Exclusive Excerpt: Repressed by Elisabeth Naughton + 3 Copy Giveaway
Join us today as Elizabeth Naughton shares her latest book via an Exclusive Excerpt. Elizabeth is one of my local authors :) and an awesome lady.
Hidden Falls is exactly as Samantha Parker left it—small, insular, and prone to gossip. Eighteen years have passed since she witnessed her brother’s murder, but she’s still the talk of the town. Until a handsome child psychologist with haunting memories of his own arrives.
Dr. Ethan McClane isn’t exactly a newcomer. If it weren’t for his latest case, he’d never set foot back in Hidden Falls. Thankfully, no one seems to recognize him as the troubled teen from years past. Not even Sam, the delightfully sharp and sexy high school chemistry teacher he can’t stop thinking about.
When Sam and Ethan work together to help one of her students, sparks ignite. But Sam’s hazy memories of a long-ago night concern Ethan, and unlocking the repressed images reveals a dark connection between them. As the horrors of the past finally come to light, their relationship isn’t the only thing in danger. A killer will strike again to keep an ugly secret hidden. This time no one will be safe.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
Pushing away from the counter, Samantha wandered back down the hallway.
Ethan followed her into what he could only imagine was a home office. At the moment it looked like a war zone. Boxes were stacked four-high at every angle. A few sat open, half packed. The large cherry desk near the window was littered with files and papers and the oldest computer Ethan had ever seen. To its left, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf cradled old, dusty books and various knickknacks.
Samantha’s heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she stepped over a box in the middle of the room and reached for another near the window. Muscles flexed in her trim arms as she lifted it from the stack and set it on a pile of papers scattered across the desk.
“What happened in here?”
“My mother happened in here,” she said, rummaging through the contents. “She saved everything. I’m trying to figure out what can be sold and what should just be burned for good measure.”
Dark, curly tendrils fell across her cheek, her posture accentuating her luscious cleavage in the strapless outfit. The soothing scents of lavender and vanilla wafted on the air, sending heat straight to his belly.
Tonight is not about sex. She’s keyed up. She probably just wants to talk and “hang out.” Don’t get any ideas.
Ethan cleared his throat. “What are you doing with a yearbook from eighteen years ago?”
“Um … my mother dabbled in photography.”
She didn’t elaborate, but the question was lost when she pulled out a black leather book from the box. “Here it is. I knew it was in here.”
She opened the book and flipped pages. Skirting the desk, she stepped over a half-packed box in the center of the room. “I remember she was really young. Right out of college.”
Ethan stepped toward her, but his shoe hooked the edge of a wooden chair he hadn’t seen sticking out from behind a box, knocking him off balance.
“Ethan!” Samantha reached for him. He grappled for something to stop his downward momentum, but his hand knocked into another stack of boxes. He hit the hardwood floor with a crack. Just behind Samantha, he saw the stack tip and sway. He lifted his arms just as they crashed to the floor.
“Oh my God, Ethan.” Samantha frantically swiped boxes away and climbed over him. “Are you okay?”
He blinked twice and looked up into her worried dark eyes. Silky curls hung around her face and tickled his cheeks, bringing his skin to life, making him acutely aware of her thighs brushing the outsides of his, of her heat and that sweet, sweet scent he remembered when she’d been close like this in the supply closet of her classroom. “I’m … not sure.”
“I am so sorry.” She pushed the last box away with her hand and kicked one more at her feet. Thankfully, most seemed empty, or at least only partially filled with paper. Judging from the sharp ache in the back of his head, though, Ethan figured his skull was another matter. “How do we always end up on the floor?”
He didn’t know, but right now he wasn’t complaining. God, she smelled good. And this close, all he could think about was how soft her lips looked. How warm her mouth had been when he’d kissed her. The throb in his head faded. Maybe it was the bourbon, dulling the edges, or maybe it was just her, calling to him like she’d done since the first moment he’d met her.
“I don’t know.” His hands slipped to her thighs, braced on both sides of his hips, and he ran his fingers up the silky soft fabric of her jumpsuit. “But being on the floor does have its advantages.”
Her breath caught. It was a very subtle movement, but he heard it. And just knowing she was as aware of him as he was of her awakened places inside he knew only she could bring to life.
“Ethan,” she breathed.
“Yeah?” He slid his hands up to her hips. Felt the pulse beneath her skin speed up. Inched his fingers higher.
Her breath quickened. Several heartbeats passed before she said, “Where does it hurt?”
His fingers stilled their slow movements, and he looked from her lips to her eyes. Her mesmerizing, smoldering eyes. Blood surged straight into his groin. “My head.”
She rested her weight on one hand and tipped his head to the side with the other. Leaning close, she pressed a kiss to the base of his skull where he’d smacked it against the hardwood. “There?”
His throat grew thick. “Um. Yeah.”
She eased back and rested her hand on the ground again. But this time a mischievous twinkle sparked in her eyes as she looked down. “Where else?”
Holy hell. Was she going to kiss every one of his injuries? This could get interesting. “My forehead.”
She leaned forward and brushed her lips above his left eyebrow. “Anywhere else?”
“I think a box might have hit me on the cheek.”
Her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip, making the blood in his groin absolutely throb. With slow motions, she kissed his cheek.
“No.” He might as well milk it for all it was worth. “The other one.”
Her grin widened, and she kissed the other side. “Is that it?”
“I think here too.” He tapped one finger against his mouth.
A sexy smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “We definitely don’t want you to be hurt there, now do we?”
He smiled, but when she pressed her mouth to his, all humor fled. Heat infused him the instant they touched. Heat and need and a desire he knew he should keep in check. But when her mouth opened over his, and her sweet little tongue swept between his lips, all he could think about was tasting her again, about taking everything she was offering, about losing himself in her for as long as she’d let him.
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Before topping multiple bestseller lists—including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal—Elisabeth Naughton taught middle school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Her books have received nominations for some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, such as the RITA and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton enjoys spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home.
