Coming July 5th is an all-new romantic suspense novel from bestselling author, Shayla Black. Falling in Deeper is a standalone story and I’m so excited to share a never-before-seen excerpt from the book!
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A tragic past threatens to destroy a passionate future in this dangerously sexy new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Wicked for You.
After a violent tragedy nearly destroyed her, Lily Taylor ran away, changed her name, and started over. When her deadly nemesis resurfaces to eliminate his loose end, she turns to the last man she should trust—a stranger with a history of violence and an intoxicating sexuality she can’t refuse…
Though strong-armed into locating Lily to help put away a drug lord, ex-con Stone Sutter isn’t anyone’s snitch. When he finds the terrified beauty, he vows to keep her safe—but he isn’t sure he has the strength to shield her from his own desires.
As an unquenchable fire sparks between them, Lily’s tormentor stalks ever closer, and she must overcome her darkest fear to survive. Can she trust the bond she and Stone have formed as they’re falling in deeper?
As she reached out to steady herself, she stumbled. Stone was right there to catch her. “Together, we can put him down.”
She turned to him, incredulity dropping her jaw. “Why are you bothering?”
“You’ve asked me this question.”
“I still don’t understand the answer.”
“Let me make myself clear.”
Stone pulled her body against his and grabbed her cheeks. He stared, his expression delving deep. She felt the zing and jolt of their connection. He willed her to understand that he wanted her in every way and refused to accept anything less.
Lily’s heart begin to thrum. Her blood heated and charged through her veins. Her breasts tightened, and she really didn’t want to think about why she could feel the soft ache blooming lower again. She waited, suspended, anticipation racing over her skin. Yes, she should push him away.
Somehow, she couldn’t.
He bent to her, swooping down, looming closer. Right or wrong, good or bad— it didn’t matter. Lily raised up to meet him, clutching his hard shoulders with desperate fingers and pressing herself against him with a gasp as he captured her lips.
Just like the first time, he didn’t hesitate or test his welcome. No, he cupped her jaw in his big hands and tilted her head to his satisfaction before he devoured her as if he’d been dying for her taste.
Their breaths mingled, and she sank against his solid warmth.
What was this chemical reaction to him that she couldn’t seem to fight? Why did her will to resist always evaporate as soon as he touched her? In that moment, he felt not only like someone who could protect her from everything bad in the world but like the man who could bring her body— maybe even her soul— to life.
Lily clung to the taut bulges of his biceps and opened to him eagerly. Later she’d worry about what she’d do if Stone wasn’t all he claimed. She’d had so little pleasure in her life, and Lily wanted to drown in the bliss he gave her now.
Suddenly, he wrenched away, breathing hard and staring, as if he needed to affirm that she found their kiss every bit as mind- blowing as he did. She didn’t answer with words, just gripped him tighter, unable to hide the desire jetting through her in a hot whirl. The rush of it was scary as hell but new, exhilarating. A white- knuckled thrill.
She wasn’t ready to let him go.
“Lily,” he breathed before he cocked his head and descended again. Their lips fused together once more. Their tongues collided.
And she melted in his arms. No, she unraveled completely as he took her mouth in an urgent press, claiming her while utterly dismantling her resistance.
When she felt limp and breathless and willing to do anything for more, he backed away. “Are we on the same page now?”
“You can have sex with anyone,” she blurted.
“But when I’m with someone else, I can’t have sex with you.
Besides, it’s about more than that. I don’t like to see you hurt or afraid. When you smile, I find myself doing the same. I have a crazy, maybe irrational need to pursue you. I’m not fighting it, and I wish like hell you wouldn’t.”
Weirdly, she understood exactly what he meant. Her need to be with him seemed crazy and irrational to her, too. But that didn’t make it any less real.
She slumped against him. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure we’re meant to understand, baby. Just deal.”
Maybe he was right. Whatever she felt wasn’t something she could analyze or control . . .
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