I'm eagerly awaiting the finished cover for Miami Heat. I've seen it, and I love it! The wait is excruciating. In the meantime, please enjoy this excerpt:
Sakura
set the phone aside and stood to walk around the coffee table. Earlier she had
rolled out an exercise mat in the middle of the floor and prepared to do some
stretching, but calls interrupted the plan. Work often waylaid her, which meant
she’d yet to complete the area she’d chosen as a workout room. Of course, she
wouldn’t do the redesign herself. She had the means to hire a contractor, but
she needed to supervise, and back-to-back travel made that impossible.
“Sakura?
Are you still there?”
She
sighed and raised her hands over her head in a long stretch, then bent over to
press her forehead to her shins. “I’m here, Dad. Just—”
“Am
I on speaker? You know I don’t like being on speaker, sweetheart.”
She
rolled her eyes but didn’t respond.
“I
don’t see why you’re going to Miami,” he complained. “There are plenty of leads
for shifters in various other places.”
“Are
you going to launch into another speech about how great Roger, the new guy is?
I’ve heard it. He’s brilliant. He recovered tons of data from what Shiya
dumped, right?”
Her
father harrumphed over the line. She pictured his face, scowling, temper
rising. Sakura knew how far to push the man before he blew, and she treated him
with kid gloves—her dad and her brother, for that matter. They all respected
her dad as head of the family and powerful leader of the Keith shifter hunters,
but she also recognized how her dad felt about her and her sisters.
Anticipating
his reprimand, she continued. “I’m taking a small break, Dad. No big deal.”
“Miami
though? Honey, there are many exotic locations you could enjoy for your
vacation. If it’s a matter of money…”
“Please.”
She chuckled. “The last thing a Keith needs is money.” Her father didn’t understand
the more he protested her flying to Miami, the more she desired to go. She’d
been honest about her travel plans but not her reasons. Shae’s call took her by
surprise, and at first Sakura intended to ignore it and seek out Shiya in
Juneau to set her stupid sister straight. Shae, not even being human anymore
was a lost cause, and Sakura still wrestled with whether to fly to Tokyo to
hunt her and her lover down. However, when Shae arrived in Tokyo, she had faxed
Sakura the picture of their mom, one she’d seen a few times when their brother
Kasen tried to shove it down their throat as motivation to do their job. Sakura
had kicked him in the throat and dared him to try that crap with her again.
When
she took the time to examine the picture, along with reading her sister’s
message, she came to the same conclusion Shae had. Something wasn’t right, and
she needed to get to the bottom of it. She could simply go to her dad and ask
him straight out about what really happened to their mother, but if he were willing
to come clean in the first place, they wouldn’t be wondering what happened. Now
that she considered it, she had no idea why they believed him in the first
place. Then again, what reason would she and her sisters have had to think he
would lie?
Five
years ago, when she got the news her mother was dead, killed by a shifter, she
had abandoned her assignment at the time and come home, devastated just like
the others. Grief-stricken, they had stood together at her mother’s funeral.
She remembered she hadn’t wanted to go on, didn’t think it were possible, but
she had hidden it from the others. Shae had been enraged just like Kasen, and
Shiya had disappeared behind her computer screen, more determined to root out
the enemy. Eventually, Sakura found her strength and renewed her dedication to
ridding the earth of the unnatural beasts.
Now,
she’d been studying the picture of her mother lying in a hotel room bed, her
body in tatters. They had blamed the bear shifter all this time, whoever he
was. Shae’s lover, a cop, had said the wounds were not made by a bear, but she
had no intention of going by his word alone. The one fact she did accept after
verifying it was that the bridge in the background was located in Miami, not
Vegas. That much made it clear things were not as they seemed, and who knew,
maybe her dad was in the dark as much as she was about what really happened to
her mother. Whoever had been the cause of her losing the woman she had idolized
and loved more than life itself, they would answer to her.
“Daddy,”
she said, placating the man, knowing he’d have kept all three of the girls in
pigtails and patent leathers if he could, “it’s just for a little while. Don’t
sweat it. And if Miami turns out to not be the place for me, then I’ll fly to…
somewhere…maybe Madrid.”
Her
father sighed over the line. “Okay, honey. One of the men should go with you to
keep you safe.”
“I’ll
be fine.”
“I’d
feel better if—”
“Okay,
I’ll ask Adam.” Her heart sped up with just the mention of the man’s name. Adam
was her protector and her current lover. She didn’t mind him tagging along.
Over the last few months, they’d hardly been apart.
“Good,”
her dad said, and she heard relief in his tone. “Call me when you’re settled
in.”
“Will
do. Bye.”
She
straightened from a lunge and walked over to tap the disconnect button on her
phone. Right away, a sound caught her attention, a creak in the floor. Rather
than look toward the hall, she pretended not to hear it. Every muscle in her
body tensed, but she forced herself to stay loose. Although she strained, she
heard no new sound, but she was no longer alone in the house.
Sakura
reached for her hairband and pulled her hair back behind her head. With a few
twists, she had secured it into a ponytail and rolled her shoulders. When the
attack came, she was ready for it. The man leaped over the back of the couch
from behind her. She gave him credit for her not seeing him enter the room. At
the last second, she sidestepped, and he went hurtling past. He shoulder rolled
and landed on his feet, eyes narrowed and trained on her. Sakura took in his
build, six feet or a bit over, muscular, short black hair, translucent brown
eyes, and a firm jaw.
Before
he could move again, she pulled the knife from beneath the couch cushion and
hurtled it at him. The man ducked, and the weapon sliced into the far wall at
the level where his face had been seconds earlier. His brows rose, but she spun
away to retrieve another knife, taped beneath the coffee table.
“Oh
no you don’t,” he groused, his Latino roots clear in the lilt to his words.
“You are not getting away from me, mami.”
His
arm came around her waist, and before she could stomp his foot, he hauled her off
her feet. She elbowed him in the side, and his grasp loosened. A fist to his
chin sent his head snapping back, and she broke free, dropped to the floor, and
swiped a leg out to trip him. His stance was so strong, her kick did nothing
but send vibrations of pain up her leg, and she gritted her teeth. The attacker
wrapped her ponytail around a large fist and brought the bulk of his body down
on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Sakura gasped.
“Bastard,”
she growled, and tried to jab two fingers into his eyes. He caught the hand and
jerked her arm across her body. She tried again, but he released her hair and
caught that hand too. Now she lay beneath him, her arms crossed over her head
and completely at his mercy. He shifted to hold both wrists in one palm, and
then his hips rose off hers. She prepared for another move, but the clink of
his belt brought her up short. The next instant, he snatched the seat of her
panties aside and sank his cock deep into her pussy. Sakura cried out.
“Mm,”
he moaned in her ear. “You feel so good. Do you see how hard you made me
fighting me like that?”
Sakura
bit her lip and shut her eyes. She stopped struggling and let her forehead rest
on the exercise mat. “Adam, you bum, you play dirty.”
He
chuckled and kissed her ear. “I think I deserve a lot more than this. You
didn’t hold back with that knife.
“That’s
my job.” She moaned. His deep thrusts drove her insane. The feel of his shaft
inside her, combined with his natural male scent, the hardness of his muscles,
his voice, all of it worked together to give her ultimate pleasure, which was
one reason she hadn’t sent him packing like she’d done with past lovers. None
of them compared to Adam, but she refused to admit it to him. Let the man think
he could be replaced today or tomorrow.
He
released her wrists and brought his hands down to her waist. A swift movement
rolled him to his back and her straddling his hips with her back to him. Sakura
gripped his thighs and began riding his cock.
Her
security system was rock solid, and when the alarm didn’t go off, she’d known
it was him who entered the house. They played these games almost from day one when
she began sparring with him, but more and more the fighting led to hot sex.
What pleased her just as much as having him make love to her was knowing she
could no longer best him. He was right. She’d tried to get the upper hand and
bring him down, but somewhere along the way, the greenhorn her dad had brought
on to work with the Keith family had grown beyond what anyone ever expected.
Sakura hated admitting it, but even with her own dirty tricks to win a fight,
she found it impossible to beat Adam. He both frustrated and turned her on.
Adam
sat up behind her and brought a hand around her belly. His splayed fingers
teased her flesh, making her hotter. She trembled on top of him, desperate to
come. When he grabbed her hand and curled her fingers around her panties, he
spoke a harsh command in her ear. “Hold them.”
She
did as he asked, keeping the panties out of the way while he squeezed her waist
in a tight hold and drove her up and down his shaft, at the same time pushing
upward into her pussy. She screamed his name and rocked hard on him, wanting it
all. Her clit throbbed, and she rubbed it, sending sensations of pleasure
pulsing through her core. Adam swore in Spanish, and just as she came, shaking
and moaning, he emptied himself inside her.
“Ay, tù tan caliente,”
he murmured, and she fell back against his chest.
She
climbed off him and headed down the hall, stripping as she walked. Adam’s light
step sounded behind her, and she smiled. “You’re sloppy, Adam Michael Martinez.
I heard you in the hall. You’re supposed to be stealthier than that.”
“All
three names, huh?” he asked, amused. “If your house wasn’t so old…”
She
glared at him over her shoulder. He’d stripped as well, and she almost missed a
step taking in the rich, taut, skin that made him look like he had a year
around tan. Adam’s knowing glance, his brow raised, said he knew the affect his
body had on her. She turned away quickly. One thing she’d learned over the
years, and that was never to let a man get control. Not real control anyway.
She didn’t mind Adam ordering her sometimes when it came to sex, but that was
as far as she’d ever let it go. Loving Adam would mean weakness, and that
wasn’t happening.
They
showered together, Sakura riding him once more while he held her up in front of
him. Then they dressed and returned to the living room. She figured she
wouldn’t get any more exercise in that day, so she rolled up the mat. Besides,
Adam had given her more than enough.
“I’m
going to Miami,” she announced when she was done. “Want to tag along?”
He
dropped on the couch, his shirt still open. She resisted going over to sit on
his lap or at his side and took an armchair instead. “The thing with your
parents?”
“My
mom, yes.” She eyed him. “You haven’t told anyone, have you?”
“Of
course not. I’m still reeling that you shared the details of your concerns in
the first place. Sakura Keith doesn’t open up easily. I’m going to enjoy it
while it lasts.”
“Whatever.
Anyway, do you want to come along? I told Dad I’d take a protector.”
“I’m
your only protector,” he said, and she smirked. He patted the chair beside him.
“Come here.”
She
raised an eyebrow at him.
“Please.”
She
sighed and stood to move to his side. When he raised his arm, she gave in to
the urge to settle into his side and breathe in his scent. He smelled of her
bath gel and shampoo. She pushed fingers into his damp hair, loving how he kept
it cut short, almost as if it had been hacked off in stunted spikes, but with
order and sexiness.
“Marry
me, Sakura.”
All
thoughts of his hair fled her mind. “Adam, you’ve asked me a million times…”
“Twice.”
“Well,
this makes the third time.” She straightened. “And don’t say that charm thing,
or I’ll punch you.”
He
opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind. A stubborn set she
recognized came over him, the light in his eyes and the stiffness in his jaw.
“I’m not giving up on you.”
“You
might as well because it’s not happening!” She considered cutting off their
relationship, but the words to dump him locked on her tongue. Instead, she
tried another tactic to drive the message home. “I helped refine your skills
when you were a newb.”
“So
what?”
“I
can’t see you as anything but well…”
“Beneath
you,” he growled and surged to his feet. “You think I’m not on your level
because I work for your dad and because when we met you put me on my back with
a well-placed kick. Is that it?”
“I
don’t think you’re beneath me.”
He
bent almost in half, standing in front of her. “Look me in the eyes and say
that.”
She
waved a hand and stood. Pushing him back both failed and turned out to be a
mistake. Touching Adam at any time woke desire in her body, even if they’d just
had sex, and the man’s strength far exceeded her own. She tried moving away. He
caught her and spun her to face him.
“Sakura.”
Damn,
how she enjoyed her name on his lips. She’d always hated the name, feeling it
did not define who she was. With the way Shae lived now, a Japanese lover, the
name Sakura would be perfect for her.
“Okay,”
she admitted. Maybe she needed to offend Adam to make him back off. “I do think
you’re beneath me. I mean you’re right. I can’t beat you anymore, but all I
still see is the scrawny little weakling that came along begging my father to
give him a chance.”
Adam
flinched. She’d lied. He branded his image on her mind and body on a daily
basis. A scrawny weakling was not what she saw.
“You’re
still begging, but now it’s me you want. You already got the job.”
His
nostrils flared, and he released her to step back. “That’s what you think, huh?
I’m using you?”
Regret
tightened in her chest. “I didn’t say that. Look, Adam. We’re not right for
each other, okay? The sooner you accept it, the better.” She dared look at him
but didn’t see the hurt she expected. His face a mask of anger, his nostrils
flared, he spun away to pace. Sakura straightened her shoulders. “Are you going
with me to Miami?”
“No.”
She
blinked. “What?”
He
stopped pacing and faced her. She still couldn’t read his expression and what
might be on his mind. “You said yourself this isn’t work related, and I’m just
a protector, correct? I’m under no obligation to join you.”
“Are
you for real? You’re going to be that way?”
“What
way, Sakura? Did you expect me to trot along behind you, to kiss your ass?”
Her
temper flared, and she raised a hand to smack his face, but he caught it. They
eyed each other in silence a few minutes, and then she wrenched her arm from
his hold. “You’re free to get the hell out of my house.”
As
she stomped down the hall, she waited for him to follow or to call after her,
but his steps echoed in the opposite direction. Soon the front door opened and
closed, and Sakura found a tear running down her face. She swiped at it,
scrubbing her cheek until it hurt and then began packing a suitcase. From this
moment, she needed to dismiss Adam from her thoughts and concentrate on
gathering information about her mother’s death. When she returned San Diego,
she and Adam would talk.
