K is for Kiss

How important is that first kiss in your love story?

For me, it's as important as the heroine and hero's first meeting. It tells a lot about events to come. It feeds the tension, shows the sparks and reminds us of that first kiss we had with our loves. How does it affect your characters. Do toes curl back, hearts jump, stomachs flutter? Nothing is as electrifiying.

In honor of first kisses, I've included a few from my stories.

Enjoy.

Speakeasy ~ The roaring 20’s, prohibition, guys and dolls. Leah meets Max for the first time. She’s a liquor smuggler and he’s a prohibition agent.

He said nothing, but continued to stare. Face to face, inches from each other. The temperature outside climbed a little higher and I could swear steam was a rising off my skin. He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me up with him. In the process, I lost my balance and fell against his body. Some of it act; some because my legs felt like rubber, mostly because I needed to touch his body.

Max caught me, holding me against his chest. I felt every breath, every beat of his heart. I tipped my chin up and did my best to smile. Inside, I shook so hard I was glad for the arms wrapped around me.

“I’ve got you.”

That he did. One crook of the finger and I’d be on him like tree sap.

“You should be careful. It’s dangerous to be out here alone. Not safe.” His heart picked up its tempo, pounding against my breast. Da-dum, da-dum… Da-dum. So close the heat of his skin worked its way through my clothing, scorching my body. Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum.

My nipples beaded to hard pebbles against a chest throbbing with a primal rhythm, laced
with lust and things I shouldn’t be thinking. The faster it went, the hotter I got, ’til I was sure I’d
go up in flames.

“Not safe at all.” Da-dum, da-dum. His voice had dropped to a gruff whisper.

“Are you telling me you’re not safe? Besides, I’m not that young. I’m twenty-two.” I didn’t want him to be safe. I wanted him to be bad. Oh, so bad. My eyes fixed on that mouth. Strong. One kiss would surely turn me inside out and I needed him to turn me inside out, right side up, wrap me around him and tie me in a bow. I wanted to be in a naked twisted pile of limbs, with him in the middle. I bit my lip to keep from moaning as the pulse in his chest transferred its beat to between my thighs where his erection pressed against me.

“I’m the worst kind of devil,” he growled, then captured my mouth. His lips consumed
me, branding my soul, stealing any ladylike thoughts I’d retained. Not that there were many.

I parted my lips and let him take me, soft and hard, tasting of every sin I’d been
forbidden, every desire I’d dreamed of. I stood there kissing the enemy for what seemed like
hours. I’m sure it was but moments, but that kiss put me in a whole other world. That kiss made
the clocks stop ticking.

That night, I got off with a warning to stay off the roads at night.

I wasn’t about to listen.


Cinderella Wore Combat Boots

“I had to learn to schmooze and rub elbows with the rich and powerful to launch my business. Even a Seal can become cultured. Adapt,” he whispered and lifted a strawberry to her lips and leaned in. She took a bite. “Improvise.” He took a swig from the bottle and captured her mouth. The taste of champagne lingered on his lips and mingled with the strawberry she’d nibbled. He pulled back and stared in her eyes. “Overcome. Anything is possible if you want it bad enough, and I want you.” He dropped the strawberry into the compote and cupped her head, pulling her deep into a kiss and across his lap. Heat exploded through her, setting her body on fire and her mind awhirl.

Forget the strawberries. Forget the champagne, dinner, or dancing. The only kind of tango she wanted to do was under the table with him. His kiss could induce a woman to sin on so many levels, and God, she wanted to sin. His hand slid up the outside of her leg and under her gown, stroking the naked flesh of her thigh. Cori groaned and weaved her hands into his hair, opening her mouth to him and letting him take whatever he wanted. His tongue dipped inside her mouth and danced with the tip of hers. Heady, sexy—a wicked taste of unrestrained lust.


Hear No Evil

“Let’s test the theory,” he said.

She opened her mouth to spout something he was certain would be nasty. Nate lowered his lips and muffled the protest before it escaped. Sweet, minty—toothpaste and heat. And damn if he didn’t want more. Nate deepened the kiss. His hands slid up, into her messy hair, holding her to him as he deepened their kiss. Jolts of heat speared through his center and he groaned.

She pressed her palms to his shoulders and pushed for a brief second, and then seized the fabric of his shirt to pull him tight to her. Her lips didn’t resist and she teased him with the tip of her tongue, drawing him in deeper.


Collateral Lives

Devoe came up behind Ela, silent as a panther and grabbed a fistful of blonde hair. She yanked her head back and pressed her lips to the pretty Regillion’s ear. “Get out or I’ll kill you.”

“Trouble,” she whimpered. “I was looking for you.”

“Well you found me, and you’ve got five seconds to get out of his room before I wreck your world.” She let go of Ela’s hair and swung her toward the door. “Don’t come back.”

Ela stumbled out, disappearing before it slid shut.

“Bitch,” Devoe snarled and shoved a hand in her hair that now was choppy and as unruly as the woman. She turned around, her face the deep color of the hyacinths he’d called her earlier.

Avery leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, fighting the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “What am I going to do now?”

“What does that mean?” Her eyes popped wide and she began to back toward the exit.

Avery grinned. “Lock down quarters.” There was a click and his door locked, secured until he requested otherwise. Avery pushed off the wall and began to stalk toward her. “You’ve chased off the entertainment for this evening.” But he didn’t need to mention that he’d been in the process of throwing Ela out anyway.

“I…” She swallowed and began to move around a small table, hovering above the floor in the center of his room. “I thought you were in trouble.”

He gave her his wickedest grin. “Not yet, but I plan to be real soon.”

“I’m a lesbian.” She put the hovering table between them, as if it could stop him if he really wanted to get to her.

Avery leaned over and slapped his palms down on the surface, fixing her with a hungry stare. “So you say.”

“I…”

“Come here.” He shoved the table across the room. It slammed into a wall and broke an illuminating disc built into the panel. The room dimmed. She gasped and backed up, her eyes darting right and left. “We can talk about this, Avery.”

“The time for conversation is over. Damn it woman, can’t you tell I’ve tried to keep my hands off you?”

“Temple, Avery.”

“I don’t give a fuck about my temple right now. I want to defile it and you along with it.”

“Avery…” Devoe shook her head and slid sideways along the wall. He tracked her movement, following her gaze to the open lavatory door. Devoe lunged for it.

He was faster and caught her, slamming her against the wall. “I don’t think so.”

“Please,” she whispered.

“Please, what?” His gaze shifted down to where her chest rose and fell. What was this? Thin, thin tee-shirt, cold air and lots of nipple—coming here like that was like taking the gloves off and tossing down a challenge—something she damn well knew he couldn’t back down from. His gaze continued down, to her shorts that showed lots of leg, and gods weren’t they beautiful, long and sexy, made to wrap around him while he drove into her.

“We have unfinished business.” He pressed his palms on either side of her, caging her in his arms. “I warned you not to trust anyone on Level Twelve and yet you come here, into my room and throw out a willing woman.”

She swallowed again. As he looked up, he caught her staring at his mouth. Devoe licked her bottom lip ever so slightly, but enough to tell him why she’d done it. Somebody was jealous. “We’ve already been over this. I thought you were in trouble.”

“Liar.” He cocked his head and studied her. He brought a knee up and pushed her thighs apart. “Did I look like I was in need of rescue?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“I think you do.” He reached his hand out, brushed it along her cheek and leaned in close. His nostrils flared as he inhaled. Her scent made more blood flow to his already rigid cock, but it wasn’t a surprise. Everything about the woman pushed him to his limits. Her skin. The sexy little sounds she made in the back of her throat when frustrated, and the cinnamon smell of that damn candy she consumed like an addict.

He grazed her skin with his fingertips, trailing down her long, elegant throat, to the dip in her collarbone. Her breath hitched and her nipples puckered even more under the thin fabric. He leaned in and nipped her bottom lip. She made that sound, a combination of a growl and moan, but didn’t move. It fired every neuron in his body.

Energy seemed to pulse in the air around them. Avery nipped again, this time sucking her luscious bottom lip into his mouth. He pushed her legs farther apart, leaving his knee wedged between her thighs.

“You’re so full of threats, Avery and I’m tired of them.” Her hands slid into his hair, lacing through it. She fisted the strands, securing a good hold, and pulled his mouth down to hers. “Would you just rip off my clothes and get to it?” Then she kissed him, stealing the last of his control with those wicked words and sultry lips.


The Infamous Ava Frost
The way she’d fingered his uniform ignited every cell in his body. She touched it like she stroked his skin and somehow he’d managed to get even harder. He held her gaze as he reached around and snagged his com off a shelf. “I’m never off duty,” he said

She raised a brow. “Pity. I’d like to know you when you aren’t all business.”

He dropped his gaze to her mouth. Her lips were luscious, her teeth perfectly kept. This woman wasn’t meant to be a smuggler. She was born to warm a man’s bed and heart.

“Is there something you want, Captain Reynolds?”

Yeah and she was a mila from finding out. “No.” He grabbed her hand and pressed his com into it. “Contact a transporter. I’ll escort you to your room. It’s not safe for a woman to walk around Trios at night.”

The corner of her mouth curled and an impish dimple appeared. “What’s wrong with hanging out here?”

Xavier frowned. “This is my room.”

“I see that,” she said even though she hadn’t taken her gaze off him.

“I don’t understand,” he said. She couldn’t be insinuating…

She rose up on her toes and slid her hands into his hair. She pulled his face down to hers. “Then let me explain it.” As her mouth contacted his, jolts of energy shot through his blood. Xavier didn’t resist. Should have. The woman was bad news. If he had any common sense left, he’d throw her against the wall and cuff her, not kiss her. But he couldn’t. He’d fallen to Frost’s charms and there was nothing he could do about it but give in and let it happen.

His hands slid down her back, stroking the exposed flesh under his fingertips. Down they traveled over her hips and around to her ass. Ava Frost had a figure. She’d flesh and softness to her frame, not boney and hard like many of the women around. He loved her curves and filled his hands with them.

Ava pulled her mouth away and looked him in the eyes. Spontaneous combustion. Nothing could cool the inferno raging inside him, well, nothing but the obvious. But if he buried his cock inside Ava frost, the Galactic Council would bury him. Xavier knew better, but right now his body wasn’t listening. He’d seen that look before and knew what it meant. “This can’t go any further.” he said.

She smiled and shoved him back onto the bed, following him down. As he hit the mattress, she straddled his legs.