If You Dare...

Blurb

She was bored with her life and sought something more in her relationships. But in the small town of Gideon it was unlikely she'd find it. Barring that, first she had to know what she was looking for.

Until the arrival of a hand delivered invitation to a costume party--an invitation that would change her life.

Beneath a full moon on All Hallow's Eve, he seduced her. Bewitched her. Dominated her. Without uttering a word, he unveiled her deepest desires and darkest needs. He offered her a chance to fulfill her hidden longings--if she dared... It was only the beginning... A moonlit tale of seduction and desire; dominance and submission.

Excerpt

Upon entering the ballroom of the sprawling columned mansion, she noticed him immediately. He was a man not to be overlooked even in the crush of people packed into the room. Considering the size of Gideon, she wondered where all these people came from.

It had to be him. The new master of the Gideon Estate. Princely was plastered all over him. He wore a golden mask that covered half his face. Decadent and predatory. It was fashioned in the image of a lion�king of the jungle. He stood a little apart from the other guests. A lone hunter assessing everyone who entered, as though weighing their value for possible prey to his appetite.

But appetite for what? Her eyes were drawn to the exposed sensuality of his lips. And in a moment, as a voracious craving swept through her, she recognized that her search was over. His remote, hungry look attracted her. As she glanced around the room, she saw there were a number of other women in attendance who obviously felt the same by the look in their eyes. Many covetous glances were directed to his solitary position at the side of the room.

As she watched, several women approached him, obviously eager to be the one to win his attention. To her satisfaction, none seemed to warrant his interest, and eventually they all drooped and walked away.

She sauntered along the periphery of the long room, attempting not to stare at him, yet finding it difficult not to watch his every move. Even with the mask�or maybe because of it�she found him intriguing.

Fascinating.

Arousing.

Couples glided over the smooth surface of the polished oak floor. The musicians were seated on a raised platform at the far end of the room, rendering classical, traditional music. Periodically, she would lose sight of him through the throng of dancers, and she would pause and wait for him to again become visible.

What was it about him that drew her? It took all her willpower not to approach him. An air of the unapproachable cloaked him. Like a potentate inspecting his domain�in attendance, yet separate. What was a man like him doing in Gideon? His golden shoulder-length hair shimmered beneath the glittering lights of the chandeliers, catching fragments of tawny color and tossing it back. A black satin ribbon contained the long locks at the nape of his neck, emphasizing an air of old-world decadence. She had an urge to release the ribbon and sift through the silken length.

A white silk shirt rippled along the breadth of his shoulders. Even across the span of the room she knew his height would dwarf her own five-foot ten-inch frame. He stood head and shoulders above most of the men in the room.

Coal-black leather pants encased slim hips and muscular thighs. A lightning shaft of need speared through her as she imagined caressing them, sliding her hands up�along those hard thighs, upward to that broad expanse of chest. The vee of his shirt exposed a sprinkling of golden hair and she wondered how silky and springy it would feel beneath her fingers.

He would not be a tame lover. And watching him, a wildness she'd never experienced before began to throb inside her. It was almost as though that feeling of being bewitched earlier today still clung to her. Yet it had altered somehow over the course of the last few hours.

Primitive desire devoured her to the point she wanted to rip his shirt open and taste the skin beneath. Like the yearning to ravage a serving of rich chocolate cake frosted with dark chocolate icing, and she salivated at the thought.