Title: Protecting Alabama
Author: Susan Stoker
Release Date: Oct 17, 2014
Find on Goodreads
Alabama didn’t have a good start to life. Emotionally and physically abused by her mama, Alabama spent her high school years in foster care. People let her down, time after time, and she’d learned to rely on only herself.
Christopher “Abe” Powers earned his nickname because he tolerated nothing less than absolute honesty from the people around him. Finding the bar scene stale and having watched his friend and teammate, Wolf, find the woman of his dreams, Abe was determined to find someone to share his life with too.
Alabama and Abe had no idea their paths would cross and their prayers would be answered, but like most things in life, nothing is ever as easy as it seems at first. Two words would change both their lives and they’d have to fight hard for their happy ever after.
**Protecting Alabama is the 2nd book in the SEAL of Protection Series. It can be read as a stand-alone, but it’s recommended you read the books in order to get maximum enjoyment out of the series.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Paperback
“I want to kiss you sweet. Will you let me?”
Alabama simply nodded.
The hand at her cheek shifted to the back of her neck. He’d cupped her in a firm but strangely gentle grip and shifted closer to her. He’d rested his forehead against hers and just held her there for a moment.
“I’ve been wanting to do this since you opened your door to me last week. You have no idea…”
Then he brought his other hand up to her face and cupped it. She was sandwiched between the hand at the back of her neck and the one on her face. She didn’t feel trapped, she felt protected. Christopher tilted her head just so and swooped in for his kiss. For some reason Alabama had thought he’d take it slow. Everything he’d done so far had been easy and gentle, but this kiss wasn’t either of those.
It was a confident kiss, a kiss that demanded she open and let him in. And she did. Alabama didn’t hold back. Their lips met and immediately parted. She felt his tongue do an initial sweep of her mouth then retreat to tease and caress her lips before plunging back in. Alabama tried to keep up, swirling her tongue around his and at one point taking his tongue and sucking on it. She thought she’d feel awkward and uneasy, but she’d been so aroused she didn’t have time to be embarrassed or uneasy.
At that point Christopher took the hand that had been on her cheek and put it on her back and laid her down against the cushions of the couch. He kept his hand at her neck supporting her head as he eased her down. Alabama didn’t even notice…until she felt his hardness against her. He never stopped his sensual exploration of her mouth, but she could feel his strength over her. He wasn’t crushing her, in fact his body felt good pressing against hers. She could feel his length against her leg; he was hard, all over.
Alabama breathed in through her nose and pressed her head back, breaking contact with his lips. Without missing a beat Christopher had leaned down and put his mouth against her neck, nipping and sucking lightly. Her breath came out in pants and she tried to get her brain to start working again.
“Now that was a kiss,” she’d said breathlessly. She heard him chuckle against her throat before he moved up and nipped her earlobe.
“You make me lose my mind, sweet.”
One part of Alabama wanted to do nothing more than stand up and lead him to her small bed in the corner, but the other part of her was terrified. She’d trusted before and been let down. She didn’t think he’d break her trust, but she wasn’t certain yet.
She’d brought her hands down from his back where she’d been clutching at him and put them on his chest. He’d immediately reared up so he could see her face. Of course that pushed his erection harder into her thigh, making her blush. He’d laughed and kissed her lightly on the nose. He sat them both up and brought her into his side.
“Thank you Alabama, that was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”
Protecting Caroline (#1) – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Paperback
Protecting Fiona (#3) – Coming Dec 29 – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She is quite the romantic and even met the love of her life on "Hotmail classified" before online dating and sites like match.com even existed!
Susan has been reading romance novels since middle school and once crossed out the names of the main characters in a book and changed them to her own and to the name of her crush. She's been writing scenes for years, developing her unique writing style.
Susan loves writing but her true passion is adopting dogs from rescue groups and shelters. Susan and her husband have had a total of nine "rescued" dogs since 2000 including a variety of basset hounds and bloodhounds. She has recently branched out and adopted a basset/terrier mix who acts more like a terrier than a basset (i.e. digging, eating a couch and being hyper).
If you enjoyed this book, or any book, please consider leaving a review.
Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads
