LOVE'S BOUNTY by Nina Pierce

LOVE'S BOUNTY by Nina Pierce

Tilling Passions Book 2

A woman determined to protect her heart...

Landscaping in Delmont, Maine hasn't been DEIRDRE TILLING's only passion. Up until two months ago, it had included a live-in lover. Jilted for the third time in as many years, Deirdre's decided to give up on love. With her feet firmly planted on the path of one night stands, she finds herself heating up the sheets with a dark haired stranger she met at her new employer's party. But one night with the man who is both sexy as hell and compassionate, may not be enough.

An agent hell bent on proving himself...

DEA agent, AYDEN SCOTT, has a lot to prove after a disastrous drug bust in Miami three years earlier that left a member of his team dead. Working undercover as lead investigator, he's determined to bring down an elusive drug cartel smuggling heroin into central Maine. He'll use any means necessary to complete his objective, including sleeping with the suspected drug Lord's landscaper, Deirdre. He just hadn't expected the feisty redhead to be so much more than long legs and dangerous curves.

One night neither of them can forget...

Deirdre and Ayden both thought one sexually explosive romp in the sack would be the end of their relationship. But Deirdre's arrest for heroin possession and her father's near-fatal heart attack prompts Ayden to confess his true identity. When Deirdre is kidnapped by the drug cartel and used as a pawn, Ayden is forced to choose between his heart and his mission. The question is...who will survive his decision?

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Excerpt:

The condo they entered was utilitarian, the living room furniture leather and heavy wood and very masculine. The whole first floor was visible from the front door where she stood frozen, too flustered by her own audacity to move. Austin closed the door and stepped around her, heading to the other side of the condo and into the small kitchen area.

"Can I get you something to drink?" He ducked his head into the fridge, his jeans pulling snug across a nicely curved ass. "I don't have much. Coffee. Water. Wine." He stood up and looked at her. She almost giggled at the way he tilted his head to one side, sort of that lost puppy, take-me-home kind of look. His blue eyes mirrored her confusion.

"Deirdre, can I get you anything?"

Yeah, those luscious lips between my thighs. Deirdre shook her head. Coffee. She was here for a cup of coffee before she drove home. Nothing more. But her body was screaming for something else.

"Wine sounds nice."

"A New York Riesling or an Australian Pinot Noir?" Austin held up two bottles.

No, just coffee. She couldn't drive home with more alcohol in her system. It was rutting season and even this late at night the moose would be on the move. Her little Toyota truck was no match for one of those behemoths. "Whichever one is white," she said, wondering why she was letting her body make all the decisions.

Deirdre walked over to the stereo system, perusing the CDs haphazardly strewn about on the receiver. It was the only thing out of place in his condo.

"I have Mozart and Def Leopard and everything in between. Choose your poison." Austin's voice washed over her shoulder as he stepped up behind her. She could feel the heat of his chest against her back. Not the soft, round, plump feeling of a woman, but the steel power of a man. Heat shot through her veins, hitching her breath and pressing her nipples against her lace bra.

She took the glass he offered, moving to the couch and away from the intoxicating scent of his spicy cologne.

"Something quiet." she said. "After the loud bands at the party, it would be nice." Actually, she needed something to soothe her pulsing nerves. "You live here long?" Deirdre sipped the wine, grateful Austin's attention on the stereo kept him from seeing her shaking hand. What was she doing here?

"A few months. I have some business up and down the coast. When it's over I'll head back to Boston." He turned and lifted his glass of ice water. "Here's to enjoying the beautiful Maine autumn."

"You're not drinking?"

"Too many wild nights. I'm giving my liver a rest."

The quiet strains of piano music filled the room. She recognized the artist as one of her father's favorites. Immediately, her brooding thoughts turned to her family.

There had been so many nights in the last few months she'd sat with her father in the quiet of their home in town. She and her two sisters rotated nights, giving their mother a short reprieve from the hopelessness of growing old. Deidre couldn't count the number of times she'd played the CDs, hoping to give him strength and courage in the memory of who he once was. But it seemed he'd given up on life. Now, they all watched as his body withered its way to death.

"…Deirdre, yoo-hoo, you okay?" Austin was bent over, intently staring into her eyes, only inches from her nose.

"Sorry, Austin. Drifted off for a moment. What were you saying?"

"I was talking about my consulting firm, but obviously that put you to sleep." He sat on the leather couch, lacing his fingers through hers, pulling her down next to him. "Sit. Enjoy the wine and the music."

Though Deirdre had had only two one-night stands in her lifetime, one in college, and of course, Bobby, she could distinguish genuine interest from lust. It was concern she saw in the cobalt pools of Austin's eyes and the gentle curve of his mouth. She leaned against him seeking solace in the solid feeling of his body.

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