Daring Her Love Read online

  Daring Her Love

  A Bradens Novella

  By Melissa Foster

  1001 Dark Nights

  Daring Her Love

  A Bradens Novella

  By Melissa Foster

  1001 Dark Nights

  Copyright 2015 Melissa Foster

  ISBN: 978-1-940887-68-5

  Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  DARING HER LOVE

  A Bradens Novella

  By Melissa Foster

  This BRADEN novella features Kat Martin, Brianna Heart's best friend from HEARTS AT PLAY (The Bradens, #6) with appearances from the hot, wealthy, and wickedly naughty Bradens you know and love.

  In DARING HER LOVE…

  Kat Martin knows what she wants in a man—someone stable and adoring, definitely not the type of guy who sleeps around. After all, Kat rarely does the wrong thing—until she meets seductively enticing Eric James, and suddenly wrong has never felt so right.

  When it comes to his career, race-car driver Eric James is intense, obsessive, and passionate, but when it comes to sex, there’s only one kind—daring, unbridled, and no-strings-attached.

  One stormy night, a delayed flight and the dangerous allure of the unknown leads Kat to throw caution to the wind, and she indulges in a rendezvous that she vows to immediately forget—but the secret tryst stirs something possessive in Eric, and forgetting is not an option.

  About Melissa Foster

  Melissa Foster is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café, and when she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.

  Visit Melissa on her website or chat with her on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.

  MELISSA FOSTER’S BOOK LIST

  AFTER DARK SERIES

  WILD BOYS

  Logan

  Heath

  Jackson

  Cooper

  Love in Bloom books may be read as stand-alones. For more enjoyment, read them in series order. Characters from each series carry forward to the next.

  Full LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES order

  SNOW SISTERS

  Sisters in Love

  Sisters in Bloom

  Sisters in White

  THE BRADENS (Weston, CO)

  Lovers at Heart

  Destined for Love

  Friendship on Fire

  Sea of Love

  Bursting with Love

  Hearts at Play

  THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO)

  Taken by Love

  Fated for Love

  Romancing My Love

  Flirting with Love

  Dreaming of Love

  Crashing into Love

  BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS

  Promise My Love

  THE BRADENS (Peaceful Harbor, MD)

  Healed by Love

  Surrender My Love

  (More Coming Soon)

  THE REMINGTONS

  Game of Love

  Stroke of Love

  Flames of Love

  Slope of Love

  Read, Write, Love

  SEASIDE SUMMERS

  Seaside Dreams

  Seaside Hearts

  Seaside Sunsets

  Seaside Secrets

  Seaside Nights

  THE RYDERS

  Seized by Love

  Acknowledgments

  It was such a pleasure to work with Liz Berry and MJ Rose, two talented women who inspire me on a daily basis. I’m proud to be part of the 1001 Dark Nights team, and I hope my readers love the rest of the authors as much as I enjoy reading them. If you enjoyed reading about Eric and Kat, I hope you’ll check out Hugh and Brianna’s story, along with the rest of the mouthwatering Bradens and Love in Bloom family.

  Writing a book is never a solo operation. I’d like to thank Brandi Bradley Glover for offering up her husband’s name. I hope I did him justice. I’m indebted to my fabulous Filthy Fosterette Street Team, and all the wonderful readers and friends who follow me on social media and reach out via email. Keep your notes coming! I love hearing from you, and often take inspiration from stories you graciously share.

  Many thanks to my amazing editorial team, Kristen Weber and Penina Lopez, and my meticulous proofreaders, Marlene Engle, Juliette Hill, Lynn Mullan, and Jenna Bagnini.

  Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for my own hunky hero and research partner, Les. Love you more than chocolate cupcakes, babe. Here’s to real-life romance!

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Click here to explore

  FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black

  CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham

  CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom

  DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake

  AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione

  NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones

  SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair

  ROPED IN by Lorelei James

  TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights:

  TAME ME by J. Kenner

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Click here to explore

  WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan

  WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham

  EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby

  MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair

  CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner

  ADORED by Lexi Blake

  HADES by Larissa Ione

  RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton

  DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James

  RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright

  DRAGON KING by Donna Grant

  PURE WICKED by Shayla Black

  HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye

  STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian

  ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham

  KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice

  DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster

  TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti

  THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights:

  THE SURRENDER GATE by Christopher Rice

  SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Melissa Foster

  Also by Melissa Foster

  Author Acknowledgments

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two

  Foreword

  A Message from Melissa

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6
/>   Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three

  Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights

  An excerpt from Hearts at Play by Melissa Foster

  Special Thanks

  One Thousand and One Dark Nights

  Once upon a time, in the future…

  I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.

  I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and

  the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast

  library at my father’s home and collected thousands

  of volumes of fantastic tales.

  I learned all about ancient races and bygone

  times. About myths and legends and dreams of all

  people through the millennium. And the more I read

  the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered

  that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually

  become part of them.

  I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher

  and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I

  would not be telling you this tale now.

  But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off

  with bravery.

  One afternoon, curious about the myth of the

  Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to

  see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar

  (Persian: شهریار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then

  sent yesterday’s wife to be beheaded. It was written

  and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,

  the vizier’s daughter, he’d killed one thousand

  women.

  Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived

  in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged

  places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had

  never occurred before and that still to this day, I

  cannot explain.

  Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have

  taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

  protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

  protect herself and stay alive.

  Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

  And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

  point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

  And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

  he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

  As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

  one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

  you now.

  Dear Readers,

  In DARING HER LOVE you’ll meet Eric James and Kat Martin, along with a few of our hot, wealthy, and wickedly naughty Bradens. The Bradens are just one of the families in my award-winning contemporary romance series, Love in Bloom. The Love in Bloom family includes several subseries: Snow Sisters, The Bradens, The Remingtons, Seaside Summers, and The Ryders. For a checklist, family tree, and publication schedule, please visit my website www.MelissaFoster.com and be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you never miss a release. www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter.

  Happy reading!

  Melissa

  Chapter One

  IT WAS HIS eyes. Definitely his eyes. They were the type of eyes that said things Kat Martin had spent a lifetime spotting—and the last year avoiding—at Old Town Tavern, the bar where she worked in Richmond, Virginia. She could spot a player a mile away, from the expensive suit to the open-necked dress shirt, showing just enough skin and a smattering of chest hair to make a girl’s insides quiver. And boy did this man show it well. Her insides were doing some kind of crazy sex-me-up dance. Even from across the crowded airport bar, the intensity of the insanely sexy man’s seductive gaze beckoned her, goading her into doing naughty things she had no business doing at this point in her life.

  Kat had spent enough years sowing her wild oats. Ever since her best friend, Brianna, had been swept off her feet by professional race car driver Hugh Braden, Kat had longed for more. Watching her friend fall blissfully in love with a man who treated Bree and her daughter, Layla, like they were the very heart and soul of his being, Kat had become pickier about men and the treatment she’d accept. And she had to admit, she was a little lonelier because of it. Finding a tough alpha male who was also loving, monogamous, and romantic was like searching for a tick in the woods.

  Oh boy. Mr. Fuck Me Eyes was on the move, and holy hell, this man didn’t move; he prowled. Slow, determined steps, clearly meant to amp up Kat’s pulse—Damn, you do it so well—were intensified by eyes radiating power, sex, and sinful promises. Promises that a year ago Kat would have been aching to explore, but now she was looking for Mr. Right, not Mr. Goodbar.

  Sweet Jesus, he had that tousled, just-been-fucked hair thing going on, too, and the perfect amount of scruff covering a not-quite-chiseled chin, which, unfairly, only made him hotter. And his mouth. Well, fuck me sideways. Kat had a thing for mouths and all the pleasures they could give. This guy had two sweet bows over a full lower lip, the kind she’d love to sink her teeth into. She hadn’t had these types of thoughts about a guy in so long that she had to wonder what she’d done to deserve this temptation. She’d already missed her flight because of a storm. Did she really need to spend her evening fending off Adonis himself? He probably had an anaconda in his pants, too. Wouldn’t that just top it all off?

  He placed a hand on the back of her chair, and the temperature in the room spiked. Lowering himself to the seat beside her and smelling like heaven on legs, he looked at her like he’d already staked his claim. Kat knew guys like him were about notches on belts and conquering prey, and she was done being prey. She was looking for a bird who would stay in the nest, not a cuckoo flying over it.

  She chanced a glance at him, instantly regretting it. His features were well defined and disarmingly youthful, like he’d grown into a man but the rebellious teenager in him refused to completely grow up. A trait Kat knew and loved so much, it caused her mouth to go dry.

  He motioned to the bartender. “Bourbon sour, please.”

  The drink of bad boys. “Of course.” Shit. She didn’t mean to say it out loud, and from the way his lips quirked up, he obviously knew exactly why she did. She tried to ignore the musky scent permeating her senses, tipped her head back, and gulped down her martini. That’d calm her nerves.

  The bartender placed his drink before him.

  “Thank you. Can you please get this beautiful lady another of whatever she’s having, too? It seems I’ve driven her to drink by ordering a bourbon sour.” His eyes narrowed just a hair and filled with wickedness that revealed his true cocky colors, and hell if it didn’t turn her on even more.

  This was not the way to find Mr. Right.

  She didn’t even try to pretend he’d misread her comment. This guy was too sharp for her to play innocent. “Thank you. A lemon-drop martini, please.”

  “My pleasure.” He leaned in closer, his knee brushing hers. “I’m Eric.”

  His amber eyes were even more alluring up close, a daunting haze of yellow and brown looking at her as if he was thinking about all the things he’d like to do to her and gauging her reaction closely. She shifted in her chair.

  “Kat,” she managed.

  Eric paid for their drinks and lifted his glass. “To bourbon sours and lemon-drop martinis.” His voice was rich and confident, with an undercurrent of strength and desire. “And whatever else will be.”

  Holy. Crap. She could imagine a lot of whatever else, and that was a problem. She should get up and walk out right now. Save herself an hour of innuendos that would only leave her wondering why she wasted her ti
me. This wasn’t a stay-in-the-coop type of guy. Hell no. This was a sneak-into-the-coop, take-his-fill, and get-the-hell-out sly fox. She knocked back her drink, relishing the sweetness as it slid down her throat.

  He leaned in even closer. “I don’t bite,” he said.

  If Kat had learned one thing working at the tavern, it was that there was only one way to handle a guy like this, and that was to beat him at his own game.

  “That’s a shame,” she said with a smirk that had slayed many men. She hadn’t played this way in a long time, and reveled in the excitement tickling up her spine.

  Eric slid his leg between hers, brushing her inner thigh and causing her dress to inch up, which he followed with his very large, very hot hand. Deliciously lewd thoughts simmered inside her, coalescing with heat prickling her in all the best places.

  He leaned in so close she could see sparks of lust in his eyes. “Darlin’, I’ll bite, nip, suck, lick, and anything else your gorgeous body desires. I’ll turn you on in ways you never knew possible.” He hovered there, his cheek a fraction of an inch from hers, his warm breath caressing her ear, and his searing heat seeping into her skin.

  Kat. Couldn’t. Breathe.

  She loved men, and she loved hot sex, but she’d never find Mr. Right if she was playing around with Mr. Wrong. This was supposed to be her big starting-over weekend. She’d officially quit her job and was heading to Colorado so Brianna, a photographer, could take pictures for her website and portfolio. But Lord did he smell good, and the way those promises slid from his tongue made her believe…

  Maybe one last goodbye to the old me…

  His fingertips slid beneath the edge of her dress, causing her breathing to hitch in her throat and her hand to cover his, stopping it from moving any farther north. If her brain was short-circuiting over his voice and his hand on her leg, what would happen if that luscious mouth of his touched her skin? She needed to break this spell, but it had been a long time since she’d been this turned on—and the idea of turning off the lust coiling deep in her belly was not nearly as enticing as the man before her.