Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Read the 1st pages of Tempestuous for FREE


*~*  BRAND NEW RELEASE  *~*
 
NICOLE MORGAN
Copyright © 2013

Chapter One


Michelle took several calming breaths, trying to untangle her frazzled nerves before opening the door to the small massage room. His mere presence turned her into a klutz, and she prayed today she would be able to keep her cool. Normally, she was the picture-perfect employee, always professional and cordial with all of her clients, but something about this one kept her feeling like she was constantly trying to walk a tight rope. Despite her occasional mishaps, he always remained kind and never made her feel foolish.
She did, though. In fact, she felt like a goofy teenager with her first crush every time he was near her. While a part of her wished he would request someone else for his daily massage, the other part of her—the woman—didn’t want anything of the sort. Michelle relished her hour-long sessions with Mr. Conrad, regardless of how much they threw her off-balance. Once she relaxed a little, it was hard to not enjoy his company. He was easy to talk to, charming, and sometimes made her laugh so hard that her cheeks hurt from being frozen in such a wide smile.
Mr. Conrad, or Brad as he insisted she call him, had been a distraction from day one. Each day that he came to her little massage room, she became increasingly attracted to him. The pull she felt had been building for the past couple weeks as their casual conversations had become lengthier and more intimate. She was sure he was only being polite, but her body tingled and reacted to him whenever he was near.
She had handled herself pretty well in that first massage. Keeping the conversation light but still professional, she managed to convince herself that his body was one thing, but there was no way his face could match the extraordinary sight of his physique. Or so she thought anyway.
When the maddeningly charming Mr. Conrad pulled his towel around him and sat up to face her, she was struck by a lightning bolt of lust. Heat coursed through her body faster than the speed of sound.
He wasn’t just good-looking, nor was he simply handsome or sexy. Those words would be gross understatements. He was easily the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes upon. Michelangelo couldn’t have painted a more beautiful portrait of what a man should look like. The tan landscape of his body treated her eyes to peaks and valleys filled with taut and sinewy muscle. The mere sight of him sent shock waves through her body, right down to her clit, making it throb unbearably while her pussy became wet with desire for what was hidden underneath the towel he held tight at his hips.
With a not-so-steady hand, she turned the handle and walked into the eight-by-eight room, which seemed smaller every time he was in it. Instantly, her eyes were met with the most glorious sight. For a split second before he got comfortable on the table, Michelle caught a glimpse of his ass. The stark contrast between his bronzed skin and creamy-white bottom only added to her lustful thoughts.
Her face flushed. She saw his eyes catch hers for a moment, and she was sure she’d been caught sneaking a peek. Michelle was struck with embarrassment and wanted to explain away her actions but knew anything she said would only make it worse. The way her heart was pounding, she would most likely stutter and sound like a complete idiot.
In an attempt to regain her composure, Michelle turned away from him, muttering something about needing a new bottle of oil from the shelf. Seconds later, she watched in horror as her fumbling hands had managed to knock over the shelving tower. Bottles and towels flew in the air before falling to the floor. In a panic, she started to stumble over her words.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Mr. Conrad. I’m such a klutz. Give me just a moment to pick this up.”
He got up from the table and quickly came toward her. “It’s okay. Let me help you.”
With only a towel to shield him from her vision, Michelle could hear her subconscious screaming at her to reach out and yank the towel away. Her blush grew from her illicit thoughts. She quickly pushed her unprofessional fantasies aside and hoped the blush would only be seen as embarrassment from her clumsiness and nothing more.
“No, it’s okay…I’ve…Ouch!” As they both bent over to pick up some towels, they managed to butt heads. She didn’t know which had stunned her more, the sudden bang against her forehead or looking up to see his face, his lips just a whisper away. For a moment Michelle just stared at him. First his lips, then her gaze went up to his eyes. Their hazel color looked exotic. The mixture of bright green and rich brown reminded her of the feathers of a male peacock. It was nearly enough to hold her in a trance.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry. I hope you don’t get a bump,” Brad said.
He reached over and brushed his thumb across her reddened forehead. The gentle and innocent gesture made her nipples pucker. She wished that his fingers were caressing her breasts and not her face. Her naughty thoughts always got her in deeper with him, so she quickly moved away in an effort to increase the distance between them.
“Oh, I’m fine.”
Her hurried and less than graceful movements only made matters worse. Somehow, she managed to step on a bottle of lotion as she hurriedly picked up something else. The next thing she knew, he was muttering a curse word as she looked up to see a steady stream of white cream shooting in the air like a fountain as it landed right on top of his head. If the scene had been shown on America’s Funniest Home Videos, Michelle was sure she would’ve taken home the grand prize.
With wide eyes she apologized to him. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Conrad. I’m a complete klutz. I’m…”
He grinned, reaching over to place his index finger to her mouth. With a small smile, he said, “You’re human, Michelle. It’s no big deal. And look here, you’ve made the extra towels readily accessible for just such an occasion like this. Granted, I’d rather you had just handed me a towel, but I’ve gotta give you an A for effort.”
Michelle watched as he motioned to the mess on the floor and gave her a polite smile. He was so nice, so kind and understanding, that sometimes she forgot her body craved him. There were times, just like now, where she wondered what it would be like to date someone like him. He was confident, charming, sexy as all get-out, and so compassionate she wanted to reach out and grab on to him just so she could snuggle into his arms.
It took everything she had not to stare at him starry-eyed like he was some sort of movie-star heartthrob as he wiped the lotion from his hair with one of the towels. She could find absolutely no flaws in the man. He exuded sexiness, exhibited masculinity, and was so damn nice she could almost cry. Time and time again he tried to calm her nerves with casual chat. If only he knew what he did to her, there would probably be a giant, Mr. Conrad-shaped hole in the door as he ran for his life.
“Thank you. I’m normally not such a klutz.”
He shrugged. “No worries. Now, how about my massage?”
“Of course.” Michelle smiled, motioning toward the table.
She turned away to give him privacy. Although to be honest, she had to admit that it was as much for her self-restraint as anything else. If she caught a delightful peek at his ass once more or even a teasing glimpse of his cock, she might forget all her ability to walk and talk and turn into a drooling cave woman only able to make unintelligible sounds for communication.
Once he was lying comfortably on the table with his head down in the face cradle, only a tiny towel covered him. Michelle turned back and stared at him for a moment. His skin was tanned to perfection, and the gentle slope of his back leading down to his ass looked like it had been chiseled from the finest marble.
“I’ve been looking forward to this massage all morning,” he said.
So have I. She was glad that her voice didn’t betray her and say the words aloud.
“I’ll pick up the rest of this later. Just give me a moment to turn on one of the relaxation CDs and I’ll get started. Do you have any particular preference today?”
“Actually, can you leave it off this time? It’s always nice in the background, but I like it better when we just talk.”
“Oh, of course. Whatever pleases you, Mr. Conrad.”
She made an attempt to sound casual but feared that she failed. The thought of actually pleasing him sent liquid heat through her body, starting in her womb and radiating outward in waves of urgency.
Get your head right. She reached for the bottle of coconut oil—his oil of choice—and then applied a generous amount to her palm. She worked it between her hands and realized she needed more. Reaching for the bottle she began squirting more when his words stunned her.
“Are you trying to kill me with anticipation? Put those magical hands to good use and start rubbing already.”
Her mind instantly went to a fantasy she’d had the night before about stroking and rubbing his cock. Michelle bit her lower lip and squeezed the tube of oil. A generous stream shot out and left a trail up his back, right into his hair.
Oh, God. She shook her head at herself, completely mortified.
He turned to her with a grin. “Umm…Michelle, you’re going to start giving me a complex about my hair. Are you trying to say I need a conditioning treatment?”
“I’m…oh…” She couldn’t find the words.
Scrambling to the pile of towels on the floor, she picked one up and hurried back to the table. She started to wipe the oil off but realized too late she’d grabbed the towel he had already used. Sighing deeply, she looked at the concoction she had managed to mix into his hair. The white lotion and clear oil combined together made an odd-looking gel and started to clump in sections of his hair.
He reached around and grabbed her wrist. “Maybe you should let me do that.”
Shaking her head from side to side, Michelle desperately searched for words to explain her fumbling behavior. He must think she was the biggest idiot in the world. Why did he keep requesting her for his appointments when all she did was look like a female version of one of the Three Stooges?
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Mr. Conrad.”
“I thought I asked you to call me Brad?”
“Yeah, well, you also asked for a massage, and I can’t seem to accomplish that, either.”
He chuckled and tossed the towel back down on the floor before turning his head to rest in the cradle again.
“You have had a case of the clumsiness lately, but we’re all human. Now forget all that and give me a massage. I’m dying here.”
She nodded to herself. “Of course.”
Just as she took a step forward to reach across his shoulders, her foot stepped in some of the spilled oil. It was at that moment that she wasn’t sure which was more surreal to her, the inevitable fact that she was about to fall on her ass in front of one of the sexiest men she’d ever met, or the indisputable fact that she was, for all intents and purposes, the biggest disaster that ever walked the face of the earth.
Michelle landed on the floor with a thud. Her bottom luckily had a few extra pounds on it to cushion the blow, but it did not save her dignity. That flew out the window along with what was left of her pride as Brad turned to her and busted up laughing.
“Oh, Michelle. You are something else. I asked for a massage, not a vaudeville act.”
She smiled and shrugged through her mortification, deciding to make the best of it and go with laughter. What more could she do? In the past ten minutes she had managed to coat his hair with lotions and massage oils, all but redecorated the small room by knocking over shelving and allowing everything to scatter on the floor, and for the finale to her little comedy act, she had decided to go flying in the air and land on her ass. It was no wonder he was laughing at her.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing. Are you okay?” he asked.
That’s questionable. She got up from the floor in a less than graceful manner as she tried to not slip again.
“I’m fine. Perhaps I should see if anyone else can massage you?”
“Not a chance. I paid for a massage with my favorite masseuse, and I am not leaving until I get it.”
Damn if he wasn’t as tenacious as he was gorgeous. She didn’t know why he even put up with her. Every time she saw him her nerves got worse and she became a walking, talking example of what not to do when a woman’s with a man she’s attracted to.
Good Lord, Michelle.
She had to get a grip. He was only a man. Albeit a damn fine-looking one, but still, he was just a man. Certainly, this man was not reason enough to get herself all hot and bothered to the point of complete and utter lunacy. Was he?
 

Check out Impetuous [Incessant Passions 1] HERE


Find out more about Nicole on her WEBSITE and BLOG
& check out her books on Bookstrand


 

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