Earlier today Helyce reviewed (and loved) the Marked anthology. Now the authors are here with some sexy excerpts from each story.

MARKED: Three stories of passion, possession, and ink

Stories can take us from our everyday world into the future, or to places in the current here and now that we’ve never before been. They can show us heat, and passion, and in the case of an anthology, provide more than one trip to a fabulous happily-ever-after.

Kit Rocha, Lauren Dane and Vivian Arend welcome you to MARKED. Three brand new stories we’re thrilled to share with you.

We’re stopping off at some our favorite blogs with some steamy excerpts. Each of us has pulled a snippet from our novella following a chosen theme, to give you a taste of what you’ll find in MARKED. The theme for this post?

~~~DESIRE~~~

Beyond Temptation

Kit Rocha returns to Sector Four in BEYOND TEMPTATION. A promise to a dying friend backfires when Noah Lennox finds that the girl he was supposed to rescue is all grown up–and wearing O’Kane ink. He wants to protect her from the secrets of their past, but she wants him. And an O’Kane woman always gets what she wants.
~*~
“Fucking hell, sunshine.”
An old nickname, ancient. He was the only person who’d ever looked at her and seen that kind of warmth, and hearing the endearment on his lips left her hungry for so much more. “Don’t stop.” She laid her free hand on his hip and let her fingertips bite into the hard muscle. “Show me what you want.”
“I want–” He bared his teeth and hauled her up by her hair, sparking tingles along her scalp.
Then his mouth crashed into hers.
No, those sheltered fantasies couldn’t compare. Noah had always been so careful with her, so she wasn’t prepared for this–rough kisses and desire edged with pain. Need, the kind you didn’t have a hope in hell of containing, much less controlling.
Emma whimpered as a rush of heat flooded her, left her so wet and aroused that every shifting movement sparked more heat, a never-ending cycle with Noah’s mouth at the center of it.
~~~***~~~

Take a ROCKY RIDE with New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Vivian Arend as she leads you back to the Six Pack Ranch. Anna Coleman might be the law around Rocky Mountain House, but bad boy Mitch Thompson knows that under the stiff RCMP uniform is a woman with a passion for speed and pleasure that matches his own, and he’s not giving up until she’s his.

~*~
He played her body like he knew everywhere she needed to be touched. His lips on her neck, on the upper curve of her breast. Tongue tracing the tattooed flames then sneaking over so he could wrap his lips around her nipple and suck.
“I thought you would ravish me,” Anna confessed, running her fingers through his hair again and again as he moved from one breast to the other until she was breathless.
“I want to savour you. I want to taste every inch of you until you’re mine all over again.” He kissed the small dot of flame Ashley had designed to shoot toward her belly button, then lifted his gaze. His pupils had widened, the dark-as-coal centers blending into the dark of his irises until she couldn’t see anything but his desire for her.
~~~***~~~

All That Remains

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lauren Dane takes you into a brand new world in ALL THAT REMAINS. Summer Killian falls fast and hard when Charlie arrives in Paradise Village. But the heat turns all the way up when she learns Charlie is also with Hatch – the man she loved three years before. While she’s not sure she’s cut out for a triad, neither man is going to give her up.
~*~
Charlie kissed her long and slow as Hatch climbed into the bed next to them. He hissed at how good it felt to be skin to skin with her after years away. She fit, like she always had. Even though they were both different, they still fit.
He ran covetous hands all over her skin, needing to feel as much of her as he could.
Charlie broke the kiss and pushed her to her back. Over her body, he leaned in and Hatch did as well, meeting him halfway in a kiss that fried his synapses. Tongue and teeth, all need and ravenous desire.
And then she slid a hand through his hair, and Charlie’s too, her thumb caressing his temple.
An acceptance of what he and Charlie had.

~~~***~~~

Enjoy the sneak peeks? Check out MARKED, available now in digital and print.