For your reading enjoyment, here’s a smexy excerpt from a novella I just finished about two divorce lawyers who’ve escaped to Hawaii for a long-awaited tryst. Cisco and Julia have lingered with me for a long time. I couldn’t get their story ending quite right and couldn’t convince myself it was finished. After several failed attempts, I’ve finally found a fitting end to their story.

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Julia jerked awake, her pulse pounding in her throat and between her legs. She curled her hips forward, grinding her mound against a rock-solid thigh. One long Sunday lolling on a sunny beach, a quickie behind a mound of lava rocks, and two nights’ variety of hard and fast, slow and sensual had turned her into mush.

She smiled without opening her eyes. Hell, she’d even gotten her multi-orgasmic wish.

“Mmm, babe. Ready for more?” Cisco’s voice was rough with sleep and slightly slurred. She’d never cared much for endearments from her dates, but the way Cisco said them—almost worshipful—made her feel all soft inside.

A dangerous way to feel when you were supposed to be having a vacation fling. They both knew this couldn’t go anywhere. No promises had been made. Hell, they hadn’t really agreed on this. They’d just…done it. How odd, that it didn’t feel temporary.

She should probably be concerned about that, but his thigh tightened, pressing harder, creating a pleasing burn. She concentrated on the sensation, reaching to skim her fingers over bicep, shoulder and downward. Her quest ended at a taut male nipple, which she rolled between her thumb and forefinger.

Cisco answered in kind, doubling the effort, sending her arching off the bed, unable to withhold a sharp cry.

“Damn. I love how responsive you are.” He sounded more alert now.

She opened her eyes, surprised she could see his outline and barely make out his features from the gray light filtering through the window. “How do you do it? Make me all hot for you even when we’re asleep, I mean.”

“Did I?” He turned on his side and propped his head on an open palm. “I thought it was you.”

“Mmm. You’re sweet.” She turned away from his searching gaze, scooching her back against his chest, wiggling her butt against his rigid cock.

He trailed his fingers over her hip, down her thigh, then smoothed his palm over her skin on the return trip. “Could you face me?”

“Um . . . sure.”  She did, but damn it, the burn she’d felt upon waking began to fade. At work he was Mr. Reticent. During foreplay he wanted to talk. Go figure.

“You’re annoyed.”

“No. I—”

“Julia. I’ve sat in meetings with a desk or table between us. I’ve sat next to you, so close I couldn’t concentrate. You know what I thought about doing the most?”

“Getting me into bed?” She feathered her fingertips across his chest, the coarse hair flirting with her nerves.

“Close second.”

“To what?” Was he for real? She’d been dying for him. Julia searched his face, needing to know what the hell trumped sex.

He closed the distance between them, taking possession of her mouth as if he’d been starving for a taste of her for . . . wait a minute. She pushed away, trying unsuccessfully to see his eyes.

“Kissing?” Shit. Did she have to sound so breathless? The man acted like they had all kinds of time instead of nine short days, with two reserved mostly for travel and another swallowed up too fast.

“Bingo. And we haven’t done nearly enough of that. Now don’t move unless you’re coming closer because I intend to make up for every time I looked but couldn’t touch, every time things got too heated and I had to walk away, every time I wanted to feel your lips on mine.”

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Now my dilemma is finding cover art and a title. I’ve got several more ideas for erotic romances in a tropical setting. Do I make this a loosely related series? As for the title, a friend suggested Sunset Beach Sizzle (Tropical Heat series I) and it’s growing on me. What do you think? Any suggestions?

When you read a series, how quickly do you expect to see additional titles follow the first?