The Law of Desire

The Law of Desire
Gwyneth Bolton

Decorated police detective Lawrence Hightower's instincts click into high gear when a beautiful but suspicious stranger appears in his stakeout zone. Soon he realizes Minerva Jones is in danger and needs protection. He can't trust her. But he can't get this tough, feisty, stubborn siren out of his head.Desperate to keep a low profile, the last thing Minerva needs is a sexy cop getting too close for comfort. Not that she's guilty of anything, except her own intense attraction to the too-fine detective. But she's got a few secrets, and trouble is closing in. Dare she surrender to the promise this sensual hero holds in his strong, protective embrace?

Feeling her petite curvy body in his arms pushed all thoughts of suds and age differences to the side.

Thoughts of how right she felt underneath him when they were making out on the bed of leaves, how he’d come so close to making love to her and how her mouth tasted like the sweetest candy he had ever savored pushed past any common sense he had. The only thing he could think of was to finish what they had started earlier.

He allowed his lips to plunder and peruse. She opened to him automatically and her tongue met his with matching passion and desire. As he suckled on her soft lips, he couldn’t help but roam her body. Her delicate curves had his mind spinning. Before he knew it, he had picked her up and carried her into the nearest bedroom. As he fell back on the bed, he pulled her on top of him and continued to caress her lips with his own.

He would never get tired of kissing her. Her groans hinted that she might feel a fraction of the same thing he was feeling….

He wanted her. He had to have her.

Now.

GWYNETH BOLTON

became an avid romance fan after sneak-reading her mother’s romance novels. In the nineties, she was introduced to African-American romance novels and her life hasn’t been the same since. She has a B.A. and an M.A. in creative writing and a Ph.D. in English. She teaches writing and women’s studies at the college level. When she is not writing African-American romance novels, she is curled up with a cup of herbal tea, a warm quilt and a good book. She currently lives in Syracuse, New York, with her husband, Cedric. Readers can contact her via e-mail at gwynethbolton@prodigy.net or visit her Web site at www.gwynethbolton.com.

The Law of Desire

Gwyneth Bolton

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To my sands…

Kimmie, Shakira, Antoinette, Edith,

Audrey, Monica, Sherita and Karen.

I will always cherish our sisterhood

and the bond we share.

Yours in Delta…

Dear Reader,

The woman Lawrence Hightower finds himself extremely attracted to could be a criminal, and he makes it his business to find out the real deal, by any means necessary. He is a by-the-book, highly decorated police detective. The last thing he needs is an attraction to a little thug of a girl with more attitude than should be legal!

Minerva Jones needs to keep a low profile until she is sure the person who killed her brother doesn’t come for her next. Having a cop check her out, even in a hey-baby-you’re-fine kind of way, is not something she needs. But things happen…and sometimes what you think you don’t need is exactly the thing that will set you free. Lawrence is a good guy with a bit of an edge or a bad boy who’s well-meaning and good-natured, depending on what day you catch him. Minerva is an innocent pretending to be a ride-or-die chick. They are so right for one another it feels wrong. Neither of them are what they seem. No wonder they set off each other’s radars from the moment they meet! Their journey to love is full of passion, drama, a little intrigue and undeniable heat.

I’m so glad you’ve decided to take the ride with Lawrence and Minerva. Please be on the lookout for the final installment of the Hightower series, Sizzling Seduction. Patrick Hightower has been dodging love long enough, and something tells me he will go down fast and hard. Sizzling Seduction is slated for release in October 2009.

Gwyneth Bolton

Acknowledgments

First I want to thank God for the many blessings in my life, especially the blessing to share my stories. I’d like to thank my family: my mother, Donna, my sisters Jennifer, Cassandra, Michelle and Tashina, my nieces Ashlee and Zaria and my husband, Cedric. And I’d like to thank all the readers who have taken the time to write me and let me know what they thought of my novels. Your words have meant more than you could ever know.

Contents

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Prologue

“Surprise!” The gleeful voices greeted her as soon as she opened the door.

M. Athena Jones—the “M” stood for Minerva, a name she hadn’t willingly gone by since her mom died—clutched her chest as she entered the two-bedroom apartment she used to share with her brother.

It was still a full two weeks before the summer semester was over but she had turned in her last paper and had officially finished her undergraduate degree. As exciting as it was, she certainly wasn’t expecting a surprise party.