Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne ~ Excerpt and Giveaway

Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne
(Hidden Scars #2)
Publication date: April 12th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary

The one thing he could do for her was let her go. Until he couldn’t.

When Thieves’ guitarist Shane Jones lost his close friend to a freak accident, Krista Conner helped him through the worst of his grief. He kept their late-night trysts a secret to protect her from the tabloids, and when she broke up with him, he let her go.

But he never got over her.

Months later, his world is rocked again by the death of his brother mere weeks before the biggest Thieves album yet. Grieving and desperate for peace, he tracks Krista down, craving the salvation he found in her sweet spirit. Only this time, he’s determined not to leave.

Krista left Shane because her life was a mess. She’s rebuilt it, piece by challenging piece, making some hard decisions along the way. She’s settled into a new city and a new life, and for the first time in a long time, she’s content and happy. Then Shane turns up, promising to stay, promising to care. Promising everything.

Shane’s the one she wants, but the toughest choice she made could drive him away for good.

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Excerpt:

He’d missed the taste of her. Tart and hot and distinctly Krista, like nothing he’d had before and would never have again. He flicked his tongue along the seam of her lips, coaxing her open.

He’d come here for peace, to grieve, to lean on someone who’d let him. But until the moment her lips parted and her tongue met his, he hadn’t wanted to admit he’d come here for her.

She made a whimpering, pleading noise in the back of her throat, and the sexy sound shot through his veins. Closer. He needed her closer. Over him, under him, it didn’t matter. Gliding a hand down her back, he pressed her in, shifting onto his side as her body straightened out and aligned with his. Then, ignoring the sudden pain in his ankle, he rolled them so she was under him.

When her legs parted to cradle his hips, it was like he’d never left. Her legs wound around his waist, her mouth fused to his, her body’s curves and heat and sweetness dragging him out of the dark, the ache disappearing.

He took her mouth, or she took his, it didn’t matter. Over and over, tongues dueling, her hands roaming his back, fingers digging into his shoulders as she arched under him. He dropped kisses along her jaw, suckled the sensitive skin behind her ear, scraping his teeth over it when she gasped. The feel of her obliterated the last remnants of sadness, leaving him wide open and ready for more.

Take her. Take her completely, strip aside her flimsy skirt and panties, sheathe himself in her wet heat. Six long months of craving her and telling himself he’d done the right thing. He’d almost convinced himself they were better off apart. Then Eric died and all he’d thought about was how the world went quiet when she was around.

Lifting his head, he drank in her flushed skin and swollen lips, her eyes hooded and hazy with desire. He’d never seen anything more gorgeous. “Babe.” Slow it down. Stay out of the bedroom, learn her habits and favorites and quirks. No way would either of them be able to say it was just sex.

One side of her mouth quirked up, and he dropped a kiss there. “Guess that was inevitable, huh?” she said.

He propped himself up on his forearms and ignored his throbbing dick and the stabbing pains in his ankle. “Possibly. Not intentional, though. I meant it. I came here because I needed someone who’d have my back.” Needed. The word didn’t sit comfortably.

She lifted a hand to his jaw. “Usually when people need me they end up disappointing me. I think the only one who didn’t was Sara, and that’s probably because everyone else braced themselves with me. She leaned when it was too hard to stand on her own. So did you,” she murmured. “You never asked for more.”

That was about to change. “Krista—”

“Are you going to disappoint me, too?” The fear threading the question gave him pause. It’s what humans did. They disappointed each other. It was inevitable as the two of them on the couch, wrapped around each other.

He struggled to sit up, grimacing when the continued movement jostled his ankle. “That’s a sucker promise, and you know it.”

Her lids snapped shut, mouth tightening. “I know. I’m not going to ask you to make it, because then you will break it. But I don’t want to do this again. You’ve got a life to go back to. Los Angeles isn’t my home anymore.” When her eyes opened, there was sadness there, sadness and resignation. She sat up and swung her legs off the couch. “We don’t work.” She touched her mouth to his, drawing back when he tried to deepen it. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she stood.

The loss of her touch and warmth had the ache and grief rushing in. He balled his hands into fists, punched down into the couch cushion as she hurried from the room.

Well, he’d wanted slow. He’d just gotten his wish.

AUTHOR BIO:

When she’s not plotting ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy, snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to make mistakes, and her heroes strong enough to take them on.

If she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and no, it really doesn’t rain that much.

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