Saturday, June 09, 2012

Snippet Saturday - Heartbreak

Finally! The print version of my BOUND AND TIED series is available. Below is an excerpt from the third story in the anthology RIVER BOUND. Rosalyn is facing heartache.

BOUND AND TIED

An Anthology
by Myla Jackson



Blurb

For a hot and sexy historical western and menage, check it out!
What do a madame and a bounty hunter have in common? They want the same man.  
 
From River Bound in the Bound and Tied Anthology

When Rosalyn Smythe, aka Madame Rosie, steps aboard the Marie-Dearie, she hopes it’s the end of a year-long search for her runaway fiancé, Dalton Black. Her cabin holds a surprise: James McKendrick. Notorious bounty hunter, old lover…a man only too happy to help her clear the air—and her heart—of her murdering, thieving bastard fiancé once and for all.
 
In disguise as a riverboat gambler, Dalton is determined to find who framed him for killing two U.S. Army soldiers and who stole the gold they were carrying. He wants his life back—and his woman, who just happens to be on board and on the arm of his former best friend.
 
Convincing James he’s innocent is easier than winning back Rosalyn’s heart. Especially since Rosalyn seems to be enjoying their competition for her affections a little too much. There’s only one place to work out his dilemma. In bed.
 
As the sheets become unbearably hot, threads of evidence leading to the real killer are unraveling, leading toward one fateful card game—and one man who’s hell-bent on making sure Dalton has nothing left to lose.
 
Warning: This title contains hot ménage a trois scenes, bondage, and two men loving, sharing and fighting for the love of one woman with very specific bedroom desires and a a bordello full of experience to tempt any man beyond redemption. 
 
Excerpt

She nodded. “Good. If you’ll excuse me.” Rosalyn swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, swaying. “I’ll be leaving. Have the porter send my trunks to the Rose Palace.”

“What?” Both James and Dalton spoke at once.

“You heard me. I’m moving back to the Rose Palace.” She adjusted the front of her dress and pushed her hair out of her face. “You gentlemen have a good life. I want no part of it.”

Dalton leaped from the bed and blocked Rosalyn’s exit. “You can’t mean that.”

“I most certainly do.” With her fists propped on her hips, her blue eyes blazing, Rosalyn was even more beautiful than Dalton had remembered during those long months apart.

He ached with the need to hold her in his arms…for the rest of his life. “Please, Rosalyn, don’t go. I want to marry you. I’ve wanted to marry you ever since the day we met.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t.”

James shoved Dalton aside. “Then marry me. I’m better husband material than Dalton. I’ll be good to you, give you everything you want or need.”

Rosalyn cupped James’s chin and smiled up at him. “I can’t marry you either, James.”

“Is it because you don’t love me?” James grasped her hand in his. “You could learn to love me. I’m sure of it.”

Dalton wanted to slug his friend for trying to take his woman. He pushed his sleeves up his arms, ready to pick a fight.

“No, James.” Rosalyn’s softly spoken words cut through Dalton’s anger. “I love you.”

The knife in Dalton’s gut twisted. “And you don’t love me?”

“I love you both.” She stepped away from James, keeping her distance from Dalton. “I just can’t stand the thought of watching you die. You two were nearly killed because of me. If anything had happened to either of you, I don’t think I could go on living.”

Dalton stared at James. “I don’t understand. You won’t marry either of us because you love us? What kind of cockamamie thinking is that?”

James’s lips twisted in a sad sort of smile. “That’s female thinkin’, if you ask me.”

“Whatever it is, I’d rather not be near either of you when you’re shot and killed by some disgruntled gambler. My heart can’t stand losing you again.”

She retrieved her reticule from the floor, plunked a hat on her head and tried to step around Dalton.
Dalton wouldn’t let her. He gripped her arms and held her tight. “No. I won’t let you walk out of my life.”
“It’s not your choice. It’s mine.” She stared up at him, eyes swimming in tears.

Hope filled Dalton’s chest. “If you didn’t love me, I’d let you go.”

“Okay, I don’t love you.” She sniffled, a tear slipping out the corner of one eye and trailing down her cheek.
“Liar.” Dalton captured the teardrop with his lips, pressing a kiss to her skin. “If you love James more than you love me, I’ll let you go to him, no argument. He’s a good man.”

“Damn right I am.” James’s chest puffed out. “I’d have the captain of this steamboat marry us right here, right now.”

“Shut up, bounty man.” Dalton ground his teeth. “I have more to say.”

“I’m done talking. Let me go.” Rosalyn struggled to break free of his grip, but Dalton held on.

“Not until you hear me out.” He rubbed her pale skin with his thumbs, reveling in her silken softness. “I lost you for an entire year. Every day that passed was harder and harder to bear without you. If I had stopped believing that I’d finally find you, I wouldn’t be here today. I’d have stepped in front of a moving train or thrown myself from a cliff. You are my reason for being. Rosalyn Elizabeth Thomas, you are my heart and my soul.”

“Stop.” Rosalyn placed a hand on his chest. “Just stop.” Tears ran freely down her face. “I can’t live like this, never knowing if the next game will be your last, the next card player will put a bullet through your heart. I love you too much to watch you die.”

“I love you too much to give up any chance of having you in my life, even if only for a day, an hour or a single minute. Stay with me. Love me. I’ll do anything you say to make you mine. Be my wife.”

ORDER NOW


Other Authors Participating in Snippet Saturday:
Megan Hart:Read in bed! 
Rhian Cahill 
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane

No comments: