I really should change the topic from Her Man to Her Men to match the snippet I’ve chosen today. That heroine’s first glimpse of the hero. The only book I’ve written where the heroine doesn’t already know the hero, or in this case, heroes, is Tangled Past. And although she’d met Jackson and Nate in the first scene, it was from their point of view. Now Sarah’s seeing the real side of them, the side they wouldn’t dare show society…
Tangled Past
Copyright © Leah Braemel
What if they go to the sheriff and he finds Walt has been involved in other robberies? Or Josiah? They could be sentenced to hang.
There was a rustling noise followed by a sigh. One of them, Sarah couldn’t tell which, made a hmming noise, then the barn fell silent again.
You have to tell them at least to be careful. Or to take a different route home. If Walt does ambush them, if he kills them, you’ll never be able to live with yourself.
Sarah took one step forward, only to stop when Nate spoke again. “She sure can cook too. Not that you’d know it from the way Walt ate. She might as well have poured his portion in the danged pig trough the way he slurped it up.”
“Yup. Talking of eating…I got something you can eat.” Jackson chuckled, a pleasant sound that warmed Sarah’s chest in a most peculiar way. It was chilly out, but not enough to make her nipples harden beneath her cloak.
All thoughts of warning them flew out of her head. Curious as to what they were talking about, she crept forward until she could peer into the stall. While most of the stall was in shadows, thin wedges of moonlight sliced through several holes in the walls high above, illuminating where the two men lay. They’d pulled their bedrolls together. Supporting himself on one elbow, a shirtless Nate faced Jackson.
Parts of her body she’d never been aware of before pulsed deep inside her as she watched Nate undo Jackson’s shirt buttons. He spread the fabric wide, revealing a hard chest and flat stomach. His fingers played with one of the dark pebbled nipples, flicking it between his thumb and forefinger.
Oh! Oh my. She pressed her hands to her mouth and took a step back. Josiah had lately taken to quoting passages from the bible to denounce her mother’s adultery. Some of the passages had mentioned men touching men, talked about such behavior deserving death. Without thinking she leaned closer, unable to look away. How could such tenderness be a sin?
Would a man do that to a woman too? Under the cover of her cloak, her own hand mimicked Nate’s, tugging and playing with the hard bud of her breast. Her knees weakened, and she leaned against the stall wall. Oh dear heavens, what would it feel like if a man touched her there instead of her doing it to herself?
Nate’s hand disappeared beneath the cover. Jackson moaned, hips arching up and hands fisting at his side. “Oh, fuck, Nate, I’m not going to last long if you keep that up.”
The cover fell away, revealing Nate’s hand encircling Jackson’s erection. He pumped up and down along the shaft, his thumb moving over the bulbous head. Dear God, she’d never seen anything so…scandalous. So beautiful.
Sarah didn’t think she’d moved or made a sound, but Jackson jumped up from the bedroll and stared at her as if she’d shot a pistol. She whirled and raced for the door. He grabbed her before she could get out of the barn.
“How long have you been here? What did you see?” His words cracked through the air like a whip.
She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. For a woman, she was tall, but he topped her by half a foot. A sliver of moonlight slanted across his face, accentuating the sharp planes of his cheekbones while hiding his eyes in shadows. The light also highlighted his lack of clothes, the broad expanse of chest, and flat belly, a body finely honed by hard work. Her gaze lowered, drawn to his still-rampant arousal. It suddenly occurred to her how stupid she’d been, walking into the barn, alone with two men who could do whatever they wanted to her with no one to stop them.
*HARLEQUIN COVER ART: Cover Art Copyright© 2011 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. © and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.
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Myla Jackson
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Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
McKenna Jeffries
Shiloh Walker
Taige Crenshaw
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HelenKay Dimon
Felicity Heaton
Lissa Matthews
TJ Michaels
The first time I was really aware of cowboys was watching the old episodes of Bonanza. Yes, I’ll admit it. I had a thing for Little Joe. (Though strangely enough I didn’t follow Michael Landon over to Little House on the Prairie.) When I look at many of the cowboy stories that I read these days, they share similar elements–successful ranchers, generally a group of brothers, facing challenges both personal and to their ranch. (Did anyone ever point out to Pa Cartwright’s love interests that getting involved with him was a dangerous undertaking? I mean, all three of his sons had different mothers!)
“Uh-uh, no apologies from you tonight. We’ll take tonight right slow, all right?” He leaned back and tilted his head. “Sit down on that chair in front of the dressing table.”