Uncover Me
by Linda Barlow
Publication Date: August 18, 2014
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Synopsis: ELLIE:
All I did was take a few pictures. I didn't realize I was witnessing a crime.
I was hoping for a kick-ass adventure when I set off on my dream vacation. Instead, I've fallen in with a ruthless band of thieves.
Kidnapped, bound, and ordered to submit, I'm stuck on a yacht with a sun-bronzed pirate who caught me photographing his antiquities-smuggling operation. He doesn't want me tagging along any more than I want to be here. But that hasn't stopped him from finding a use for me.
NICK:
She thinks I'm hard-assed. Dominating. Cruel. But I've got a dirty job to do. It has required months of scheming, a billionaire's yacht, and a shitload of priceless stolen artifacts.
I'm not about to be distracted by one inconvenient redhead. Even if she is supremely fuckable and oh-so-sweet when I have her on her knees.
She probably doesn't realize it, but I'm doing my best to protect her. There are guys here a lot badder than me. But I can't allow her to mess up my plans. There's no place in my life for softer emotions, and no space in my body for a heart.
UNCOVER ME is a contemporary romantic suspense novel with a touch of darkness. Intended for mature audiences.
Excerpt:
I shook back my long hair, which was falling into my face.
"People will be looking for me. When I don't check in with my mother and
my friends, they'll call the authorities. You won't get away with this."
He smiled thinly. "We'll see."
"The sensible thing would be to take the yacht into
shore and drop me off. I'm a complication that you don't need."
"The sensible thing would be to weigh your body down
with something heavy and drop you overboard. It's an option that will remain on
the table while I assess what other uses I can put you to."
The uses I pictured were scary and degrading. It was nothing
but bravado that kept me from curling up in a ball. "I won't be used by
any man, so stop threatening me."
His eyes darkened and he grabbed me, fisting a handful of my
hair. It hurt. "You're frightened and trying to cope. I get that. But
you've landed in the middle of a fucked-up mess, and it's gonna get worse.
Right now, I'm your best hope of staying alive, so don't piss me off. Do
exactly what I order you to do, and maybe you'll survive. Defy me, and you're
dead."
I noted for the first time that there were dark circles
under those large eyes of his, that he was weary and not quite as much in
control as he was pretending to be.
"I don't want you here," he went on. "You've
no idea what a complication your presence poses. It would have been far more
convenient to shoot you and toss your body into the sea. Maybe you haven't
realized how close you came to endless night."
I felt the sweat break out again. He'd chanced upon a
metaphor that called up my worst anxieties. So I continued to beat at him,
knowing no other defense except attack.
"So I should thank you for saving my life? Am I
expected to lie back, spread my legs, and express my gratitude? Is that what
you mean by obeying your orders?"
He still had the knife in one hand. He saw me staring at it
and his knuckles whitened around the handle. "As a matter of fact,
yes," he said coldly. "If I tell you to strip, you will strip. If I
tell you to spread your legs for me, you will do so. If I order you to drop to
your knees and suck me off, you will do that, too, and gracefully. If you
disobey me, you will be punished."
He grabbed the shirt he'd stripped off and pulled it over
his head. Then he opened the door to the cabin and exited. I heard the key turn
on the outside; I heard him stomp away. Then there was silence, except for the
pounding of the sea, and my own heart.
About Linda Barlow
Linda Barlow is the author of 23 novels in various genres, including family sagas, historical and contemporary romance, romantic suspense, erotic romance, and general mainstream fiction.
Publishers have included Doubleday, Dell, Penguin, Warner Books, New American Library/Signet, Berkley/Putnam, Silhouette and Harlequin. Her books have been translated into approximately 20 foreign languages.
Her romances have won numerous industry awards, including the Rita from Romance Writers of America (1989), Best New Historical Romance Author from Romantic Times (1986) and a Lifetime Achievement award from Romantic Times. She also contributed two essays to Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, a collection of scholarly essays on the enduring appeal of the romance. This book won the Susan Koppelman Award for Excellence in Feminist Studies of Popular Culture and American Culture in 1993.
Linda is now indie publishing and loving it! She is updating her backlist and writing new novels, too. The first book to be rewritten and indie-published is the new edition of her classic historical romance, Fires of Destiny, which was a finalist for the Rita Award in 1987 (available now!).
Linda served as President of Novelists, Inc. in 1992 and did two three-year terms on the Executive Council of the Authors Guild in the 1990s. She was Romance Writers of America’s keynote speaker at the annual conference in 1989.
When she is not at her computer writing, she is likely to be reading. She can't imagine what her life would be like without books!
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