A brand new standalone romance is out now from the formidable Kennedy Ryan—a turbulent love story set in the world of the NBA that fellow readers describe as “forbidden, complex, riveting, and heartbreakingly beautiful”—and together with my blogger sister Vilma of vilmairis.com, I have a little sneak peek for you.
Excerpt
“Hey, look at me.” I tilt her chin, catch her eyes. “We said slow. That’s on everything. Physically. Emotionally. Whatever you need. You set the pace, okay?” I drop my hands to my sides.
“Okay.” Mischief lifts some of the seriousness from her eyes. “So if I say I’m ready for our next kiss, would that be alright?”
“Is that a real question?”
We laugh, and my heart thumps while I wait for her to make a move. I said she could set the pace. Now to keep my hands to myself until she lets me know how this should go.
Her hands are gentle on my face, and for a few moments, she just looks at me, and then, eyes still locked with mine, she takes my bottom lip between hers. There’s something uncertain in her gaze when she tilts her head and deepens the kiss with the first pass of her tongue over my teeth. It’s an exploration, a tentative touch that singes my lips and ripples from the point of contact to the tips of my fingers.
It may be the sweetest moment of my life.
I grip the sheets, pressing my back deeper into the pillows, fighting the urge to pull her closer, tighter. Fighting the urge to do what I’m conditioned to do. Take over. I’m the floor general. I run the team. This is foreign, putting the ball in someone else’s hands. It goes against everything in me to let someone else call the plays, but I’ll do it. God, I think for Iris I’d do anything.
She stares at me while our mouths meld, cling, open, and the intimacy swells between us the longer we watch each other. The longer we taste each other. With every second, the more I have, the more I want. She pulls away just long enough to glance at the sheet knotted in my fists. With a smile, she sifts her fingers into my hair.
“August,” she whispers, “you can touch me.”
I’ve been waiting for permission, but now I’m the one who’s tentative. It’s crazy. We’ve kissed before. Hell, in that closet, we did a lot more than that. But there’s something more fragile about her this time. I’m a big guy. I’m sometimes clumsy and not always careful. Whatever is fragile about her, I’d rather die than break.
“It’s okay,” she says softly. “Touch me how you want.”
My hands glide over her waist, slipping under her T-shirt and learning the exquisite craftsmanship of her ribcage, the flare of her hip. My lips wander down her cheek and dot kisses over her chin, jaw, neck, every inch of fine-grained skin I can get to. She’s the most intoxicating champagne. I sip. I drink. I slurp. I gulp her until I can’t remember the taste of another woman—there’s only ever been her scent and her hair and her shape. She is singular, obliterating every kiss that came before her, eliminating the possibility of anyone else ever tasting this good.
She ducks her head, recapturing my lips, angling her mouth, as hungry for it as I am. Her lips are greedy. Her tongue matches mine, velvety stroke for velvety stroke. I’m panting, almost choking on need. Knowing she wants this as much as I do drives it higher. It’s wet and hot and urgent. Every kiss stokes the craving that’s been brewing between us since our first moment in that bar.
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Hoops - Recommended Reading Order
(standalone stories with interconnected characters)
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