Authors: Ann B. Harrison
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Paranormal, #Romantic Erotica
Red Hot
Total
honesty or hot sex. Will their love survive both?
To ward off his sexual frustration, Red
Gallagher rides his motorbike up the coastal highway pushing the limits of
speed and endurance.
When he crashes at the front door of local
witch, Rhian Gallagher, she takes it as a sign the Fates have listened to her
plea to end the man drought in her life. Determined to take the shy scientist
under her wing and into her bed as soon as possible, Rhian patches him up after
his accident.
Will the explosive sex between them be
enough to convince Red his scientific view of the world can be reconciled with
Rhian’s witchcraft?
CONTENT
WARNING:
Sexy, sizzling erotic
romance…and the odd magic spell or two.
Red
Hot
Copyright
© November, 2012 Ann B. Harrison
Edited by Annie Seaton
Cover Art by Annie Seaton
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or
dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © November, 2012 Ann B. Harrison
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce,
distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding
subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
The author acknowledges the copyrighted or
trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in
this work of fiction:
Ducati, Corvette.
Dedication
To
my girls, Annie, Effie and Tricia. Thanks for all of your advice and help.
For
Johhny. I love that you take me away camping so I can work undisturbed when
life gets in the way.
Thank
you
.
Carrick Patrick Douglas, or Red, as he was
more often called because of the bright auburn head of hair he sported, gritted
his teeth and slowly pulled up the zip on his black leather bike pants. The
bulge in his boxers was uncomfortable beyond reason and short of taking himself
in hand, the best way to ward off an erection of major proportions like this
one was on the back of his Ducati at breakneck speed. The tight twists and
turns down the coast road heading toward Monterey would keep his mind off his
fucked up sex life, or more to the point, lack of it.
He leaned down to pull on his boots,
angling his body to cause himself the least discomfort, and clipped the
fasteners up his calves on one boot, then the other.
His leather jacket was hanging neatly in
his closet. Taking it from the coat hanger he glanced at his bed. The sheets
were a tangled mess from his latest wet dream, the one where his laboratory
assistant had him tied to the stainless steel bench naked while she used her
microscope in the most inventive way. He pulled his jacket on and walked away.
He stopped at the door, a curse on his
lips. Grunting deep in his throat he turned back and made the bed, fluffing up
the pillows and angling them just right for effect, cursing his OCD quirks.
Disgusted with himself, he stormed from the room. He had never been yelled at
for not making his bed when he was a kid because he couldn't bear to see the
mess left behind if he didn't. Everything had its place in his room and that
was how he always left it. Try as he might, Red couldn't change the way he was.
It was in his nature to be neat and
precise, something that more often than not came back to bite him in the ass in
some shape or form.
The keys were on the post by the front
door. He picked up his wallet, grabbed his helmet from the shelf, and walked
out. To make himself feel better, he slammed the door behind him and instantly
regretted the childish action. A quick glance showed he hadn't broken the
antique glass his mother had prized.
The sleek red Ducati was sitting in the
driveway of his San Francisco home. Tucking his hair behind his ears, he put
his glasses in their case and placed them inside his jacket pocket. Red pulled
down the helmet, doing up the chin-strap before swinging a leg over the seat of
the powerful machine. He inserted the key and hit the ignition. The rumble of
the motor sent deep pulses through his leather pants to the sensitive skin of
his crotch and reminded him of the reason for his ride today. He kicked the
foot peg up and turned the bike toward the road.
He looked both ways before he gunned the
Ducati out onto the street. Leaning forward on the bike, he debated which way
to go. The route down through town was interesting and on a Saturday morning
there was bound to be plenty to see, but if he hit the direct route to the
highway he would be out of town sooner. The wide open roads of the coast called
to him and he headed down the motorway. He whipped across both lanes, dodging
between cars and tourist buses and pushed his bike over the speed limit. The
thrill of being ticketed added to his adrenalin rush.
His mind wandered as he followed the road
through the salad growing area and small cropping farms. He ignored the exit
signs, and gunned his bike again to take the winding ocean road. The smell of
the salty air filled his lungs. He breathed deeply; glad to be out of the lab
and away from the vision of his latest unfulfilled wet dream. His gorgeous
assistant was soon to be married and no longer available but that didn’t stop
him lusting over his Cara.
When he had first hired her he told himself
he would ask her out once he got to know her better. But each time he tried, he
got tongue tied and walked away. She was friendly enough and they got on well
at work but that was different from taking their friendship to a personal
level. By the time he had convinced himself to try again and ask her out, she
was already talking about some guy she had met.
It was his own bloody fault, Red knew that.
He shouldn’t have been so slow. His shyness bugged him and more often than not
he missed out because he couldn’t pluck up the courage to make the first move.
And to top it off, she had walked in yesterday with a glow surrounding her and
proudly wriggled her fingers in front of him. The huge diamond made him sick to
his stomach. He’d plastered a smile on his face when he gave her his best
wishes. Disappointment fired through his gut and Red mentally kicked himself
for his non-existent dating skills. She was a great assistant and he didn’t
want to lose her so he pretended it didn’t matter to him.
Most days he watched her sashay to her work
station, his lab coat hiding how much she still affected him. Why couldn’t he
get the guts up to hit on someone instead of hiding behind his microscope? It
wasn’t like he was ugly or inept. Even he could admit he was easy on the eye.
His hair was a strange color for a guy, dark copper, and would no doubt look
great on a chick flowing over her shoulders, naked ones preferably. He kept it
a little bit long over his ears and tended to hide under his bangs. His was
tall and athletic and physically fit. All of the workouts did nothing to still
his libido but he figured he might get lucky one day and wanted to be toned and
ready.
But no matter what he did, he knew he still
looked like the nerdy scientist he was. Plain dark-rimmed glasses with milk
bottle thick lenses covered his deep green eyes and gave him a bug-like
appearance. He knew it put the chicks off and had tried numerous times to have
his eyes corrected but to no avail. The strange shape of his eyes made them
unsuitable for any of the current surgery available. The eye specialists were
hopeful there might be something for him in the future.
The road wound smoothly up the coast and
the wind flicked his hair around his collar. The cliff dropped sharply into the
ocean pounding the rocks at the bottom. The view was unbelievably serene and
clear over the sea for miles. Something about this stretch of road always eased
the tension from his shoulders.
His mind started to drift again when a
small brown shape stepped into the path of his bike. His breath caught in his
throat and before he could think about it, Red leaned his bike over on its
side, headed toward the bank away from the cliff edge. A roar filled his ears
and he lost control of the heavy machine. Rough stones tore his leathers and
the pain built up like fire raging through dry grass. The last thing he heard
was his own voice groaning in defeat and the sound of scrapping metal along the
asphalt of the road.
Red lay stunned on the hot road. He turned
his head from the bright sun glaring into his eyes and winced as the pain raced
through his body.
Fucking great, I go for a ride to starve
off the lack of sex and end up with a busted ass instead. Where is the justice
in that?
A cool soft hand wiped his brow and he
forced his eyes open. Someone had removed his helmet and everything was foggy
without the special visor. He did a quick mental check of painful spots. His
head wasn’t one of them thankfully but his ass was on fire from the contact
with the road and his elbow screamed in pain.
“Shush now, just relax. Don't struggle so,
you are safe with me.”
Red tried his best to relax under the soft
hum of her voice and the strange sensation of floating came over him. His blood
pressure was probably through the roof. He debated whether it was all a dream,
in which case he could roll over and stay where he was to sleep it off. The
pain racking his body made him more than aware it was not the case and he had
to move or risk getting run over when another vehicle came this way. He sighed
and tried to open his eyes again. Without his glasses or his made-to-order
helmet visor, he couldn’t see clearly. The foggy vision leaning over him
appeared to be smiling. Her blond hair fell over her shoulders, cascading down
to tickle his jaw, distracting him momentarily from the pain. The smell of
fresh flowers and honey filled his nostrils and sent his body into overdrive.
Willing himself to stay calm he tried to
lift himself up on his arms.
“Arrgh.” Red fell back and rolled to one
side, clutching his injured arm with his good hand. His breath came in short
pants as he tried to control the pain surging through him.
“Let me see that.” The vision reached out
and ran her fingers lightly down from his shoulder to his fingertips. She
prodded around his elbow, moving his hand at the same time, ignoring his groans
of pain. “It doesn’t appear to be broken, possibly a bad sprain though I'm
thinking.” The sound of her voice washed over him and brought back memories
that had lain buried in his past. “Would you be liking for me to heal this for
you?” she asked, a faint Irish lilt to her voice, holding his hand in hers.
“Are you a doctor?” His voice was rugged
even to his ears and he wished he could sound a bit more enthusiastic but the
pain overrode any niceties he should have used.
“Of a sort, yes.” Her soft laughter made
him more aware of her holding his hand and he resisted the urge to pull away
from her. “Should I try then?”
“I would hardly turn down help now, would
I?” Red grimaced as another burst of pain shot through his elbow and he broke
out into a cold sweat. He leaned back and closed his eyes, breathing through
his mouth. When his pulse rate settled and his thoughts slowed Red opened his
eyes and watched her. She lifted his hand and laid it down across his chest,
and then brought her palms together. Holding them to her face, thumbs on her
chin, she whispered words Red couldn’t hear clearly. Then she rubbed her hands
briskly together and ran them up and down his arm before gripping his elbow
firmly. The heat from her hands radiated through his leather jacket, warming
his arm until it was almost unbearable and then dropping to a soothing warmth
once again.
“There now, that should do it.” She leaned
back and held a hand out to help him up. Red gripped her fingers in his and
pulled himself into a sitting position. He sat quietly while his head swam and
then he checked his arm.
He prodded his elbow. Finding it normal and
almost pain free, he looked at her. “What kind of doctor are you?”
“Not the type you are used to, I'm sure.”
She laughed.
Red squinted and tried to get a clear
picture of her. He gave up and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and
withdrew his glasses case. With a sigh of relief that it wasn’t damaged, he
opened it and took out his thick glasses.
Red brushed the hair out of his eyes and
slid them on. He blinked a couple of times and when his vision cleared, he
looked over at his mystery woman. She sat on her heels on the road, smiling
serenely in the sunshine as he floundered for the right words. Long blonde hair
flowed around her shoulders and she waited for him to speak.
“What...I mean who are you? And why are you
out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“I have a cottage just over the crest of
that hill behind me. The weekends are my time alone when I can get away from
the city and work.” Her full red lips curved into a seductive smile and his
balls ached. “Is your arm feeling better now then?”
“What did you do?” He looked at her from
under his hair, not sure if she was smiling because she was nice or if she was
amused by the nerdy guy who had landed in a heap at her feet. He flexed his
elbow and found it almost pain free. It was a shame his jacket hadn’t fared so
well.
“Just a little bit of natural healing, one
of my skills. In the city I have a veterinary practice but out here I like to
be as Mother Nature intended, free and worthy to share the gifts bestowed upon
me.” She stood up and reached down to take his hand.
Red looked into her deep blue eyes before
accepting. She seemed genuine and outgoing. He lifted his hand into hers and
let her help pull him to his feet.
A small brown creature darted from behind
her long flowing skirt and pranced around their feet.
“That’s the bloody thing that made me lose
control on the road.” He glared down at the baby deer now burrowing into the
floral fabric around her legs.
She reached down and with her hand under
its body, picked it up. “‘T is a baby deer, I found it alongside its Mam on the
side of the road last night when I drove along the coast. Poor thing had been
run down and this little babe was frozen and hungry. I'm sorry. I didn’t
realize it was so far from me. They have no fear of traffic because there is so
much open space and wilderness out here.”
Red turned to look at his bike. His jaw
clenched as he imagined the carnage inflicted on his pride and joy. He limped
over to where it lay in the grass on the side of the road.
He rubbed his hand over his butt and
fleetingly wished she had done something about his burning ass. He grunted,
annoyed with the rips his fingers found in the leather.
Another pair for the rubbish bin
.
He gritted his teeth as he crouched down to
inspect the damage. There was a deep scratch along one side of the tank where
the metal had made contact with the road and one foot peg was buckled beyond
repair but that appeared to be all. He stood it up and pushed it to the side of
the road. With a flick of his foot, he set it on the stand before he ran his
hands lovingly over the black leather seat, thrilled, at least, it hadn't been
ripped.