Hired Hands Released!

URL
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/hiredhands.htm

Tessa Marks is a married woman. A married woman who has sinned by sleeping with the man she’s hired on to help her around her farm. Henry’s never home and when he is, he’s cruel to her. Mister Ashton is just what she needs to feel like a woman again.

Will Ashton has killed man. Not just any man. The husband of a blind woman that Will Ashton has now fallen in love with. How can he tell her about his horrible deed without losing her heart forever?

Excerpt:

An hour later, she finished hanging the clothes over the line and realized she hadn’t heard Will begin hammering again. She tilted her head. She heard no movement atop the house. Maybe he’d gone into the barn. She counted her steps across the grass to the barn entrance.

“Mister Ashton?” No answer. She stepped into the barn and called out again. A low growl vibrated from one of the stalls, and her blood chilled. Desperately, she wished she’d brought the rifle. It growled again, then again in a steady rhythm.

Her heart thumped as she moved across the barn and retrieved the pitchfork. But then she stopped. Though she moved away, the animal continued to growl. And she noticed a soft sigh following the sound. Tessa suddenly laughed as she realized it was Will Ashton, snoring.

Quietly, she walked back toward the sound and opened the stable door. His breath was heavy between his snores. Satisfied and certain it was not some wild animal that had wandered into the barn, she started to turn, and then stopped. He was asleep. And naked. In her barn.

Should she?

Turning toward him again, she leaned the pitchfork against the wall of the stall and then knelt. When she reached out, her hand touched warm skin. She spread her fingers out, listening to his breathing to make certain she hadn’t stirred him. A few sweeps of her hand, and she realized she was touching his stomach. She marvelled at the muscle beneath the skin and the hair that swirled lightly beneath her fingers. Gently, she dragged her fingertips up and found thicker hair spreading across a wide, deep chest.

He groaned lowly but didn’t wake, reaching out to snake an arm around her waist and pull her forward against his side. His snores continued.

Tessa’s heart pounded. In his sleep, he’d pulled her to him, and now her body was pressed completely against his. She reached up to touch his face and then gasped when her fingers touched the smooth skin of his jaw. He’d shaved his beard. Had he done that for her? she wondered as her fingers slid over his cheek to his lips.

Don’t you dare, Tessa scolded herself for even thinking she might kiss him. But he would never know, so she leaned forward and dropped her lips to his. Soft, firm, defined and to her surprise, they parted beneath hers. She slid her tongue along his bottom lip, tasting him tentatively. Gently, she allowed her fingers to move back down his stomach until they touched the thick hair that surrounded his cock. Should she?

She didn’t need to move her hand lower, for the head of his cock suddenly jerked against her hand, awakened by her soft touch. Her fingers trembled as they slipped over the smooth skin and down the long, thick shaft. He was bigger than Henry, she thought as her body flared to life with heat, breasts aching to be touched. She forced her hand to release him and pulled her lips from his.

“Henry Marks was a fool.”

His voice caused her to cry out. Her hand clasped over her mouth, and she sat there, frozen. She hadn’t realized he was no longer asleep. So caught up with the feel of his lips and body, she hadn’t noticed he was no longer snoring. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Oh, Mister Ashton!” She tried to rise, but his hand tightened around her, keeping her where she was. “I’m so ashamed! Why did you let me think you were asleep?”

“Come here, woman.” He rolled to his side, pressing against her hip. His hand covered her breast as he leaned over her. A moment later his lips covered hers, forced them apart so he could kiss her deeply.

End of excerpt.

Availale now at Cobblestone Press