Guest Post and Giveaway with Callie Croix

Today we have Callie Croix (otherwise known as Kaylea Cross) here to talk to us about her newest release Touch Me. Prepare your wallets readers, there is a steamy excerpt here too that’ll have you pulling out your credit card and ordering this book! Callie, take it away.

 

Touch Me

If you know me at all (either as Callie Croix or Kaylea Cross), then you know how much I love and admire military personnel. And you’ll also have figured out that I’m crazy for military heroes in romance novels. With Touch Me, I got to combine a yummy alpha military hero with one of my all time favorite romance tropes: the friends-to-lovers theme.

Along with the steamy romance, I also touch on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and PTSD, serious issues that a growing percentage of our men and women in uniform face on today’s battlefields. Once they return, their families suffer right along with them; collateral damage that is often overlooked. In Touch Me, you’ll see one example of this in how the heroine, Tianna’s life was affected by her ex-husband’s injuries sustained in combat.

Blurb:

Arriving home on leave from his tour of duty, Army Captain Alex Montoya knows there’s a beautiful woman waiting for him—his best friend’s sister. She’s always been off limits…until now. He fully intends to move them out of being “just friends” and encourage her to release the sexual needs he senses she’s buried deep.

Tianna McIntyre is starting over after her marriage ended. Her ex-husband weakened her self-esteem and caused her to deny her true sexual desires. But being around Alex brings all her dormant fantasies to the surface, and now Tianna feels the stirrings of her secret, submissive wishes.

Determined to help repair the damage Tianna’s ex did to her self-worth, Alex will use whatever means necessary to convince her they’re meant for each other, including tying her down to make sure he has her full attention while he takes her to the heights of pleasure she’s always dreamed of…

Excerpt:

She swallowed, mouth too dry to speak.His seductive touch wreaked havoc on her nervous system, but she was still unsure of his motives. Did he feel sorry for her now? Was she so lonely and desperate for his touch that he could tell?

“Alex.”

“Hmm?”

“What are we doing?”

His thumbs pressed deep on a spot that made her toes curl, and she bit back a moan. “Enjoying each other. Is that okay?”

She nodded. But was that all they were doing? Was that all she meant to him? She’d never had a fling. Didn’t think she could be just that to Alex.

Those clever fingers stroked higher, behind her knee, and paused. Her heart drummed loudly in her ears as she stared at him. God, she was already wet and throbbing for him, and all he’d done was touch her leg.

“Stop.”

She licked her lips. “What?”

“Stop thinking.”

Impossible. Her brain was whirring like a runaway carousel.

His fingertips moved a few inches higher, up her inner thigh. “Just feel.”

More than the words, the tenderness overlying the command in his voice sent a ribbon of heat curling through her. Her leg muscles drew tight while he continued to caress her over-sensitized skin in a lazy, slow pattern. Lighting up her entire body with no effort at all.

Alex’s eyes seemed to glow in the soft lamplight. “Feel good?”

She nodded, afraid to speak. God, it’d been so long for her. She wasn’t sure she could get through this without crying. He meant so much to her. This meant so much to her. But under the heat the nerves crept back in, those vicious little doubts that pricked her with sharp claws.

You take too long. You’re too much work.

You’re not sexy enough.

You’re not even wet. You need serious help. Her ex’s voice.

The hand around her ankle firmed, and she sucked in her breath. “Your skin’s so soft.” He sounded almost reverent, and it made her throat ache. Watching her, almost daring her to look away, his fingers trailed back and forth over her inner thigh, just inches from the edge of her damp thong. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me.” When she didn’t answer, he finally spoke again. “Are you wet right now, Tia?”

Blood rushed to her cheeks, engulfing her face in heat.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled slightly. “Are you?”

She didn’t know how to respond. If she said yes when he’d only been touching her legs, would she look pathetic? Chickening out, she broke eye contact. “Alex…”

“Tell me.” The heat of his fingers seemed to brand her skin.

Avoiding his gaze, she stared hard at the blanket covering her lap and nodded, praying it was the answer he wanted.

“Look at me.”

The ring of command in his voice brought her head up. What she saw in his eyes stole her breath. They were molten, full of raging hunger. For her. The knowledge shocked her.

“I’m going to keep touching you,” he said. “I want to find out what makes you squirm, makes you beg. And what makes you come for me.”

His words wrung a primal shiver out of her. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. How could he be attracted to her when he could have any woman he wanted?

His fingers paused, resting hot against her thigh. “Unless you want me to stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” Her voice was a mere thread of a sound.

One side of his mouth curved up. “Okay. But I don’t know what you need unless you tell me.”

Her heart fell. He expected her to say it out loud? The thought terrified her. “What I need?” God, did he somehow know about her secret fantasies? Did he think she was depraved or weird?

He nodded slowly. “I want to know what you need from me. Romance and candlelight aren’t my style, querida, but I’ll give them to you if that’s what you want.”

The endearment made her lower belly flutter in desperate longing, gave her hope. He’d never called her that before. “I don’t need them.”

One coal black brow rose. “Yes you do, and you deserve them. But that’s not the real me.”

Her throat dried up, her heart skipping frantically. Was it possible he wanted the same thing she did? “What…what’s the real you?” she asked before she could stop herself.

A sardonic smile curved his mouth. His tempting, edible mouth that had given her such pleasure this morning. “Not sure you’d like the answer to that.”

Oh yes, she might. Gathering her courage, Tia sat up and placed her hand over his. Her pulse hammered in her ears. “Then show me.”

I’d love to give away a copy of Touch Me to a commenter here, so please tell me a favorite military hero you’ve read about to enter the contest. This contest is open to international readers and will close January 18th. Good Luck!

Happy reading!

Callie Croix | www.calliecroix.com