Fracture by Amanda K. Byrne
Blurb:
Every nightmare has an end.
There’s no way Nora can ignore the beating. Same heavy
boots. Same curses, same pained groans. But that was two years ago, and this a
different man, a different part of war-ravaged Sarajevo. This is her second
chance. She has to try.
And then she’s stuck with him, nursing him, putting up
with him. Declan’s an ass. He’s rude and tactless. He’s arrogant. Dismissive.
Charming. Intense. Caring when she needs it most – and
least expects it. He tears away the numbing fog that’s been her constant
companion and offers her a way out and a way home.
And it damn near destroys her.
Nora’s survived two years in a war zone. Can Declan show
her how to live?
Excerpt:
“Nora.”
I
burrow further under the blankets. It’s too damn early to get up, too warm, too
comfortable.
“Nora.
Get up.”
On
a whimper, I open my eyes. Grey light streams through the living room window.
Living room? Did Ryan and I fall asleep on the couch again? Bad habit. I
thought we’d broken it.
His
shoulders are all wrong. Too broad. His scent is wrong, too. Not Ryan. Ryan’s
gone, and Declan is not. I’m plastered against him. At his request, I remember,
sleep clearing from my brain. For comfort, he’d said. Lifting my head, I try to
focus on his face. The swelling’s gone down some more, the bruising around his
eyes a gruesome yellow mask tinged with red. I trail my fingers over the
bruising on his jaw. He doesn’t flinch, the hard gleam in his eyes not
dissipating in the least. Such a difficult man to understand, Ryan’s opposite
in every way. Yet here I am, molded to him like this is where I belong and I
have no desire to leave.
“Fuck,”
he mutters. Heedless of his sprained wrist, he slides his hands under my arms
and jerks me up, his mouth closing over mine before I realize what’s happening.
The
contact is a lightning bolt, piercing the last of the dream and the sleep haze
and scattering it like mice before a cat. It leaves no room for doubt that this
is exactly what he means to do, kiss me, no, ravage my mouth,
his tongue slipping past my defenses when I part my lips unconsciously. His
mouth moves with the confidence of a man who has been kissing women for a long,
long time, kissing them and getting kissed in return. There is no asking in
this kiss. He tells me with his lips, his teeth, his wicked tongue that we’re
doing this, and we’re doing it now, so I’d better hang on. My mind
threatens to blank as my body takes over, reveling in the increasing heat.
Our
noses bump, and he hisses, breaking the kiss. Shit. I’d forgotten about his
injuries, the broken ribs and nose, the deep, throbbing bruises along his torso
and thighs. A lapse. A side trip into insanity. Two people who’ve been thrown
together by circumstance and nothing more, warm bodies to draw from. That’s all
it is.
I
guess Declan’s not done being crazy because he grips my hips, positions them
over his groin, and pushes up. I can’t stop the moan from escaping. My body’s
completely taken over. It wants what’s between my legs and covered in layers of
fabric.
I
dive for his mouth again, craving more. Needing more. He gives it to me,
tongues thrusting and parrying in a primitive dance echoed by the rocking of
our hips. One hand curves around my nape, his teeth nipping into my top lip as
his other hand grips my hip, further encouraging their movement. It’s the
sweetest, darkest kind of madness. I want to drown in it. I want it to sink me,
sate me, whip me into a frenzy I haven’t felt in years.
And
as abruptly as it starts, it stops, Declan’s face impassive, his ragged
breathing and the hard bulge under me betraying him. He shifts me to the side
and sits up, pushing to his foot and hopping into the bedroom. He pauses in the
doorway. “Who’s Ryan?”
About the
Author
When she’s not plotting
ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy,
snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to
make mistakes, and her heroes strong enough to take them on.
If she’s not writing,
she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with
her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and no,
it really doesn’t rain that much.
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