DECADENCE
By
Karen
Stivali
BLURB:
A
book in the Spice
Rack series.
In
eight years of marriage, Eric Carlson has never forgotten to kiss his
wife Jessica goodbye—until this morning. As Jessica runs her
errands, all she can think about is the missing kiss. When Eric calls
to tell her he thinks he left the toaster oven on, she rushes home,
annoyed and afraid her house may be burning down. Instead of smoke
and flames she finds Eric, looking hot and sexy as hell as he
prepares fresh waffles.
Eric
knows he and Jessica have been drifting apart. He’s bought the hot
new product everyone’s talking about—the Spice Rack, guaranteed
to spice up your love life. The jar he opens advises them to “Spend
a decadent day indulging all your senses.” With the whole day ahead
of them, a fridge full of tempting treats and the house to themselves
for a change, that’s exactly what Eric intends to do—in the
kitchen, on the washing machine, wherever the mood strikes. And
Jessica’s got a super-steamy surprise for him too.
A
Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
EXCERPT:
Excerpt
from DECADENCE
He
didn’t even kiss me goodbye. Jessica
knew it was silly to get upset over something so minor, but she
couldn’t help it. In the eight years they’d been married, she
couldn’t remember another morning when Eric had forgone the
farewell kiss. Sure, the kids were running amok, a sea of backpacks
and lunchboxes, but that was normal. Eric saying goodbye with a wave
was not.
“See
you later.” He’d thrown her his trademark sexy grin. She’d
stood still for a few seconds, holding the door open as the kids
piled out of the house, waiting. And…nothing.
While
queued in the drop-off line at the elementary school, she flipped
open the vanity mirror. She didn’t look like a beauty queen but at
least she’d showered. Her skin was clear, her cheeks even a bit
rosy from gardening the day before. She grimaced. I
should have brushed my hair. Dark
hair, wavy and out of control, pulled into a loose ponytail paired
with t-shirt and yoga pants. I
look like a teenager. Not exactly sexy. Frowning
at her reflection, she heard the car behind her honk.
“Mom,
pull up, it’s our turn.” Timmy, though only seven, had been a
backseat driver for nearly five years.
“Sorry.”
She inched the car toward the orange drop-off cone and stopped. “Have
a good day, guys. I love you.”
“Love
you too, mom,” the chorus of three came from the backseat as they
scrambled out the door.
Taking
a last quick glance in the mirror, she snapped it shut and eased back
into the parking lot. As she was about to turn onto the main road,
her cell rang. XXXXX,
Eric’s ringtone. She fumbled in her purse and slid the purple case
open. Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she pulled onto
the street, not wanting to get beeped at a second time this morning.
“Hey,
sweetie,” Eric said. “Can you do me a favor?”
Sighing,
Jessica shifted to keep the phone in place as she changed lanes.
“What’s up?”
“I
know you said you were going to the grocery store, but I need you to
stop home first. I think I may have left the toaster oven on.”
“Can’t
you go check?”
“I’ve
got a really important meeting this morning. I need you to do it.
Please?” She could hear the smile in his voice. The charming,
irresistible smile to which she’d never been able to say no.
“Fine.” Even
if you didn’t bother to kiss me this morning.
“Thanks.”
Did
he just chuckle?
She
hung up and tossed the phone back into her purse. Great.
Now I have to go all the way home, which means I won’t get to the
store for another hour. Not
that it was a huge deal. With all three boys in school this year she
had her days to herself. She’d been looking forward to that for
years, but it wasn’t as fun and freeing as she’d expected. All
the same responsibilities were there. The house still needed to be
cleaned, dinner still needed to be made, laundry was always piling
up. And she always had a stack of work on her desk. Freelance graphic
design was the perfect work-from-home job and she could do it any
time of day or night, but lately she felt as though everything was
getting away from her. Somehow she’d had more structure to her days
when the kids were home than she managed to have with them in school
all day.
As
she turned onto her block she couldn’t help but look for signs of
smoke pouring from her windows. God,
I hope he didn’t really leave the toaster oven on. What the hell
was he even using the toaster oven for? Eric
ate cereal for breakfast, though now that she thought about it she
hadn’t seen him pour himself a bowl this morning. She’d been too
distracted by the fact that he was wearing only pajama pants as he
plodded around the kitchen. She’d been so busy the past few weeks
with back-to-school shopping and beginning-of-term projects they’d
barely spent any time together. Seeing him bare chested, hair tousled
from bed, reminded her that it had been a while. Too long. Her
stomach fluttered from a combination of longing for Eric and fear
that her house might be burning.
Jessica
slammed the door of the minivan shut, breathing in deeply to see if
she could catch any hint of smoke in the air. Nothing. As she opened
the front door, another scent greeted her instead. The incredibly
delightful aroma of…waffles. Why
does the house smell like waffles? She
rounded the corner into the kitchen and saw the waffle maker on the
counter with Eric poised before it, faded jeans slung low on his
narrow hips, a t-shirt clinging to his muscular back, dark hair still
damp from a shower hanging loosely into his eyes. A wave of heat
washed over her, settling between her legs. Her mouth watered from
thoughts of more than just a bite of the waffle Eric was lifting out
of the grates.
“Perfect
timing,” he said, grinning so wide the dimples on his cheeks were
positively cavernous. Blue eyes twinkled at her, full of mischief.
“What
are you doing?” She tossed her purse onto the counter, mystified.
“Celebrating
Mother’s Day.” He plucked a strawberry out of the colander in the
sink, swirled it in a bowl of what appeared to be freshly whipped
cream, and approached.
“Mother’s
Day is in May. It’s October fifteenth.”
“I
know.” He held the plump red berry close enough that she felt the
gentle brush of cream melting against her lips. “I was thinking it
was something we should celebrate more than once a year.”
She
curled her tongue around the cream-covered berry and gave a quick
suck before biting off a piece.
The
moan Eric emitted sent a tremor rolling down her body, making her
knees weak. His lips were on hers before she finished chewing. The
sweetness of his velvety tongue blended perfectly with the fruit and
cream. This was already better than any Mother’s Day she could
recall.
AUTHOR
INFORMATION:
Karen
Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a
penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not
writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them
to family and friends, who never seem to mind the excessive
quantities she tends to prepare. She attributes her ability to
multitask to the fact that she rarely sleeps, which gives her more
hours every day. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as
a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various
food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker.
Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what's left of
her time and sanity.
Karen
has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so
she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters
and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the
dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic
tales filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Although she writes in
three genres (erotic romance, contemporary romance and women's
fiction) all of her stories are love stories with happily ever after
endings.
Karen
has published several erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave
including two award winning stories: Always You (published September
2011, First Place Winner of the RWA Passionate Plume Award -
2012)Marry Me (published June 2012, First Place Winner in the NEC-RWA
Bean Pot Reader's Choice Award - 2013) and Decadence (July 2013).
Her
works of women's fiction, Meant To Be, and its sequel, Holding On,
(published by Turquoise Morning Press in August and November 2012,
respectively) both made the Best of 2012 list at Literati Literature
Lovers.
Karen's
contemporary romances Then, Again (May 2013) and Leave the Lights On
(coming November 2013) are published with Samhain publishing.
To
learn more about Karen you can visit her
website karenstivali.com where
she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on The Bachelor, and
tidbits about her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be
found attempting witty banter on
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/karenstivali
One randomly chosen commenter will receive a digital copy of his/her choice from Karen's backlist.
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Thanks for the spotlight on this book - sounds good! I look forward to reading it
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