Breathless Descent
Lisa Renee Jones
Ten years ago, an impulsive eighteen-year-old Shay White kissed Caleb Martin–her brother's best friend. The resulting chemistry was hot enough to send Caleb running. Now he's back…an ex-special forces operative getting his skydiving business off the ground. But Shay figures that all that sexual tension was a "forbidden fruit" sort of thing. A simple kiss should put that fantasy to rest, right?Wrong. Instead, Shay and Caleb find themselves caught in a web of need and decide to finally do something about it…in the most exquisitely carnal way possible. Now Shay and Caleb are tumbling into a lust-fueled freefall–are they headed for a safe landing or the kind of crash that will change their lives forever?
“Better if they think we don’t like each other, Shay, than believe we want to…be together.”
Shay poked Caleb’s chest, her body barely a hairsbreadth from his.
“You know what else isn’t working, Caleb? You pretending that dumb ten-year-old kiss didn’t happen, and then looking at me like you want to kiss me again.”
He reached down, took her hand in his, every nerve ending in his body aware of her. “I’m not trying to upset you, Shay.”
“Too late,” she declared. “Sometimes I just think…maybe…we’re like the apple to Adam and Eve. It was just an apple, but the forbidden nature of it made it tantalizing. Maybe if we kiss again, we’ll find that we’d blown that first kiss into something bigger and better than it really was. Then we’ll be able to move on.”
She thought that kiss—the one that had kept him fantasizing for years—wasn’t as good as they remembered? He must be insane because the idea wasn’t half-bad. He wanted the kiss to be nothing. He wanted the torment of wanting the forbidden to be gone. Then again, a part of him didn’t want it gone at all.
It simply wanted her….
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to the Texas Hotzone, where three ex-members of the Crazy Aces Special Forces team have opened a skydiving operation right outside of my hometown of Austin, Texas.
Breathless Descent is the final installment in the Texas Hotzone trilogy, and my hope is that the ending does indeed leave you feeling breathless and romantic. This is a story of forbidden love, much like Romeo and Juliet, but thankfully, with a happy ending. There is just something so enticing and seductive about the forbidden, and about a love so strong that nothing can hold it back.
I’ve so enjoyed writing Bobby’s, Ryan’s and Caleb’s stories. I hope you will remember the Hotzone with as much pleasure as I do.
Best wishes,
Lisa Renee Jones
Breathless Descent
Lisa Renee Jones
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa spends her days writing the dreams playing in her head. Before becoming a writer, Lisa lived the life of a corporate executive, often taking the red-eye flight out of town and flying home for the excitement of a Little League baseball game. Visit Lisa at www.lisareneejones.com.
Special thanks to Casey, Rob, and Ethan Maxwell
for helping with my military research.
Janice, once again, for proofing
and proofing and proofing again while living the deadlines
with me. And Diego—for driving the U-Haul
from NY to Colorado so I could write this trilogy.
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
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Prologue
CALEB MARTIN LEANED against the Fresco Club bar, watching as Shay White celebrated being old enough as of today to dance the night away at the over-eighteen hot spot. Trying his best not to notice the way her red, silky dress accented her tiny waist and each sultry move of her slender but curvy hips. Oh, yeah, he thought, watching her dance with some guy from her school, it hugged those hips and her heart-shaped backside in a far too seductive way. And when said “boy” slid his hand to her waist and sidled up close to her, Caleb tightened his hand on the beer he held until he thought he heard glass crack.