Staking His Claim by Tessa Bailey
Line of Duty, #5
Released February 3, 2014

Happy Hump Day!  I’ve been looking forward to today’s feature for days!  There are awesome romance novels published weekly, we could all litesniperrally gorge on the abundance of feels! However, lately, I’ve had a hankering for some old(er) romantic fare. So I spent some time re-reading some of my oldie but goodies.

When I want something hot, exciting and sweet to read, the queen of dirty talking, strapping heroes and “I am SO HER” heroines,  Tessa Bailey comes immediately to mind.  In particular, her 2014 steamy release, Staking His Claim.  The fifth book in her ah-mahzingly cracktastic Line of Duty series, it features a NYPD sexy, smoldering sniper and the vivacious woman who captures his heart.

He wants her.

All of her.   NYPD sniper Matt Donovan is in Hell. Instead of driving his best friend’s little sister home from college, he’s stuck with her roommate—a fresh-faced ray-of-sunshine with a body that makes grown men weep. There’s no way he’ll allow himself to taint the little vixen, no matter how hard she tries to tempt him, so he resigns himself to the longest—and hardest—drive of his life.

         Matt’s obvious attraction suits grad student Lucy Mason just fine. She had no idea  her brother’s best friend was so deliciously hot. Knowing he’d never have his wicked way with his buddy’s sister, she lies about her identity and seduces him. But Matt’s no fumbling college boy. His desires run deep—and dark—and he wants to teach Lucy what wicked really means.

Matt’s demanding appetites only make Lucy want more. But when her cover’s blown, he’s furious—even as his hunger for her becomes insatiable. Matt can’t trust anyone, least of all himself. And he knows all too well that darkness always destroys the light…

They love…

He wrapped an arm around her waist and took a deep pull off her mouth, keeping her against him until that sense of rightness slipped into place, as it always did for him when they were together.

There it is. Matt pulled back, holding her hand as she ducked through the door. He followed her
in, signaling the driver to go. He hadn’t been lying that one of the reasons he’d rented the limo was to keep her distracted. From their destination.

With a flick of his wrist, he closed the panel separating them from the driver. The
second reason didn’t need an explanation. Every opportunity to touch her, hold her,
would be taken. If that made him selfish, so be it. It was his birthday, after all.

As they pulled away from the curb, he opened his arms and Lucy climbed onto his lap.
The way her head tucked under his chin with such perfection caused his eyes to close,
even as his heart rate kicked up at having her close Where are we going?”

“You think I’ve kept you in the dark this long to tell you now?”

“Not even a hint?”

“No.” Matt cleared his throat. “Lucy?”

He didn’t have to say anything else. His girl knew what he needed to hear. “I love
you, Matt. So much. Always.”

She rubbed a hand down his chest. “I still want a hint ”

This is why he’d needed to distract her. If she kept talking to him in her husky voice
touching him at every opportunity, he’d screw this up. With a hand on her chin, he
tipped her face up for a kiss. It started sweet, but as usual, the taste of her, the
weight of her on his lap, made him hard. His body didn’t care that they would be arriving
at their destination in ten minutes, it wanted to be tucked snugly between her legs.
Lucy’s ass circled in his lap and they groaned into each other’s mouth.

All it would take was a few shifts of their clothing and he’d be seated in her tight heat.

They lust….

Twenty-four hours without Lucy and he felt like a junkie who’d gone too long without a fix. How he’d already
formed an addiction to the girl was beyond him. But he had. An all-consuming one that had stitched her beautiful image permanently on the inside of his eyelids. Caused him to catch her scent in the oddest places.

He couldn’t focus on his job. Every thought led back to her, the way she’d looked yesterday. Full of life. Excitement. The way she’d made him feel it, too, during the brief, shining moment he’d allowed himself to feel. It had seemed too good to be true. He’d been forced to remind himself that he wasn’t that man. The kind of man who made a girl like Lucy smile. He might be able to pull it off for one afternoon, but it couldn’t last.

Tell me. Show me.

She couldn’t have known what those words meant when it came to him. They’d barely scratched the surface, even if the memory of his hand connecting with her flesh alone could bring him to his knees. When he allowed himself to fantasize about Lucy, he imagined her bound to his bed, under his command. He imagined her on her knees, wearing
nothing but a chaste pair of white panties, waiting for his instructions.

The image caused an uncomfortable swelling between his legs and Matt couldn’t resist granting his cock a tight stroke through his uniform pants. It only made matters worse, his thoughts escalating from Lucy on her knees to Lucy asking for permission to suck him off. His flesh disappearing for the first time past her pink lips.

Like this, Matt?

Yeah Matt…like that!?!?

For your absolute reading pleasure, Staking His Claim is available on all reading platforms, including Kindle and Nook.