Hot Autumn Nights Blog Hop!

It's almost wintertime, but that doesn't mean we can't have one last celebration of racing through falling leaves before the weather gets too cold to venture outside. Autumn is a great time for romance, whether you're strolling through a picturesque scene of reds and golds or curling up in front of a warm fireplace. Hop on through all the links on the list to check out all our different takes on this season of love, and be sure to comment at each site to up your chances for winning the grand prize, a $70 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card!

For my stop on the hop, I'll take us allllll the way back to Geneva and Marcus's fire-lit first kiss in Searching the Skies. (My, how that seems so long ago!) Want a chance to win an e-copy of this book? Follow the Rafflecopter instructions after the excerpt. Good luck!

His words to her were honest and pure and for the first time, she realized that no matter how far she tried to run, a tiny piece of her would always belong to the home planet for which she had shown so much disdain. She didn’t know whether to thank him, apologize to him, or pretend that nothing had ever happened, so they sat in silence for several awkward minutes, wrapped in their own personal reflections and the shadows of the darkening room.
 
Marcus suddenly jumped to his feet, disrupting the nervous tension that had settled around them. “Can I, uh, get you anything else from the kitchen?” he stammered.
 
Geneva did the same. “Marcus, I....” She continued to struggle to find the right words. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize what a good friend I had here until now. I know we can never make up for lost time, but I’m willing to start over again.”
 
The light from the flickering fire reflected in his soulful eyes as he nodded a tacit acknowledgment. She suddenly had the urge to hug him, and she took a step closer in order to do so. As he was considerably taller than her, she cautiously slid her arms around his waist, and he reciprocated the gesture. The crisp fabric of his shirt was warm from his body as she leaned her cheek against his chest, the aroma of red wine and expensive cologne mingling at her nose.
 
She didn’t have more than a few moments to rest comfortably before he moved back to look down at her. With one finger, he gently tilted her chin up towards his face and brought his mouth down to meet hers. Geneva almost felt strange at first as she remembered the boy she once knew, but she soon relaxed into kissing the man he had become. Their lips separated, and she tasted the sweet velvet of his tongue, no longer thinking about past missed opportunities, but future possibilities. She felt her knees grow weak as he kissed her unrelentingly and tightened her embrace, not wanting to let him go.
 
Her eyes were still closed when he pulled away and moved his lips to the side of her face. “I could do this all night, but it’s getting late.”
 
“We’ll just have to start earlier next time,” she responded, and instantly blushed when she realized what she’d said.


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