Joanne Rock - Wild And Willing

Seth placed his hand on Mia’s knee, the heat of his palm penetrating her skin. “But I have something else in mind.”

She wondered if it was possible to melt at a man’s touch. If so, she stood a very good chance of pooling at Seth’s feet any moment, because his hand on her knee made her whole body turn warm and liquid. He walked his fingers up the outside of her thigh until his hand landed on her hip. Then he scooted her close to him and angled his lips over hers.

The man planned to drug her with his aphrodisiac kisses and then coax her into orgasmic heaven. All of which sounded delightful, except…

“That’s not fair to you.” She broke off their kiss, much to her lips’ regret.

“It’s perfectly fair,” he whispered, leaning forward to reclaim her mouth.

Mia needed to take action before he had her talked into becoming erotically dependent on him. She slid her fingers down his chest to the waistband of his shorts, smoothing her hand over the ridge there.

“I bet I send you into orbit without ever hitting the sheets.”

Dear Reader,

As much as I love sizzling contemporary romance, there is also a place in my heart for a hot historical, too. Imagine my pleasure when I discovered a way to rope these two loves together in the opening pages of Wild and Willing. Tampa, Florida’s Gasparilla festival allowed me to write a modern-day pirate sailing into harbor, ready to carry off the damsel of his choice.

Of course, this being a Blaze novel, the heroine had to be every bit as bold and brash as her pirate hero. In steps Mia Quentin, modern maiden on a mission! She’s not only ready and willing to indulge in a sexy kidnapping scenario with Seth Chandler, she’s out to make sure he can’t possibly choose anyone but her for potential ravishing.

If you enjoy Seth and Mia’s steamy Florida adventures, don’t miss my 2003 Blaze title, Wild and Wicked, which revisits Gasparilla and all the fun that ensues. Seth’s brother Jesse has his own story to tell—a tale that involves a lusty lady pirate determined to make Jesse see the sensual potential in their friendship! Visit me at www.JoanneRock.com to learn more about my future releases or to let me know what you think of my books. I’d love to hear from you!

Happy reading,

Joanne Rock

P.S.—Don’t forget to check out www.tryblaze.com!

To Linda Watson, the sister I have forever looked up to for

great advice, a grounded perspective and much-needed

laughter. Thank you for providing a Florida consultation hotline

as I penned this book!

And to Wanda Ottewell, my talented editor,

whose vision and guidance have strengthened my writing

and made my work all the more rewarding.

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

Epilogue

SETH CHANDLER flipped up his eye patch and leaned against the ship mast of the Jose Gaspar to study the throng of milling pirates aboard the main deck. He could think of a thousand places he would rather yo-ho-ho with a bottle of rum today.

His empty office full of paperwork topped the list.

There had to be seventy-five guys and a couple of women in swashbuckling gear sailing into Tampa Bay with him, yet Seth hadn’t been able to pawn off today’s mission on any of them. Not with his company’s name on the line as corporate sponsor of this event.

Damn that lead buccaneer for quitting only two hours before Tampa’s annual Gasparilla festival. Now Seth had no choice but to step in and assume the eye patch himself. He’d spent too many years building his company’s reputation to have it compromised by any screwups with this very public assignment.

Someone had to abduct a wench.

Actually, several festivalgoers would be carried off by the marauding raiders, but the lead pirate at the front of the boat would no doubt be captured on film for the six o’clock news. When the actor hired to play the role had quit, Seth hadn’t wanted to hand over the part to just anyone. What if his last-minute fill-in copped a feel in full view of the media? Or what if the stand-in dropped the person he was supposed to be carrying?

Lawsuit alert!

Without résumés and references in front of him, Seth wouldn’t risk it. He’d strapped on a dagger, stripped out of his shirt, kicked off his Italian loafers and vaulted barefoot aboard the Jose Gaspar at the last minute.

Now, as the ship sailed at the head of a flotilla around Harbour Island toward thousands of waiting festival attendees on shore, Seth wished he hadn’t been born so damn responsible. He didn’t want to spend his Saturday leering at giggling maidens as part of the festival’s entertainment.

Seth scanned the crowds lining the docking area in front of the convention center, searching for appropriate candidates for mock abduction. He dismissed the hordes of tourists braving the mild February weather in string bikinis. The last thing he needed was some racy media photo of himself with a beach babe thrown over his shoulder. He was definitely going for a local—a woman with enough clothes on to ensure he wouldn’t look like a sleaze-ball for touching too much bare skin.

Bad enough he was half-naked. He didn’t need the added trouble—or temptation—of a scantily clad woman in his arms.

All he had to do was find a safe woman, maybe a grandmotherly type, who would enjoy the adventure and generate great P.R. for Chandler Enterprises. He’d carry her off to the boat his brother had waiting for him, then treat her to dinner for her trouble. He could bring her back to the city later tonight.

Simple.

Piece of cake, in fact, for a man who managed international mergers, could read financial newspapers in a dozen languages and had compiled enough venture capital to support himself and a small army for the rest of their lives.

He slapped his eye patch back down over his brow and clamped his teeth around a blunt dagger as the ship moved into position in front of the partiers on shore.

How much trouble could abducting a wench possibly be?

MIA QUENTIN elbowed her way to the front of the string bikini crowd, hoping to catch a peek at the incoming ship full of pirates, her last chance for adventure. Determined to put herself in the path of the first marauding invader she spied, Mia simmered with restless energy and uncharacteristic daring.

Damned if she didn’t feel downright dangerous.

She tucked a red hibiscus behind her ear and draped long brown hair over her shoulder. She just hoped one of those pirates appreciated a more artistic approach to fashion than a bikini made of dental floss. Mia happened to think her long floral sarong and black silk halter-top were much more evocative than the blatant message sent by miles of naked legs.

Then again, her knowledge of seduction was about as limited as the other women’s scanty outfits. She’d been avoiding adventure—and men—for the past three years. Somehow she’d ended up practically celibate in an effort to assure her grandparents she wasn’t following in the footsteps of her reckless mother—a woman who’d missed most of Mia’s childhood in favor of chasing any surfer skimming past her beach lounger.

But Mia wasn’t in her Twin Palms hometown now. She’d carved out a whole week to play in Tampa before she had to get down to business—wheedling a few months’ extension from the bank on a mortgage note for the family tourist shop.