“Master, your wish is my command.”
“Er, okay. Well, Lily, we need to talk.” Ethan tugged at his tie and scanned the condo, now full of decorative objects and brightly colored pillows.
Lily quickly approached him and began loosening the knot at his throat. Her scent drifted to him and he closed his eyes and breathed it in. “What is that perfume?”
“Bergamot, lavender and sandalwood,” she said as she slowly slid his tie away and began undoing his shirt buttons. “Do you like it?”
He breathed in again. “Yeah.”
She smiled. “Come, rest yourself.” Taking him by the hand, she led him to the sofa. Rather than sitting beside him, she stood before him and twirled once. “Does Master like my outfit?”
How could he not? It was a classic harem-girl costume. “Sure, but—”
“Would Master like his slave to dance?”
Slave? “Yes,” he heard himself answer as if from far away. She was doing it again … leading him down the rabbit hole, into her fantasy world. He gave up the fight and followed.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever met someone so quirky and free-spirited that they instantly made you feel better about life? I have. I’ve known her a long time and have always thought she’d make a great character in a book. With a few changes to protect her innocence, of course. <wink> But the essence is there. Her joy. Her tolerance for all our imperfections and differences. And her love of life. Throw in a little belly dancing, and a well-used deck of tarot cards, and you’ve got Lily.
Then, when Lieutenant Colonel Ethan Grady showed up as Cole’s friend in Let It Ride, I just knew that free-spirited character would be the perfect yin to his yang. This repressed air force fighter pilot has met his match in Lily.
We’re back at Nellis Air Force base. Home of the Air Base Defense School, where an elite team of fighter pilots teach daring air-combat maneuvers. Oh, those men and their uniforms. With Sin City only a few miles away, anything can happen. And in a Mills & Boon® Blaze® novel, you know it’s going to be sizzling hot.
I was so thrilled to hear from readers who enjoyed Let It Ride and hope you love this story just as much (and yes, Mitch and Alex are at it again, and yes, they will be getting their own story, coming soon). Please drop me a note and check out information on my next Mills & Boon Blaze book at www.jillianburns.com.
Enjoy!
Jillian Burns
About the Author
JILLIAN BURNS has always read romance, and spent her teens immersed in the worlds of Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet. She lives in Texas with her husband of twenty years and their three active kids. Jillian likes to think her emotional nature—sometimes referred to as moodiness—has found the perfect outlet in writing stories filled with passion and romance. She believes romance novels have the power to change lives with their message of eternal love and hope.
Seduce and Rescue
Jillian Burns
I had a lot of inspiration for this book and am so lucky to have wonderful friends and family from whom I gather information. Huge thanks to Susan Grant, military pilot and author extraordinaire, who was so gracious to answer all my air force questions. To sis, Mindy, for the belly-dancing inspiration, and to dear friend Von for the tarot-card lessons and guidance in all things enlightened.
And especially to Melody. You inspired Lily long before I knew she was Lily.
And, as always, thank you to my two superhero critique partners, Pam and Linda, who always go above and beyond. And to my brilliant editor, Kathryn.
1
HOW THE HECK HAD HE gotten himself into this situation?
Lieutenant Colonel Ethan Grady clenched his fists as he studied the chaotic mess inside the herb shop located a few blocks off the Vegas strip.
He’d lost a bet, that’s how.
And now he had to get a massage from some old gypsy lady who kept voodoo doodads hanging from the ceiling and bottles of smelly herbs and oils crammed on wall-to-wall shelves. Whatever space wasn’t filled with bottles held candles or plants or … cats.
Ethan looked down at a long-haired black cat winding its way around his leg, and his fists tightened. Now he’d have cat fur on his BDUs.
“Well, buddy.” His fellow airman, Captain Mitch McCabe, shot him an evil grin as he slapped him on the back. “Time to pay up.”
“And you never know,” his buddy Jackson, who’d won the bet, added. “You may like it so much you become a regular.”
Ethan scowled. Not in this lifetime.
He never gambled. But ever since he’d learned of Jackson’s close call with death, something inside Ethan just … felt different. Besides, he’d wanted Jackson’s fifty-year-old bottle of Scotch. And the bet had looked like a sure thing. Who’d have thought the Keno girl would give in to Jackson when she’d turned down every other airman within a hundred-mile radius?
Women were illogical.
“Namaste.” A high, sweet voice floated to him from the back of the small shop. “I’m Lily.”
Ethan shook his boot in an attempt to dissuade the black cat from circling his ankles, and looked up into huge Caribbean-blue eyes as the girl straightened from a bow, her palms still together. Untamed strawberry curls framed a pixie face with an upturned nose. Tiny dimples added the perfect touch to a creamy complexion as she flashed a ready smile from a beautiful mouth.
The neon sign out front read Lily’s. But this was no old gypsy.
The redhead’s smile faded and her curved brows crinkled into a frown. She tilted her head and moved closer. Too close. “Oh, my.” For a minute Ethan thought she was going to cry. “Your aura is black. So dull, so … heavy.” Her arms rose and she held up her hands, one over his stomach and the other over his crotch.
She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them to stare into his again. “Several of your chakras are completely blocked. This makes your chi rough and chaotic.” Her eyes closed and her head fell back as she flattened her palms against his chest and moved them down and around.
The instant she touched him his body sizzled and stirred. Ethan grabbed her wrists, removed her hands and stepped back.
McCabe chuckled and exchanged stupid grins with Jackson. “Sounds like Grady’s got himself a real unhealthy chi, there. Lily, maybe you can unstick that poker up his a—”
“Shut it, McCabe.” Ethan threw him his fiercest glare.
Jackson stepped between them. “Our friend here has an appointment for a massage.”
The hippie swept her attention back to Ethan, her eyes even wider. “You’re Mitch’s friend. Another air force pilot. So that’s what the cards were trying to tell me.”
Cards? Enough of this new age crap. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Lieutenant Colonel … Grady, isn’t it?” She put her finger to her tiny chin and began studying his body as she circled him.
Ethan purposely unclenched his fists and tried to relax. But he couldn’t do it with her gaze burning into him. Then he felt her hands touch his shoulders, and he flinched. She