What happens when the kink between the pages leads to heat between the sheets?
All Blake Crawford wants is to pass his creative writing course, get his university degree and take over his dadβs ailing family business. What Amanda Newland wants is to graduate at the top of her class, as well as finally finish her novel and prove to her family that writing is a respectful career.
What Blake and Amanda donβt want is to be paired up with each other for their final project but thatβs exactly what they both get when theyβre forced to collaborate on a writing piece. Since Amanda thinks Blake is a pushy asshole (with a panty-melting smirk and British accent) and Blake thinks Amanda has a stick up her ass (though itβs brilliant ass), they fight tooth and nail until they discover they write well together. They also might find each other really attractive, but thatβs neither here nor there.
When their writing project turns out to be a success, the two of them decide to start up a secret partnership together using a pen name, infiltrating the self-publishing market in the lucrative genre of erotica. Naturally, with so much heat and passion between the pages, itβs not long before their dirty words become a dirty reality. Sure, they still fight a lot but at least thereβs make-up sex now.
But even as they start to fall hard for each other, will their burgeoning relationship survive if their scandalous secret is exposed or are happily-ever-afters just a work of fiction?
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EXCERPT
She holds my gaze for a moment and something passes over her. Regret, maybe. Then she nods. βSit down. Letβs work.β
And so we do. And for the first time in a long time, itβs strained. Iβm about to suggest maybe we need the Estonian vodka anyway when she lets out an exasperated sigh over something sheβs reading.
It happens to be something I wrote.
βWhat?β I ask, wondering what I did wrong.
She gives me the the ‘are you kidding me?’look. βOkay, I was ignoring it earlier but I think you need to get a grip on some of this shit. This simply does not happen.β
βExplain, please.β
βI just think itβs unrealistic for there to be so much talking, let alone the fact that the first time they do it itβs in a public place.β
βToo much talking?β
βYeah.β she scans over the document. βYou know, give me your cock, oh you feel so good, harder, harder, youβre so big, fuck me harder big boy.β
βHave you even had good sex?β I ask incredulously.
She flinches. βOf course I have. And itβs none of your business.β
βWeβre writing about sex. Itβs completely my business. Iβm not letting you interject your edits based on your personal experiences about sex because believe me, if the sex is good, youβre moaning my name.β
She raises her chin. βMaybe all those girls were faking it.β
Oh, brilliant.
βExcuse me?β I say, hands pressed against the table, nearly getting out of my chair. βYou have no idea. I pride myself in giving a girl as many bloody orgasms as she can handle.β
βBloody orgasms donβt sound like fun,β she jokes softly.
βThey can be if youβre into knife play,β I tell her, even though thatβs not exactly what I meant. Still, she scrunches up her nose. βDonβt knock it until you try it, but thatβs neither here nor there. When you were with Alan, he must have made you come at least a few times.β
If he didnβt, I feel like finding the guy and showing him a thing or two for wasting four years of her life.
βYeah,β she says flatly.
βAnd in the middle of that orgasm, didnβt you want to yell a few things?β
βSometimes.β
βAnd why didnβt you?β
She looks at her nails as if theyβre suddenly fascinating. βIt didnβt seem right. It wasβ¦too intimate. I would have felt dumb. He didnβt like any of that stuff.β
The plot thickens. βAny of what stuff?β
βSex that didnβt involve the missionary position or the bed.β
My mouth drops open. My brain and penis canβt compute this. βI feel so sorry for you.β
We must remedy this.
She glares at me. βItβs not like I didnβt want to do it. I did. And he did try it. Most of it. But it always went back to the same old.β
I knew it. Sheβs a nerd on the streets and a freak in the sheets.
βI donβt mean to brag,β I tell her in all seriousness. βBut you do realize that I could give you an orgasm in thirty seconds.β
Her eyes widen. I canβt tell if sheβs horrified or intrigued. βI donβt believe you and I donβt want you to try.β
Sheβs not getting it. I frown, trying to explain. βIf youβre having good sex and itβs with someone youβre comfortable with, you wonβt worry about holding back. Youβll cry out all the nonsense you want, youβll make noises like a pig and scream like youβre on fire because you truly canβt have a good orgasm unless youβre letting go on all accounts.β I lean back in my chair and study her, running my fingers along my jaw. βI would venture that every time you came with your ex, you were only experiencing half of what you should have been. How is it with your vibrators?β
I expect her to tell me to fuck off, that Iβm getting too personal but to my surprise she gives me a small smile. βItβs better. But I do have a roommate with exceptionally good hearing.β She clears her throat. βAnyway, so I guess Iβm wrong. The heroine can make all the noise she wants.β
βAnd have first time sex in public.β
βI donβt knowβ¦β
βBelieve me, when you finally get a chance to fuck, you donβt care where it is. Thatβs why I always have a condom in my pocket. And the more public the sex, the sneakier you have to be, the hotter it is.β
βBut in the book you would never get caught.β
βYou donβt always get caught in real life too.β
I can see she wants to ask me where Iβve done it but she loses her nerve. βOkay.β She looks back to the document. βI accept defeat.β
But I donβt want her to. I want to prove to her Iβm right and not have her take my word.
Is there a non-creepy way to show her just how amazing good sex can feel? Iβm thinking not.
Orβ¦maybe there is.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Racing the Sun, Sins & Needles and over 25 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.
Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.
Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.
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