“Edgy, sexy, and
full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!”
~J.R. Ward on Hard As It Gets
Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.
Tall, dark,
and lethal...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Read Chapter 1 of Hard
As It Gets
Excerpt ~
Chapter 11, just after Becca has survived a kidnapping attempt:
Becca’s insides nearly vibrated with the need to know
what the hell Nick wasn’t telling her. She’d hit the edge of her tolerance for
any more mystery, even of the tall, dark, and achingly handsome kind.
His
lips pressed into a grim line and his eyes flashed. “Becca, let’s just—”
“No.”
She stepped right into his space and jabbed a finger into the granite of his
chest. “Don’t put me off anymore. I deserve to know. I need to know,”
she said, hating the strained pitch of her voice.
His
expression went dark and his jaw ticked. She saw it in his eyes the minute he made
the decision to spill. Her stomach plummeted to the floor. It was bad. He
didn’t need to tell her that much. Everything inside her braced for the
onslaught of bad news.
When
he spoke, the words were even, straightforward, factual. “Someone ransacked
your house. Picked the back door lock again. Went through just about every
room.”
The
brick walls bent and warped around her, but she shook off the dizziness and
forced herself to focus on Nick’s face. His presence was the only thing grounding
her. “Why would they do that? Could you tell if anything was missing?”
He
shook his head. “The why of it I intend to figure out. I promise you. But the
place was too much of a mess to—”
“Take
me.” Becca pushed past him and hit the handle on the door.
Arms
wrapped around her from behind. “Becca, we—”
“No!”
She threw off the hold and scrambled away, her back coming up hard against the
wall.
Nick’s
expression was a roiling sea of emotion. Surprise. Fear. Anger. Concern. “I’m
sorry. What just—”
“That
was how he grabbed me.” She swallowed hard and shuddered at the remembered
press of the man’s flesh against hers. “I’m sorry,” she rasped, embarrassment heating
her face, despair and exhaustion sucking the fight out of her.
He
came forward slowly. “Don’t apologize,” he said, his voice cranked tight. “And
don’t cry.” His thumb swiped under her eye, once, twice, and then his knuckles
caressed her cheekbone. The little touches were comforting, sweet, and she
thought maybe he needed to give them as much as she needed to feel them. He
tucked the loose strands of her destroyed ponytail behind her ear.
“I’m
not crying,” she said despite the wetness plain on her face. She shook her
aching head, then pressed her cheek into his hand. “I’m not.”
“I
know.”
Peering
up at him, her breath caught. The moment their gazes connected, his expression shifted
from sympathetic concern to uncontrollable desire. His mouth fell open. His
chest rose and fell against hers. His fingers burrowed into her hair.
Becca
went hot all over, like the sun had hung itself in the stairwell above them.
He
leaned closer, closer, his free arm bracing on the wall above her shoulder. The
warm puff of his breath caressed her lips as his gaze bore into hers. She
couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t breathe.
He
kissed her on a groan so needful it made her dizzy and wet. His mouth devoured
hers, his big hand cupped the back of her head, his body completely surrounded and
trapped hers against the bricks. It was a full-body onslaught, with every part
of him engaged in the act of claiming and seducing.
Becca
clutched at his coat, his shoulders, his back, his hair. Anything to bring him closer,
deeper. His lips pulled and tugged, his tongue stroked and twisted. He smelled
of leather and mint and tasted like sin.
The
harder he came at her, the more her conscious mind let go. Her aches, the
stitches, her house, even Charlie—for a few minutes, just a few precious
minutes, Becca let it all go.
The
surrender was euphoric. It rushed through her blood and sent her flying.
“That
was so close, Becca. Too close,” he rasped, kissing her jaw, her ear, her neck,
and sending her heart flying. His fingers stroked down over her breasts and
found the hem of her shirt. And then those warm, calloused hands snaked up her
stomach, pulled down the cups of her bra, and caressed her breasts skin to
skin. He massaged her, teased her with roughened fingertips, and tormented her until
she was panting.
She
gripped the collar of his coat, half afraid her knees would go soft and give
out. Nick pulled his body away just enough to tear the coat off his arms and
throw it to the floor. Geez, the gun holster was sexy hugging tight over his
shirt, but he slipped out of it, too, and eased it to the floor with a thunk.
Then his hands were back on her breasts and his tongue was back in her mouth,
stealing her breath and convincing her she could live without it.
God,
this kiss. It was the kind she’d remember forever, that would invade her dreams
and haunt her in quiet moments. The kind her older self could look back on and know,
once, she’d really lived. The kind that, no matter what, she could never, ever
regret. And it made a part of herself bloom with affection for the man who’d
made her feel that way.
She
snaked her hands under his shirt, moaning when her palm smoothed over the hard
planes and muscled ridges of his abdomen, his sides, his chest. Her fingers swirled
through the light covering of hair on his chest and swiped light, teasing
brushes over his nipples. The low growls he released into the kiss as they
explored each other thrilled her, made her yearn for the opportunity to bring a
man as powerful and deadly as him to his knees in ecstasy.
“Closer,”
he ground out. With one arm, he ripped the cotton over his head, revealing a
body that was no doubt capable of inflicting pleasure and pain in equal measure.
Desire roared off his skin and his hands were everywhere, massaging her breasts,
kneading at the swell of her ass, pulling them harder together.
The
heat of his demanding touches ripped through her and settled a pressing ache
low in her abdomen. She squeezed her thighs together in response, emphasizing her
arousal against her panties.
“I
want you, Becca. I’m not gonna lie.” He spoke in low tones against her cheek,
but pulled back to meet her gaze. “But I think—”
She
placed three fingers over his mouth. “Don’t think.”
"I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review"
I am so excited that I got an ARC of Hard As It Gets to review. I am a huge Laura Kaye fan. Her books are just phenomenal from beginning to end and she did not disappoint with Hard As It Gets. I foresee this series as another great success for Laura Kaye and her readers.
Now lets get to those hunky military men she writes about. HUBBU HUBBU YUMMY NUMMY!!! With this cast of characters we just don’t
get one sexy inked up ass kicking soldier but 5. I am in HEAVEN!!!!
I love a man that needs to be put back together again by a good
woman. Nick doesn’t need just any woman so when Becca abruptly walks into his life he is quick to dismiss her, but
being the protector he is he must first see to it that she is safe. Becca doesn't seem like the adventurous type but is a very strong and determined person. With being a nurse she has a “lets get it
done attitude” regardless of the situations she is on top of it even if it puts
her own life in danger. With her brother being kidnapped and her other family members gone she has no other choice but to turn to others for help. Soon she finds herself swept up into the arms of Nick and surrounded by an unusual group of men bound together by a brotherhood unlike any other. They are all there to help and perhaps uncover the truth of a horrible event that caused each man so much pain.
I absolutely loved these two characters together and the
many other characters in the book. Each
plays their own roll at making this book FREAKING FANTASTIC. With the great combination of stubbornness and flexibility the back and forth witty banter will make you chuckle at times. Even when you are in the middle of the most intense scene you will find yourself giggling or sighing with delight because that yummy hot, inked up military hero just said something cute and sensitive. I am looking forward to the series as it
progresses. These special forces military
men are going to ROCK your reading world.
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing
up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore
involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long
fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her
husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the
Chesapeake Bay every day.
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Thank you for the great post!
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