Title: L is for Luminous
Author: Amity Cross
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 11, 2016
When desperado dork Lux
Dawson gets stuck in an elevator at a comic convention, she couldn't be any
more mortified.
She's just another writer
trying to get her work seen, not to get stuck in a three by four metal box with
the sexiest male specimen she's ever seen... who just happens to be guest of
honor, Jude Atwood.
Jude's the star of the
hottest TV series on the American airwaves, the supernatural detective show
Naturals, and he's at the height of his star studded career. Too bad she's a
nobody and he has a famous actor girlfriend, who just happens to be his
onscreen, epic love. Who could compete with that, right? But for some insane
reason Jude wants to know all about Lux... including her disaster of a writing
career.
Once those elevator doors
are pried open by the jaws of life and reality arrives in the form of hordes of
waiting paparazzi, Lux's life is about to explode...
She just doesn't know it
yet.
Outside, the
air was cool, so I pulled my biker jacket on and flipped up the collar.
“Hey.”
I turned at
the sound of Jude’s voice. He was leaning up against the wall, his phone in his
hand, his gaze firmly on mine. I could still feel the ghost of his body pressed
against mine, and I shivered, sinking deeper into my jacket.
“Hey,
yourself,” I threw back.
“Are you
leaving?” he asked, clearly disappointed, and I wondered if a little dance was
all it took to get him going.
“Yeah,” I
said with a shrug. “I’ve had enough excitement for one night.” And enough
threats from your ex-girlfriend to last a lifetime.
He pushed off
the wall. “You’re going home?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll walk
you,” he said.
“No, it’s
okay,” I said, backing away. “Stay at the party. It’s only a couple of blocks.”
“A lot can
happen in a couple of blocks,” he said, narrowing his eyes. He stepped forward,
wavering on his feet.
“Exactly how
much have you had to drink since I left you in there?” I asked in amusement.
“I’m not
drunk,” he complained. “But you are.”
“Am not,” I
lied. Well, I’d reverted to tipsy after Tessa had sobered me up with her bitchy
presence. I put my hands on my hips. “I bet you a hundred bucks you can’t walk
in a straight line.”
“Only a
hundred? I think we can do better than that.”
“You’re a
cocky bastard, Jude Atwood.”
“And she
swears like an angel,” he slurred.
“I think I
should be walking you home,” I retorted.
“Now there’s
an idea…”
I flushed
scarlet, my entire body beginning to zing. “So you don’t fall in a gutter and
wake up with your shame all over TMZ, jerk.”
He waved his
hand at me. “I’m still walking you home. The air will sober me up a bit.”
“Ha! So you
are drunk.”
He held up
his hand and pinched his thumb and forefinger together. “Perhaps a little.”
I shook my
head and began walking, Jude falling into step beside me.
“How did you
like the party?” he asked.
I could still
feel his body pressed against mine, moving to the music. So close to kissing
and throwing everything away.
“It was
okay,” I muttered.
“You’re a
good dancer,” he said, giving me a wink.
I rolled my
eyes and glanced away so he couldn’t see the heat in my cheeks. I wasn’t sure
it was necessary considering he was a little loose, but it was like a default
reaction. You know, like a reflex.
Stopping at
an intersection, my mind went back to the moment Tessa shoved her phone in my
face and almost bitch-slapped me to the ground. Bloody hell, why should I care
what Tessa Donahue thought? Maybe I should care a little if I wanted to have my
contract renewed. I hadn’t thought about anything beyond this season of the
show. Did I want to come back for another year? Did I want to continue living
in this spiral of one-sided lust and heartbreak?
“What are you
doing?” Jude asked. He’d gotten to the middle of the road and had come back
again. He wound his arm around my waist and guided me across the street.
“Nothing,” I
muttered. “I was just thinking.”
“About?”
I shook my
head. “Stuff.”
We walked in
silence after that, and he didn’t let me go until we stood out the front of my
block. Unlocking the door, I was gently nudged to the side, and my heart began
to speed up.
“What are you
doing?” I asked as he stepped into the tiny lobby.
“I’m walking
you to your door,” he declared.
“This is my
door.”
He narrowed
his eyes and pushed the button for the elevator. “That’s everyone’s door.”
“So specific,”
I retorted as the car arrived.
Stepping into
the elevator, he sidled up next to me, making the synapses in my brain misfire.
“You don’t
have to come all the way,” I said.
Jude grunted,
his eyes on the display above the door. His fingers were worrying the hem of
his shirt, and it began to dawn on me that he was nervous. I thought he was
drunk? Maybe he was a bit of both. Maybe I was misreading the situation.
The elevator
arrived at my floor with a ding, and we walked down the hall to my apartment.
Unlocking the door, I turned to Jude.
“Safe and
sound,” I declared, edging inside.
He narrowed
his eyes and swallowed hard. “Yep.”
We stood
there staring at each other like idiots, the air feeling thick. As thick as it
had when we were dancing earlier.
Then he
stepped forward, a hungry look in his eyes, and I stepped back, moving into my
apartment.
Everything
that happened in the next second was like I was living in someone else’s life.
A dream, a fantasy, a parallel universe.
His mouth was
on my lips before I realized what was happening, and I stumbled backward until
I hit the wall. I gasped in surprise, and his tongue dove greedily against
mine, the lingering tang of alcohol mixing with his taste, the taste that said
he was Jude.
His hands
shoved into my hair, and he held me firm, his entire body pressing hard against
mine. His lips were soft, the stubble that always coated his jaw rasped against
my skin…and I kissed him back. I gave him everything I’d been holding onto
since the day we met. It rushed out of me like a force of nature that couldn’t
be tamed. Like a tsunami, a hurricane, a lightning storm, a raging bushfire,
the extinction level atomic blast of a gigantic meteor hitting the earth…
I was alive.
Alive and
coursing with reckless abandon.
“Lux,”
he moaned against my lips.
So wild, so
uncontrollable… Everything ached so much I could hardly bear it.
“Jude.”
He moved his
lips to my neck, kissing a trail of fire along my skin as his hands stroked the
curve of my back. My entire body spoke to his, pushing into his touch, guiding
his movements, wanting and needing more with an intensity that had me spinning
out of control.
I had no
idea… No idea at all.
L is for
Luminous is Copyright ©
2015-16 Amity Cross
Amity Cross isn't her real
name. That's no secret.
She is the author of
wicked stories about rock stars looking for redemption, gritty romances
featuring MMA fighters and dark tales of forbidden romance. She loves to write
about screwed up relationships and kick ass female leads that don't take s**t
lying down.
Amity lives in a leafy
country town in southern Australia and can be found chained to her desk, held
at ransom by her characters.
Don't send help. She likes
it.
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