Most Wanted

Three novellas, all sequels to previous Sasha White stories from Aphrodisia.

Lexy and Devon from THE CRIB in the Pure Sex anthology are together again in HIDDEN CRAVINGS.

Detective Jackson Barrows watched his partner fall for a thief in SEX AS A WEAPON in The Cop anthology, and in UNRESTRICTED ACCESS, he does some falling of his own.

NO ANGEL continues Sasha’s paranormal Hunter series with Gabriel Mann, the work hard-play harder younger brother of Caleb Mann from SEXY DEVIL, and demon hunter Anna Blair.

 

 

HIDDEN CRAVINGS EXCERPT

Devon’s gaze practically burned a hole in her back as they left the club. And it felt good. Lexy was sorry that his cousin was missing, and she was going to do everything she could to find out what happened to Theresa, but she wasn’t sorry Devon was back in her life, and would soon be back in her bed.

Anticipation of a long sleepless night wrestling between the sheets with Devon had her insides trembling in eagerness as she drove back to her apartment. Once inside, she closed the door to the apartment and leaned back against it, just taking in the sight of him in her front room.

Cell phone in hand he stood in the middle of the room, staring at the floor as he dialed. Tension built in the lines of his body as he dialed the phone and waited. He closed his phone and raised his head, his turbulant gaze meeting hers.

“Still no messages?” she asked.

His lips pressed together and he shook his head once. He took a deep breath and deflated in front of her eyes, dropping onto the sofa with a big sigh. “I have to call my family.”

Lexy’s chest tightened and her heart went out to him. He was beating himself up over Theresa’s disappearance. She could almost see the blows land. I was too late. Why didn’t I ask what what wrong? What am I missing?

Pushing off from the door she walked over to the sofa and climbed onto his lap. Straddling him with her knees next to his hips, she rested her hands on his shoulders. Their eyes met and she smiled.
“It’s nice to see you again,” she said softly.

He didn’t answer, just looked at her, hunger slowly taking over his expression. God, it was good to feel him beneath her again. Devon had always been like magic to her. Sexually inexperienced she wasn’t, but the man touched her in a way no one else ever had, and she wanted that again. She wanted his touch, his taste. She wanted to feel him buried deep inside her body, she needed that connection again. But more than that he was hurting, and she wanted to take that pain away. She might not be able to do that completely, but she was sure as hell going to take his mind of it for a while.

She shifted closer, so close that a deep breath would make her breasts brush against his body, and cupped the back of his neck. Pulling him down for a kiss she whispered, “It’s more than nice to be touching you again.”

Their lips met and opened. It was as if the last year had never happened, as if they’d never been apart. There was no adjustment period. Devon’s tongue speared between her lips and took control, dueling with her, stroking her to a fever pitch within seconds. She clutched at him, her fingers gripping his silky hair as she tried to get closer still.

Large male hands covered hers, stilling them as he pulled back with a groan and buried his face in her neck. He nuzzled her neck for a minute, and a shiver ripped down her spine as she fought for some semblance of control over her body. Devon kissed her behind the ear, and then stood up and set her on her feet, letting her go completely.

“I’ll take the sofa.”

She gaped at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’ll sleep on the sofa, tonight.”

Chaos reigned within as her brain tried to make sense of what she was hearing. “What? Why?”

“You don’t “˜do’ relationships, and I want more than sex from you, Alexis.”

She noted his flushed cheeks, his rising and falling chest as he struggled to breathe, and there was no denying the hard-on pressed aggressively against the button fly of his jeans. What the hell? “Are you telling me you haven’t slept with anyone since me?”

“That’s not what I said.”

Of course not, she thought. Confusion turned to anger and she snapped,”So it’s just me you won’t fuck?”

He started toward her, hands out, then stopped short. “It’s just you that I want more from. Don’t you get it? You’re special. Do I want to fuck you six ways from Sunday? You bet your sassy ass I do. But even more important than that is the fact that I like you, Alexis. And I think we can have something really good together.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Sure, we can have a damn good time.”

Devon’s mouth turned down at the corners and he shook his head. Something tightened in Lexy’s chest and she stared at him blankly. He was serious, he was going to sleep on the couch, and leave her alone in her bed!

She left him there, in the middle of her living room with a sheet, a pillow, and no more words. It was all she could do not stomp her feet and throw a temper tantrum that would do her Italian heritage proud.

Damn the man, it always had been all or nothing with him. She stripped off her clothes and threw herself on her bed. She tossed and turned, until finally, she lay there staring at the ceiling.

Kane’s comment on her outfit had reminded her that she’d actually been on a date earlier that night. A boring date, but what did she expect? Dating was new to her, and it showed. She wasn’t used to sitting across from a guy and playing twenty questions unless she was trying to get specific information out of him for a case. That’s not to say she was inexperienced with men, just with dating.

She’d never dated Devon. She’d met him and within hours they were rolling around naked and sweaty. Sure they’d talked some. Not as much in person as they had after she’d come back to Vancouver and they’d only had the phone as a way to connect. But they’d talked a bit. She certainly felt like she knew him, and he knew her. Which is why his saying no was so fucked up. He knew what she was like. He knew she wasn’t exactly your typical girl who wanted dinner dates with flowers and goodnight kisses.

Dating had never been a priority for her before, she’d had other things to deal with. First it had been hunting down her parents killers, by the time that was done, she was focused on her solitary life of helping those who needed it. When she wanted sex, she went out and found a man who could give her what she wanted, and that was that.

Only recently she’d started to wonder about what she’d been missing out on with her single minded lifestyle. What would it be like to have friends, fun, and a man around for more than just sex?
It was all Devon’s fault. She’d been just fine living her life her way until she’d met him. Even that brief stint with him in Edmonton had been okay, but he hadn’t left it at that. Oh, no. He’d called, and they’d talked. He’d given her hints at what it would be like to share more than her body with someone. He’d created this freaking yearning to have more in her life.

But he’d been so far away, and yet in other ways, too close. So she’d started dating. God, what a mess that was. It was so not worth the effort. Which was maybe a good thing because if her date earlier that night had been going well, it wouldn’t have been very nice of her to dump a guy the minute she saw Devon on her doorstep.

And there was no doubt in her mind she would’ve done exactly that. Not just because the man only had to look at her to get her to get her heart pounding, but also because he’d been there for her when she’d needed back-up. There was knowledge of each other between them, a trust that went beyond that of a lover.

She flipped over again and punched her pillow before burying her face in it. But they were lovers. And he still wanted her, it had been clear in his eyes. She wanted to connect with him again because she knew he was hurting. She wanted to comfort him in the only way she knew how and he’d thrown it back in her face!

“Screw this,” she muttered and jumped up from the bed. She was already talking as she strode into the living room and flipped the lights on. “I don’t do relationships because I’ve never had one. I don’t know how have a relationship!”

Devon sat up on the couch, completely awake. “Tony? Jimmy D? Those are relationships. And what about Michaels tonight? You have some sort of relationship with him.”

She tried not to notice the fact that he had no shirt on. Devon was by no means a boy, he was man’s man all the way through and it showed in his body. Lean hard muscles, a light pelt of hair that enhanced those muscles and made her fingertips burn to touch. Giving herself a mental head-slap she focused on what he’d said.

“They’re my uncles! And Kane is married, it’s not what you think.”

He stared, his eyes burning in a way that suddenly reminded her that she was completely naked. She slept in the nude, and she hadn’t even thought about it before storming into the living room.
Finally, Devon stood to face her, his voice rising to match hers. “They’re still relationships, Alexis. You share yourself, your life with them. Sleeping with a person doesn’t make it a relationship, sharing does!” He scrubbed and hand through his hair. “Hell, we were well on our way until you decided to clam up and shut down.”

“Family is different and you know it.” Anger fueled her arousal as she moved forward until she stood directly in front of him, chest—to-chest. Her heart was pounding and hot blood was racing through her veins. “Relationships aren’t my thing, Devon. Especially a long distance one.”

“You saying you don’t “do” relationships is just an excuse. You cut me out of your life because I was getting too close. You were starting to care, and that scared the shit out of you.”

He waved an angry hand around her apartment. “Just look at this place.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her apartment was hardly a penthouse, but she kept it neat and clean. What the hell was he talking about?

“You’re place is full of photos of family and people you’ve loved. I see Tony and Jimmy, you and your parents when you were a kid. I’m guessing that’s you and your first boyfriend.” He pointed to one of her and Mike. “You know how to have a relationship, Alexis. You’ve proven you understand what family is, and loyalty is a core part of you. You’re just too damn stubborn.”

Desperate to make him understand, but too angry and aroused to try and form coherent words she just grabbed him by the head and pulled him down for a kiss.

Like putting a lit flame to gasoline, they were ablaze within seconds. Strong male hands roamed over Lexy’s body, pulling her closer, stroking down her back, cupping her ass and squeezing, lifting. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and whimpered.

So good, he tasted so damn good. Felt so damn good, so right. They fit together perfectly, hearts pounding in time as Devon moved, turning and setting her on the sofa, sliding to his knees on the floor. He dragged his lips away from hers, nibbling, sucking and biting his way across her jaw to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“Ahh,” she cried, arching her back and tilting her head to give him better access. “God, Devon. I’ve missed you.”

 

 

UNRESTRICTED ACCESS excerpt

The heat from the August mid-day sun was nothing compared to the heat that washed over Jillian Furst when she pulled into the driveway and put her shiny red SUV in park.
She’d glimpsed her neighbor’s mostly naked body as she’d pulled in, and that had been enough to tweak her need. Shit, who was she kidding? All she had to do was think of him and her body tightened with a yearning she couldn’t deny. It had been that way for the last ten months, ever since she’d moved into the cute bungalow style house on Parker Road.
She shut off the ignition and, of it’s own volition, her head turned. Like a woman dyeing of thirst, she drank in the sight of Jackson Barrows mowing his lawn.
A couple of inches over six feet tall, he was all lean sinewy muscle and fluid grace. Wearing nothing but long boarding shorts, sunglasses, and flip-flops, the sun gleamed off his sweat-slicked skin. If that wasn’t enough to make her mouth water, the tattoos that covered a good portion of his body did the trick. They hinted at a dangerous edge, a craving for adrenaline, and maybe even the need for a little bit of pain. He was her ultimate fantasy.
If only he weren’t such a complete macho alpha dog.
If only the cocky grin he flashed her as she climbed out of her Jeep Liberty didn’t make the butterflies in her stomach take flight.
The man was totally hot, and he knew it. It wasn’t just his looks – though the dark chocolate hair, bright green eyes, and athletic body definitely did their part – it was his confidence. He was strong and sure of himself in every way … and the challenge of him was almost too much to resist. But resist she did.
She’d made it clear when she first met him that she’d found him attractive, and he’d been nice, but distant. Friendly, but not flirtatious. So she’d respected the invisible wall he’d put up and stopped sending out the “˜I’m interested’ signal and they’d become friendly neighbors who exchanged casual conversation about workdays and the weather over a drink on someone’s deck every now and then. She was friends with his partner’s wife, and they occasionally crossed paths socially. Never once had he been without a date on those occasions.
That didn’t stop her from fantasizing about him when she was alone in bed with her favorite vibrator though.
After giving him a casual wave she opened the back door of her Jeep Liberty and reached for the three brown paper bags full of groceries. Once they were balanced in her arms she used her hip to shut the door. She took two steps toward her door, one of the bags shifted and an orange jumped for freedom. Then a second one hit the pavement running…well…rolling as it were.
“Shit!” She shifted the bags again, and chased the little suckers only to stop sharply when two large male hands swooped down and grabbed them.
“Thanks.” She hadn’t heard the mower shut off, but Jack was definitely standing in front of her in all his sweaty glory.
“No problem,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Happy to be of service to a damsel in distress.”
Clearing her throat, she ignored the drop of sweat that was trickling down the center of his naked chest and focused on the playful tone of his voice. Then replied in kind, “I was hardly in distress.” And of course, that’s when her cell phone went off.
They stood there looking at each other for a moment, and then Jack spoke, his voice full of suppressed laughter. “Your ass is ringing.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said with a laugh. “You going to help me out here or what?”
“Of course.” He reached a hand out, but instead taking a bag from her, he turned her a little bit and reached into the back pocket of her denim skirt himself. His hand wiggled and pressed against her ass. Her pulse fluttered, and she bit her lip against the moan that rose in her throat.
What the hell was going on?
Jack had always been friendly, even flirty, but this behavior was taking things to a different level.
Finally, he pulled her phone out and flipped it open before holding it to her ear.
“Hello,” she said, blushing at the breathlessness of the one word. Her pulse was racing and suddenly, breathing was hard because every time she inhaled the scent of his clean male sweat, her head got a little lighter, her body a little tighter.
“Hi Jillian, it’s Vanessa. And I need a favor.”
The pleading note in her friends voice would’ve been a clear warning, if Jill had been paying attention. But she was too aware of the grinning man in front of her, and she answered automatically. “Of course, Vanessa, whatever you need.”
“I need you to do a show for me at the club.”
That snapped her brain back into gear. “No way.”
“You said whatever I need, and I really need you to do this.”
“Uh uh. I’m sorry, Vanessa, You know that’s not my thing.”
Her friend rushed on, as if Jill hadn’t uttered a word. “O’s giving a private party for some of her friends- friends that have never come to the club, and for whatever reason she wants to have someone on stage who can be trusted to read each volunteer and not take things too far. Mistress Miranda was supposed to do it, but she had an accident when she was hiking yesterday and is now laid up with a broken leg for six weeks. The party is in three weeks Jill! Please? I wouldn’t ask you if there was anyone else with even half as much talent as you, but we both know you’re the best.”
The pleading in Nessa’s voice was clear and Jill squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She knew she wouldn’t say no to her friend, not when she begged. But there was no reason why she couldn’t make her work for it a bit more.
“If I’m the best why did you have Miranda scheduled in the first place?”
“Because I do know how you feel about public shows. I wouldn’t even ask you now if it wasn’t really important. Pleeeeaase?”
Jillian sighed and opened her eyes, surprised that for a moment there she’d forgotten about Jackson standing in front of her.
She really didn’t want to do a show. But she’d been so busy with her web design business that she hadn’t been out to play in over a month. It would feed her spirit if not her soul to visit The O Club and spank a few virgins.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” she said. “But you owe me.” She told Vanessa she’d call her later to set the details, and said good-bye.
Jackson’s full lips twitched as he closed the phone. “What exactly are you the best at?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She smiled and put a little sass in her tone. “If you want to know what exactly, you’ll have to find out for yourself.”
His smile didn’t change, but something subtle flickered across his face and she wished his mirrored sunglasses didn’t hide so much from her. Something had just shifted between them, she felt it, and tried to get it back.
“As you’ve seen, one of my skills is not carrying a bunch of groceries without dropping some,” she said lightly.
He took the hint and moved quickly. Dropping the rescued oranges and her cell phone in one of the bags, he plucked them all out of her arms. “Your wish is my command.”
Her pussy clenched and she had to close her eyes and take a breath for a moment. Those words, from that man… God, the images that started flashing through her mind had her creaming in her panties.
“Thank you,” she said. He stood, waiting patiently, until she jerked herself back to the present and headed up the walk to her front door.
“No problem. You’ve got a lot of food here for one person.” His smile was crooked and cocky, and his voice still playful, but it didn’t ring true.
Deep-seated instinct had Jill biting back the invitation for him to come in once she had her door unlocked and open. Instead, she just smiled and shrugged. “I’m not much of a cook, so I tend to buy big once a month, cook a bunch of stuff, and freeze it for later.”
His brow puckered and Jill got the impression he wanted to say something, but that invisible wall was back, leaving her slightly bereft. Talk about mixed signals.
Jackson set the bags he was carrying down just inside the front door and bowed his head to her before backing away.
“My work is done here,” he said, a ghost of his earlier flirtatious smirk playing at his lips. “The runaway oranges are caught, the phone is answered, and the damsel is no longer in distress. Have a good afternoon, Jill.”
“Thanks again, Jackson,” she called out to his retreating form.
He waved his hand, and kept on walking.
Jill shut the door and leaned against it. What the hell had just happened? She’d flirted with him before, and it had gotten her nowhere. Yet, for a few minutes there, he’d been flirting with her, heavily too. The cocky smile, the playful manhandling – God, his hand in her back pocket had just about make her knees give out. The vibe he’d been putting out had definitely been a “let’s be more than friends” one.
It seemed that maybe, just maybe, her pulling back these past couple of months tweaked some sort challenge reaction in him. One he’d been unable to resist. But then he had resisted. Sure, his parting comment had been playful, and even flirtatious, but his invisible wall had been firmly back in place making her wonder just what kind of game he was playing.
Jillian’s interest spiked higher than it had ever been, and a plan began to form. She loved to play games, especially those of the erotic sort.

 

 

NO ANGEL excerpt

Ten minutes later she stomped into some dingy pub on the corner of Bernard and Wilson. With big screen televisions over the bar, team jersey’s of all sorts hanging from the walls and two pool tables in the middle of the room instead of a dance floor, she got the hint. It was a sports pub.
The waitress who wondered over to the booth Anna had slid into and stood at the edge of the table. She wore a tight white V-neck T-shirt that showed off impressive cleavage and too much make-up. The bright red nametag on just above her right breast said Sally. Sally cocked her hip out and smiled wanly. “What can I getcha?”
All she needed to do was snap her gum and she’d be a total cliché. “Pint of draft and three shots of Tequila. Gold if you have it.”
Sally’s eyes widened and she looked at the empty bench space on either side of Anna. “Expecting company?”
Anna smiled, baring her teeth. “Nope, it’s all for me.”
Sally walked away, shaking her head and Anna bit back a sigh. It didn’t matter that she showed her teeth, shit, she could curse and growl and threaten, and people just looked at her and shook their heads, or worse …laughed.
It was her Mom’s fault. The silky blond hair and fair skin came from her. Mom said the full mouth, and foul language came from her Dad, but since he’d died before Anna was born, she didn’t see how. Whatever. She was what she was, and she’d long since given up on caring what people thought about her.
Sally came back with her drinks and Anna paid cash, making sure to tip the girl. She’d waited table before, and knew it wasn’t an easy job. She slammed the two shots of tequila immediately, one right after the other. The burn down her throat and into her stomach was not so welcome, but the warmth that spread through her veins and mellowed the throbbing pain in her head was.
Anna sat there, staring at the empty shot glasses and wondered if the supernatural bounty hunters would ever leave her alone. She felt like crap. Her jaw hurt, there was a good sized knot on the back of her head, and thanks to that sappy movie and lovely demon attack, she was feeling lonelier than ever.
It didn’t seem to matter what she did or where she went, they always found her. She’d only been in Pearson for two days!
Sipping her beer she scanned the pub. The crowd was sparse, and the clientele seemed to be made up mostly of the blue-collar type. The mean wore jeans, T-shirts, and steel toed boots, the few women wore denim shorts or skirts, tank tops that ranged in color but helped showcase cleavage, even the ones with little to showcase. No one stood out as particularly dangerous, and even though most glanced her way at some point in those first few minutes, no one approached her table.
Anna watched two men move up to the pool tables and get ready to start a game. In all honesty, it wasn’t until the blond one kept glancing her way, that she really took note of him.
He was good looking, in a cocky, king-of-the-world sort of way. His well-worn jeans hugged him in all the right places, his T-shirt was mostly clean, and his smile was seductive.
Anna watched him bend over the table to line up his next shot and a little tingle went through her. He had a very nice ass. Round, and firm. She could picture her hands on it, her nails digging in and urging him on as they flexed and filled with every thrust of his hips.
Ohh, she thought. That would feel so good right now.
He sank three more balls and then he was lining up the black eight ball. With a smooth sure stroke, he put that one in the corner pocket. He straightened up, looked over his shoulder at her, and winked.
The tingle in her belly spread lower and she smiled. He was just what she needed. Too wrapped up in himself to want more than one night, he would be the perfect distraction from her dismal thoughts.
She took a sip from her beer, and put a little sparkle behind her smile the next time he glanced her way. His swagger increased as he moved around the table and Anna chuckled silently. Oh yeah, he was definitely what she needed to get her mind off her life.
When the second game was over, he set his cue stick down and made his way to her booth. He moved with a smooth liquid grace that had her blood heating and her mind stripping him naked.
“Hi there,” he said. “Can I get you another drink?”
She glanced down and realized not only had she finished her beer, but the third shot glass was empty too. She didn’t even remember drinking it, and her headache was pretty much gone.
“No, thanks,” she replied. She better not drink anymore. Safety first, and alcohol slowed her reflexes and dimmed her control over her powers. “But you should join me anyway.”
“I’m Gabe,” he said as he slid into the booth. “How are you doing tonight?”
“Better every minute,” she replied honestly.
His eyes widened and she noticed they were a nice deep blue. Very pretty eyes for a man. When he chuckled his white teeth flashed and she thought they were pretty too.
Funny, she’d never thought of teeth as attractive before. Maybe it wasn’t his teeth, it was the lips that surrounded them. They were nice. Yes, very nice and full. Very kissable.
Without another thought she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.