Stripped
by Tara Wyatt
Series: The Blue HEAT Series
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
The first in a sexy new series from Tara Wyatt!
Detective Sawyer Matthews isn’t just having a bad day—he’s having the worst day. His hunt for the criminal who killed his team member has stalled and now… he’s got to play nice with his new, totally unwanted partner. It’s not that she isn’t qualified, or that he doesn’t like her—it’s because he knows what she looks like naked. So very, very naked.
Brooke Simmons finally landed her dream job working for H.E.A.T, an elite undercover detective squad, and she’s not giving up simply because she had a one-night-stand with her sullen—but undeniably sexy—new partner. They’ll just have to keep it professional. Easier said than done, considering their first case requires Sawyer to infiltrate a drug cartel operating out of a male strip show. Watching him do his best Magic Mike impression every night isn’t just hot—it’s torture.
Sawyer doesn’t need any distractions, yet his attraction to Brooke is explosive and he can’t resist going for round two. Or three. Or four. But as their investigation progresses and danger mounts, they’ll have to put their jobs, hearts, and lives on the line to fight… for each other, for survival, and for justice.
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Excerpt:
The elevator doors slid closed and Sawyer tugged Brooke against him, wanting to drown in her mouth, in her body. To feel something good. To forget about the near constant ache in his chest, just for a few hours. Drinking, punishing workouts, burying himself in cases, nothing worked. So it was time for a new plan. He was going to fuck this woman’s brains out and make her lose her damn mind in the hopes of shutting his off. A night of distraction and relief. Exactly what he’d been hoping to find. After the night she’d had, he was confident that she needed this—wanted this, deserved this—just as much as he did.
As he crushed his mouth to hers again, she moaned, her tongue stroking against his, sending more blood rushing to his already hard cock. He trailed his hands down her back and to her ass, giving her cheeks a firm squeeze. With a soft chime, the elevator doors opened onto her floor, and she broke the kiss. Threading her long, slender fingers through his, she led him down the hall. Her blond hair fell in styled waves around her shoulders, and when she glanced back at him over her shoulder, her warm brown eyes sparkled at him as she smiled. God, she was pretty. High cheekbones, delicate features, killer smile. She was tall, at least five-foot-ten, with slender arms and long, toned legs. Clearly fit, she moved with an athletic grace that he’d found appealing the second he’d laid eyes on her. Small, perky breasts, and what had felt like an equally perky ass, but he wouldn’t know for sure until he got her out of that dress.
As far as distractions went, he could’ve done far, far worse. She’d come across as funny and confident despite her horrible night. She’d exuded a warmth that he’d found immensely appealing. He’d tried so hard to stay numb in the weeks since his best friend’s death, but she’d melted that hard knot in his chest so easily, reminding him of what it was like to feel good.
The ripped strap of her dress slid down her shoulder, and he reached forward, pushing it back into place, letting his fingers linger on her soft, warm skin. She turned suddenly and fisted her hands in his shirt, pulling his mouth back to hers, kissing him hungrily, catching him off guard. A low, gruff moan rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest and he slid his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. Her body fit perfectly against his and a surge of something hot and sweet curled through him, and he knew he’d made the right decision to try to pick her up. Vaguely, he wondered where she was from, what her last name was, what she did for a living, but none of that mattered for tonight. This wasn’t a date. This was sex.
Not that he dated, in the traditional sense. Hadn’t since the divorce. No, it was always just sex, and he liked it that way. Simple. Easy. Painless.
He deepened the kiss, claiming her mouth as images flashed through his mind. Everything he wanted to do with Brooke. To her. Have her do to him. Given the deliciously greedy way she was kissing him, she seemed to be up for what he liked, what he needed, but he had to be sure. Something was coiling tight inside him, and he knew it was only a matter of time—minutes, probably, with how damn good her mouth felt—before it snapped free and he gave in to the hot oblivion that came with hard, dirty fucking. He broke the kiss and spoke low, urgent words against her throat. “Tell me if I get too rough with you.”
Heat flared in her eyes and she rocked her hips against him, letting out a shuddery breath when his erection slid against her hip. She bit at his bottom lip, tugging and then releasing him with a slow smile. “I like rough.”
Halle-fucking-lujah.
She scraped her nails down his chest, just enough to sting even through the cotton of his T-shirt, and he smiled. For the first time in weeks, luck was on his side, because he had a feeling that this woman was exactly what he needed tonight. He kissed her again, deep and bruising and she sighed against his mouth. Blood rushed through his veins, and his cock throbbed against his zipper. The temptation to back her up against the wall and fuck her in the hallway was strong, despite the likely indecent exposure charge they’d both get when caught. Something was building between them, an explosive need, each kiss, every touch fueling the fire. He needed this woman with an intensity that ripped through him like nothing he’d ever felt before.
With a growl, he broke the kiss. “Which room?”
Her hands trembled a little as she fumbled for her key card in her bag, and a sense of pure, masculine satisfaction cascaded over him. He’d done that to her, with his mouth, his hands, the few words he’d said. And he couldn’t wait to do more. She led him two doors down from where they’d stopped and slipped the card into the slot. The lock released with a click, the little green light flashing.
Green light. Go.
Review:
I’ve never been to a strip club–never wanted to go to one (true confessions time, here–just watching Magic Mikemade me cringe in mortification, and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep at one point. I know, I know–I’ll be over in the corner, hanging my head in shame) but the premise of this story–a brand-new detective finding out her new partner is her one night stand, and her first major assignment involves her having to watch him pose undercover as a male stripper–made it one I couldn’t resist.
And I’m so very glad I didn’t!
Even though my inner rules-follower shook her head in dismay every time Sawyer and Brooke proved that rules were made to be broken by giving in to the attraction between them while working together (really, how did they not get busted sooner?) I absolutely loved the two of them together. They practically lit up the pages of my ereader every time they were together, and even as I worried that they’d both get their butts fired I was cheering them on every step of the way.
And reading about the stripping scenes was definitely not a hardship. I didn’t feel sleepy at all. 😉
Ms. Wyatt also gave us two more HEAT team members to look forward to in future books, love-’em-and-leave-’em playboy detective Jack Ward and still-grieving Amelia Perez. Plus, we’re sure to see more of Sawyer and Brooke in their books, so…win-win!
Tara Wyatt is a new-to-me author, but I’ll absolutely be reading more from her in the future. I absolutely cannot waitto see Jack go undercover at a preschool, LOL 🙂
Rating: 4 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
About Tara Wyatt:
Tara Wyatt is an award-winning romantic suspense and contemporary romance author known for her fast-paced writing, humor, and sexy love scenes. She lives in Hamilton, Ontario with the cutest dog in the world and a husband who makes all of her heroes look like chumps.
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