Henry thought it was just going to be a regular carpentry job, working on a local house to help get him through his layoff. But he’d never imagined a woman like Diane. “We have an open marriage,” she told him. “Wanna fool around when my husband leaves town?” He could hardly believe his ears. But he believed his lips when she kissed him in the kitchen!

~~~~~ PG Excerpt ~~~~~

Diane called over to him from her car. “Can you help me with these bags?” Henry set down his broom and walked over.

She smiled, stepped up to him, and began wiping sawdust from his shirt. “You are always such a mess.”

He chuckled. “Occupational hazard, I’m afraid.” He grew a little uneasy with her admiring gaze.

“Where’s Jack?” she asked.

“He was on the phone with someone named Colleen, planning his trip for this weekend for a while. He grabbed his gun case and headed for the range.” To prove the point, the sound of gunshots began in the distance.

The two of them grabbed the bags and headed into the house. They set the bags down on the counter and just as naturally as can be, both began going through the bags, getting the refrigerated items out to be put away first. They bumped into each other in front of the refrigerator.

Holding a container of sour cream in her hand, she looked up into Henry’s eyes and they both froze. Henry stopped, alarms going off in his brain. But he didn’t step back. He stood transfixed by her startling blue eyes and the soft look on her face. His hands trembled.

She set the sour cream down on the counter and then set her palms on his chest. “I like you,” she whispered. Then her arms stole slowly around his neck and pulled him down to her. Again, though every instinct told him to step away, he didn’t. His brain was screaming at him. DON’T DO IT! DON’T DO IT! Until their lips met.

The kiss was electric. His arms slipped around her waist and pulled her body into his, gently but firmly. She moaned softly into his mouth as the kiss turned feverish. Their hands roamed over each other, with Henry’s hands finding her firm ass. When they broke the kiss, they were both breathless.

Henry gasped, their faces nearly touching. “This is crazy. There is an extremely large and highly trained man out there, shooting guns for fun. This should not be happening.” But all he could see was her face, her lips. The feminine scent of her was intoxicating. She pecked a quick kiss on his lips, then looked him in the eye.

“He knows,” she whispered. Diane smiled, stepped back, and put the sour cream into the refrigerator before turning back to the grocery bags.

“Umm … come again?” Henry asked, mystified.

She turned to him with a sly smile, a hand on her cocked hip. “He knows, silly. We opened our marriage years ago, after his first deployment in Desert Storm.”

She waited patiently as the idea sank into Henry’s brain. She approached him again, running her hand down his bare arm. “We don’t sleep around or anything, but we’ve both had lovers over the years. Discretely.” She smiled at him. “Do you like me?”

Henry bit his bottom lip and nodded slowly, maintaining eye contact that seemed to sap all his self-control.

“Do you want to kiss me again?” she whispered seductively.

Henry trembled again, overcome with desire for this effervescent woman. “Oh God, yes.”

Their bodies met again, and Henry lost himself in the experience in ways he’d never known before. Her arms were tight around him and he felt her desire for him. He pulled her into him, and her leg wrapped around his as he supported her full weight. They broke the kiss and stood with their foreheads together, catching their breath.

“Would … you like to stay for dinner Friday night after Jack leaves for White Sands?” she asked breathlessly.

Blood, Steel and Desire