Mirror Image Excerpt:

Stepping up to the bed, Red looked down at her, wondering who she was. Troubleshooter. Badass. Gorgeous. She had bounty hunter written all over her. Derrick was a jackass, and going to get himself landed in a plexi-cage, bound and full of wires. His gaze hesitated on her chest, and saw her nipples beaded high and thick. Then again... every man needed a proud way to go.

His fists clenched again, wanting to flick the little bumps, wondering how she'd react, if they were sensitive or not. He wondered if she'd moan, or arch. If she was a talkative lover, passionate or playful. He smiled, remembering the glad greed on her face when she saw the two Molten Blues. She'd pulled them forward and sucked hard, that red, puffy mouth puckered.

His erection sprang up again and he turned to go. Her breathing was steady. She seemed fine.

"Don't go."

He froze with his hand hovering over the door plate. And his head swirled from the blood pouring into his metal-hard rod.

He turned. "I didn't mean to wake you up. How do you feel?"

Stretching in one long slink of woman, her hands strained high above her head. "A little achy. Nothing a rub down wouldn't cure." She blinked long black lashes at him, her light eyes gleaming.

He still wasn't even sure what color they were. Gray-blue of some sort.

"Are you good at rub downs, Red?"

A pang twisted his heart. His name was Frederick. Or it used to be. Since the storm... maybe he wasn't Frederick anymore. Maybe he was someone new. Maybe they both were.

"Actually, I am." It was true. He had a knack for finding knots in muscle, and working along the strip until they flattened away.

"Somehow I knew you would be. Would you help a girl out?" Her lashes swept down over her cheeks, and she licked her lips, leaving them gleaming.

"I'm sure it's not a good idea. You should just take a minute in the cleaning chamber. The jets are as good as a massage."

"Hmmm. I doubt that." She sat up, the sheet falling to her waist, that incredible cleavage on display.

Shimmying her ass, she rucked up her dress, and he glimpsed the black satin panties he'd seen earlier when he'd examined her.

Lifting one arm as graceful as a dancer, she unsealed a seam. "How did you get to be good at rub downs?"

He swallowed. "My cousin was a dancer. She used to come home from hours at the studio and ask me to help her. It wasn't gross or anything, but I did, and she gave me direction. I even read up on it a bit to get better."

"So, you've never given lovers a rub down?" Keeping her gaze downcast, she held her loosened dress to her chest.

"Yeah. I've given lovers massages."

"Good." With one twist of her arms, her dress was up and over her head, her high round breasts falling a bit without the dress to support them. Her nipples were dark brown, her skin lightly tanned. Her hair swished down her spine, and she tossed the scrap of fabric to the floor. Sitting back on her braced arms, she smiled at him, sleepy and pleased.

He imagined he could feel her body heat reach out to him across the cool cabin.

"This bed is big, my back aches like a guy tried to pancake me against a ship, and I have every intention of enjoying your hands all over me." Her chin tipped to a challenging angle, her silver eyes direct.

His erection had picked up a heartbeat. "You'd trust me to take care of you, after we took you away?"

She licked her lips again, and nodded. "I do. Especially you, Red. I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. In my line of work it's important to be able to read people, and I read you as a decent, honest guy."

She kicked off the sheet, then rolled to her belly, pillowing her head on her arms. "Come down here."

He should turn right around and leave. This wasn't good. It wasn't right. Something about her was off. Derrick had staked his claim. But it wasn't her command that held him. It was her words that said she saw him as a unique person. Especially you...

More Reviews:

Two Lips Reviews (Merrylee) 4 Kisses

"I loved the aspect that they weren't cerebral carbon copies, but rather diverse halves of the same whole. Red, my favorite of the two, was the softer, more sensitive side of Frederick's former self, yet he was the one willing to sacrifice himself so that Derrick and Mara could live. Still, as much as I liked Red, I wouldn't have been able to choose between them anymore than Mara could. ... The sex scenes in this book absolutely smolder. They're well-written and contribute to telling the story by differentiating the men's personalities. At times, Mara needed the softer, more perceptive side of Frederick and at other times, she needed his fiercer, more dominating side."

Just Erotic Romance Reviews (Elizabeth Charles) Rating: 4

"Mirror Image was a very thought provoking story. ... The storyline had a good amount of action and the plotline quickly progressed. The novel had a strong ratio of sex to storyline. ... If you like an interesting premise, give Mirror Image a try."