AlTonya Washington - Provocative Passion

He’s as dangerous—and irresistible—as ever…

Detective Sophia Hail risks her life every day. But for over a decade the decorated Philly cop has kept her heart under wraps. Now Santigo Rodriguez is threatening everything she has worked so hard to protect. With the city reeling from a scandal that touches her own family, Sophia is vulnerable…and tempted to give in to the passion her ex-lover is offering.

When Santigo falls in love, it’s for keeps, and the promise of a second chance with Sophia is more than he can resist. Once before she walked out, choosing her dangerous career over a future with him. Now Santigo has to find a way to keep Sophia safe in his arms…before a widening trail of sex and corruption blows the town—and their rekindled love affair—wide open.

“See me out?” he asked, wondering if she’d oblige or hurl the carryout bag at his head.

When she stood and turned for the door, he smiled. He wondered how well her innately polite nature fared in the midst of her daily police duties.

Sophia had already pulled open the door, where she stood steeling herself against the desire to tap her bare foot.

Santigo took his time about approaching the door. Once he’d closed whatever distance there was between them, Sophia drew on every ounce of will not to throw herself on him again.

Tigo leaned into her, dipping his head to trail his nose across her temple, down her cheek…. Cupping her neck in his palm, he placed a lingering kiss on her earlobe.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tig…” Her tone was half needy, half tortured.

Santigo slid the kiss below her earlobe and then alongside her neck, and he felt her shudder.

Sophia had no more words. She could only turn her face toward him, where she breathed in the cologne he wore. The subtle fragrance triggered every hormone she claimed.

“Lock up.” He spoke the order into the hollow at her throat. He straightened, taking delight in her reaction to his touch.

He gave her bottom a squeeze and proprietary pat, then he was gone. Sophia had just enough strength in her hand to set the locks before she had to rely on the door for support, as her legs had become totally useless.

ALTONYA WASHINGTON

has been a romance novelist for nine years. Her novel Finding Love Again won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Multicultural Romance in 2004. As T. Onyx, AlTonya released her third erotica title, Pleasure’s Powerhouse, in 2011. Her 2012 Harlequin Kimani Romance title His Texas Touch, second in the Lone Star Seduction series, was nominated for the RT Book Reviews Award in the Best Series Romance category. The year 2012 also marked the release of the fourteenth title in her popular Ramsey/Tesano saga, A Lover’s Sin. The author began 2013 with her Harlequin Kimani Romance title Provocative Territory. She enjoys being a mom and librarian in North Carolina.

Provocative Passion

Altonya Washington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

Provocative Passion was a rare treat to craft. The experience was a mystery much like the one that unfolds among the pages you’re about to read. Plotting this story and creating these alluring and very demanding characters was as much of a treat as it was a surprise.

I call the experience a mystery because I still can’t quite figure out how these characters manage to dictate the course of the stories we authors create. It’s amazing to be in the midst of drafting an outline and having a clear picture of the story’s path, only to have it all redirected by the characters.

It’s so exciting and motivating to still be surprised like this. Santigo Rodriguez, Sophia Hail and company definitely threw up tons of twists and turns in this book. I do hope you’re ready for the ride.

Love and blessings,

Al

altonya@lovealtonya.com

To my incredible readers, friends and family.

Your awesome support continues to overwhelm me.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Prologue

“Walk out that door and I’m done.”

Sophia Hail’s bow-shaped mouth opened in disbelief...and heartbreak. “You can’t mean that.” Her voice was less than a whisper.

The gold flecks in Santigo Rodriguez’s uncommon ebony gaze sparkled; then his stare faltered and he was taking a seat in the armchair next to the bed, where he began slipping into a pair of black hiking boots.

“You mean that?” Sophia hated the lost and still-heartbroken tone of her voice. She was made of stronger stuff than that, but her disbelief had stunned her.

Santigo continued coolly putting on his shoes until the weight of Sophia’s extraordinary gray eyes commanded a response. “How I feel shouldn’t be a surprise, Soap,” he said.

She shook her head. “All that time I’ve been at the academy—”

“And all that time you knew how I felt.”

“Tig, it’s my first day at work—”

“If it is, then I’m done.”

Something flickered in her eyes, and she came to stand before him, arms folded over her chest. “You didn’t think I’d go through with it, did you? Didn’t think I’d finish.” She saw the muscle skip along the angle of his strong jaw, and she knew she’d correctly guessed. “You jackass.”

Santigo finished tying the boots and reclined in the chair. “You proved you have the stones to see this through. Let it go and move on.”

Sophia placed the dry-cleaned uniform across her bed and pinned her lover of six years with a furious glare. “Move on? Why? To make it easier for you to handle?”

Tigo shot up from the chair, towering over Sophia and fixing her with a gaze darker than anything she could have conjured.

“Are you that ready to get yourself shot to hell to prove what a badass you are, Sophia?”

She took a step back...crushed. “That’s what you think?” She took in the tall, seductively crafted length of his six-foot-plus frame. “When I told you this was who I am, who I wanted to be...did you think I was playing around, Tig?”

He spread his arms. “You wanna break me down, Soap? All right then, I admit it, I can’t handle it.” He shook his head; the generous curve of his mouth was a grim line. “I can’t handle it.”

“But you can handle me walking away from something I love?”

“Love? Jesus, Soap, you haven’t even started!”

“Well, that’s about to change.” She went to reclaim her uniform.

“Then we’re about to change.” He turned his back and pulled a wrinkled denim shirt across his chiseled chestnut-brown torso.

Sophia bit her lip and willed herself not to cry. She watched the uniform turn to a blur before her eyes and knew that she had failed.

“Leave my key on the counter when you go,” she said and left without another look back.

Santigo maintained his rigid stance a mere second after the front door slammed shut. Then he crumpled, returning to the armchair, where he held his head in his hands and let emotion have its way.