I have a new website!

Happy New Year!

I'm happy to announce that I have a beautiful new website, and you can find me there from now on...

http://www.melanieharlow.com/

I hope 2014 brings you joy and luck and good books and many happy cocktails with friends.

Cheers!

Sexy Speak Low Scene

Excitement this week!

First, Speak Easy is freeeeeeee through December 7th on Amazon. Grab it!

Next, I'm in the author spotlight on the lovely Biblio Belles Book Blog! Check it out for a Speak Easy teaser and a chance to win a signed copy, signed bookmarks, and an eBook of Unwrapped, the NAturals' novella collection out December 23rd!

Finally, here is a sexy scene from Speak Low--no spoilers, promise!

“Come with me.”

Joey’s words floated toward me through the dark, whispered in a low voice, raw with need. Masculine scents of smoke and whiskey and aftershave filled my head, and I breathed deeply before a sigh escaped my lips. Then his mouth was on mine, hot and hard and heavy. Too heavy.

Joey, I won’t fight you. Take me away.

I tried to murmur words against his lips, but the pressure on my mouth wouldn’t let up. I’m dreaming, I thought in a haze of confused arousal.

But when I opened my eyes, the man in my room was real.

And it wasn’t Joey.

“Shhhh,” Enzo whispered, his hand over my mouth. “Come with me. Now.”

My pulse, already racing, kicked up even higher at his invitation, at his touch on my lips, at the promise of sneaking somewhere alone with him in the dark. Clothed in only my light summer nightgown, I followed him past my father’s closed bedroom door, carefully moving down the stairs in my bare feet. It didn’t surprise me at all that Enzo had come right in the front door—he had a way with locks I’d learned not to question.

Outside, I hurried toward a gorgeous cream-colored Packard sedan parked at the curb. Enzo opened the passenger door for me and I slid in, tucking my hands underneath my legs. As I watched his lean, muscular frame move around the front of the car and open the driver’s side door, my insides tightened with desire. He wore no coat, no vest, and no collar on his white shirt. The top few buttons were undone, and my fingers itched to pull the shirt from his trousers and undo the rest of them so I could work off some of the tension inside me. I dug my fingernails into my thighs.

As soon as the motor was running Enzo hit the accelerator, speeding down the street and turning onto Jefferson so quickly I had to brace myself against the door. My heart thrummed hard in my chest. Neither of us spoke, but when his right hand slid across the seat and under the hem of my short nightgown, I moved closer to him.

His expression remained impassive and his eyes on the road, although I saw the slightest twitch in his jaw. I held my breath when his hand settled on the inside of my thigh and slowly crept higher. When his fingers brushed against the soft folds between my legs and he realized I wasn’t wearing underwear, he glanced sharply at me.

My eyes pleaded with him to continue. I wanted to lose control, lose my mind, lose myself. I wanted the heart-pounding abandon that overwhelmed us when we let ourselves forget who we were and why every moment between us was stolen. Ten days ago I hadn’t even known his name, but he’d awakened something in me, something instinctual and insatiable that would not be ignored.

And I didn’t want to ignore it. I wanted to indulge it—now.

With my eyes locked on the exquisite lines of his profile, I put my left hand between his legs. His cock was already hard, but as I rubbed him up and down, it swelled further and strained tighter against his trousers. He slipped a fingertip inside me, sliding it up the slick seam at my center, keeping it torturously shallow, before moving it gently back and forth over the tiny spot that electrified my entire body.

With one hand I slipped the buttons of his trousers through the holes and slid my palm down his hot, tight abdomen. When I wrapped my hand around his solid flesh, he grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.

I said nothing, just moved my hand up and down the hot, thick column, squeezing tight and keeping the rhythm steady, the way I knew he liked it. My lips curved into a smile. The thrill of touching Enzo this way filled me with a sense of power and freedom so intoxicating I often felt drunk when we were together, even when no alcohol had been consumed. The forward motion of the car, the rush of night flying past the windows, the hum of the tires on the road—all of it added to the maelstrom building inside me.

Suddenly the Packard swerved. At first I thought it was accidental, but then I saw that Enzo had turned down a silent residential street with large homes set back from the road. He turned off the engine, looked at me with glittering black eyes, and uttered just one word: “Now.”

The keys barely hit the floor before he hauled me onto his lap.

I straddled him, one knee on either side of his hips, and he took my head in his hands, crushing his mouth to mine. We weren’t in love, about that I had no illusions, but our desire for each other was volatile and fierce, and we kissed as if we were starved, as if our hunger could never be satisfied. Enzo slipped his arms from his braces and I shoved at the sides of his trousers. Without taking his mouth off me, he lifted his hips and managed to shimmy them down just enough. I grasped his swollen cock in my hand again, anxious to feel it inside me.

But we’d already been careless once the night before. “Wait,” I breathed. Do you have…you know…”

Without answering, he tilted sideways and reached under the front seat. When he righted himself, he held a small condom tin, and with one hand, he opened it, slipped one from its paper wrapper, and slid it on.

I lowered myself onto him, intending to go slow since I was still tender from the night before. But Enzo had other ideas. He grabbed my hips and yanked me down hard, both of us gasping at the shock of it. Bracing my hands on the top of the seat behind him, I turned my face away from his and kept still, allowing my body to push past the sharp twinge of pain.

His mouth, hot and wet, traveled down the exposed side of my neck as the ache inside me eased. He swirled his tongue in an intricate pattern along my throat and down to my shoulder. Instinctively, the muscles surrounding him contracted, and I gasped when I felt his teeth sink into my skin. Then he brushed his lips over the spot, soft as a feather.

Aroused by the whisper of his lips on my neck after the sting of the bite, I began to move, slowly rocking my hips forward and back, and clenching him tight inside me. He picked up his head and our eyes met, our mouths open and breathing hotly against one another.

Then he took control of the rhythm between us, using his hands on my hips, pulling and pushing my body against his, increasingly harder and faster. He cursed and closed his eyes while I smiled and reached up, flattening my palms on the car’s ceiling. I let him move me the way he wanted, but I arched my back a little to feel the base of his cock just where I wanted it. A sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead, glistening in the dark, and my back prickled with trapped heat under my nightgown. 

Oh my God. Yes, yes, yes…

Pressure built inside me, the powerful need for release a gathering storm at my center, and I wanted to widen my knees even farther to take him deeper. My blood roared, my skin hummed, and every muscle in my body began to tighten.

“Yes,” I said, my voice soft and pleading. “Don’t stop. Oh God, Enzo—yes, like that. Don’t stop…”

He cursed again, and I could feel him start to throb inside me. He dug his fingers into my skin and held me tight to him as he came, and the sight of his gorgeous face and the pulse of his powerful orgasm and even the knowledge that we could be seen through the windows sent me flying over the edge of my own pleasure. I closed my eyes, dropped my head back, and let the waves crash through me.

Breathing hard, I stared at the ceiling of the car as stars swam in front of my eyes. Enzo touched my throat, trailing five fingers down to my chest. “I want you,” he growled.

I laughed lazily, picking my head up. “Again? Already?”

He didn’t smile. “I want you for myself.” His palm flattened over one breast and he squeezed it before sliding his hand to the small of my back. “I don’t want anyone else to have what I have.”

My body was still tingling, but his words abraded the lingering hum a little. I wasn’t interested in being anyone’s possession.

And Enzo had no room to talk.

“You’re the one with the fiancée, not me.”

“I told you last night—that’s a business arrangement.”

“I remember.” Irritated at the thought of the squeaking little chippie he was engaged to marry, I tried to get off his lap, but he held me there. His flesh was still relatively hard inside me, but I was no longer in the mood.

“Jealous?”

“No.” But my cheeks were burning. “I just don’t like being reminded of your goddamn girlfriend while I’m sitting on your lap.”

“That’s more than just my lap you’re on, isn’t it?”

“Stop it. You know what I mean. Here you are talking about not wanting others to have me, but I don’t even know when we can see each other, between my father and your fiancée, and—”

“Your father won’t be a problem. He’ll be so busy with his new business venture, he won’t even notice you’re gone.”

“New business venture…you mean the new building?”

“And the gambling. I set that up, you know.”

I blinked in surprise. “Your father let you do that?”

“I’m a grown man, Tiny. My father doesn’t control me.” Anger edged its way underneath his words.

“Sorry, but I thought it was Angel who’d made the deal with my father today. He never said anything about you.”

“Well, I was there,” he said, irritated. “It was my idea to move Jack to a new building, let him run a few games, and let Raymond take over the bootlegging from Canada on his own.”

At the mention of his brother, I froze. “Raymond was there?”

Enzo smiled. “No, he’s still recovering from the wrath of Tiny O’Mara.”

In my mind I relived the adrenaline-and-terror-fueled blow to his head. I felt no guilt, but I did fear further violence. “Is he going to come after me again?”

“If he does, he’ll have me to answer to.”

“But he’s your brother.”

“I don’t fucking care who he is—anyone touches you, anyone even looks at you in a way I don’t like, I’ll kill him.”

Unease slithered up my body, wrapping itself around my chest like a boa constrictor. I tried to shake it off and speak lightly.  “So it’s OK for you to have a fiancée, but no one can even look my way?”

“You know, if your friends hadn’t stolen that shipment, I wouldn’t be in this position. I could probably even break it off with Gina.”

I raised an eyebrow. This was something new. Yesterday when I’d confronted him about the engagement, he hadn’t said anything about leaving Gina Meloni, whose father owned a whiskey distillery in Kentucky. “Oh?”

“But now I can’t postpone anything until I pay for the fucking whiskey I ordered. It’s in Meloni’s warehouse, but he won’t deliver it until I pay him. And his men won’t let anyone else deliver booze to the club, which is a big fucking problem, as you might imagine.”

I didn’t much care about his whisky problem. “Postpone what? I thought you were already engaged.” I tried to recall a ring on Gina’s finger, but couldn’t. The couple times I’d seen her at the club, I hadn’t known about the engagement so I hadn’t thought to look for one.

Enzo turned his head and stared out the window. “I asked her father for more time to get the cash for the whiskey, and he offered a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“If Gina and I get married now, he’ll forgive the debt.”

The irony that it was now Enzo forced to come up with thousands of dollars on a deadline wasn’t lost on me, but I couldn’t help obsessing over the word married, especially in light of our intimate seating arrangement. “Wait a minute…you’re actually going to marry her?”

“I’m trying to get out of it.”

My mouth fell open “Jesus Christ, Enzo!” This time when I wrestled my way off his lap, he didn’t stop me.

“What’s the problem, Tiny? It’s not as if you didn’t know about her. We discussed the fact that you and I are a secret, remember? That’s half the fun.”

We had discussed it, sort of—actually it was less a discussion and more his telling me how things had to be. If I wanted him, those were the terms. And while the secrecy did add a certain clandestine thrill to our meetings, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a married man’s mistress. Frowning, I looked away as he removed the spent condom.

“Listen to me,” he said. “Gina’s not important. What matters is that I can’t let Meloni see I can be bested by a bunch of fucking upstart delinquents from the Scarfone gang. He’ll make my life hell. He’ll think he can push me around. That’s why I have to go after them myself. Forget what I told you about talking to Lupo.”

At the mention of Joey, I froze. “What?”

“I need to handle this now. I can’t wait around and hope that he tells you something.”

“Can’t you just ask your father for the money?”

“I’m not a fucking child, Tiny. I can handle this myself.”

 “So now what?” Pressing my knees together, I pushed my nightgown down and tucked it around my legs. My thighs were sticky.

“So now I get my money back from those assholes. I can’t let it be known that you can steal from Enzo DiFiore. I have to send a message.”

Chills swept down my arms. “How?”

He set his jaw and didn’t answer, but I knew what he was thinking. My stomach heaved, imagining it could be Joey on the receiving end of that message. “Don’t, Enzo. You don’t have to hurt anyone—let me help you.”

“You can’t help me.”

“Yes, I can.” What are you doing? a voice inside me screamed.

But I ignored it.

“The River Gang didn’t sell the opium. Joey brought it back to Detroit.” I whispered the words, as if the volume at which I betrayed Joey might lessen its reprehensibility.

Enzo fixed his eyes on me. “What? Who told you that?”

“Joey wants to talk to you. Maybe make a deal with you.” The words tumbled out quickly.

“Where is it?”

Finally I bit my tongue. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, I think you do.” He leaned closer, slipping his arms around me and dragging me across his lap on my back. My legs extended along the seat, and I pressed my knees together as his right hand slid under my nightgown again. “And you’re going to tell me.”

“Enzo, please.”

He kneaded my thigh, but his touch was gentle, too gentle for how I knew he must be feeling inside. And he was smiling. “Tell me, darling.”

I chewed my bottom lip as his eyes searched my face. Despite his warm hands on me, the curve of his lips was as chilling as the calm in his voice. It was the Enzo I’d first met, the one who could mask his emotions so masterfully that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He’d let some of that façade slip in the last few days. But now there’s something he wants more than you. “I can’t.”

His smile widened as his fingers slid higher and worked between my inner thighs. “You can do anything you want,” he said softly, bringing his lips close to mine as he began to stroke me. “You’re still wet. I love that I make you this wet.” Lowering his mouth, he slid his tongue between my lips and eased one finger, then another, inside me, his languid kiss mirroring the gentle rhythm of his hand.

Somewhere inside my brain was a voice warning me that this was wrong, that I’d made a promise to Joey, that Enzo wasn’t kissing me this way because he cared for me. But I silenced it by telling myself I’d done the right thing by revealing Joey’s secret—I’d prevented Enzo from hurting anyone. And even if Enzo didn’t love me, he certainly loved pleasing me, and maybe that was enough. As his tongue swept mine, my arms snaked around his neck and I widened my knees a little.

“Good girl,” he whispered, removing his fingers to caress my tender, swollen flesh before plunging them deep inside me again. “You’re going to come again for me.”

“Oh God…” I clutched at his neck and turned my face into his chest, but even the smell of him, smoky and masculine, drove me mad with desire.

He rubbed his wet fingers over the most sensitive skin on my body. “I know everything you want. And I can give it all to you, you know I can.” His voice was dulcet, the words dripping from his lips like honey. “Your own apartment, money to do as you please, new clothes…the life you deserve. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

When I moaned, he rubbed faster and harder, and I could only think yes, yes, yes. I murmured the words, and he brought his lips closer to my ear.

“Wouldn’t you like your own place? Where we can be together whenever we want? I’ll make you come all…night…long.”

His breath tickled my skin, his words echoing through the roar of blood and the buzz of nerve endings and—oh my God the way he touched me made me feel like nothing else mattered but the moment and the need and the heat and the spiraling climb toward release…

“Yes!” I cried out, lifting my hips against his hand as the second orgasm exploded inside me, no less powerful than the first. When the tightness finally eased, my bones were floating in my skin.

“Mmmmm.” He kissed me again. “You’ll need an apartment that has thick walls.”

I managed a tiny smile.

“So what do you say?”

 “I…can’t afford an apartment.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“No.” Orgasms aside, I didn’t want to him to own me.

“Then I’ll get you a job. Would you like to work at the club?”

“Work at the club? What would I do?”

“Whatever you want. Hostess? Hat check? Waitress?” He cocked his head. “You don’t sing, do you? Or dance? You’d look fantastic on stage in a short little costume.”

“Uh, no.” Because one of my legs was slightly shorter than the other, the result of a difficult birth during which my hip was broken, I’d never felt terribly natural while dancing—sometimes even walking comfortably was a chore. And my singing made my cooking skills look good.

“Well, you can think about it then. But I’ll see to it that you’re paid very well, if you want.”

I exhaled, closing my eyes. Of course I wanted it. I wanted everything he just mentioned—the apartment, the nights with him, the money to do as I pleased, the freedom to make my choices and own my mistakes as well as my successes. What young woman didn’t want to live a flapper’s life with all its wicked delights?

But at what price?

If I told Enzo where the opium was and he took it back, Joey would know I’d betrayed him. But if I didn’t, Enzo would take matters into his own hands and people would get hurt, maybe even killed.

I opened my eyes. “If I tell you where the opium is, you have to promise me you’ll give me a chance to talk to Joey before you take it.”

“I can’t promise that, Tiny. But I can promise that if you don’t tell me, I’ll have no choice but to settle this score my own way.”

My heart stuttered. “Well…you can’t hurt Joey. Promise that.”

Enzo stiffened. “What is he to you?”

“A friend.”

Silence. “I won’t have to hurt him if he cooperates. And I won’t have to marry Gina if I get the cash for the drugs.”

It was so dark, I couldn’t read his eyes. I wanted everything he was offering. And I didn’t want him to marry Gina. What had he said to me this morning? You and I are going to have to trust each other a little bit.

I took a breath. “It’s in the boathouse.”

A smile crept onto his lips, slow and sinister. “Shall we take a ride?”

I struggled to sit up. “No!”

He shifted me onto the seat beside him and started the car.

Panicked, I put my hands on his arm and tugged. “Please, Enzo. Just wait, all right?” It occurred to me that I wasn’t entirely positive the drugs were still in the boathouse. Even if they had been there earlier today, Joey might have moved them after dropping me off. I hung on as he swung the car around and headed back onto Jefferson. “Listen, I wasn’t supposed to tell you anything yet, and now I’ll be in trouble.”

Enzo laughed. “Trouble is your middle name, darling.”

Want more??? Click here to grab it for $2.99!

Cheers,
Melanie

Unwrapped Cover Reveal

I'm so exited to reveal this cover today, not only because I love it so much (it's the same designer who did Speak Easy and Speak Low!) but because it's the first official collaboration between me and my five dearest writing friends.

We each provided a short story for this book, so you're getting six novellas PLUS the hot little story we co-wrote last summer, The Boy Next Door. The stories in Unwrapped are a little of everything but a whole lot of sexy and fun. 

What's my contribution about? Well, it's called Three to Tango, and it's about a shy, romance novel-obsessed girl named Caroline who learns to channel her inner smut goddess after a sexy tango lesson with Nicolas, a hot foreign instructor--and his gorgeous partner, Valentina.

More about that later! For now...

COVER REVEAL

A New Adult Romance

Six different novellas

by the NAturals

Laurelin Paige, Gennifer Albin, Melanie Harlow, 

Sierra Simone, Kayti McGee Downey, and Tamara Mataya

Release: December 23, 2013

Cover designed by Tom Barnes Design

Six romance authors present six very different novellas in this anthology of new stories: Ménage a tango lessons. A bride DYING to say, 'I don't.' A horny college boy at a purity rally. Time-traveling graduate students meet Victorian playboys. A rugby player who's as dirty off the field as on. And kissing under the mistletoe with a Scottish exchange student. Something for everyone, the NAturals present sweet, funny, and erotic tales of new adults meant to be Unwrapped all year long and not just at Christmas.   About the Authors Laurelin Paige, Gennifer Albin, Melanie Harlow, Sierra Simone, Kayti McGee Downey, and Tamara Mataya are the six authors who blog for TheNaturalAuthors.blogspot.com. They each write romance and adore pushing the boundaries of the genre. Above all, they love reading smut, looking at pictures of hot men, and making up names for the band they’re always talking about forming. Blog | Facebook | Twitter  

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Wanted to Hate Night Owl

I'm ashamed of myself.

On Saturday I started Night Owl, hoping it would be bad. Really bad.

You see, I had something against the author.

I didn't know the author personally. In fact, I had never even heard of M. Pierce or Night Owl. But I was aggravated by something Pierce said in a blog post about the way authors price their ebooks.

And I was fist-clenching, teeth-gritting jealous.

This was an author who came out of nowhere with a debut novel that rocketed to the top ten in the Kindle store pretty fast. Reviews of Night Owl are amazing.

I was convinced M. Pierce was a pen name for an established author or an agent. One who had connections. One who had a built-in fan base. Or maybe a Big Name to blurb the book. In other words, M. Pierce wasn't starting at the bottom, like me.

So I got the free sample on Kindle (yes, I'm cheap) and started reading, hoping that the writing would be bad, the editing shoddy, the smut recycled from every other alpha male book out there right now. Then, I reasoned, I would not feel so bad that I do not sell a million books a day. Because at least I know how to use punctuation.

I poured a glass of wine, gave a final harrumph, and started to read.

Two pages in, I was hooked. And furious.

How DARE Night Owl be so fucking good? How DARE M. Pierce write so well? How DARE the characters be so interesting, the setup so intriguing, the smut so hot?

Take that, Night Owl!

I bought the book (99 cents on Amazon) and poured more wine.

As I read on, I was even more convinced that M. Pierce was a fake name for a big author who wanted to write erotica anonymously. The writing was too confident, too sharp, too unapologetic. Cocky, even--but in a good way. No fumbling, frilly prose or shifts in verb tense. No misuse of apostrophes. No excessive dialog tags choking the characters' conversations.

I. Was. So. Mad.

The next morning, I stalked M. Pierce's blog like a hawk, determined to figure out if he or she was really Stephen King. (Not gonna lie, that's really what I thought.)

Imagine my surprise to discover it's really just a fantastic, hard-working writer who wrote a good book that took off. And that M. Pierce is funny, honest, self-deprecating, and generous with advice to other indie authors.

Damn, that's annoying.

I felt horrible. And guilty. So I wrote Pierce an email saying how much I was enjoying Night Owl and admitting that I'd hoped it wouldn't be as good as everyone said it was. I even confessed my stalkerish behavior.

And then, AND THEN, to make me feel even worse, I get an awesome email back, and we've since struck up a nice conversation about writing and publishing and other random things.

I can't wait to finish Night Owl, and if you like well-written erotic romance, I urge you to pick it up--you'll love the fresh twists on the genre, and the sexytimes are just as hot as anything I've read. Matt, one of the two main characters, is completely under my skin today. He's actually not all that likable in many ways, and it's a credit to Pierce that I kind of can't get enough of him.

I wanted to dislike the author and the book. Serves me right that they are both amazing.

Masked Love by Nicole Zoltack

Today I'm chatting with my friend Nicole Zoltack, whose holiday-themed historical romance Masked Love released this week. Cheers to historical!!

Title: Masked Love

Author: Nicole Zoltack

Genre: Holiday/Christmas Regency Novella

Publisher: Swoon Romance

Publication Date: November 1, 2013

Formats: eBook (mobi and ePub)

Book Description...

Isabelle is content being a maid, and will do anything for her lady, even accompany her to a masquerade ball. Lady Theodosia needs extra support and encouragement on this night, for tomorrow she will meet the man her parents have pledged her to.
Isabelle has never had occasion to attend such an event, and is at first ill at ease. But meeting an enchanting young man during the course of the evening makes her wish for a life she can never have. Thinking she will never see him again, she returns his flirtation and even reveals her face. Imagine her shock when he shows up the next morning, announcing his claim on Lady Thedosia.
Isabelle does all she can to avoid Lord Adrian Wingave, but then he not only sees her, he recognizes her. To make matters worse, Isabelle fears her feelings are not one-sided. Torn between duty and desire, Isabelle hopes for something more this Christmas.

Add to Goodreads!

1) Nicole, what inspired you to write Masked Love?

I've always thought of Christmas as a magical time, just perfect for falling in love. I'd been wanting to write a Christmas romance for awhile. I had just finished writing a steampunk romance (which is in the middle of a rewrite) and that was my first venture into the Victorian era. I decided I wanted to try yet another time period, since I love research, and picked Regency. From there, I added a masquerade ball and I was off to the keyboard.

2) Do you have a Masked Love playlist? If Isabelle and Lord Adrian had a song, what would it be?

Since I wrote Masked Love not even close to the Christmas season, I actually listen to a lot of Christmas music to get me into the mood. Hark the Harold Angles Sing, Here We Go A-Wassailing, and the like.

Isabelle and Lord Adrian's song would be "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz. The beginning is fitting for their first meeting: When I look into your eyes, it's like watching the night sky or a beautiful sunrise.

And the chorus for the rest of the story: Well, I won't give up on us even if the skies get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up.

*sigh* Such a good song!

3) What do you like best about setting books during the Regency period? What other historical periods intrigue you?

This is my first Regency and it definitely won't be my last. I enjoy this time period because of how different it is from today. It's more strict and rigid and the division between the different classes makes for plenty of conflict between characters. So many sources of drama and tension exist within the Regency era and makes for perfect story fodder.

I've written a lot of medieval-inspired fantasy romances. I've always been fascinated with the idea of knights and chivalry and love. I already mentioned the Victorian era with my steampunk WIP. I'm not opposed to trying a different time period either. Who knows what I'll try next?

4) Who did you envision as you wrote Isabelle and Lord Adrian? 

Henry Cavill with green eyes a la Tudors would be a perfect Lord Adrian. Yum! As for Isabelle, she looks like Jaimie Alexander, but with brown eyes. Very good-looking couple! ;)

Love me some Henry Cavill! (OK, she's beautiful too.)

Thanks, Nicole!

PUBLISHER LINKS

www.myswoonromance.com

@swoonromance

Facebook.com/SwoonRomance

AUTHOR LINKS

http://www.NicoleZoltack.com

http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicole...

http://twitter.com/NicoleZoltack

Book Blitz -- The Long Game

I head the pleasure of reading The Long Game this summer, and it grabbed me right from page one! The characters and setting are still in my head, and I can't wait to read the sequel--J.L. Fynn, you better write fast. :)

The details...

Book Name: The Long Game

Book Genre: NA Contemporary

Book release date: October 7, 2013

Add The Long Game on Goodreads! 

Blurb: Smooth talking. Ambitious. Loyal. Twenty-year-old Shay Reilly has proven himself to his Irish-American Gypsy clan on small-scale cons, but now the clan leader has a bigger mission for him: playing the long game.

To rake in the big score he’s after, he needs to con co-ed Spencer into falling in love with him. He knows he should see Spencer as a mere means to an end, but that’s easier said than done when there’s a witty, attractive girl in your arms.

Now the only thing that can keep them apart is the thing that brought them together: Shay’s plans of revenge against someone who wronged his clan and family years before—Spencer’s father

About the author J.L. Fynn: J.L. Fynn is the public face of a private identity. She enjoys making up stories about iniquitous heroes, providing Delphic answers to unasked questions, and obfuscating the truth just for laughs. But then, what’s an author but a professional liar? If you send her an email she might let you in on her little secret—assuming she likes your moxie.

J.L. Fynn on Goodreads

J.L. Fynn on Twitter

J.L. Fynn on Facebook

J.L. Fynn on the web

Join in on the buzz!
The Long Game is looking for readers and bloggers for the upcoming book blog tour October 7th – October 20th!

Sign up to join in on the buzz surrounding The Long Game!

Cover Reveal...The Best Laid Plans

Wow! Today is a crazy exciting day--I've got two amazing things to share!

First up, a bit of sexy for your Friday morning...the cover reveal for THE BEST LAID PLANS (out November 12th from Swoon Romance) by my beautiful Canadian friend, Tamara Mataya.

Gah! Every time I see that cover (and really, I'm only peeking a few dozen times a day), I get, um, excited.

Excited for Tamara, right, that's what I meant.

Ahem! About the book...

Blurb:

            Jayne Griffin isn’t looking for Mr. Right. She’s looking for Mr. RTFN and a toe-curling good time. She’s got the brains, the powerful job as a futures broker, and thanks to a makeover and a thin book of dating advice, the confidence to turn any man’s head.
           
            Malcolm Black notices his high school crush, Jayne, from the stage of her company’s work party. His adolescent feelings for her died beneath months of abuse at the hands of bullies. Abuse that was Jayne’s fault. Though this scorching hot studio musician is unrecognizable as the band geek he used to be, the hurt still lives inside him, and he hatches a plan: Seduce Jayne into falling in love with him, and then shatter her heart.
           
            The white-hot chemistry between them is a pleasant surprise. It all goes so smoothly until feelings start to develop... and that invitation to their ten year high school reunion lands in their inboxes.

            Jayne wants the perfect lover. Malcolm wants revenge. But you know what they say about The Best Laid Plans...

Coming November 12^th 2013 from Swoon Romance

Let me just mention, I've read this book. "White hot chemistry" is an understatement.

Add to Goodreads!

About Tamara...

Tamara Mataya is currently a librarian; she lurked there for so long recommending books to patrons and shushing people, that she suspects they only hired her so it would be less creepy. Now she’s armed with a name tag, and a thin veneer of credibility. She’s also a musician with synaesthesia – which isn't an issue until someone plays a wrong note, which makes her want to squirm inside out. It makes for a good live show.

BLOG:

http://feakysnucker.blogspot.ca/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TamaraMataya

New Adult...More than just Contemporary

I love me some contemporary romance, especially in the New Adult category. It was books like Easy, Damaged, and Fallen Too Far that hooked me on New Adult and inspired me to reach out to those readers when publishing Speak Easy. 

Because even though it's set in 1923, it's still at heart a story about a 20-year-old "new adult" finding her way, craving independence and excitement, making mistakes, and enjoying sexual freedom. 

A lot. ;)

I honestly didn't know how tough it would be to get NA fans to try something new, and I get giddy when people write me saying they were reluctant to pick up a non-contemp book but ended up loving it. So when I was approached about adding Speak Easy to a bundle of non-contemp books to help spread the word that NA is expanding, I jumped at the opportunity. 

Curious? Looking to branch out into other areas of New Adult but don't want to break the bank? Read on, my dears, and...

Fall for the new New Adult: a campaign to spread the word that New Adult is expanding into new and exciting categories like Historical, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Gothic, and more! 

Follow along to find out why best-selling NA authors & NA bloggers are excited to see New Adult expand outside of contemporary. (Full schedule can be found here.) 

And as an incentive to give the new NA a try, the Fall for New Adult bundle set will be available for a limited time. Set includes 4 great non-contemporary NA novels for only $3.99!

Something for everyone! :)

Cheers!
Melanie

We want to know why YOU want to see NA expand too! Join the campaign by grabbing the gif. above and blogging/tweeting about why YOU want to see NA expand! #NACampaign





Purchase the Fall for New Adult bundle set here! 

Mmmmm....Joey's Meat Sauce

For my dirty-minded readers (and oh how I adore you), that's not a metaphor. I'm actually talking about meat sauce.

Or if you're Sicilian like Joey Lupo in Speak Easy, or like my mother's family, you might call it gravy. In the book, there is a scene where Joey cooks pasta with gravy for Tiny and her sisters--one of my favorite scenes to write.

Aside from THOSE scenes. ;)

Anyway, I'm making it today for my family, and thought I'd share the recipe with you.

A little history first! My great-grandmother's name was Josephine, and she came with her husband and two young children from Carini, Sicily in 1902. My grandmother, Virginia, wasn't born until 1921, one of eleven siblings. (Sometimes it's very strange to me that Tiny is "older" than my own grandmother...)

Anyway, I guess the recipe came from the old country with her, but no one ever wrote it down. Much later, like maybe during the 60s or 70s, my mother told me that some of her aunt/uncles/cousins wanted the recipe, but no one who knew it would talk.

Through trial and error and memory, they put it together, but there was one special ingredient no one could pinpoint--and still nobody who knew it would talk.

Anyway, below is the one they came up with...WARNING: Your house will smell so good while this sauce is simmering, you might have the entire neighborhood floating to your door on the scent.

Joey's Meat Sauce (Bolognese)
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1 lb. ground beef (optional)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 medium can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
dried basil
dried oregeno
3-4 peppercorns
Italian seasoning
< 1 Tbsp cinnamon (I use a full Tbsp, but I love this flavor in the sauce...it was the guess at the secret ingredient)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 bay leaf
1/4 red wine (and since it's open, you might as well drink it while you cook, right?)

1) Brown the sausage in a frying pan, remove from heat and drain. Do the same for the beef, if you're using it.

2) In a large nonstick pot (I <3 my Le Creuset Dutch Oven), heat the oil and saute the garlic and onion. Then add the meat and all cans of tomatoes to the pot.

3) This next step cracks me up because you can tell that nobody really knew how much water to add, and even since then, no one has actually measured it: Fill each tomato can with water but not quite all the way to the top and pour them in.

Really precise, I know. But cooking is an art, not a science, right??

4) This one's even more precise: Cover the top of the sauce with basil, oregeno (less) and Italian seasonings (less). My best guess is maybe 1 Tbsp of basil and just 2 tsp of the other two. But this is a matter of taste!

5) Add the peppercorns, cinnamon, sugar, bay leaf, and wine.

6) Pour yourself a nice big glass of wine and stir until the lumps are gone over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil and cover. Turn the heat to low, just enough to keep it simmering.

7) Simmer 1-2 hours over low heat. Take the cover off the last 20 minutes (and lock your doors). remove the bay leaf.

I like this sauce with both long and short pasta. My mother always called it simply "Mostaccioli" when she made it and served it with short tubular paste that had lines on it and slanted ends. Just thinking of it makes me think of childhood!

Oh, my mother did manage to finagle the secret ingredient out of an old great aunt, who was probably going senile and didn't realize she was giving it away.

It was nutmeg.

I was there when she told some of her family, and laughed my culo off at the room full of Italians hitting themselves on the head with one hand. "It was nutmeg! NUTMEG!"

I stick with cinnamon, but someday I might try a pinch of nutmeg instead. :)

Buon appetito!

Wine & Romance & Giveaway (oh my)

I'm a little bit giddy about REDEMPTION RED, the second book in the Wine Country Series by Delancey Stewart.

Not only because I love wine and romance (who doesn't???) and adored A RARE VINTAGE, the first book in the series, but because I got to choose REDEMPTION RED's setting!

Actually it's because I stalked the author a lil bit and won a contest on her blog. (See? Good things can happen when you stalk people!)

So I'm super excited to bring to you the cover reveal of REDEMPTION RED, scheduled to be released October 15th, 2013.

Add this beauty on Goodreads!

Book Description:

Love, loss, and a smoky red…

When Audrey Montgomery’s carefully planned life collides with the self-destructive path Tyson Dawes is on, neither of them can predict what will happen next.

Audrey is a diligent and self-reliant culinary student at Portland’s prestigious Cordon Bleu. She has a clear picture of her future in mind, and it allows little room for the steely-eyed and tormented young man she bumps into by chance while wine tasting with friends.

Tyson Dawes had a perfect childhood, raised among the vines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. But even the most idyllic of upbringings couldn’t have prepared him for what he would face as a Marine. He returns to his childhood home angry and haunted by the storms of what he has faced and by those he has lost.

Do opposites truly attract? Can the lure of Audrey’s apparent clarity and innocence offer Tyson hope in the face of his emptiness?
  

The Wine Country books are part of a series but can each be read individually. :)

Grab A Rare Vintage on Amazon for just 99 cents!

About the author:
Delancey Stewart has lived on both coasts, in big cities and small towns. She's been a pharmaceutical rep, a personal trainer and a wine seller. Despite lots of other interests, she has always been a writer.
A military spouse and the mother of two small boys, her current job titles include pirate captain, monster hunter, Lego assembler, story reader, and tech writer for a defense contractor. She tackles all these efforts at her current home in Southern Maryland.
Delancey Stewart is the author of Through a Dusty Window: New York City Stories 1910-2001 and the Wine Country Romance Series which includes: A Rare Vintage and Redemption Red, as well as the Girlfriends of Gotham Series, publishing with Swoon Romance. The first book in that series, Men and Martinis, will be released in Winter 2013.

Find the author:
Website/Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway:

Must be 18 or older to enter
One winner will win (US only): 

- an ebook copy of both "A Rare Vintage" and "Redemption Red"

- a gorgeous bracelet created with recycled wine bottles on an aluminum link bracelet. It measures 7 1/2 inches long and features green, brown, blue, gold and clear color glass rings. The bracelet is handmade and can be dressed up or down, thanks to the elegant styling. 

AND

- a 10 ounce jar of Oregon Pinot Noir chocolate sauce from Euphoria Chocolate Company in Oregon (where Redemption Red is set). Great for use on ice cream, in coffee or just on a spoon! 

4 winners will win (INT):

- an ebook of Redemption Red

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vibrators: Inspiring Action since 1880

As a writer of historical fiction, I spend a lot of time researching, and I especially adore vintage ads.

Occasionally I come across something that I wasn't looking for but is so fascinating I get completely sidetracked and lose an hour amusing myself with it.

No pun intended. :)

Here's what got me today--an ad for Vigor's Horse-Action Saddles.

Just look at all the benefits for Victorian women...

A "UNIQUE SUBSTITUTE" for horse riding--you can trot, canter, and gallop, and you don't even have to leave the house! You can ride right there, next to your potted fern! (Sidesaddle, of course.)

It brings "all the VITAL ORGANS into INSPIRING ACTION!" So inspiring, even the Princess of Wales was "completely satisfied." If it's good enough for royal rumps, it's surely good enough for yours. :)

It was, of course, an early vibrator, which was marketed to women for at-home use to cure their "hysteria." Prior to 1880, when the first electromechanical forebear to the Magic Wand was patented, women used to see their doctors for hysteria--they were treated with "physician-assisted paroxysm," or as women would later call it, an O.

Go figure, the doctors were swamped with patients who wanted their "mid-quarters" massaged and couldn't keep up. Hand cramps, you know. So to combat this "chronic hand fatigue," doctors sought mechanical intervention.

Enter Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville, who invents the vibrator in 1880 (before the electric iron or vacuum cleaner) and effectively puts doctors treating hysteria out of O business.

The early ads tried to disguise what they were selling, but it was pretty obvious. 

According to one source, these kinds of ads disappeared about the same time that movies became popular (the 1920s). Apparently, once men saw these devices being used in stag movies (such a great old phrase), they realized that mechanical contraption in the hall closet wasn't really just a newfangled hair dryer.

Not to mention that electric saddle in the parlor... ;)

Cheers!

Melanie

Cover Reveal -- The Long Game

Third and final cover reveal this week!

This one is for a very cool NA book I just read called THE LONG GAME, written by my friend J.L. Fynn. I just read the ARC and was fascinated by the crazy-original setting and plot!

If you're looking for something different in contemporary NA, don't miss.

Take a look...

Here's the scoop:

Book Name: The Long Game

Book Genre: NA Contemporary

Book release date: October 7, 2013

Add The Long Game on Goodreads! 

The Long Game book blurb: 

Smooth talking. Ambitious. Loyal. Twenty-year-old Shay Reilly has proven himself to his Irish-American Gypsy clan on small-scale cons, but now the clan leader has a bigger mission for him: playing the long game.

To rake in the big score he’s after, he needs to con co-ed Spencer into falling in love with him. He knows he should see Spencer as a mere means to an end, but that’s easier said than done when there’s a witty, attractive girl in your arms.

Now the only thing that can keep them apart is the thing that brought them together: Shay’s plans of revenge against someone who wronged his clan and family years before—Spencer’s father.

About the author J.L. Fynn: J.L. Fynn is the public face of a private identity. She enjoys making up stories about iniquitous heroes, providing Delphic answers to unasked questions, and obfuscating the truth just for laughs. But then, what’s an author but a professional liar? If you send her an email she might let you in on her little secret—assuming she likes your moxie.

J.L. Fynn on Goodreads 

J.L. Fynn on Twitter

J.L. Fynn on Facebook

J.L. Fynn on the web

Join in on the buzz! 

The Long Game is looking for readers and bloggers for the upcoming book blog tour October 7th – October 20th!

Sign up to join in on the buzz surrounding The Long Game!

Cover Reveal -- Found in You

I am beyond delighted to share a second cover reveal with you this week!

And it's hot.

So hot.

Behold the lovely Laurelin Paige's cover--designed by fabulous Sophia Bleu--for Found in You:

And trust me, the story is just as sizzling as the cover, maybe even more so.

Add it on Goodreads!

So here's the official stuff...

Title: Found in You (Fixed, #2)

Author: Laurelin Paige

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Group: Adult

Cover designed by: Sophia Bleu

Expected release date: Oct. 1, 2013

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

Book Description:

Alayna Withers has only had one kind of relationship: the kind that makes her obsessive and stalker-crazy. Now that Hudson Pierce has let her into his heart, she’s determined to break down the remaining walls between them so they can build a foundation that’s based on more than just amazing sex. Except Hudson’s not the only one with secrets.

With their pasts pulling them into a web of unfounded mistrust, Alayna turns to the one person who knows Hudson the best—Celia, the woman he almost married. Hoping for insight from someone who understands all sides of the story, Alayna forms a bond with Celia that goes too far—revealing things about Hudson that could end their love for good.

This is the first relationship where Alayna hasn’t spiraled out of control. And she might lose Hudson anyway…

About the Author

Laurelin Paige is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine. She is represented by the wonderful Bob Diforio of D4EO Literary Agency.

Author social media links:

Facebook   Goodreads   Twitter   Pinterest

And there's a giveaway!

      1 $25 Gift Certificate

 5 Advanced Reader Copies of Found in You (Fixed, #2)

 5 e-copies of Fixed on You (Fixed, #1)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speak Low Cover Reveal & Giveaway!

The day is here and I get to share with you the gorgeous cover of Speak Low, the sequel to Speak Easy!

My designer, Tom Barnes, did a fantastic job matching the feel of the second cover to the first, don't you think? I love looking at them together!

So who is it? ;)

My Speak Easy readers (and oh, how I love you) can probably tell you where the boy is supposed to be, but even they disagree on WHO it is...you'll have to read the book to see!

The release date is set for November 4th, 2013.

Here's the book description, although this may change slightly...

We always want what we can’t have.

Tiny O’Mara is tired of living in a world where men make all the rules. After bootlegging enough whiskey to free her father from the DiFiore crime family, twenty-year old Tiny is determined to gain her independence.

But it’s going to cost her.

Her alliance with sultry Enzo DiFiore is based more on their explosive chemistry than loyalty or trust. But she’s promised him some information that will help him take revenge on The River Gang, and when he offers her a job, an apartment, and the prospect of nights spent together where anything goes, she can’t refuse—which only puts her further in his debt.

She needs gorgeous childhood pal Joey Lupo to help her again—when they’re not at each other’s throats, they make a good team, and her attraction for him is becoming impossible to deny. But after she rejects his offer to leave town together, he’s tempted to let her fend for herself.

As Enzo’s need for possession and power escalate and her feelings for Joey deepen, Tiny realizes her mistakes. She just hopes she gets the chance to fix them before it’s too late.


Add it on Goodreads!

And here's the giveaway...



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Cheers,
Melanie

Announcing Team Harlow!

Whether you're Team Enzo or Team Joey, I want you on Team Harlow! 

I'm gathering a tiny (haha) street team this week to help me promote Speak Easy and Speak Low. 


In return you'll get free ARCs, swag, eBooks or signed copies for giveaways, and my eternal devotion. I will also buy you a drink should we ever meet in person! 


I'm keeping the team small for now, so email me at melanieharlowwrites@gmail.com or message me on Facebook if you'd like to be included.

Or you can comment below with your email address and I will get in touch!

Thank you!

Cheers,
Melanie

Cover Shenanigans

OK, OK. I heard you.

You missed the girl with the red lips and the sexy blue-eyed stare and the Prohibition-era feel.

I missed her too. So I brought the old cover back.

It was actually really nice to hear from so many people who--very kindly, I will add...yay for manners and civility--said they "got" why I thought I should change the cover but preferred the original version.

And I agree. The original cover is less overtly sexy, but I think it does a good job of giving a potential reader the feel of the book and a look at the main character. From the moment I first saw that photo, I knew I'd found my Tiny.

So she's back! And pretty soon, the cover for the sequel, Speak Low, will be revealed.

There may be abs involved...

Cheers!

This is Not Your Nana's Historical Romance (Sexy Excerpt of SPEAK EASY)

WARNING: This post contains adult content. (Pretty much all sins are covered.)

Hello darlings,

So the craziest thing happened last week.

Speak Easy came out. People read it (wheee!) and loved it (I want to hug you!) and reviewed it (thank you!). I got to hear readers' thoughts for the first time ever--readers who are not my family/friends/bartender.

And I discovered something. Well, a few things.

1) New Adult readers are reluctant to pick up up a non-contemporary romantic story.

2) Historical is a dusty word.

3) Once people DID pick up Speak Easy, they were surprised at how sexy and modern it felt, even though it was set during the 20s.

What's a girl to do?

Since Speak Easy is my first book, I turned to bestselling authors who have more experience and asked advice--and because this community is so awesome, I got it. Here's what they said...

Change your cover and your description. Make it clear it's not your grandmother's historical novel. It's a hot smexy read and readers of contemporary New Adult will eat it up when they realize the historical setting only adds to the sexy feel. 

So guess what I did?

And while I loved my pretty cover (and if you order the print version, you will still get that one), my sexy one makes me giddy like a Bombay Sapphire martini (extra dry, two olives, thanks).

Want to see it?

OK, just for you.

Because I'm all about giving in to temptation. ;)

And here's the new description...

**Warning** This is not your grandmother’s historical romance. If you’re looking for blushing maidens or proper gentlemen who ask permission to kiss the girl, this is not the book for you.

But if you like strong female heroines who take what they want and sexy dangerous men who can’t be trusted, look no further. If sizzling sexual tension and fast-paced action against a backdrop of Prohibition-era ambience sounds like your kind of cocktail—enter here. But beware…

Temptation is everywhere. And anything goes.

By day twenty-year-old Tiny O’Mara works for her father’s smalltime bootlegging operation, and by night she craves the roll-your-stockings-down lifestyle of a flapper—until her father is kidnapped by a mobster in Detroit's exploding organized crime scene, and it’s Tiny who has to come up with the ten-thousand-dollar ransom…in one week.

Suddenly she’s thrust into an intoxicating underworld of greed, lust, lies, and betrayal.

Enzo DiFiore is the son of the mobster holding her father hostage, but his screen idol looks and dangerous charm leave her breathless. When the forbidden spark between them refuses to burn out, she tries to use their powerful chemistry to buy more time. And irritatingly handsome childhood pal Joey Lupo has the street smarts Tiny needs to make a quick ten grand, but he’s got his own agenda where gang rivalries are concerned.

Deciding whom to trust isn’t easy in a world where everyone wants something—be it booze, money, power, or sex—and no one cares what it takes to get it.

Now, are you ready for a little Monday morning sizzle?

Good.

Here's an excerpt--an early scene between Tiny, the feisty heroine, and Enzo, her dangerous bad boy.

“Satisfied?” He set the phone down and raised his eyebrows at me.

“I guess.” At least I knew Daddy was still alive, and conscious enough to speak on the phone. My job now was to get the money. But even if I sold the twelve cases I’d pick up tomorrow night, I’d need to sell seventeen more to come up with five grand by Tuesday. It couldn’t be done—I needed more time. But what leverage did I have to bargain with? I looked at Enzo, my mind and heart racing.

No. You can’t.

“We should go. I promised to return you within twenty minutes.” Enzo gave me that slow smile, which made my belly go hollow. “And I do rather value those body parts your friend threatened.”

“Right.” I licked my lips as I walked to the door, and Enzo waited until I reached it before turning off the lamp. His silhouette came closer in the darkness, and my insides tightened.

Oh yes, I can.

“If you’ll move, I’ll unlock the door,” he said.

Fear and some other untamable feeling buzzed through me. “No.”

“No?”

“We still have five minutes.” I rushed forward and threw my arms around his neck, crushing my lips to his. 

For a moment he was stunned; I heard his keys hit the floor. Then strong arms locked around my back, and his mouth opened wide over mine, his tongue lashing inside with deep, demanding strokes. My body ignited in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Keep your senses. This is just a ploy. You’re angry with him. Our mouths battled each other with such ferocity I couldn’t breathe, and I imagined the fire between us consuming all the oxygen in the room. He tasted like temptation—whisky and smoke.

Pressing my forearms against his shoulders, I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist. Enzo pushed my back up against the door, his hands slipping beneath my dress to the undersides of my legs, his fingers gripping the bare skin above my stockings. Gasping, I squeezed his torso between my thighs as his mouth traveled across my face and down my neck. His fingers edged inside the lace of my step-in, teasing the soft pink folds at my center while his tongue lingered in the hollow at the base of my throat. Something deep and powerful surged within me. Threading my fingers through his dark hair, I pulled his head back and we stared hard at each other before our mouths slammed together once more. He shifted my weight under one arm and found the side fasteners of my dress with the other. 

Somehow, he undid seven hooks and eyes with one hand. 

His fingers slipped inside my dress and pressed against the bare skin on my lower back. Then he swung me away from the door and moved to the desk, setting me on its edge with my dress bunched up around my hips. Standing between my knees, he ran his hands up my pale white thighs, which glowed in the dark above my stockings. My chest heaved with ragged breaths as he shrugged off his coat and loosened his tie. My hands itched to touch him, to travel under starched cotton and over hot skin, to reach low and feel exactly how he wanted me. To know for certain what he could to do to me, if I let him. For a moment, I forgot every circumstance that brought me here and nearly reached for the buttons on his trousers.

But just for a moment.

“Enzo,” I whispered instead, gripping the edge of the desk. “We can’t.”

He put his hands on my buttocks and pulled me flush against him. “You said we had five minutes.” He pressed the hard length of his cock between my legs.

Oh God, that feels so good. I struggled for control. “It’s been five minutes. And neither of us wants to get caught here.”

He paused. “You’re right. Besides, what I’d like to do to you takes more than five minutes.” 

OK, I'd better stop them there...but I promise you they get more than five minutes alone eventually. They get a whole lot more than that. 

Want to know what they do with it?

Easy. Click.

Cheers,

Melanie