Christina Lee’s newest addition to the Between Breaths Series is LIVE!
Meet Cory & Jude in this M/M standalone romance!
Blurb
From the author of All of You and Before You Break comes a new Between Breaths male/male romance about the silent, inked up skateboarder and the tattoo artist who unravels him piece by piece...
Tattoo artist Cory Easton has worked long enough at Raw Ink to know, just by looking at a dude, what his body art reveals, what makes him tick, what even makes him scared. Until he meets the quiet and remote Jude York--so unreadable, so unreachable, and so unlike anyone else, he can't help but arouse Cory's curiosity.
As captivating and complex as his ink, Jude is a mystery--and Cory's falling fast and hard under his spell. Against his better judgment to steer clear.
The rumors of Jude's past overshadow him--whispers of prison and an unmentionable secret that's kept him in the protective shadows of a local motorcycle club. As Cory probes deeper, he wonders how much he really wants to know. Especially since Jude has awakened something inside him that has been buried too long--and has him feeling completely alive for the first time in forever...
Includes a preview of Christina Lee's upcoming adult romance Two of Hearts.
Excerpt:
Chopper, get your ass back here!”
While he was distracted, I silently moved toward him, hoping to grab hold of that leash. But just as I approached, he took off again, following that same squirrel who’d taken a leap to the next large maple.
I was out of breath and now beyond frustrated. I shoved my hand in my hoodie, my fingers closing on a sturdy dog cookie.
When I looked up again, Chopper was headed straight for the skate park. Shit.
“Chopper, goddamn it,” I called in some last-ditch effort. “You don’t listen for shit.”
Unexpectedly, Jude York neared the cement barrier at the entrance to the bowl. His board clenched in his fist, he seemed to be assessing the situation as the large dog charged nearer.
He left his skateboard on the concrete walkway and stepped into the lawn. He squatted down in the grass, made eye contact with Chopper, and the dog changed course to sail directly toward him. What the hell was that about?
Some type of deep whistle emitted from Jude’s lips and instead of slamming into his chest, Chopper came to a sudden halt beside him. Like Jude was a damn dog whisperer or something. His strong fingers grabbed hold of his collar and he reached down to mutter something in the dog’s ear. Chopper sat down in the grass. Actually fucking sat down—I had never been able to get him to do that.
I became motionless as I watched them, even though Ace was eager to inch closer. At least one animal heeded my command. I wondered what it was about Jude that compelled Chopper to run toward him. I mean, I got the appeal, so maybe it was just pure animal instinct.
The muscles in Jude’s forearm flexed as he stroked Chopper’s head and the dog’s tongue hung out in a happy pant. The little fucker.
As I walked closer to Chopper, Jude’s eyes lifted to mine. And for the first time I saw an array of other emotions alight in them. The most blatant being amusement, as if his irises contained a flicker of light. His lips tilted at the corners in an almost imperceptible smile and he looked so dazzling right then. As he held my gaze for the first time ever, something tightened like a fist inside my chest.
Shit, he was stunning. In that exotic kind of way. His hair was a mass of short blond dreadlocks, his skin inked mainly in black, and his eyes were the most gorgeous light green I’d ever seen—almost like cellophane. And now those same eyes locked on mine and held steady.
Excerpt #2:
“Come inside, please.”
I followed him through the door, telling myself it was only to get Chopper acclimated. But Chopper seemed right at home as he bound to the kitchen and lapped at the water in the dish that Jude had set down.
“I can’t stay long,” I said, feeling almost shy, like it was my first time at his place. “I have a shift at Raw Ink.”
He nodded. “I just finished my morning at the Board Room, but I’ll be heading to the skate park.”
“What was that one trick I saw you practicing the other day?” I asked, watching Chopper sniff around the room.
“Hmmm . . . the one-eighty pop shuvit?” he said, shrugging. “The one I really want to trick out on someday is the upside-down three-sixty loop. But I need a pipe for that. They’ll have one at the arena for the upcoming games.”
“A pipe?”
“A curved wall with a lip so that I can hang upside down.”
“Holy Christ, you’re going to maim yourself,” I said.
He laughed. “It’s a difficult trick but I’m definitely up for the challenge.”
Suddenly he grabbed my face and backed me against the wall, kissing me hard and deep and desperate. Like he was releasing it all—giving it all to me. “I don’t want to talk right now. I want to taste you.”
I groaned and wormed my body closer, reaching behind him to grab his ass. We were both instantly hard and he ground his hips against me.
“Every damn night I’ve dreamt of you,” he said against my lips.
I pulled back to look at him. “You have?”
“Oh yeah.” His gaze fastened on mine. “I knew I couldn’t have you, so the next best thing was the fantasy of you.”
“Same here,” I said. “I’d lay in bed and jerk off to thoughts of you.”
He panted against my mouth. “What did you think about?”
“This,” I said. “Your hands on me, your lips all over my body.”
“God,” he groaned. “And here you are. Right in front of me. And I want nothing more than to have all of that and more with you.”
He backed me down the hallway, yanking off my shirt and unbuttoning my pants.
It felt so urgent, like we were running out of time. Not only because I had a job to get to, but also because I never felt certain of how many more days we might have left.
“I need to touch you,” he said, hemming my thighs against the bed, and forcing me to lean back.
Series Reading Order
All of You (bk1) Between Breaths
Before You Break (bk 2) Between Breaths
Whisper To Me (bk 3) Between Breaths
Promise Me This (bk 4) Between Breaths
There You Stand (bk 5) Between Breaths
Author Information
Mother, wife, reader, dreamer. Christina lives in the Midwest with her husband and son--her two favorite guys.
She's addicted to lip gloss and salted caramel everything. She believes in true love and kissing, so writing romance novels has become a dream job.
Author of the Between Breaths series from Penguin. ALL OF YOU, BEFORE YOU BREAK, WHISPER TO ME and PROMISE ME THIS available now. Book five in the series, THERE YOU STAND, coming in April, 2015.
Also, her Adult Contemporary Romance, TWO OF HEARTS is releasing on May 5th, 2015.
Giveaway:
One Winner to receive the following: $10 gift card to the book retailer of their choice
An ARC of my adult romance releasing May 5th, TWO OF HEARTS
& some Between Breaths swag mailed
