We are absolutely thrilled to be able to bring you the
Release Day Launch for Shiloh Walker's DARKER THAN DESIRE! DARKER THAN
DESIRE is a Contemporary Romantic Suspense and the third novel in Shiloh’s
Secrets & Shadows Series, published by
Macmillan, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
DARKER THAN DESIRE
Synopsis:
LUST FOR LIFE
No matter how many
times he’s left her in the past, Sybil Chalmers can’t ignore her feelings for
the one man who stole her heart years ago. For countless nights, she has waited
for him—for his kiss, his touch—and has longed for him to emerge from the
shadows of his past. Only when she is in his arms does Sybil really feel
alive…and finally, after all these years, that time is now.
A DEADLY DESIRE
He’s a man raised
in a world of strict rules and unbreakable traditions and he’s always yearned
to break free. But when a family tragedy lures him back home, he finds his one
true passion has been there all along. With Sybil, he can explore his greatest
potential—and allow her to discover a whole new level of ecstasy. But will a
long-buried secret threaten to tear them apart? The only thing he knows for
sure is that he will do anything to keep Sybil in his life…and keep her coming
back for more…
Excerpt:
The skin on the nape of his neck stood up.
His blood started to pump.
Slowly, he shifted his gaze and found himself staring across the
neat, tidy little lawn.
There. That was the other thing he felt, a bizarre mix of need,
longing and a twist in his heart that he couldn’t fully understand. It
only happened around one person.
It wasn’t a surprise that she’d found him here.
Nor was it a surprise when his heart did that odd little twist.
She was the other person who managed to make him feel.
She made him want.
She made him need.
She made him regret, too.
Regret that he needed to push her away, regret that he couldn’t
reach for her the way he wanted.
Regret that he wasn’t as strong as he should be, because even as
he told himself to push her away, she started up the walk, the short skirt she
wore barely clinging to her thighs and all he could think about was pulling her
into his lap so that the skirt rode higher and he could cup her hips, pull her
down to straddle him.
Vivid, overbright starbursts seemed to explode behind his eyes as
that fantasy played out in his mind. It would be so easy. This was
a secluded street and people had finally given up on the rubbernecking.
Hardly anybody drove down the street to check out the burnt out wreck of the
Frampton house. He could pull that stretchy bit of fabric up and be
inside her in two minutes. It would be so easy to just lose himself to
her.
She came to a halt in front of him while his blood pounded in
slow, steady waves, while need clenched inside him like a fist.
Tell her to leave, common sense dictated. He’d already made the decision he
needed to make.
But his head, his heart, his cock didn’t want to listen.
“Hey,” she said, her red-slicked lips curving up.
He stared at her mouth, thought about seeing that mouth open,
seeing it glide down his chest.
Blinking, he managed, barely, to look away. “Hey back.”
This was yet another thing he lacked, the ability to talk, even to
her, about anything that didn’t involve getting her naked and fucking
her. Naked wasn’t even necessary as long as he could be inside her, lose
himself to her, hide away from the demons that chased him.
But if he kept doing that, all those demons were going to start
chasing her, too.
He wasn’t worth a whole hell of a lot and he didn’t care about a
whole hell of a lot. But he’d burn this whole damn town to the ground
before he let anything from his past start to haunt her. Every moment of peace
he’d ever known had come from her. She mattered, more than anything or
anybody else in his miserable world.
So instead of reaching for her, he stared out at the water,
acutely aware as she sat down at his side. The journals sat at the other
and he resisted the urge to grab them, disappear inside the house, hide them
away from her. Hide them away, hide their secrets, as if that would make
the truth any less than true.
“I don’t blame that kid,” Sybil said out of the blue.
Caught up in his own head, he barely understood what she
meant. Looking over at her, he tracked her gaze and then, as a shiver of
cold raced up his spine, he looked back over the water.
“Plenty of people don’t. Too bad he couldn’t find a way to
trap his dad and uncle in there, too.”
Sybil murmured, “His uncle’s brains splattered all over the
chief’s wall.”
“He went too easy.”
“True. But he is still gone.” Her gaze came over to
him. “We fell asleep on you. What did you think about the movie?”
He frowned, tried to remember something about it. The boy.
Wands. A rock. Then he shrugged. “What sort of name is Snape?”
Sybil laughed. “An interesting one. For an interesting
character. Is he a good guy or a bad guy?”
The question caught him offguard. Then he looked down.
“What does it matter?”
“Well, if you want to watch more of the series with us, it would
be kind of fun for me to know now, what you think of him. He plays a big
part in it.”
I’m not watching more. That was what he should tell her. Sighing, he looked
away. Everything he should do, he couldn’t do. It had been like
that for most of his life. He should found a better way to make people
listen. He should have fought harder. He should have run sooner.
Then there were the things he shouldn’t have done. He shouldn’t have involved
Lana. He shouldn’t have stayed in town. He shouldn’t have reached for Sybil
that first night.
A hand reached up, touched his cheek. “You’re always so
serious, baby.”
“Little reason to be otherwise.”
“True.” She moved then and he didn’t even have time to brace
himself before she had settled herself in his lap, one leg planted on either
side of his hips. Her hands came up, cupped his face. “How much
longer until you decide to tell me?”
His hands moved of their own volition, fingers splayed wide across
satiny soft thighs. “Tell you what, Sybil?”
“Don’t play games with me.” She dipped her head so that her hair
fell around them like a curtain. “You’ve never done it before.
Don’t start now.”
Noise clamored in the back of his head, all that chaos rising to a
roar as he stared into those beautiful eyes. They slid between gold and
green and right now, they all but glowed as she watched him.
Send her away. Tell her.
He slid his hands up, cupping her ass. And he groaned when he
found her naked under that sorry excuse for a skirt. “I keep thinking
it’s time to tell you to just go. To stay away from me.”
“That’s what I thought.” She rubbed her mouth against
his. “Why don’t you do it, then? So I can ignore you and we can
fight it out?”
The cool silk of her hair brushed against his cheek. He
tangled one hand in it. “This isn’t a game anymore.”
“It never was.” She eased back, watching him with knowing
eyes.
He curled his lip. “It was one thing when you were fucking
some guy you thought was an Amish builder. It’s another thing when it’s
me, possible murder suspect, sick degenerate. It’s just a matter of time
before the cops decide to start pulling me, demanding answers about what
happened the night I disappeared. Just a matter of time before everything
comes out in the open. When nobody knew—”
She lifted a hand and pressed her finger to his lips.
“I always knew.”
Reading Order
About Shiloh Walker:
Shiloh Walker is an award-winning writer…yes, really! She’s
also a mom, a wife, a reader and she pretends to be an amateur photographer.
She published her first book in 2003. Her newest series, Secrets and
Shadows, launched in April 2014. Look for the newest book
Deeper than Need, to be followed by Sweeter than
Sin and Darker than Desire.
She writes romantic suspense, contemporary and paranormal
romance, and urban fantasy under the name J.C. Daniels.
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