A Little Temptation

Here's a little tease for MOONLIGHT TEMPTATION, fourth book in the Lucani Lovers series (in progress as we speak).

Excerpt:

The guy’s gaze narrowed as his head shifted to the side. “I’ll be damned. Dane was right for a change.”

Evie blinked at the man. Did he mean Dr. Dane Dimitriou? “You know Dane?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Then the guy smiled and Evie felt her heart do a funny little flip. “Hi, I’m Ryan Costa.”

She tried to ignore the rough silk of his voice but it rubbed against her skin, raising goosebumps even in the near-ninety degree heat.

The reaction startled her. The past few months of her life had been a jumbled mess. Thoughts and feelings she thought she’d conquered years ago had returned to plague her in the dark. She’d taken to sleeping with a light on.

And now her sex drive wanted to kick in too?

Christ, what the hell else could life possibly throw at her?

No, she better take that back. She didn’t want to tempt fate. She’d actually met her. The Etruscan Goddess of Fate was one scary female.

Tightening her fists, she took a deep breath, hoping to douse the unwanted attraction. “Is your name supposed to mean something to me?”

She tried to force some strength into her voice but it still came out shaky.

His half-assed grin let her know she wasn’t fooling him. “Not unless Dane told you to expect me. And knowing Dane, I’m sure he didn’t. He’s the master of the sneak attack, isn’t he?”

Okay, this guy did know Dane personally because, yeah, that was Dane to a T.

She lowered her hands a fraction. “So you are…”

“Very pleased to meet you.”

Her lips tried to curve into a smile, something she hadn’t done a lot of lately. “That doesn’t tell me why you’re here.”

The guy lowered his hand but kept his own easy grin. “To tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure either. But when Dane asks me to come meet a beautiful woman, I don’t typically turn him down.”

She blushed. “He told you I was beautiful?”

“As a matter of fa—”

A low growl rumbled behind Ryan, freezing her in place one second. In the next, she cursed her reaction silently.

She’d lived with the Etruscans long enough to know that the growl of a wolf should not make her want to run screaming.

Her gaze automatically sought the animal that’d produced the sound and found him sliding out from behind the trunk of a massive pine a few yards behind Ryan.

The large gray wolf moved so silently, she knew she never would’ve heard him if he hadn’t growled. Lean and muscled, the animal had to weigh almost a hundred pounds.

She lowered her hands all the way as the wolf stopped at Ryan’s side, his dark eyes glued to hers. Those eyes were human, eyes she knew, and that same shiver of sensation raced through her again.

She shook her head, trying to ignore it as she stared at the wolf she’d come to recognize on sight.

“Didn’t trust me, did you?”

Ryan’s voice held an edge of amusement that made Evie frown and pull her gaze back to Ryan’s.

“Trust you to do what?” she asked.

Ryan’s smile made her stomach do curious things but it could have been the second growl from the animal at his feet.

“Trust me to seduce you, that’s what.”