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  Enjoy the following excerpt for Snowbound:

  Quickly, before anyone could catch him, Sean grasped Robyn by the elbow and eased her toward the nearest ski lift. “I saw Karen head up the hill a few minutes ago. She said she’d be skiing Thunder Run until you catch up with her. Wanna share a chair?”

  “Where’s your partner? Don’t you have to go up with him?”

  “Nope. He’s waiting for me in the warming house at the top of Demon’s Dive.”

  Heaving a theatrical sigh, she said, “I suppose I could bring myself to share a seat with you. You did bring me breakfast, after all.”

  As they moved forward in the lift line, he leaned close, letting his lips graze her cold-reddened cheek. “Breakfast in bed. Don’t forget the ‘in bed’ part.”

  He certainly wouldn’t. She’d looked so sweet as she slept curled into a flannel ball, her fiery hair fanned out over the pillow, her mouth curved in a gentle smile. He wouldn’t mind waking up to that every morning, minus the pajamas.

  And when she’d moaned in her sleep, flicked her tongue over her lips, he’d wanted so badly to kiss her awake, to make her moan for him instead of some stupid dream. He’d settled for a kiss on her cheek, a poor substitute.

  She looked like she wanted to say something, but their turn at the ticket scanner came up, and they scooted into position for the lift. A chair swooped in behind them, and then they were swinging into the air and up above the crowd. Robyn’s eyes sparkled as they climbed.

  “I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed this,” she breathed.

  “It never gets old, does it?”

  She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The way she took in the view, hanging far over the chair’s side railing, her gaze intense, said it all. Brushing a stray snowflake from the tip of her nose with one hand, she pointed into the distance with the other. “Why is that pine decorated with underwear?”

  “That’s the bootie tree.” At her uncomprehending expression, he elaborated. “Have sex with a stranger, collect their underwear, and toss ’em off the lift at the tree the next morning.” He peered down. “Looks like a lot of people got lucky last night.”

  Her naughty smile made the blood rush hotly through his veins. “What if your partner doesn’t wear underwear? What do you throw then?”

  “Trying to tell me something?” Images of Robyn’s bare body beneath her snowsuit flooded his head, and he shoved them away before his brain short-circuited.

  “You have a one-track mind.”

  He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and tucked it under her fleece headband. “I’m a guy. We all have one-track minds.”

  “Good point.”

  They continued up, and the temperature dropped sharply when they entered the cloud deck. Swirling mist surrounded them, growing so thick that the chairs in front and behind disappeared. Beneath them, the ground melted away in an ocean of gray.

  Robyn blew out a long breath. “This is freaky. Like we’re floating all alone.”

  “Alone is good.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Mmm.” He wriggled closer so their hips touched. “Why not?”

  “Because I know exactly what I want, which, FYI, isn’t you—until we’re alone together.” His pulse quickened as she turned her face up, her mouth so temptingly close. “And then I forget why I don’t want you,” she finished on a whisper.

  Her lips parted and her tongue slipped out to moisten them in a motion that was so unintentionally erotic that his chest constricted and his cock stirred. Had he ever wanted to kiss a woman so badly?

  Knowing the answer and unable to wait any longer, he leaned forward, covered her mouth with his. Her lips yielded to the gentle nudge of his tongue, which tingled with the taste of her cinnamon gloss, so sweet and spicy, like the woman who wore it. A sigh that was a boost to his ego escaped her as she reached around to cup the back of his head and pull him closer.

  As if he needed encouragement to crush his body to hers.

  Arousal rippled through his veins, making him want more than what he could get on a ski lift above the timberline, especially when her hand slid down his arm to his waist, and then lower, where it brushed over his now straining erection and settled on his thigh. His fingers ached to touch her, and he tugged off a glove from the hand not holding his poles and slipped it under her jacket and sweater. The soft, bare skin there quivered at his touch.

  Robyn moaned, arching against him and stroking his tongue with hers, deepening their kiss and turning it into something hungry and urgent. Plunging into the hot depths of her mouth, he smoothed his hand up her ribs until he found the lace edge of her bra.

  This was crazy, feeling her up in a chair lift, but he didn’t care, and apparently, she didn’t either, because she shifted to give him better access. A low growl of approval rumbled up from deep in his chest as he brushed his thumb over the plump lower swell of her breast. A delicate shudder wracked her body, a purely feminine response that called out to the male in him to make it happen again.

  Heat flared inside him, a slow burn of sensation that threatened to grow out of control with every passing second. Her fingers squeezed his thigh, inches from where he needed her to be. Silently, he willed her to slide her hand up, to stroke him until the world around them ceased to exist.

  “You can do some wonderful things with your mouth,” she murmured against his lips.

  Smiling, he dragged his mouth away, which was a good thing, since they had started to break out of the clouds. “Oh, I haven’t even begun to do wonderful things with it yet.”

  Can their friendship survive the best sex of their lives?

  Damage Control

  © 2007 Elisa Adams

  Andrea’s got her life all mapped out. She’s set on making partner before she’s thirty. Love, marriage, children—they’ll just have to wait. But a girl can only go so long with just a vibrator.

  One night of no-strings sex with her co-worker and best friend, Brian, can’t hurt—can it?

  As far as Brian’s concerned, Andrea has always been one of the guys. Intelligent, hard working, reliable—but not sexy. Then, one wine-fueled night, she turns into a temptress. And he realizes what he’s been missing all this time.

  Their company has a strict no-dating policy, and Andrea’s not going to risk her career for anything. Not even for her best friend. Not even for the toe-curling sex.

  Trouble is, she’s starting to fall for him.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Damage Control:

  Brian. She didn’t have to look up at him. She knew him by his scent. Taking a deep breath, she looked up to meet his eyes. The raw desire she saw in the blue depths made her pause for a moment, not remembering what she was about to say.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his hands on her arms to steady her.

  She nodded. “I’m fine.”

  “You look a little flushed.”

  Well, running smack into two hundred pounds of raw masculinity will do that to a girl. She reached around him and tried the knob, giving the door a solid push. It didn’t budge. “That stapler was there for a reason, you know.”

  His eyes widened as their situation hit him. “Oh, man. We’re stuck in here, aren’t we?”

  She let out a noisy breath. “It appears we are. I didn’t know you were even still here. I thought you went home a couple hours ago.”

  Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if he’d planned this whole thing. No, not even Brian would stoop so low to trap them in the closet. She hoped.

  She had to find a way out of here.

  She ran to the door and tugged on the knob, knowing it would be futile. They were stuck, and there was nothing either one of them could do about it unless someone came by, saw her key in the knob, and figured out what had happened.

  “You’re not going to be able to break down the door. Why don’t we just make the best of a bad situation?”

  Like sh
e was going to fall right back into his arms after he’d walked out on her? She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. “Let me finish. I just meant we could talk.” He cocked his head to one side. “We haven’t done that in a while. Would it really be so bad to just chat, like old friends? Like we used to, before I screwed everything up.”

  A harsh laugh escaped her. He had to be kidding. “Since you screwed it up? Wasn’t I the one who begged you to stay?” And begged for a whole lot more than that besides.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t matter. I knew I wasn’t in control. I should have left.”

  She shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s done. I just know not to drink around you anymore. If I hadn’t had that wine, it never would have happened in the first place.”

  His gaze darkened and his brows dipped into a frown. “Excuse me?”

  “We slept together because we were drunk. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Are you saying you aren’t attracted to me at all?” His tone warned her of his change in mood. His shoulders tensed and he shook his head. “If you really think there’s no spark between us, you’re lying to yourself.”

  “There isn’t.” There couldn’t be, because if there was, she’d never be able to let him go.

  “Want to make a bet on that?”

  He advanced on her, backing her against the closet door. His clean, strong scent wrapped around her, instantly making her knees weak. God, she loved the way he smelled. She might have done something embarrassing like swooning if she wasn’t a little preoccupied with the fact that he’d got them locked in the closet.

  She banged on the door with her fist, giving a half-hearted cry for help.

  “It’s just the two of us until morning. I think the janitorial staff already left for the night.” Brian’s whisper against her ear made her shudder. He rested one hand on her hip and the other on the doorframe above her head, pressing his body against hers. She reached for the doorknob and shook it, needing desperately to be out of this closet before she lost her mind entirely.

  With the man who starred in her recent illicit but oh-so-satisfying satisfying fantasies so close she could feel his heartbeat, she was already more than halfway there. Okay, so maybe there was a spark between them, but hadn’t he told her he didn’t want to act on it anymore? This was wrong for so many reasons. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. Pressing her hands against his chest, she started to push him away.

  All it took was one touch to bring everything she’d been ignoring rushing back. She sucked in a shuddering breath at the thought of that sexy body over her, inside her, coaxing her to—

  “If you keep touching me like that I’m not going to be able to control myself. I might take you right against that door you’re trying to disappear into.”

  Horrified, she looked down at her hands to discover she was massaging his chest. So much for telling him to back off. She dropped her hands and stuffed them behind her back, squeezing them tightly between her body and the cold metal door. “Sorry.”

  He barked a laugh. “I’m not. I love it when you put your hands on me. You know what I’d like to do now?”

  She looked up at him hopefully. “Inventory the office supplies?”

  He shook his head. Raw need and passion had darkened his eyes to a deep shade of midnight. He wanted her again, and he wanted her to know it, and the whole situation scared her to death. She swallowed hard and struggled to breathe. The man was too big, too sexy, and suddenly way too close for her to even form a rational thought.

  He smiled again, but this time there was nothing gentle about it. This was the smile of a predator, a man who knew exactly what he wanted and didn’t stop until he got it.

  “I want to kiss you.”

  She shook her head. No! Not again! It would change everything. But it was too late. His lips crushed hers in a kiss that was rough and gentle, soothing and claiming, and so damned arousing that she trembled all the way to her toes.

  She wasn’t even going to think about the growing dampness in her panties.

  He pinned her to the door while he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue. Her lips parted eagerly without her permission and he delved his tongue into the recesses of her mouth. She moaned when he cupped her face in his hands, drawing her even closer. Every part of her body was alive and needy. She wanted to melt into him and become part of him. His arousal pressed against her belly and she had to fight to keep her hands behind her back. It would be so easy to lose herself in him.

  Brian caught her lower lip in his teeth, nipping gently as he pulled away. His gaze was even darker than before, boring into her with the intensity of a freight train at full speed. Her knees buckled and she would have fallen if his body hadn’t been pressed so tightly against her.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this. You’re the one who wanted to stop sleeping together.” She fought for composure as she spoke, trying to hang on to that one rational cell in her sex-starved body that told her she really, really needed this job. If they got caught at the office, they’d both be tossed out on their asses.

  She lost the battle when her other cells, knowing another night of hot, steamy, knock-your-socks-off sex when they saw it, beat her last hope into submission.

  Brian’s feather-light touch across the back of her neck didn’t help any. He leaned over and ran his tongue up her throat. “Yeah, I did want to stop. As you can see, I have a little issue with resolve—or my complete and total lack of it. I hope you’re not too tired, sweetheart.” His breath was hot against her neck. “Because nobody will be back to let us out until nine in the morning. It’s going to be a long, hard night.”

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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