge her overactive imagination. Oh, and she's a pretty big fan of
the whimsy.
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