USA Today
bestselling author Claire Kent continues her emotionally charged story of longing,
betrayal, and insatiable desire as two lovers find themselves in a deadly standoff
of seduction.
Kelly Watson got involved with mogul Caleb Marshall for
all the wrong reasons: namely, to prove that he murdered her father twenty
years ago. But Caleb is hotter than hell, the sex is mind-blowing, and Kelly’s
afraid that she’s falling for him despite her chilling suspicions. Now, the
more time she spends in his arms, the more she risks betraying her identity and
losing her heart. The only way out is to discover the truth before Caleb
figures out who she really is.
Caleb’s feelings for Kelly are taking him into uncharted
territory, replacing his weakness for call girls and one-night stands with a
hunger for something real. Still, the ruthless businessman in him can’t resist
looking into Kelly’s background. When his investigation suggests that he’s not the
only one with something to hide, Caleb is forced to decide if he can trust
someone who’s been telling him lies. For the first time, Caleb understands how
intimacy can be so tempting—and, in the wrong hands, so dangerous.
Darker the Release is intended for mature
audiences.
Excerpt
Kelly Watson was getting annoyed because Caleb wouldn’t
hang up the phone.
She’d come over to his big estate outside DC for the
weekend. She wasn’t living with him all the time anymore—the way she had in the
beginning—but she’d spent the last three weekends with him. Now it was Friday
at almost seven in the evening, and he was still on a work call.
He was also wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.
Caleb Marshall was the CEO of Vendella and Co., a
high-powered pharmaceutical company. He didn’t have the luxury of working only
on weekdays. She didn’t expect him not to work—or not to take calls on any day
or at any hour they came in.
But still, they were scheduled to leave for a black-tie
event in ten minutes. The cocktail party was his thing—since she was a pet
portrait artist and wasn’t in the habit of attending formal events of any kind.
It was only because of him that she was going to this party at all. She’d gotten
out of the shower, dried her hair, and done her makeup in the bathroom, and
she’d expected him to be dressed when she reentered his bedroom.
But he was sitting in a leather chair near the window,
talking on the phone, naked except for the towel.
And he didn’t even appear aware of her presence.
It worried her.
They were supposed to be in a real relationship. They’d
never said the words “I love you.”
Given both of their pasts as commitment-phobes, that
would have been far beyond the comfort zone for either of them. But they’d
admitted that the feelings between them were real, and they’d agreed to try to
make the relationship work.
He was supposed to care about her, be totally into her,
feel for her more than he’d ever felt for anyone else. That was what he’d said,
at least.
Which was why it was concerning that he hadn’t noticed
that she’d walked into the bedroom wearing nothing but her underwear. He hadn’t
even glanced over at her.
Caleb wasn’t just her boyfriend. He might have killed her
father. And the only way she could ever find out the truth was to get him to
trust her completely, let down his guard, and allow her access to the
information she needed so she could find concrete evidence about who had arranged
her father’s murder. And she only had a limited amount of time to accomplish
all this in the month or so her mother had left to live.
If Caleb was losing his interest in her, if she wasn’t as
attractive to him as she used to be, then she could never do what she needed to
do.
So she felt distracted and out of sorts as she walked
over to the dresser and looked in the mirror.
Her makeup was good—setting off her blue eyes, high cheekbones,
fair skin, and full lips—and her long, dark gold hair was pulled up into an
elegant twist. Her bra and panties were a sexy black lace—much more expensive
than she’d ever bought for herself before she’d met Caleb.
In the past, she’d only ever had one-night stands. There
was no man in the world whom she’d known as deeply and intimately as Caleb. No
man who could turn her on as much. No man she’d invested nearly as much in as
him.
No man she’d hated as much.
It was the bitter irony of her life—to live torn apart
like this until she could finally find the truth, finally find closure, finally
heal. If such a thing was even possible.
But all of it would be futile if his interest was waning.
He was talking about some sort of marketing campaign on the
phone. She heard the words, but they were of no interest. It didn’t sound like
an emergency, though, so it was definitely time for him to hang up the phone.
With that same flutter of anxiety and uncertainty, she grabbed
a tube of lotion from the bag she’d brought over for the weekend and squeezed
some out on her palm.
Then she walked over so she was directly in Caleb’s line
of sight, sat down on the edge of the bed, and started to rub the lotion onto
one of her legs.
Her body was pretty decent, with long legs and good breasts.
Caleb had always seemed to really like it before. Might as well use it to her
advantage.
She massaged the lotion in slowly, extending her leg in a
way she hoped was sexy.
With a clench of pleased satisfaction, she noticed from
the corner of her eye that Caleb’s eyes had shifted over to her.
He was still talking, but at least now he was watching
her.
She took her time rubbing the lotion on her other leg as
well, and then she stood up and started applying it to her arms and shoulders
in turn.
He was definitely focused on her now. His brown eyes had
taken on a familiar heat—albeit still distracted by his conversation—and his gaze
didn’t leave her body.
Making sure to act unaware, she walked over to the closet
to get a dress. She’d brought two possibilities with her for this evening,
since she hadn’t been sure which she should wear.
Inspired, she grabbed the one she’d already decided
against.
She returned to his line of sight to slowly, sensually
pull the dress on, letting the soft fabric cling to her body.
It was a blue that matched her eyes, and she studied
herself in the mirror, turning around and pretending to be evaluating the
effect. She slipped on her high heels and looked at herself again.
Then she unzipped it and let it fall slowly to the floor
so she was standing in nothing but her underwear and heels.
Caleb stumbled over something he was saying.
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Author Info
Claire Kent has been writing romance novels since
she was twelve years old. She has a PhD in British literature and, when she’s
not writing, teaches English at the university level. She also writes
contemporary romance under the pen name Noelle Adams.
