The Lovers Unmasked Anthology just released (read my review here) and Tessa Bailey’s contribution continues Derek and Ginger’s story. There full-length book, Protecting What’s His is really sexy and fun. I like these two, especially Derek’s dirty talking ways.
Tessa Bailey is visiting Smexy today to give us an original scene featuring Derek and Ginger. Yay!
Ginger wrinkled her nose at the stack of take-out menus fanned out on her desk. At three-months pregnant, she’d gotten used to being ravenous by lunchtime…yet having none of her favorite lunch spots appeal to her. It beat the hell out of the morning sickness she’d finally gotten past, but the daily hour-long debate usually ended in her choking down a bag of white-cheddar popcorn or a handful of Sour Patch Kids.
Mmmm. Sour Patch Kids…
She yanked open the metal drawer to search for hidden candy just as the bell over the door tinkled, signaling a customer had entered Sneaky Peet’s. Her sigh ended in a smile when she heard a familiar, heavy tread making its way to her office at the back of the store.
Derek.
Her heart kicked into a quick, knocking rhythm when he appeared in the doorway carrying a pink box. As always, his gaze swept over her with hot, male appreciation, sending a shiver of awareness up her spine. With a flick of his wrist, he opened the box to reveal a half-dozen cupcakes of various flavors. Cupcakes, she realized as her stomach growled, were exactly what she’d been craving. How had he known?
Derek set the box down on her desk, shaking his head when she tried to reach for one of the cupcakes. “No, no. I came here to feed you. I’m going to do exactly that.”
Throat suddenly parched, Ginger lowered herself into the desk chair and crossed her legs, intentionally giving him a nice flash of thigh. She hoped at even nine-months pregnant, she never stopped pushing the Lieutenant’s buttons. And boy, her thighs were one of them. “Who am I to deny a man his pleasure?”
Without taking his eyes off her, Derek lifted a cupcake from the box. He held it in front of her lips, a hum of appreciation purring in his throat when she took a long lick of the pink frosting and savored it on her tongue. “You like the way that tastes?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now take a bite.”
Ginger did as he asked, watching him carefully as she chewed. As they were wont to do, his darkening eyes dropped to her breasts, her belly.
“You’re finally starting to show. I noticed it this morning in the shower.”
Her breath went shallow remembering what he’d done to her. Worshiping her from his knees before cupping her stomach protectively and taking her beneath the warm spray of water, his every drive pushing him further inside her. As if he couldn’t get close enough, deep enough. Lately, his appetite for her had grown even hotter, leaving her walking around in a constant state of bliss. “It made you want to feed me cupcakes?”
Derek pushed the final bite into her mouth and pressed her lips closed with his thumb. “It made me want a lot of things.” His big hands went to his belt buckle, undoing it slowly, with intention. “I make no apologies, Ginger. You know the kind of man I am. I take care of what’s mine and I consider you mine. Completely and irrevocably.” As he lowered his zipper, his free hand went to the back of her head, massaging her scalp hypnotically. “But since we’re on the subject of my pleasure, let’s hear you say it.”
She wet her lips, anticipation filling her. “Of course I’m yours, Derek. Completely.”
“That’s right.” He reached inside his uniform pants, taking his heavy erection in his fist. “With you carrying our baby it’s only getting more intense. This…need to provide.” He grunted as he began to stroke himself. “That’s not where it ends, though.”
Ginger could barely hear over the blood rushing in her ears. Reluctantly, she dragged her gaze up to meet his. “Tell me, sugar.”
“Something about you with that swollen belly…knowing I made you that way. God, I can’t think straight for wanting you. It never stops anymore. Not for a second.”
“Good,” Ginger breathed, her nipples puckering underneath the bodice of her dress. “I don’t want it to stop.”
Derek closed the distance between them, his boots creaking on the floorboards. Her eyelids fluttered shut as he dragged the head of his arousal across the seam of her lips. “It’s not just that I want to provide, baby. I want to be rewarded for it.” When she gave a seductive lick of the sensitive underside, Derek groaned. “Open that pretty mouth for me.”
Please note: Giveaway winners will be chosen through Rafflecopter by Entangled.
I read this anthology and it was really great. Bailey’s story was the best of the bunch, too!
I love derek and ginger.