Hard To Hold On To
Edward "Easy" Cantrell knows better than most the pain of not being able to save those he loves—which is why he is not going to let Jenna Dean out of his sight. He may have just met her, but Jenna's the first person to make him feel alive since that devastating day in the desert more than a year ago.
Jenna has never met anyone like Easy. She can't describe how he makes her feel--and not just because he saved her life. No, the stirrings inside her reach far beyond gratitude.
As the pair are thrust together while chaos reigns around them, they both know one thing: the things in life most worth having are the hardest to hold on to.
Jenna has never met anyone like Easy. She can't describe how he makes her feel--and not just because he saved her life. No, the stirrings inside her reach far beyond gratitude.
As the pair are thrust together while chaos reigns around them, they both know one thing: the things in life most worth having are the hardest to hold on to.
Excerpt from Hard to Hold On To:
Cradling Jenna by the head and the back, Easy gently rolled them over, his handing tangling in her hair, his chest falling on hers, his thigh pressing maddeningly between her legs. He kissed her uninjured cheek, her jaw, her throat. Jenna tilted her face away, giving him access—and ready to give him everything he wanted to take.
His hand fell on her hip and squeezed, and his touch so close to where she vibrated and grew damp with need made her moan and thrust her center against his thigh.
“Easy,” she rasped.
He brought his face back to hers and kissed her full on the mouth.
A sharp sting on the corner of her lip. She sucked in a breath and flinched.
He reared back like she’d slapped him. “Jesus, Jenna. I’m sorry.” And then he rolled away until he sat on the edge of the bed, his back to her and his face in his hands. “What the fuck am I doing?”
Jenna pushed herself into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around her knees, her body torn between arousal and confusion. “I don’t want to stop,” she managed to say as she rested the side of her face on her arms.
He shook his head and shifted to look at her, his expression stone cold pissed. “I shouldn’t have kissed you—”
“You didn’t kiss me. I kissed you.” Part of her felt like she should be scared to push him, and there was no question that the expression he wore was freaking intimidating. But she also knew the sweet, protective man was in there. And that he’d wanted her.
I. Could. Have. Died.
And now she wanted to live. Now she wanted Easy.
She crawled closer to him, close enough that she could feel his heat but shy of touching him. “I still want to kiss you,” she whispered, meeting his intense brown eyes.
“It’s not right, Jenna,” he said. His gaze drifted from her eyes to the side of her face. The side with all the bruises.
She touched her fingertips to the puffiness on her cheek. “Is it that ugly?”
His mouth dropped open, and he grasped her hand. “Hell, no. You are beautiful.” The compliment gave her stomach the feeling of floating inside her. “Those bruises aren’t ugly. They’ve proof that you survived. But they’re also proof that you’re hurt, and you’ve been through something traumatic.” His brows cranked down, and he shook his head, like he was having an argument with himself.
Jenna nodded and looked down to their joined hands where they rested on Easy’s knee. His thumb stroked over her skin again and again, and it was so comforting. She wondered if he even realized he was doing it. “I know all that’s true, but it all feels better when I’m with you.” She swallowed hard, then met his gaze. “And I don’t mean that like I’m using you to forget. Please don’t think that. It’s just …” She shrugged and searched for the words.
Easy leaned his forehead against hers. “What?”
“I like you,” she whispered. “And when I’m with you, I feel safe enough to just be a girl who likes a guy and not a kidnapping victim who could’ve died.”
“Jenna—”
“Plus you’re really sweet.”
Easy chuckled. “Don’t tell anyone that. You’ll ruin my rep.”
Jenna couldn’t help but smile. He was even sexier with a little humor shaping his face. Just then, Jenna’s stomach growled so loud it was almost a roar.
“Saved by the stomach,” he said with a wink.
She smirked. “Like you needed to be saved from me?”
“No,” he said with a pointed look. “You needed to be saved from me.”
Did you have a favorite line? Thanks for reading!
Other Books in the Hard Ink Series:
Hard to Come By (11/25/14)
Hard to Be Good (3/10/15)
Untitled (7/28/15)
Praise for the Hard Ink Series:
For Hard As You Can:
"TOP PICK! There is a sinister and desperate edge to this tale that will keep readers glued to their seats. Kaye has dark romantic suspense nailed!" ~ RT Book Reviews Magazine
"Hard As You Can is another five star read. The characters Ms. Kaye has created are wonderfully broken and the drama is gritty, but the burgeoning romance and the tight-knitted relationship of the team leaves you with a sense of redemption. A must read series!" ~San Francisco Book Review
For Hard As It Gets:
"Edgy, sexy and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!" ~ #1 NYT Bestselling Author J.R. Ward
"Sizzling romance... The intriguing tattoo parlor and military background will appeal to fans of Suzanne Brockmann and Lindsay McKenna." ~Publishers Weekly Review
"Kaye's depiction of sexual tension and her sex scenes are masterful and this will appeal to fans of Maya Banks' KGI and Julia Ann Walker's Black Knight's series." ~Booklist
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
Rafflecopter: a Rafflecopter giveaway
0 comments:
Post a Comment