Today’s Tuesday Teaser comes from Kieran’s Light, my contribution to Heroes, Holidays, and Hope Volume 2, a charity anthology of military romance written by veterans and veterans’ family members. Proceeds of this year’s collection benefit Soldiers’ Angels, a wonderful organization that supports deployed service members, military families, and veterans. HHH Vol. 2 comes out December 6th, and you can pre-order your copy now!
Pre-order Heroes, Holidays, and Hope Vol. 2In this snippet, lighthouse keeper Kieran Gallagher and military surgeon Addy Connor have just had a face-to-face encounter with Trappers Cove, WA’s famous ghost, the White Lady.
***
What a cruel twist of fate, meeting someone so compassionate, kind, and enticing when they only had a short time together.
But they had tonight, and the rest of the week. Liv always said that things happen for a reason—and right now, Addy was inclined to agree with her.
She quirked an eyebrow. “Honestly? You had no plans for a post-ghost snuggle?”
Kieran’s laugh lines crinkled. “Well, the thought did cross my mind, but the other bits, the flashbacks and painful memories—that’s not exactly the cozy date I imagined.”
“Yeah, things took an unexpected turn. But such is life, right?” She caressed his cheek, his beard scratchy-soft beneath her palm. “Thank you for trusting me with your story, Kieran the Lighthouse Keeper. You are a brave, wise soul.”
His gaze flicked to her lips. “Likewise, Addy the Soldier-Surgeon.”
Once again, the air between them thickened, crackling with electricity. But this time, ghosts had nothing to do with it. She rose on tiptoe and tilted her head, a silent invitation.
Eyes dark and glittering, he closed the distance, stopping a millimeter from her lips. “Are you sure?”
“I am.”
In her forty-one years, Addy had sampled every flavor of kiss, from dry to slobbery, from clumsy to seductive, but she’d never known a kiss like Kieran’s.
A soft caress, a sigh of pleasure, the plushness of his lips contrasting with the gentle scrape of his beard. Pulling back, he held her jaw in his big, callused hands and whispered her name, then sealed his mouth to hers. His heat, his low moans as he teased her lips apart and gently, patiently, learned her mouth with decadent strokes—Kieran’s kiss left her breathless, dizzy, completely undone.
After what seemed like hours of swaying together under the moonlight, he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. “Wow.”
“Amen.” She giggled, clutching his coat lapels to keep from crumpling to the ground. Every inch of her sizzled with desire.
He relaxed his embrace and rested his hands on her hips. “Addy, love, I know you’ve got a busy life far away from here, but I’m going to need more of this.” He brushed a kiss over her temple. “More of you.”
Too lust-drunk to form words, she could only nod. “Yes, please.” Steamy visions crowded her brain: Kieran scooping her into his burly arms, carrying her back inside, and tossing her onto his bed before he…
With a rumbling hum of pleasure, he rained kisses over her closed lids, her nose, her cheeks. “There’s a helluva Halloween Party at Salty Dog Saloon,” he murmured against her temple. “Care to be my date?”
Oops, time to cool her overheated jets before she embarrassed them both. Kieran was a decent, respectful man. Of course he wouldn’t rush her into his bed.
“I’d love to. But that’s not until Thursday.”
And I have to leave a few days after that.
Regret sliced between her ribs.
