Read An Excerpt:[Click here to expand/collapse]

EXCERPT:

The girl was naked.

The bed where she lay was swathed in red satin. White tulle suspended from the ceiling hung loosely around the edges of the bed, teasing her long, tanned legs. The heady scent of sandalwood pervaded the room where the only light source was a dozen lighted candles grouped together on the window ledge.

Ravel's Bolero played softly in the background while the telltale sounds of a woman's pleasure came fast and furious from her open mouth. She writhed and slithered on the sensuous material and her legs parted.

A man approached the bed, only his back visible. His pale blond hair flowed just a shade past the wide shoulders of his flowing white robes. His hypnotic voice spoke to her and she opened her eyes. Turning her head towards him, she smiled. Her dreamy eyes watched him draw near, her arms lifted in welcome as he sat down on the edge of the bed. His hands covered hers and he pushed them back behind her head. She sighed in protest which quickly became a guttural groan when his mouth descended on one aroused nipple, suckling and biting. While his mouth feasted, one hand trailed down her body to stroke her engorged labia, moving slowly back and forth as her arousal eased the way for his long fingers. She arched her back urging him to delve further, deeper.

He lifted his head and moved his glistening fingers to her mouth, urging her to taste herself. She clamped her free hand around his wrist and sucked his index finger deeply into her mouth. He threw his head back and closed his eyes, savouring the sensation.

The girl grew bolder, swirling her pink tongue up and down the length of his fingers one by one. He held on to her head with his other hand, forcing her closer as if it was his cock she was servicing and not his hand.

In a sudden movement he let go of her and she fell back against the mattress. He flipped her over onto her stomach, lifting her hips to expose her body to him. With a flick of his wrists his robes opened and he entered her. The girl cried out as his hands gripped her hips, although it was difficult to tell if from pleasure or pain. Maybe both.

Oh shit. Helena drew back further into her hiding place behind the heavy drapes, fearful her laboured breathing and the loud thud of her heart would betray her presence. Well she certainly got more than she bargained for. This assignment became more complicated all the time. She never figured she'd be required to become a voyeur when she accepted this gig. What started as an investigation into a cult leader's financial dealings was getting curiouser and curiouser all the time. It appeared he was using sex to control his subjects. The methods he used to convince them to submit to him she was yet to find out.

Intelligent, professional women were not only giving him control of their money, but of their bodies as well. He certainly was no prize, although some women may find his Nordic looks attractive. He was on a good wicket here, from his point of view.

It made her sick to her stomach.

She wished they'd hurry up and finish. Despite her objections to his methods of seduction, no one would ever be totally unaffected by watching a couple having sex. Hot, amazing, multiple orgasm type of sex from the look and sound of it. Damn it was uncomfortable listening to that. Sweat trickled down her neck and between her breasts, alerting her to the fact she was no saint. Thank God Dimitri wasn't with her. Group voyeur sessions with the man of her dreams would not be a good thing. The fact he didn't even think of her as anything other than a mate made that thought even more painful. Don't even go there girl!

The moans and sighs eventually stopped and she heard the door quietly close. Peering around the edge of the drapes, she could see the girl lying on the bed alone and apparently in a deep sleep. The scent of sex hung heavily in the air and she wrinkled her nose. She couldn't tell how deeply asleep the girl really was, but time was not a luxury she could afford. She needed to get out of there now so she could report to her partner. How was Dimitri going to react to this piece of news?

Her opportunity came as the girl shifted in her sleep and turned away from the window. Helena slowly turned the handle and opened the French doors, slipping out into the night.

Reaching the perimeter fence of the compound, she retrieved the rope she'd hidden under a pile of leaves and threw the grappling hook over the wall. A dog barked as she made it to the top of the fence and she heaved the rope up and out of sight before jumping down to the street outside. As she threw her gear into her backpack a hand touched her shoulder. Shit. She reached for the gun she'd stored in the backpack, but the lightening-fast hand shifted and grabbed her wrist before she got the chance to open the zipper.

A voice whispered in her ear, "Relax Hels, it's just me."

Read An Excerpt:[Click here to expand/collapse]

EXCERPT:

Magda wiped the sweat out of her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. Bloody stinking rain forests. How did she get so lucky to score this assignment? Just wait until she got back to The Mansion - she intended to have something to say about always getting the dirty jobs. Phoenyx and Lyonene were probably lying around in the spa drinking champagne instead of manning the computers and digging up the research to help her with this mission. And as for Joell - ha! Next time there's a job babysitting hunky male models, I'm getting in first! That crazy woman even had enough time to find a man the last time she'd gotten that cushy job.

Oh no…no more cloak and dagger and crawling through steamy, insect-infested jungles for Magda. No way, José. Next time she got sent out in the field, it was going to be a fun assignment. Limos and five-star hotels all the way, baby!

It wasn't like they needed the money. All of them were bestselling romance authors, editors and graphic artists. They did the super heroine bit on the side because they liked to help people. Of course it was a fantastic way to keep up the training, and the research was invaluable. But that wasn't the point! She must have been insane to take on this job!

She turned her head at a loud shrieking noise and reached for her Browning Pro nine millimetre. She never left home without it. The noise could be one of two things. Monkeys or birds - neither of which she was particularly fond of. The shadow that briefly swept overhead confirmed the creature was of the feathered variety. She replaced her gun in the special holster inside her shirt and waited for her heart rate to return to normal. It had to be a bird of prey of some variety, no doubt, and thank the Lord she was here on the ground.

Half an hour later, when she found another tear in her cargo pants courtesy of the thick undergrowth, she wasn't so sure.

Bloody hell. This was supposed to be an easy job.

No danger. Go in, find the lost relic and get out.

Yeah right.

It'd been two days now and she still had no idea where the object was, and from the stories she'd been told, this wasn't your average, everyday, garden-variety relic. This one had some pretty amazing legends attached to it that she had only just begun to learn about.

Boss, the unofficial office manager of The League of Amazing Women, had neglected to tell her that this particular relic was made from a chunk of crystal from Alexander the Great's crystal sarcophagus. Even she had heard the stories surrounding the mystery of his burial place. Several different groups claimed they knew its location, but were hiding it to prevent wars over its ownership.

And protect it they should if the stories were true - that the holder of the sarcophagus would assume power in the country they resided. Just imagine if terrorists got their hands on it?

Of course this little piece of crystal wasn't the whole shebang, but hey, someone must believe it had some sort of power. The locals had definitely closed ranks and that was the one thing she was sure of. Since she'd arrived in Penang, she'd hit one brick wall after another.

Damn. She looked down at her ankle and saw the trickle of red seeping through her sock.

Another leech.

Why is it always leeches?

She stopped and reached in to her backpack for the salt. The slimy little creature curled up and came off in her fingers while she squished it the best she could before she wrapping it in a leaf and hurling it to the jungle.

Looking up, she squinted at the sun and wondered just how much farther it was to the small village the guide at the hotel had told her about. Okay, he hadn't exactly come across as the honest type. He wouldn't even look at her until she flashed a wad of money at him. However, one thing she did know about human nature was that people did not want to lose their meal ticket. So if he wanted her to come back for more, he would at least have to steer her in the right direction the first time. Unless, of course, someone was paying him more to send her on a wild goose chase, but she didn't want to think about that right now. Nope. She was going to think positive all the way. And if she continued to say it, it might actually be true.

Another five minutes and the vegetation began to thin a little. In another ten, she walked into a clearing to find a group of three huts. Definitely not luxury accommodations.

The walls were made of some sort of mud concoction and from what she could see, no windows. No doors were visible so she walked towards the edge of the closest one to investigate more.

Yuck! Something stunk like the old outside dunnie on her grandfather's farm. Her nose twitched as the smell increased while she rounded the hut in search of the door. Catching a whiff of the noxious aroma again, her nostrils made the decision for her.

She made her way to the next hut to look for the door. The stinky one could wait.

"Hello?"

Maybe someone would come out and talk to her. She rounded the edge of the hut and found a roughly hewn doorway covered with a piece of hessian material that hung loosely from the top of the opening.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Pausing for a few minutes, she listened for any signs of habitation. Finding none she ducked her head and entered. She blinked a few times to get used to the darkness. The hut was definitely empty. The only things she could see were the rough matting on the floor and some sort of chest to the side along the circular wall. Looking behind her one last time, she took a step towards it and reached out to open the intricately carved door. A flicker of guilt crossed her mind as her hand paused mid air.

"What the fuck are you doing here Magda?"

Magda whizzed around, palming the gun from her ankle holster.

"What the - ?"

And there he was. All six foot three inches of muscle, sandy blond mussed up hair and the cockiest lopsided grin in the universe, and he was leaning against the wall of the hut.

The last person on Earth she wanted to see.

Relaxing her grip on the weapon, she took a few seconds in an effort to calm her racing pulse and shortened breaths. "You're going to have to stop creeping up on people like that, Vincent. I almost shot you."

His baby blue eyes twinkled. "Nah. I know you better than most, don't forget. You never shoot real people."

His gaze changed from amusement to desire as he moved his line of vision from her face, across both her swelling breasts, down to her groin and back.

Damn. Her nipples reacted of their own accord to his inspection.

Damn this man.

"Besides, you wouldn't shoot me, Mags - you love me."

She shoved past him and made her way outside the hut.

"You arrogant son of a bitch!"

"I guess that means I'm not going to get my welcome kiss?"

"Fuck off."

"I guess not."

Read An Excerpt:[Click here to expand/collapse]

EXCERPT:

Elise almost fainted on the spot. She recognised both the name and the sexiest voice she'd ever heard. It was him, the man from the BDSM club. Shit! The club she'd gone to after her crazy friend Nicole dared her. He was the training master who had the body she'd been having erotic dreams about and somehow he'd found out her name. How had he done that? The memory of how much she'd been turned on by that place freaked her out, and the thought that this gorgeous hunk of man presumed that she would be his willing slave made her fascinated, angry, and scared to death at the same time. And, if she was truly honest with herself, incredibly turned on. However, she still wasn't quite sure she could go through with the whole dominant-“submission thing, so once when he'd called looking for her and told her secretary that they had met at a friend's club and she realised where he meant. Afraid of what the consequences would be if she gave in to her desires, she'd decided not to return his calls.

She'd been avoiding him for weeks. In fact, she'd been trying to forget that night at the club altogether, not that it was easy. The erotic scenes she'd witnessed invaded her dreams every night, and now a consequence of that visit was standing right here in front of her. Holy shit, great predicament, Elise!

Bloody hell, why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? She'd looked him up on the Internet and the photos she'd found didn't do him justice at all. The shaggy dark brown hair was the same, but those dark blue eyes rimmed by those incredibly long eyelashes, and that lopsided grin? Oh man, then there was his body. It should be illegal for a man to have shoulders so broad and a bum so muscular you just wanted to sink your teeth into it.

It doesn't matter.

She still didn't want to go out with him, especially after the arrogant way he'd been pursuing her. He didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word 'no', and she still didn't understand why he picked her. She was sure they'd never met in person before. In fact, along with the mask, she'd been careful not to interact with anyone at that club. She wasn't sure she was ready to explore that particular fantasy for real. Not yet.

Anyway, it was the principle of the thing. She had no time for rich jerks who thought they only had to flash some cash and every woman would jump at being their slave. She'd already done the rich boyfriend thing and it sucked big time. Even if she did fantasise about giving over control of her body to a dominant lover, she always chose her own men on her own terms, and that was the way she liked it. If she kept reminding her self of that fact, she just might believe it too.

Mitch caught her looking and smiled with that impossibly sexy mouth. Oh man, what a smug smile. Even if he did make her insides shiver, she wasn't putting up with smug. Standing up straight to her full five foot seven in height, she stared him right in the face… around about his chin level actually…and spoke. "And who might you be?"

The smile didn't waver even for a millisecond. He was good, but she was better.

"I take it you have the required money with you, Mr.…? What did you say your name was?"

Davo stepped in between them, grabbing Elise's hand. "Elise love, don't you recognise him? This is Mitchell Collins. He's the owner of Collins Technology. Of course he has the money, and if he hasn't got it on him, I know he's good for it."

Throwing Davo's hand back to him, Elise moved to stand beside him so she could keep an eye on her quarry. "Oh? You sell computers or something?" She knew exactly how much he was worth, but there was no way she was letting him know that. Let him put that in his pipe and smoke it!

The corners of his mouth kicked up just a touch. "Something like that, Elise. And please call me Mitch. There's no need to be so formal under the circumstances now is there?" In a few minutes, we'll be on quite intimate terms."

Her mind went into overdrive. Oh shit! This was the man in her fantasy dreams. Oh God, don't lose it now, Elise. Forcing herself to calm down, she took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly. She could do calm. She was in complete control of herself. And pigs might fly too, but she was sure going to give it a try.

"Why not, Mr. Collins? In a few minutes, it will be all over and we'll probably never see each other again. Why bother getting familiar?"

"Elise! Don't forget Mitch is donating money to our charity…"

Mitch laughed. A deep, throaty, sexy laugh. Damn. Why did that sound make her panties dampen of their own accord?

"I don't mind calling you Miss Blake if you really want me to. Makes no difference to me. It's all in a good cause."

Great going, Elise. Keep it coming, nice and easy. "So you'll just give us the money then?"

There came that laugh again. "Nice try, but no. I always collect on what I'm owed, and make no mistake, I plan on collecting from you, Miss Blake, and the pleasure will be mutual. You can count on that."

Damn.