“Mind if I ride with you?” His dark eyes raked over her.
Their gazes connected in a way that they hadn’t before, seeing each other through different eyes, in a new light.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and wiggled onto his lap. “I’d love nothing better,” she whispered against his mouth before trailing the tip of her tongue tantalizingly across his lips.
He took her mouth in a long, slow kiss, pulled her closer, pressing her breasts against his chest. Danielle moaned ever so softly, running her fingers through his hair and pulling him deeper into the kiss.
With great reluctance, he pulled back. “Keep this up and we won’t be getting anywhere near Mia’s house anytime soon.”
“That’s the point.” She gave him a devilish grin. “Mia can wait,” she said, her voice thick with growing need. “But I can’t.”
DONNA HILL
began writing novels in 1990. Since then she has had more than forty titles published, including full-length novels and novellas. Two of her novels and one novella were adapted for television. She has won numerous awards for her body of work. She is also the editor of five novels, two of which were nominated for awards. Donna easily moves from romance to erotica, horror, comedy and women’s fiction. She is the first recipient of a Trailblazer Award and currently teaches writing at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center. Donna lives in Brooklyn with her family. Visit her Web site at www.donnahill.com.
Seduction and Lies
Donna Hill
ESSENCE BESTSELLING AUTHOR
This book is dedicated to all my loyal fans.
I hope you enjoy this latest installment in the TLC series.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to The Ladies Cartel! If you missed Book 1, Sex and Lies…tsk, tsk, but now is your chance to catch up.
Seduction and Lies brings fashion photographer Danielle Holloway to the front lines. With her best friend and Cartel member Savannah Blake in her first trimester of pregnancy, Danielle has to take over the assignment and get a crash course in Cartel operations in order to take on a major identity-theft operation that is happening in New York City.
Of course, she can’t reveal to anyone outside the Cartel what she does “on the side,” and that includes keeping her sexy live-in lover Nick Mateo in the dark. That, however, is extremely difficult as they not only live together, they work together as well.
As Danielle works toward solving her case, she must also work on the secrets about her own identity that have always haunted her, and on her inability to commit to the unabashed love of Nick.
I do hope you enjoy this latest episode with the ladies of the Cartel, and for those who enjoyed my PAUSE FOR MEN series, Ann Marie, Stephanie and Elizabeth make cameo appearances.
Steamy sex, secrets and surprises. What more could a romance reader want? LOL.
I had fun, and I hope you will as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to send me an e-mail at [email protected].
Until next time,
Donna
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 1
Danielle Holloway pranced into her kitchen wearing a pink thong adorned along the waistband with tiny rhinestones, and not much else. She pulled open the camel-colored wood cabinet above the sink and took out two plates. Cooking really wasn’t her thing, but for Nick she was willing to make the effort—hopefully she wouldn’t kill him in the process.
She opened the freezer and took out a box of Aunt Jemima frozen waffles and a box of frozen Jimmy Dean turkey sausage. She was pretty sure she had some syrup around somewhere.
“Need some help?” came the rough-textured voice behind her.
Slowly she turned around, her size-C breasts standing at attention.
Nick’s dark blue, almost black, eyes rolled over her from head to toe. Dani watched his throat work up and down as his gaze caressed every inch of her, reminding her quite vividly of the night and half the morning they’d spent together.
What she felt for Nick Mateo scared her—badly. Sometimes when she was around him, she couldn’t breathe, her thoughts would get scrambled and her heart would beat so fast she thought she’d faint. She thought about him when she should have been concentrating on a photo shoot or developing film. He made her laugh, and thoughts of being without him made her want to cry. She was in love for the first time in her adult life, and she was scared as hell. And to compound it all, Nick Mateo was white—at least legally. Well, kinda white. His mom was black, his dad Italian. She was half black and half Hispanic, which accounted for her waist-length, raven-black hair and honey-brown complexion. Both of them had to check “other” on all those applications. She had enough cultural issues to deal with on her own—and now his as well.
Nonetheless, together, Nick and Dani made a stunning couple. He, a subtle look-alike for a young Alec Baldwin, dark short hair, a sexy five-o’clock shadow and a body to die for. She, a striking beauty whose face could easily grace the pages of fashion magazines.
He sauntered toward her with a pearl-gray towel wrapped around his narrow hips and slid his muscular arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck, and Dani’s body warmed all over.
“I…was going to fix us something to eat,” she said on a breath, inhaling his cool, clean scent from his recent shower. She tilted her head back to give him better access to that spot that made her weak in the knees.
He held her a little tighter. “I already have something to eat.” He nibbled her neck and ran his hands along the curve of her spine. Dani moaned. “God, I can’t get enough of you,” he groaned. He drew in a long, hot breath and reluctantly stepped back. He looked deep into her eyes, down into her soul. “I’m in love with you—you better know that.”
Dani’s heart banged in her chest. “Me, too.” It was as close as she had come to saying the L word.
“I’ll settle for that,” he said, knowing the emotional struggle Dani was having wrestling with her feelings. Admitting that she could be vulnerable enough to turn her heart and soul over to someone else was something she wasn’t ready to handle. He was willing to give her as much time as she needed. He knew what was in her heart. He could see it when she looked at him, when she moaned