Wicked Secrets

A brazen bargain!

Former military pilot Mia Brandt is on a four-day cruise that can only be described as bachelorette hell. Giggling girls, rhinestone-studded bikini bottoms (ugh), slushy margaritas...and Mia missing the cruise ship’s departure at the last port. Now she’s stranded on the same island as Tag Johnson—a Navy rescue swimmer who’s all ripped abs and sexy hotness...and Mia’s unforgettable one-nighter from four years ago!

Tag definitely remembers Mia. Remembers her touch, the searing heat of their chemistry...and how she pulled rank on him in bed. The sexual attraction between them is as fierce as it ever was. But when Tag blurts out that they’re engaged—a tiny little lie—their naughty, no-strings secret arrangement is out! And now an even bigger secret has taken its place...

Tag was no longer interested in playing nice.

He was close enough to feel the heat coming off Mia’s body, to smell his soap on her skin. She moved toward him in a sweet collision. Her breasts crushed against his chest, her thighs pressed against his. All those layers of clothes couldn’t keep him from remembering what she’d felt like naked in his arms.

And wanting a repeat.

Keeping his hands off her was impossible. So he slid a hand around the back of her neck, tracing the soft skin, loving how the small tendrils of hair clung to his fingers as he drew her closer. She made a small, throaty sound, tipping her head back against the door, and he was lost.

He covered her mouth with his and kissed her. He felt the strangest sense of coming home.

He wanted her, every stubborn, prickly and sensuous inch of her.

Never mind they were both leaving and he probably had no business touching her. Instead of stopping, though, he deepened their kiss.

Her lips parted beneath his, but there wasn’t an ounce of submission in her. Trap. She lured him in in the best kind of sensual ambush, making a sound that was part delight, part moan. He threaded his fingers through her free hand, pinning it above her head. Her fingers closed around his in response, and he couldn’t have broken free if he wanted to. Instead, he drank in the little sounds she made as her tongue tangled with his and they both fought to control the kiss and the heat. Kissing and kissing.

Because admitting defeat wasn’t something either of them did...

Dear Reader,

I love military heroes. The men and women who serve step up and put it all on the line in situations I can’t begin to imagine. Tag Johnson, the hero of Wicked Secrets, is a US Navy rescue swimmer. He and his teammates are the first in the water when a plane goes down in the ocean, a ship founders or a tsunami hits. The heroine of Wicked Secrets is also a military veteran. Mia Brandt served in the US Army and, now that she’s come home, she wants to feel normal. Our female military veterans face an additional set of challenges when they leave active duty. From assumptions made in doctors’ waiting rooms and by Veterans Affairs (that they are there as wives, mothers and girlfriends rather than as veterans themselves) to balancing motherhood and marriage with overseas deployments, they face a unique set of challenges. I loved having the chance to explore what happens when a not-quite-perfect female soldier comes home from active duty and two people wounded in different ways fall unexpectedly in love.

I hope you enjoy Wicked Secrets—and that you’ll check out Tag’s fellow rescue swimmers in Wicked Sexy and Wicked Nights. I love hearing from readers. You can find me at facebook.com/annemarshauthor or drop by my website, anne-marsh.com.

All my best,

Anne

New York Times Bestselling Author

Wicked Secrets

Anne Marsh

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ANNE MARSH writes sexy contemporary and paranormal romances because the world can always enjoy one more alpha male. She started writing romance after getting laid off from her job as a technical writer—and quickly decided happily-ever-afters trumped software manuals. She lives in Northern California with her family and six cats.

This book is for that handful of readers who go above and beyond: Rhea, Tracie, Gwen, Natalie, Brenda, Margreet, Nicola and all the other wonderful members of my street team. Your support and encouragement mean the world to me!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Extract

Copyright

1

DISCOVERY ISLAND CAME with its own resident Adonis. That particular plus had definitely not been in the travel brochures Laurel, Mia Brandt’s cousin and the bride-to-be, had waved enthusiastically when proposing a four day bachelorette cruise from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas. The woman was a travel agent; she should have known the man candy would be even more of a draw than discounted cabins.

Fifty yards away from Mia’s perch in the beachside bar, the hottie masterfully coaxed a boat motor to life while she stared. He might have been working in the shallow water with his back to Mia’s group, but the sheer size and power of him demanded a second look, as did the effortless way he dominated his surroundings. In a firefight, she would have taken him out first, because everything about him screamed trouble.