Bethany Amaya is working three jobs, worrying about her family back home, and running from her past. The worst thing that could complicate her life further would be a romance. But after a second-run in with the irresistibly sexy detective Damian Santiago, that’s exactly what she gets. In the blink of an eye, she’s caught up in a passionate romance with one of the most intense men she’s ever met.
Awestruck for a second time by the beautiful and intriguing performer, Damian is both surprised and delighted that Bethany agrees to something he didn't even expect to be asking for so soon—exclusivity. As things heat up, Damian's skills of detecting and reading body language begin to raise suspicions—Bethany is keeping something from him. Try as he might to calm his suspicions, the blatant signs become impossible to ignore.
Some things are better left unsaid. At least that's what Bethany keeps telling herself. She never imagined falling in love so quickly, and she refuses to get Damian caught up in her troubles. She knows what he suspects—sees it in those possessive eyes. With Damian's suspicions mounting, time is of the essence. The race is on, and Bethany finds herself scrambling to fix the past before the truth comes out and Damian finds out that it’s much worse than he suspected.
Read the prologue and first chapter to Elizabeth’s latest release Desert Heat here.
"I didn’t realize being sneaky around a homicide detective trained to pick up on deception would require such skill.” She laughed nervously at the hidden irony. “A skill I’m obviously lacking.”
~Bethany~
And here’s a bonus excerpt from Desert Heat:
“. . . I’m working,” Bethany’s voice either lowered or she walked away farther, because the rest of what she said was a mumble.
Damian started toward the door. Sleeping with her had definitely heightened what he felt for Bethany, or maybe his feelings of entitlement, because the unease he’d felt yesterday when he’d heard her tone down her relationship with him was a slow-boiling annoyance now. Had she really just told someone she was working instead of admitting where and with whom she was?
“. . . not now I can’t, but tonight for sure.”
Instead of standing there eavesdropping as he was tempted to, Damian decided to walk out into the front room, where her voice seemed to be coming from. As soon as he opened the door, he was surprised to see she wasn’t even inside. She’d stepped out onto the patio.
Even though Bethany smiled as soon as she saw him, Damian hadn’t missed how her head had jerked in his direction when he opened the door. He managed to smile back, but just barely, as he walked toward her. As much as he had every intention of not jumping to conclusions and giving her the benefit of the doubt, it was already pissing him off that she turned away and lowered her voice.
He opened the patio door, and she turned, lifting her hand for him to give her a second, then turned her back on him again. “I gotta go now, okay. Yes, tonight.”
He’d give her a second or longer if she needed it, but he wasn’t leaving, if that’s what she thought. Wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, he noticed how she stiffened.
As much as that, too, made him wonder what the hell her sister was asking about now that she couldn’t talk about until tonight, he still tried to shake the unease and leaned in to kiss her neck. This time he was asking her straight out the second she was off the phone. No more dicking around. This close, he heard the other person on the phone, and it wasn’t her sister. It was a guy.
“Okay, tonight then. I’m really looking forward to it, Bethany.”
Damian yanked his head back.
“I am, too. Bye.” She turned to him as soon as she was off the phone.
“Who was that?”
This was another first for Damian. He’d never felt anything like what he was feeling at that moment, as he stared at her, his heart pounding as it always did when he was around her, but for an altogether different reason now. It had actually been a chore to refrain from cussing and asking her who the fuck was that on the phone. “That was Simon,” she said, as if it were nothing. That only spiked the annoyance that had already boiled over and was reaching a new height. He wouldn’t even attempt to hide what he was feeling now.
“What’s he looking forward to tonight?”
“Seeing me.” She said it so calmly, it gave him hope this was a complete misunderstanding.
Still, he fisted his hands tightly, trying to remain as calm as she was. “Seeing you?” He lifted both brows, unable to hide the anger now. “You’re gonna see him tonight?”
She nodded, touching his face softly. “What’s wrong with you?”
While her touch did calm him a little, it wasn’t nearly enough. “What do you mean what’s wrong with me? You’re gonna go see this guy tonight, and he’s looking forward to it? And so are you?” Then it hit him. “You told him you were working. Why?”
Pinching her brows together to think about it, she tilted her head. Damian took a few steps back—away from her. As cute as he normally thought it when she did that, right now he was too damn pissed to appreciate it.
“No.” She cleared her throat. “He asked why I said it’d be better if we talked tonight instead of now, and I told him I was working tonight.”
“You’re lying,” he snapped.
Never had he been so sure about anything in his life. Every word she’d just said to him had been insincere.
An excerpt from Abel the 4th book in the 5th Street series
Prologue
“I’m game if you’re game.” Nellie stared at him anxiously.
A man’s burning urges often ignore all logic. Abel Ayala knew this was all this was. A day of sipping on cocktails and lying around the deck of a cruise ship watching scantily-clad bikini-wearing women giving him go-ahead smiles had done it to him. Now he stood here, staring into the eyes of Nellie Gamboa, a divorcee eight years older than he was. From what he’d heard, she was still carrying a load of emotional baggage and probably still held a torch for her ex as well. She was someone he would not and should not be thinking of in terms of releasing some sexual tension. Damn it!
The fact that she’d turned her life around after what had been hailed by Roni, his friend’s wife and Nellie’s best friend, as one of the most grueling experiences any woman could go through, didn’t help. She’d gone and shaped up and did a complete makeover from the mousy woman he once remembered her being. If he hadn’t known it, he never would have even guessed that this sexy-as-hell woman would be hitting thirty soon. The sexual tension between them was a living breathing thing and had been going on for months now. Only up until now, he thought he might be imagining her requited feelings of lust.
His twenty-two-year-old ass had no business with a woman her age—no business getting involved with Roni’s best friend—especially knowing full well he’d never take a relationship with her seriously. But this changed things. Nellie was telling him that she was all for a no-strings-attached relationship. She was as interested in anything serious as he was. Coming off what she called the divorce from hell, she said she wanted to live it up now. He was glad now for the liquid courage Nellie’s wine had provided. If not for it, the offer may’ve never been voiced. She gone so far as to say that she was all for a fun-and-run experience and that she’d had her eye on him for some time.
It was still a risk, his brain reasoned. Things could sour. This could even cause a rift between him and his good friend’s wife if any hurt feelings came from this. But the already throbbing parts of his body said otherwise.
She tilted her head in that sexy way she did so often with curved lips that practically called out for his. To hell with logic! Just pulling her delicate frame against his immediately released some of the pent-up tension that had been building every time he’d been around her lately.
Swallowing hard, he stared at those lips—lips he’d wondered far too many times what they must taste like. “Hell yeah, I’m game,” he said as he took her mouth in his. Feeling a desire like none he??
?d ever felt before, he kissed her deeply, sucking her tongue and her lips. Damn, he wanted to eat her up.
He’d been fighting it—over thinking it—for months. This was just his ever-so-curious body’s reaction to finally giving into a longing that had peaked tonight as they’d enjoyed a few friendly dances. That’s all it was. But he needed more than just a kiss now. God, he wanted so much more, and since she was game . . . He pulled away from her just long enough to catch his breath and take a look around the almost-empty deck.
“I’d invite you back to my room, but Hector and Charlee might—”
She tugged his hand and was already on the move. “Let’s go back to mine.”
The second the elevator doors closed, Abel pushed her against the wall, pulling her by the waist to him, and his mouth and tongue sucked at every inch of hers. She panted softly, running her fingers through his hair as he moved down to her neck and sucked softly then a little rougher.
As the moving elevator came to a stop, Abel tore himself away. No sooner had the doors opened than they were out in a rush to her room. They turned the corner down the long corridor of rooms.
“How far down?” Abel asked.
“All the way to the end,” she replied, taking even longer strides.
Feeling crazed with anticipation, Abel’s eyes searched for the ice/vending machine room like the one on his floor. The moment he saw it, he pulled her in it.
He answered her confused expression with a kiss as he closed the door and pushed her against it. “I need to refuel.”
All right, he needed to get laid more often. This was ridiculous. Obviously he’d been spending too much time training and not enough socializing, because he’d never felt this kind of urgency. Duly noted—he’d move a few things around in his schedule. She lifted her leg, bringing it around him.
“Careful,” he warned, biting her lower lip, “or I may just finish you up right here.”
“Do it,” was her only response, and he froze.
Pulling back to look in her eyes, he could see she was serious. “Right here?” He asked, his hand already traveling down under her dress.
She nodded as his fingers felt the dampness between her legs and how hot she already was, pushing his heart into overdrive. He squeezed his eyes shut as he leaned his forehead against hers. “Sweetheart, don’t play with me.”
“I’m not,” she assured him breathlessly.
Abel opened his eyes, looking down at her big brown eyes. Up until that moment, he’d never noticed the golden specks that were sprinkled throughout. The desire he saw in them now was as urgent as his own; although, he didn’t miss the slightest bit of apprehension. He couldn’t blame her. Anyone could walk in on them. He was certain he’d be able to hold the door closed against the force of any one person or maybe two if they pushed against it—at least until he was sure she was decent. But he didn’t want her doing anything she wasn’t completely certain about.
“Are you sure about this?” He slipped his finger under her panties, her moisture inviting him in all the way.
She gasped, closing her eyes at his touch, and nodded. “The kiss on the deck . . .” she said, her eyes remaining closed. Abel stared at her lips as she continued to speak a little more breathlessly with every caress of his finger to her silky wet skin. “The elevator . . . This . . . It’s exciting. I’ve never done something so . . .”
Nellie stopped to swallow, licking her lips, and Abel kissed her before she could finish. She didn’t have to. Suddenly the need to make this happen for her, make this experience with him be one she’d never forget, took over. It was just an ego thing. That’s all it was. What guy didn’t like knowing he was a woman’s first anything?
Abel reached for his wallet, but his lips never left hers. She kissed him back just as urgently, her hands grasping the front of his shirt. She gasped harder at the sound of his zipper opening. So he stopped and looked at her wide eyes. “I’m sure,” she said before he could ask again, pulling him to her, and he groaned against her mouth.
Working fast, he got the condom on and reached under her sundress, pulling her panties down. When they hit the floor, he lifted her easily off the ground. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She did and he adjusted her, groaning loudly as he entered her. Kissing her harder now as he fucked her against the door, he tried in vain to stifle his moaning, but it felt so damn good to be inside her. He’d been under the assumption that a woman who had been married, especially for several years, wouldn’t be this tight. She was tighter than some of the younger women he’d been with, and it felt just too damn good to finally be doing what he could only fantasize about up until now—so good it was almost alarming.
With her arms tightly wound around his neck, she began to pant with every thrust, and he went even harder, her panting growing more frantic as he felt her begin to pulsate around him each time he slid into her. Just as her entire body began to tremble with pleasure, he felt her arms tighten around his neck as she pulled her mouth away from him to breathe and cry out. Abel couldn’t hold it any longer either. Groaning again, he came in an explosive climax. Sinking deep inside her, he pushed his body against hers, burying his face in her sweet neck. Nellie clung onto him for dear life, gasping for air.
“We’re, Nellie started to say before stopping to catch her breath, “still going back to my room, right?”
Abel smiled, squeezing her naked behind and looked up into her somewhat embarrassed eyes. “You bet this hot little ass we are. That was just an appetizer. I hope you have all night, because what I have in mind is gonna take that long.”
Her eyes sparkled now with excitement, and she nodded. Hot damn! She was going to be more fun than he’d expected.
Acknowledgments
To my husband, Mark, thank you for believing in me always and encouraging me to do this. I couldn't have done any of this without you, and I'd never want to. I love you!
To my babies, Marky and Megan, thank you for understanding when I disappear into "the zone" for days at a time. I think we're all used to this, and you've been troopers all the way. I love you!
To my beta readers, Dawn Winter, Judy DeVries, Emily Lamphear, and my commadre Inez Sandoval, thank you! Your input and feedback are truly invaluable. Only you ladies know what this story started out as originally, and I have to say your input, as usual, was spot on. I TRULY appreciate your dedication and the time you take to truly think about your feedback and take on my stories. This year should be interesting yet exciting. I look forward to having you in my corner the whole way.
Thank you to Theresa (Eagle Eyes) Wegand, my one-stop superhero beta reader/editor/formatter/ listener-to-all-my-whiny rants/vents-and-obsessive-worrying and friend. As always, your work is impeccable, and I can’t say enough about it. I hope to be working with you for years to come! Thank you so much!
I'd also like to thank the many bloggers out there who have supported me and have pimped, reviewed, and participated with my cover reveals and announcements. You have been a HUGE part of my success, and I thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart!
I want to give a special shout out to “my FP girls,” my incredibly talented group of superstar authors. I feel absolutely blessed to have found you. I owe you all so much. Thank you for the love, empathy, and your friendships. Each and every one of you!
I'd also like to thank my cover artist, Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design. Thank you for this AWESOME cover! I love all my covers, but this one is just breathtaking! Your work ethic is awesome too.
Thanks to my good friend, New York Times Best Seller JB Salsbury, for turning me on to my new cover artist! And also for being such a great fan of my work! I'm so glad I finally got to meet you this year and so proud of you and all your success!
A special shout out to my street team "Team Reyes!" Thank you Christina Garner Staggs for starting it up and for recruiting the other admins, Leslie Carey, Delashawne Hodgeson, Astin Brooks, and Bella De Silva. You all do such a gr
eat job of running it with so much love and enthusiasm. Thank you for all the hard work you put into the team! But to all who are part of Team Reyes and are part of the madness and FUN I thank you all for your continued support! Love you guys!
And, of course, my incredibly awesome readers! This is for you 5th Street diehards. I thank you for your patience since it has been more than a year since the last 5th Street book released. I hope this was worth the wait! Thank you for your continued messages and emails. I really do LOVE hearing from you! I hope to have a few surprises for you guys in 2015 just to show you that I really am listening and reading ALL your messages and comments!
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, Elizabeth Reyes, was born and raised in southern California and still lives there with her husband of almost twenty years, her two teens, her Great Dane named Dexter, and one big fat cat named Tyson.
She spends eighty percent of time in front of her computer, writing and keeping up with all the social media, and loves it. She says that there is nothing better than doing what you absolutely love for a living, and she eats, sleeps, and breathes these stories, which are constantly begging to be written.
Representation: Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich now handles all questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of Ms. Reyes’ work. Please direct inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights availability to her.
For more information on her upcoming projects and to connect with her--she loves hearing from you all—here are a few places you can find her:
Blog: www.ElizabethReyes.com
Facebook fan page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Reyes/278724885527554
Twitter: @AuthorElizabeth
Email
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