Update: The winner of Joan Swan’s giveaway is…Tina B!

I don’t think it is any secret that I love romantic suspense, so I’m very happy to share the next book spotlight with you. This time, I’m focusing on Joan Swan’s INTIMATE ENEMIES.

 

INTIMATE ENEMIES Blurb:

She is on a quest for answers; answers that could just get her killed.

Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed Cassie Christo’s mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident. She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.

Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.

Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.

 

Excerpt:

Cassie jumped and whirled toward the voice. Her chest burned with a quick jab of fear, but something real sliced the back of her arm. Pain lanced her triceps. Her phone flew out of her hand.

“Whoa, whoa.” His voice was soft, but his hands were firm. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s just me. Rio.”

Cassie let out a whoosh of breath, but didn’t completely drop her guard. The Rio she’d met inside was very different from the man she’d known at the cemetery. Just one more huge heartache to add to her life.

“You’re hurting my arms,” she said.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

He released her and leaned away. That’s when she got her first good look at him. And, yeah, it was really good. He wore nothing but swim trunks, his body wet, light from the moon falling across his torso and defining muscle in variation of shadows.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” She hugged her elbows and purposely slowed her breathing, struggling with the rush of emotions that didn’t make any intellectual sense.

“Just taking a swim.”

“At this time of night. In the dark. You…” —Her tone said idiot—“…are crazy.”

“You aren’t the first to say so.”

He ruffled the wet, black waves of his hair in a careless, absentminded way. Cool seawater sprayed Cassie. A laugh popped out of her mouth, surprising her.

“Hey.” She her hands up as if that would help keep her dry. “Stop it.”

He lowered his hand, grinning. A sheepish, slightly mischievous, tiny bit guilty, lopsided smile. “Are you going to melt?”

Cassie’s stomach squeezed and twirled the way it did when she’d thought about seeing him again.

Then he dropped his head and shook it. That wet-dog-just-out-of-the-bath shake. Water sprayed in every direction. Little arcs splashed Cassie and she squeaked at the cold against her skin. Then laughed with the sheer pleasure of his playfulness.

And when he stopped and looked at her again, the smile cutting across his face tightened her chest. Wide and warm and happy, around beautiful white teeth and making his pretty eyes sparkle. A mirror image of how she felt inside. But it was the dimples that inflated her lungs until they popped and the air finally leaked out.

God, dimples? Really? Like he wasn’t gorgeous enough without them?

Her joy must have risen too high, reached some internal warning level, because as quickly as it had filled her, that happiness took on an edge. Something that nagged at her like anxiety.

She broke his gaze and lifted both hands to her face to wipe at the water. The back of her arm pulled and burned. Cassie hissed in a breath and twisted her arm to look at the back.

“Let me see.” His voice was close and she looked up to find him there, already reaching for her arm, leaning in to inspect the scratch.

He eased her arm across her chest and turned her into the moonlight, giving him a better view.

“It’s nothing.” Her voice came out breathy. She didn’t like sounding—or feeling—nervous. “I’m fine.”

“Mmm-hmm,” he dusted dirt off the wide scrape. “You said that about your knee, too. At least this one isn’t dripping blood everywhere.”

His body heat seemed to reach out and fill the space between them. Caressed Cassie’s bare arms and legs. He smelled like fresh seawater and something very unique, very Rio. Something male and alluring. Parts of her that she’d begun to worry were permanently broken started to function again.

“It’s not too bad, but it’s dirty.” His voice was near her ear and either the sound of it or the heat of it raised gooseflesh along her neck. “Sorry I scared you.”

She turned her head and found her mouth just an inch from his ear. A perfectly shaped ear. One with a curl of wet black hair arcing over the upper lobe. She should pull away. Go inside where she was safe. Instead, she reached up and pushed the curl behind his ear with one finger. Let her touch slide down the side of his face before her hand drifted away.

He froze. His eyes darted toward her, then back to her arm. “And, I’m sorry about…earlier, too. I wasn’t expecting anyone and—”

“I’ve thought of you…since the funerals.” The words just came out. “I would have…you know…called, but I realized later that I didn’t know who you were.”

Rio’s jaw muscle tightened beneath tanned skin and dark stubble. She wanted to lay her lips there so badly. Almost did. Then his eyes slid closed and Cassie found herself staring at the length of his lashes, the beautiful curve of them against his cheekbone, the way the sight of them heated and softened her heart at the same time.

“Me too,” he said, voice low, rough. His eyes opened, but instead of looking at her, he kept his eyes toward the sand. “Thought of you, I mean. But I didn’t think it was…I don’t know…appropriate, I guess, to call.”

The center of Cassie’s body was glowing now. Before she could think of what to say next, Rio cleared his throat. “I’ll get something to clean this.”

He lifted his head. Met her eyes for a brief second, their mouths just inches apart. Two very conflicting emotions coiled beneath her ribs—fear and desire. One should smother the other, but both feelings were so strong they continued to battle.

Cassie couldn’t help but think kiss me. Please. Kiss me.

His eyes lowered to her mouth.

Yes.

Then slid away.

Damn.

“I’ll…um…” His voice rasped. “Just go get—“

Screw it. A spark of determination burned a millisecond before she put her free hand against his jaw and pressed her lips to his.

Warmer than Cassie had imagined, softer than she’d expected, his lips felt wonderful on hers. Absolutely wonderful. And right. So right. He didn’t pull away, so she let her lips linger there. Let them slide. Let them taste.

A sound drifted from his throat. A sigh or a moan. Soft and pleased. He lowered her arm, but didn’t let go. The move broke their kiss and brought them face-to-face. There, reality trickled in. Damn. She shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t have kissed him like that.

Her sexy haze drifted into embarrassment. She took a step back, but Rio leaned in and slid an arm around her waist. A quick move. A deliberate, strong move that made her draw a breath. Made her body tingle. Made her mind go cloudy again. He eased her close, his arm tightening low on her back until they were pressed together, hips to chest.

And, holy hell, wow. Wow. She couldn’t think much beyond… Just wow. His body was hard. Cool on the surface, sending a shiver across her skin. Warm beneath, urging her to burrow closer. Her nipples tightened and her breasts swelled in response. Her breathing quickened.

She rested her hands on his chest, an awkward location, but she wasn’t sure what else to do with them. Her body urged her to do crazy things, urgent things she hadn’t done in a long time. Her mind struggled to understand her powerful response to him. And not a damn thing was meshing.

“I’ve been wanting to thank you,” she stared at his throat, rambling to fill the silence, but her voice gave away her nerves with a soft, uneven tone, “for your kindness…you know…at the cemeter—“

He bent his head and kissed her. She sucked in a silent gasp of surprise. Every muscle tensed. But then his lips moved on hers. Gentle pressure, firm, slow kisses. She softened against him, and he welcomed her with the strength of his body. The same way he’d taken her in at the cemetery, with warmth, acceptance, affection.

Oh, he had nice lips. Full, warm, supple. And he knew what to do with them. How to entice, to seduce. Not at all like the hurried, greedy men she’d been with in the past. Rio gave. He gave with the slow suckle of her upper lip, kisses to the corner of her mouth, the slid of his tongue over her bottom lip.

A soft moan slipped from her throat. His arm slid lower on her back, pulled her hips tight against a generous erection that had the potential to unsettled her all over again. But his other hand sweetly caressed the nape of her neck, and his palm settled there.

With his fingers deep in her hair, body aligned with hers, he tilted his head and opened his mouth. Cassie followed with a sigh. Without thought, without question. Met his tongue impatiently. Recklessly. Completely lost herself in a heady rush of lust, the heat of his mouth, the texture and talent of his tongue.

He tasted of tangy sea salt and male heat. And for the first time in years, she hungered for more than just this, just kissing. So much more.

His mouth abruptly pulled from hers, leaving her dizzy and frustrated. She tightened her hands on the skin of his back. When she’d wrapped her arms around him, she didn’t remember. And didn’t care. She just wanted that mouth back on hers.

“I have been thinking about this,” he whispered, his breath quick and shallow, his voice rough, “for months.”

She couldn’t absorb the meaning behind that statement. Especially not when his hand moved from her neck and cupped her jaw, his long fingers pressed so gently across her cheek. With the smallest movement he made her feel precious and fragile.

But he didn’t kiss her like she was fragile. His mouth came back to hers with the kind of desire and need that set off a firestorm inside. She lifted to her toes and tried to keep up with him, to give back. But he was so damned good at it, he swept her away. From the erotic movement of his tongue to the smooth slide of his lips to the powerful moves of his body, he made the simple act of kissing both animalistic and artful.

Mind clouded, lungs burning, body aflame, Cassie broke away, whispering, “Air.”

She rested her head on his shoulder and Rio held tight, both arms around her again. His mouth slid over her jaw, teased her ear, traveled down her neck and rested on her shoulder, his end-of-the-day beard an exciting contrast to those soft lips. And God, she was smiling. Smiling so big her cheeks ached. Her chest hurt. How long had it been since she last smiled like this?

God she wanted him. But not only did she want him, she felt good about wanting him.

A little warning sounded in her head. Too fast, it whispered. Too happy, too fast. It won’t last.

A sting of fear urged her to jump right back in. “Okay.” She turned her head and nipped his ear. “Plenty of air. I’m good for at least another twenty minutes.”

His mouth curved in a smile against her shoulder just beyond the strap of her cover-up, but then faded. And that little voice snarled, told you.

 

***

INTIMATE ENEMIES will release in late July/early Aug. For her prize giveaway, Joan is going to let her winner choose…the winner can either receive a print copy of FEVER now, or when, INTIMATE ENEMIES release, Joan will send the lucky commenter a digital copy of that book then.  To enter the giveaway,  tell us…why do you enjoy romantic suspense novels?

Tweet It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.