Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Feel the Heat With Singed

The second book in my Titanium Security Series is out now! The hero of Singed is a 42 year old former SF master sergeant and he's hands down my favorite hero of the series. I'm also a sucker for second chance at love stories so I loved every moment of writing this story, even when parts of it dealt with the very difficult and sobering problem of PTSD and suicide among our returning veterans.

She walked away from him once…
Struggling to live with her decision to walk away from the only man she ever loved and watching helplessly while her brother succumbs to his battle with severe PTSD, NSA analyst Claire Tierney’s life is at an all time low. The final hit comes when she accesses classified information at work that might get her fired. Instead, she’s assigned to a joint taskforce charged with hunting down a Taliban assassin planning an attack on American soil, and finally has something productive to focus on. Until she meets the rest of the team and learns she’ll be working with the last person on earth she wants further contact with; her ex. She knows letting him go was the biggest mistake of her life, but just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, new intel points to the assassin’s intended target. Her.
This time he’s not letting her go…
As a former Special Forces Master Sergeant and second-in-command of his Titanium Security team, Gage Wallace can handle anything, except being forced to go through life without Claire. When she abruptly walked out on him six months ago, his whole world caved in. It’s clear she’s still determined to keep her distance, but when she’s named a possible target of the very cell they’re trying to dismantle, Gage will stop at nothing to ensure she’s safe. When tragedy destroys Claire’s defenses and the explosive desire between them ignites once more, this time he’s not letting her go. Too late they discover that the danger confronting them is far greater than anyone ever realized, and it’s a race against time to stop a terrorist from unleashing hell on them all.

Excerpt:
He leaned even closer, placed his hands on the counter on either side of her to cage her in, all the while holding her gaze. “No,” he said again, softer this time.
A spurt of panic flickered in her eyes. She tried to duck out from under his arm but he blocked her easily, pinning her hips with his own. Her head snapped up, those wide gray eyes filled with shock as she felt his erection pressing into her belly. She jerked her eyes away, swallowed again. “Let me go. Right now, Gage, I mean it.”
She was strung so tight she was on the verge of shattering. A volcano about to erupt. And God, he’d love nothing more than to incinerate in the ensuing explosion with her. He wasn’t worried about her hurting him. Whatever she could dish out, he could take it and more. “No.”
His calm tone acted like a trigger. With an inarticulate sound of rage, she twisted and shoved at his shoulders. Gage caught her wrists and quickly shifted her away from the counter, backed her up against the kitchen wall and pinned her there with his weight. He had only a moment for his brain to register the feel of her soft curves molded to him before she began struggling, trying to shove him away. Not happening.
He held her there, refusing to back down. Her teeth were bared, eyes narrowed, breath coming in short gasps. Low, animal sounds came from her throat as she fought and got nowhere. He could tell it infuriated her more that he’d subdued her so easily, overpowered her with his greater strength. Recognizing she couldn’t win, after a minute or two she stilled, quivering with fury, every line of her luscious body rigid with anger and outrage. With him so close she was forced to tilt her head back to look into his face. The warm puffs of her uneven breaths bathed his skin.
“F*ck you, let me go,” she snapped, her voice ragged, tight with emotion.
Hands holding her wrists on either side of her head, he waited for her to calm down and meet his gaze. At last she did and he could see the turmoil written there. All the anger and pain, the physical need she was trying to hide from him. Her sweet citrus scent, intensified by her increased body heat, swirled around him. He could get drunk on her so easily. Just lean down and put his mouth to the rapidly thrumming pulse in her neck, taste that soft, fragrant skin.
Holding her gaze, he let one heartbeat of charged silence spread between them. Another. Letting her know without words that he was fully capable of keeping her like this for as long as he wanted. His body was primed, begging him to grab her, tear that tight black skirt and top off her and force her to vent everything that was eating at her from the inside, replace it with white-hot sexual release.
The throb between his legs bordered on painful. He shifted his hips against her and bit back a moan at the feel of her against his erection, noting the way her pupils expanded and her nostrils flared. The evidence of her arousal kicked his lust into high gear. Gage forced himself to take a single, calming breath, waited until the roar in his ears subsided. If this was the last time he got to have her, he was going to make it one hell of a goodbye.
Staring straight into her eyes, he released her wrists and murmured, “Turn it loose.”
*end excerpt*

Hope you enjoy Gage and Claire's story! 
Kaylea Cross
 



Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her family. You can find Kaylea through her website, Twitter, Facebook, and her blog.


2 comments:

  1. I've loved every Kaylea Cross book I've read so far. This is added to my To Buy list for next payday!
    suz2(at)cox(dot)net

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  2. Once I finished reading Ignited, I immediately bought Singed. Loved both of these stories. The only sad note? Waiting for the next book in the series!

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