This week from the WIP (Work in Progress) which once again sadly has no title. It will come to me at some point. :-) It's about a chef. And a wacky interior designer. I'm having fun with Bradan and Mirelle!

****

“You hugged Jerick Ellard the other night.”


Her eyes widened. “What!”

“You hugged him.” His jaw tightened. “You obviously were friends with him and he was a client.” Christ, he sounded like a petulant little boy.

She laughed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He felt his chin jut out. He stepped closer. “You said we could be friends. The other night.”

“You want me to hug you?” she asked incredulously.

Yeah. Oh hell, yeah. But probably best not to answer that one out loud. He stepped closer and reached out to lift a stray golden strand of hair away from her face, moving it behind her shoulder, taking the opportunity to let his fingers stroke over her soft hair and then brush across her shoulder. “I just want to be friends.”

“Friends.” The word came out on a breath.

“Sure.” He was lying. Through his teeth. He dragged his fingertips up the side of her neck, sliding under her hair where she was so warm, her skin peachy-soft, letting his thumb skim over her small chin, then her bottom lip. Her scent drifted toward him, vanilla and lemon and sugar. It made his mouth water, made him want to inhale her, eat her up. Her eyes darkened as she continued to stare at him. He didn’t just want to be friends with her. He wanted to bang her brains out.

He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her closer, still holding her gaze. He looked at her mouth, soft and pink, a buzzing in his ears, blood rushing to his groin with painful heat, and his eyes closed as he bent his head to kiss her, to breathe her in.

And encountered nothing but air.

I usually blog about the books I've read or am reading this week. I finished Tequila Truth by Mari Carr, and really really liked it! As I said last week, just the kind of book I like to read - great likeable characters, lots of heat and an emotional story. So I picked up Mari's book Power Play. Loved it! More great characters. I loved the scenes at the beginning of the story where they're trying to get each other to beg. My only complaint - this could have been a longer story. And as often happens when I get on a kick for a certain author, I bought Any Given Sunday. It's the most recent book in a series, so I'm going to be reading in all the wrong order - oh well! But I will be reading that series!

But this week I'd love to know what YOU'RE reading - give me some great new ideas of books to try out!

Goodness, yesterday I blogged at Nine Naughty Novelists and forgot to blog here!

I did finish the WIP last week! The last few scenes were hard, and then I had this feeling there were a few little things that just weren't working that I went back and fixed. That took a bit more time, but once I'd done that, the ending flowed better and it was done!

Gabe really gave me a hard time on this one! This story was really different for me. For all the readers who said I probably couldn't top Power Struggle...I'm scared! Because I think this turned out pretty good, but what the heck do I know.

I spent a few more days after that, going through the manuscript a few times, fixing details, and now, as I always do, that manuscript is put away to "simmer" - to let the flavours develop, LOL. In a couple of weeks I will send it off to my critique partner - I'm anxious to know what she thinks!

Then I had to decide what to work on next. I have several projects in the works and sometimes bounce around depending on my mood, or inspiration, or - being honest - what I think is more likely to sell. So I decided to go back to my "chef" story. It's questionable whether there's a market for a chef story but I felt pulled back to this one and to the characters. And I'd already written 50,000 words so might as well finish it. So that's my new work in progress.

Love the lyrics...

In celebration of finishing my WIP, which is Gabe's story for anyone who's read Power Struggle, here's a little sneak peak ( and a picture just because it's snowing like crazy here today):

She ignored the faint suspicion inside her that said oh hell yeah, this was different, this man was way different than any other man she’d ever met in her life. This was not the kind of man she should be spending time with, all forceful and overpowering. This was the kind of man she should be staying far, far away from, the kind of man who could be her downfall. She should be with someone like Kevin—kind, gentle...nice. But Kevin didn’t tempt her like Gabe did. And so she focused on her rationale for why she could do this―one night. Hot attraction. That’s all.


“I like it when you laugh,” she said.

His eyes darkened even more. “I don’t laugh very often.”

“I know.”

“You’re saying I’m a bad-tempered son of a bitch.”

She smiled. “If the hardhat fits...”

He laughed again, then closed his eyes briefly as if it almost pained him. “Reagan.”

“Mmm?”

“Come see the rest of the house.”

She hid her smile as she followed him back into the house. His house was not decorated in single-guy, big screen television, stereo and exercise equipment style but rather had a casual, comfortable elegance. She eyed the wall of bookshelves loaded with books, wanted to explore more there. “Did your wife live here with you?” she asked.

He shot her a sideways look. “No. We divorced a long time ago. I just built this house a couple of years ago.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Never mind. I’ve already complimented you enough tonight. I don’t want your head to get too big.”

“Too late for that,” he muttered, tugging on one pant leg.

It took her a second and then she burst out laughing. “You made a joke again.”

He frowned. “Now you’re saying I don’t have a sense of humor? Not much chance of my ego swelling with you around.”

She couldn’t help it. Her eyes dropped to his groin. Speaking of swelling...she looked back up at him and his dark eyes burned with a blue flame. He moved his head from side to side, but his lips twitched and she had to smile too. “I know you have a sense of humor,” she said softly. “You just keep it pretty well hidden behind all that surliness.”

He made a little choking sound. “Just when I think you’re getting nice, you backhand me again.”

When I do this Wednesday post about what I'm reading, I'm always painfully aware that the authors I'm talking about could be reading this. I know how ferocious other authors get when one of their own is criticized. And I'm not a reviewer, I'm just a reader who happens to also be an author. So I try to keep my comments positive and talk about what I liked about the books I read, but the truth is, I don't like everything I read. So sometimes I just don't say very much. This week I want to share my thoughts but I'm not going to name the book, nor will I name the author. I will say this is my first purchase from Carina Press.

I had a lot of problems with this book and ended up mostly skimming it because it just didn't engage me. The point of view jumped from character to character several times within scenes, which may have been part of the problem. Although it was an erotic romance with some very hot scenes, they didn't evoke any kind of emotional response in me and I realized the writing is very cold and sterile. The characters themselves don't feel any visceral reactions, so neither did I. The story itself was hugely disappointing. In the middle of the story a second hero appears, and he has his own point of view, which was a bit jarring. Turns out he's the man heroine has the HEA with, after very little conflict, I have to say - except he's not. He dies. In a completely meaningless, random way. The other thing that was extremely disturbing was one of the BDSM scenes that was so much like a scene from my own book, Rigger, that it really freaked me out. Similar actions, similar words...I still feel really unsettled by reading something so like one of my own scenes. It must be coincidence but, whoa.

I also read Board Resolution by Joey W. Hill. I can see readers having mixed feelings about this story, the heroine spending much of the book restrained and at the mercy of five men. Ultimate fantasy or abuse? It took me aback at first, until bits of back story were filtered in and I realized that the hero and heroine actually knew each other a lot better than I'd first thought. And it was hot!I'm going for ultimate fantasy, with a heroine who learns a lot about herself through the process.

Right now I'm reading Tequila Truth by Mari Carr. I love this book! It's exactly the kind of story like to read.

So close, so close...almost finished the WIP! I was hoping to do it this weekend, but of course the last scenes are the hardest to write - the most emotional, the most gut-wrenching, and it's slow going. In fact, even though I'm anxious to be done, I found myself procrastinating because I knew how hard these scenes were going to be to write.

This whole book has been hard to write. I know it's going to take a lot of fine tuning of this first draft and I'm just hoping it all makes sense. Both these characters are really complicated.

I'm also surprised by the length of the book. My goal was 60,000 words and I usually find that's a very comfortable length for me. Lately I've been trying to write longer, but this one I wanted to keep fairly short. But Gabe and Reagan had other ideas! I could easily make this an 80,000 word book but I think it will likely end up somewhere around 65,000 words. It is what it is.

Yay it's Friday and I love weekends. This weekend you have 2 chances to win one of my books.

Saturday at The Romance Studio Book a Day Giveaway, they're giving away a PRINT copy of Love 2 Love U.

And my friend Erin Nicholas and I are having a contest together, also at The Romance Studio  - we're eaching giving away 2 PRINT books - one for you to keep and one to give to a friend! Erin's book Just Right and my book Love 2 Love U were both released the same day so we're celebrating together.

Love 2 Love U is an anthology of my three novellas, Love Me, Love Me More and 2 Hot 2 Handle. Here's a little excerpt from 2 Hot 2 Handle:

He kissed her mouth, knowing he tasted of her and she kissed him avidly back. So fucking hot.

“I think we might exhaust you tonight, Abby doll,” he murmured.

He drew back and they shared a smile. “I can handle it,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at Eric. He grinned, too.

“Yeah. She can.”

A rush of emotion so intense it almost sent him back to his knees roared through Jett. He was almost afraid to believe what was happening.

“Take your clothes off,” Abby said, her eyes gleaming. “You’re both wearing too many clothes. And Jett…”

His eyes flicked up to hers.

“I haven’t seen you, yet, either.”

Red-hot lust streaked through him. Fuck, what a woman!

He ripped his clothes off. He’d quickly gotten over any modesty when he’d started modeling, was used to his body being stared at, ogled, studied. Objectified, even. But damn him, he wanted Abby to like what she saw.

Her eyes widened, and her hands came out to trace over his chest, down over his quivering abs, and lower. She blinked as she studied him there.

“You’re…bare.”

He looked down. Oh, yeah. He was so used to it, he thought nothing of it. “I had to get rid of the hair for an underwear shoot,” he choked out. “It itches like hell when it grows back, so I just kept it like this.”

“Uh.” She seemed speechless. She reached out to touch and her soft fingers on his throbbing staff had him twitching hard. “It makes you look…huge.”

“I am huge.”

Her gaze flew up to meet his, and she smiled when she recognized his cocky humor.

“Well, yes you are, actually,” she murmured.

Eric came up behind her again, having divested himself of his clothes, too. “Hey,” he said. “He’s no bigger than I am.”

She turned her sparkling brown eyes to Eric. “No. Of course not. He just looks bigger because…there’s no hair there.”

“What? You want me to shave too?”

“Christ,” Jett said. “Don’t shave. That’s the worst thing you can do. You gotta wax, man.”

Eric winced. “Never mind. I’m fine the way I am.”

Last week I finished off Simply Irresistable by Jill Shalvis. It's not my favorite of her books but it was still pretty good. Then I read Afterlife by Joey Hill.  I think I may have read one of Joey Hill's books a long time ago (wait I'll go look) I"m back. I can't find it. So this is sort of like a new author to me and I've heard so many good things about her. I really did love this book, though I started to get a little impatient with Rachel and her continued thinking she wasn't good enough and didn't deserve Jon, but loved the writing!! So now I'm reading her Board Resolution - smokin' hot!

And a contest!

To celebrate the release of our print books on the same day, my friend Erin Nicholas and I are having a "friends" contest at The Romance Studio. You can win a copy of each of our new print releases Love 2 Love U and Just Right PLUS a copy to give to one of your friends! Check it out here. Contest goes until January 31/11.

I've been working hard this week on "Gabe's story". Yes, I really need a better title. I've been thinking about it off and on and have come up with numerous titles that I thought were okay, but then changed my mind. I guess I can worry about that once it's finished.

I have to say Gabe is a very complicated man and he is giving me a hard time! He's also giving Reagan, my heroine, a hard time. It also appears, despite my careful planning, that the story may be longer than I planned. I'm now up to 44,000 words and it's time for a crisis but Gabe's not ready for that - I haven't hurt him enough yet!

This is interesting to me, because recently I've been trying to write longer books and struggled a bit with it. I took a couple of workshops and I've read a few books to try to help with that and what is actually quite cool is that it's the books on character that have helped with my plotting. Now, I know I write character-driven stories, but it quite amazes me how much the plot can grow based on deeper characterization.

Now...back to Gabe.

Okay! I have news! I just can't share it right now! But...I'm going to share a sneak peek from my "hockey story", as I've been calling it, Breakaway:

“I don’t know much about hockey,” she admitted. “But I think it’s very rough.”
“It can be.” He smiled at her. “That’s the fun part.”
“Do you fight?”
He laughed. “I have been known to mix it up a bit. But not often. There was a time back when I was a junior player and I was headed to goonsville. I was big and I liked to protect the other guys, but sometimes I tended to jump in and get physical without thinking about the consequences. I had a great coach, though, who really got me to work on controlling those impulses and to think about things.” He tilted his head. “You should come to a game.”
“Oh. Yeah. Maybe.”
“I’ll get you a ticket. I’ll get you two tickets and you can bring your friend…what’s her name…?”
“Delise.”
“Yeah. She didn’t seem too impressed with me the other night. I think I should make it up to her.”
“It wasn’t you she wasn’t happy with, it was me.” Remi grimaced. “She’s the one who wanted me to find a guy that night and get lucky. Then when I did, she freaked out and got all paranoid that I was leaving with a serial killer.”
Jason choked on a mouthful of beer. “Good to know she has a high opinion of me.”
Remi laughed. “She didn’t even know who you were. She would have felt that way if I was going home with the Pope.”
“Ha. Be glad it was me. You wouldn’t have gotten three orgasms with the Pope.”
Now it was her turn to choke. “I didn’t get three! We were interrupted…”
“Damn. That’s right.” His eyes went even darker. “I guess I owe you one more, then.”

It's actually been two weeks since I blogged about the books I've been reading. At that time I'd started Something About You by Julie James. I loved it! So of course I had to read everything she has! I've now also read Practice Makes Perfect (loved it too!) and Just The Sexiest Man Alive (another win!). I could be really picky about a couple of tiny POV problems in Just The Sexiest Man Alive but I knew she was doing it to plant a seed for somethign coming later. Loved the characters, though and great dialogue. Can't wait til her next book is out.

Currently I'm reading Simply Irresistable by Jill Shalvis. I've seen a lot of people "discovering" Jill Shalvis recently. Meanwhile I've been a big fan of hers for years. I'm so glad for her people are finding her because I love her writing!

First of all I have to apologize to anyone who has been trying to email me through my website info@kellyjamieson.com. About a month ago my web goddess made some changes to my website at my request in order to protect my privacy, however the changes have impacted the email account. She fixed it once but then I found a problem again. I don't know how many people tried to email me and couldn't get through, but I'm so so sorry if you did! It should be fixed now and hopefully no more problems. If you ever want to contact me and email doesn't work, just leave a comment here at at the blog, I always get those!

So as for works in progress...I have been making progress on what I've been calling "Gabe's Story". If you read Power Struggle, you'll know who Gabe is, and I had so many readers asking for his story! I intended to write his story and I've been working on it. I started it a while ago, but struggled. Gabe is a complicated man! And for that matter, so is Reagan, the heroine of the story. But I've gotten back to it and I'm about half way through now. And I'm pretty happy with how it's going, though it's not easy!

As many of you may know, I belong to the wonderful group Nine Naughty Novelists and we've been running a serial story on our blog:  The Zillionaire Vampire Cowboy's Secret Werewolf Babies. I'm sure you all  have been reading along! This Sunday January 9 (because we always party on the 9th!) we're drawing the winner of the nook contest we were running at the same time. Find out about all the "behind the scenes" work that went into the story, and talk to us about our favorite and craziest parts of working on the serial. And we'll be awarding our grand Prize, the nook.

Join us at 3pm EST this Sunday, January 9th. Hope to see you there. http://www.oberoncalifornia.us/Chat_Room.html

PS If you haven't entered yet, go to Nine Naughty Novelists - you can read the story from the start by clicking on the cover on the right side of the blog, and the contest rules are there for you!

Love 2 Love U is the print anthology of my three novellas, Love Me, Love Me More and 2 Hot 2 Handle, all put together in one lovely book! Many of you will already be familiar with this threesome of threesome stories, but they have a beautiful new cover.

Actually release day was yesterday but I'm celebrating today at the Samhain Cafe and I'll be giving away a copy of Love 2 Love U if you want to come by for some excerpts and fun.

Here are the blurbs:

Three is definitely not a crowd…
Any way you want it, Kelly Jamieson serves it up in this triple threat of trios.

In Love Me, Melina is worried and frustrated. Sure, Gavin’s stressed about his big project at work, but jeez, it seems like he’d rather go solo than have sex with her. Nothing seems to get his attention except her not-so-innocent flirtation…with another woman.

Love Me More follows up with Melina and Gavin on the way to the altar. They don’t talk much about the night they indulged in a threesome—until he confesses his fantasy. Two women focused solely on his pleasure. Melina loves him enough to make it happen for him. Just as soon as she scrapes up the nerve…

2 Hot 2 Handle is the tale of Abby, who lives by one rule: no commitment. Ever. The look on two-months-steady Eric’s face has her on alert to head for the door, except her attraction to his roommate, Jett, makes her hesitate. Yet when both men tell her they want her for more than just one hot, sexy romp, she’s not sure she wants to know what they’re really asking of her—or if she can handle it.

Warning: These stories contain fighting, pouting, guilt, make-up sex, experimental sex, committed sex and sizzling ménage sex in various combinations of male and female!

I got lots of nice reviews for all three books but here's a bit from The Romance Studio on 2 Hot 2 Handle:

5 HEARTS!!

"It is exactly the type of book that I enjoy the most. The love scenes are extremely hot and spicy. Abby, Eric and Jett are loveable characters who have a chemistry between them that pulls the reader completely into the sensational story. I enjoyed the book enough to give it the highest rating I possibly could..."

Monday morning and the holidays are over...almost. I still have today off from the day job and I'm hoping to get some writing done on the current WIP. I did work on it over the holidays although the last few days haven't been as productive as I'd like.

On New Years Eve I was completely unable to write because I was upset and distracted about something that had happened, so I sat down and reread the manuscript I finished about a month or so ago. I like to let my finished works rest and then go back to them. So I read With Strings Attached from start to finish. I found a few little continuity details that I often overlook during the writing, like they'd just been out for dinner but then he says he's hungry...so I fixed a few little things. But mostly I just read it. And I liked it. Even if I wrote it myself, I enjoyed it.

Which led to a huge feeling of frustration. I'm not the most patient person in the world (just ask my family!) and I have this manuscript here that I so want to share with people and yet, depending on what I decide to do with it, it will be probably two years before it's out in the world, if not longer. I'd love to send this one to my agent, though I'm not sure if she's interested, but I just sent her something so I can't send it right now. If she is interested in looking at it and then thinks it's worth pitching to editors, I know now from experience how long that process takes (over a year and still going!). Even if we were successful selling it to a publisher, release dates are usually at least a year after that, if not longer in the print world.

I could just send it to one of my digital publishers, which is what will happen if agent's not interested, but my first choice publisher already has TWO of my manuscripts that I'm waiting to hear back on so I don't think I'll be sending a THIRD. By the time I can send it, wait months to hear and then, if it's accepted, get a release date (which last time I sold to them, was a full year after the contract offer)  it will likely be coming up on two years before it's published.

And I want people to read this story now!

Patience. I need patience. Lots of it.

5 Tea Cups from Happily Ever After Reviews!!

Clare C's Review said: 


“Both are  complex characters and the author takes the time to develop their layers as they fall for one another...The sex scenes are very erotic and very romantic. Tara thinks she’s a Domme, but she’s not. As she learns to accept her limitations at work (she’s not perfect, just really good), she learns to accept and celebrate who she is in the bedroom.


The writing style is riveting and fast-paced, and yet it doesn’t skim over any of the details. This isn’t easy to do, yet Ms. Jamieson seems to do it effortlessly. This novel was one of the best I’ve read this year."

Happy Wednesday! This past week I read Trust Me, by fellow Naughty Nine author Sydney Somers. It was such a great book! Syd writes awesome gargoyles stories too, but my first love is always a straight contemp or romantic suspense and this one delivered just what I like - kick butt heroine, alpha but tender hero who can take abuse from said kick butt heroine and love her anyway, a suspense plot that was simple enough to make sense (sometimes they're so complicated I'm not sure if it really makes sense) and oodles of sexual tension and hot sex. Some great secondary characters and I feel the makings of a hot series coming on!! (I also liked the Canadian setting - Tim's is in this book!)

Now I've started Something About You, by Julie James - a new to me author. So far, so good!

Christmas has come and gone! I hope it was wonderful for those of you who celebrate it. Here we had a great time - lots of family time, laughing, eating, drinking and oh yeah, a few presents!

For the last week I haven't done a lot of actual "writing". I  mentioned in my "What I'm Reading Wednesday" blog a book I'm reading called 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. I can't rave enough about this book. I've been working my way through it with several of my WIPs and it has helped me solve so many problems. Today I just finished off some revisions to a troublesome manuscript I completed a while ago, which I love, but which has not been well received, shall we say. I think (hope!) I have made some changes that will make the story more satisfying. I'm ready to send it out into the world again. (Urgh).

I've been working with some characters from other WIPs too and now I've seen how I can incorporate what I'm learning from this book into my writing, I'm eager to start working on other manuscripts. I'm on holidays from the day job this week so I'm hopig to get lots done! (Picture me rubbing hands together over my keyboard). I love learning and I'm always looking for ways to make my writing better, whether it's workshops, books, or just analyzing books I read that I love to figure out why. I think in 2010 I learned a lot and I'm really looking forward to incorporating what I've learned into my writing and growing as a writer.

My book RIGGER has been nominated for a CAPA!!

"What are the CAPA's? They are awards given by The Romance Studio for excellence in romantic and erotic fiction. Categories include inspirational, contemporary, fantasy, historical, mainstream, paranormal, romantic suspense, erotic contemporary, erotic fantasy, erotic historical, erotic paranormal, erotic anthology, BDSM, and the Ariana Overton Award for Best Cover Art or the Ari."

RIGGER was nominated in the BDSM category along with books by some truly incredible authors like, OMG, Joey Hill and Desiree Holt.

from

The Romance Studio  

"Ms. Jamieson has created an absolutely amazing story that quickly captures the reader's attention with its fascinating, complex and delicious exploration into a relationship built around an alternative lifestyle of pleasure and pain."

So to celebrate that, here's a little excerpt from RIGGER:

He set her on the bed and she looked around. Music by The Strike Boys pulsed and shimmered through the dark room and the faint smoky odor of extinguished candles and melted wax still drifted in the air. Rows of candles were lined up everywhere—on his dresser, the bookshelf, along the deep windowsill. He moved around the room, lighting the candles, which had obviously been burning earlier. When she’d stomped out. Her heart squeezed and she put her hands to her mouth.

“You planned this,” she said, her voice breathy and trembling. The room began to glow.

“Yeah. I was going to tell you tonight that I love you. And apologize. Grovel.” His lips lifted into a smile as he finished lighting the candles and hers did too—as if he’d ever grovel!

Her gaze fell on the ropes lying on the bed beside her and her stomach leaped. She reached out and fingered the ropes, looked up at him as he dragged his T-shirt over his head, then stepped out of the baggy cargo shorts. Naked, he stood before her, so beautiful, so powerful and masculine and strong.

She handed him the rope and his eyes darkened as he took it from her. She extended her hands in front of her. He had her wrists bound with twists of his hands, a few quick loops around them, one between, and a knot, rough and not pretty.

“I want to make you feel good, Shaela. I want it to be good for you.” She gave a jerky little nod. “I want to take you as far as you can go—and then a little further. Higher.” He lifted her wrists and pressed an open-mouthed kiss there, just above the ropes, let his tongue linger. “I want to make it up to you. Tonight.”

Her body quivered, warming and softening. “Okay.”

“We’ll take it slow.” He leaned forward and brushed a kiss over the corner of her mouth. “So slow and easy.” His breath mingled with hers as they sat there. “I want you to trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

His mouth brushed over hers again and heat flared over every nerve ending in her body.

“Take me there,” she whispered against his mouth. “Take me to that place—and do anything you want to me.”

Heat stabbed right to her core as she said the words. She was afraid of it, but she craved it, with a wild, elemental need. Relief that he still wanted her, still cared about her, mingled with the need.

Alek groaned and she loved that she could do that to him. The joy of yielding to him mingled with power—the power to thrill him with her submission. It was a never-ending loop of gratification, of giving and receiving, pleasing and getting pleasure, and her heart swelled inside her chest until she thought it might burst.

“Slow,” he whispered again, feathering kisses across her cheek, nudging her hair aside, his breath a warm tickle, his mouth a sweet torture. Her eyes fell closed. His body pushed her back into the softness of the bed, lifting her bound wrists above her head, and he kissed her again, soft and sweet, endless, long and slow and deep.

His tongue slid into her mouth and he licked inside, then softly bit her lips. The weight of his body was a delicious pressure and she arched a little to press her breasts harder against him.

She tasted him too, with a drag of her tongue across his bottom lip and he sucked her tongue into his mouth. Heat radiated off him and she felt the fine trembling of his body as the kisses went deeper, hotter, sweeter.

She longed to touch him, feel him, but the ropes were firm as she tested them. Stretched out on her back, her fingers curled into her palms above her head. He lifted his head to study her, the thin ropes still encircling her body, and she felt his eyes move over her like a caress...