Perfect Need – Seven Tales of Love and Passion by Barbara L.B. Storey
Close your eyes.
Fall in love.
Stay there.
~ Rumi
You never know who you’ll fall in love with, or why, or whether it’s a good idea – ask Rowan in A Star, A Stone. A sudden rainstorm – Stormy Weather – or even an exercise class – The Queen of Heaven – can be the spark that creates abandon and exhilarating passion between two lovers. In Dolce, a full-course Italian meal prepared with love whets . . . other appetites.
The stories in Perfect Need explore what love and passion can become, how they can affect two people for a moment, or for a lifetime; when they tumble into a love they never expected; when they decide it’s worth the risk to stay . . . or not.
Description
Find more from this author on:
About the author:
She always loves hearing from readers. Her personal blog – which is the springboard for a memoir that will explore “one person, many lives” – can be found at http://storeylines.net.
What inspired you to write your book?
My writing is basically my fantasies, my idea of what love could or should be, in a perfect world. I share them with my readers because I think I’m not the only one who has these fantasies!
Here is a short sample from the book:
From PERFECT NEED – SEVEN TALES OF LOVE AND PASSION
by Barbara L.B. Storey
A Star, a Stone
. . . one moment your life is a stone in you, and the next, a star.
~ “Sunset”, Rainer Maria Rilke
“I must be out of my mind.”
I look around at the beautiful, deserted beach; just a few kite-flyers here and there. The trees on the foreshore and the cliffs behind us hide this area from the main road very well. That’s why he’d picked Shelley Beach, I was sure of it; it can be pretty secluded, especially during the week.
“Why?” Rowan asks with a smirk. “Are you afraid Lee will find out you’re here? He splashes a bare foot into the remnants of a wave being dragged back out into the bay.
I give him a withering look. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I be afraid of him?”
The truth is, I broke up with Lee almost three months ago. I’ve just never mentioned it because, even absent, an older, rather large boyfriend is at least something of a deterrent. Rowan’s on a campaign to break down my resistance to . . . us. The lie definitely gives me an advantage. At least that’s what I tell myself.
Certain key words also create an illusion of safe space for me. “No, I think I’m more afraid of your mother, actually. She’d rip my eyes out, I’m sure, if she knew I was here with you.”
Now it was his turn to give me the “if looks could kill” glare. “If you bring up my mother one more time. . . . ”
“What? I think, under different circumstances, we’d be the best of friends, she and I. After all, I’m just about as close to her age as I am—”
He stops in his tracks and grabs hold of my arm. He isn’t being rough, by any means, but his grip is enough to make me wince slightly.
“Why are you trying to hurt me, Lill?” His voice is quiet, and he is hurt. I can hear it.
I close my eyes and take in a long, deep breath. “Rowan . . . I’m trying to keep us both from making a big mistake.”
Mistakes. . . . I knew I was in trouble the first moment I laid eyes on him, last fall. His parents had just bought an apartment in my building. I met them first, actually, down in the lobby; they were waiting for him there one afternoon. Going out to dinner, I believe. He took one look at me, and something happened between us—just like that. Something I desperately wish never had.
Because he had been seventeen then. Was eighteen now—as if that makes a difference. And I’m almost thirty.
I’ve never actually told him how old I am; he has an idea, I’m sure, but he doesn’t need specifics. It’s bad enough that I know. Nothing good can come of this, I keep telling myself. But . . . I still can’t send him away.
He stares at me for several moments before he speaks again. “I think I’m old enough to make my own mistakes, thank you. And besides, I don’t think of you as a mistake. I’m sorry that’s the way you think of me.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Don’t try to protect me.”
Several seconds of accusing stares later, and I’m the one who finally looks away. He’ll take that as a victory. I know him well enough to know that.
Sure enough, his hand slides down my arm and curls itself around my fingers. “Can’t we just have a nice afternoon at the beach? Some time alone, for a change?”
I roll my eyes at him, even though—somewhere inside—I’m shaking. From fear or desire, I’m not sure which at the moment. “Time alone is not what we need.”
“I think it is.” He’s being stubborn. More than usual. I mean, he did get me to drive to this bloody beach on the other side of the bay just so we could be alone and unseen.
Hedging for time, I gaze out over the water, watching the waves get wilder. Far away down the beach, someone’s kite takes a sharp nose-dive and almost crashes into the surf before catching an updraft and soaring into the sky again.
“Why did I let you bring me here?” It’s a question that doesn’t require an answer, but he gives one anyway.
“You know. ‘Your place or mine?’ isn’t exactly an option for us.”
He drops down to sit on the sand, and then tugs at the hem of my shorts, trying to get me down there, too. I relent, and then we have to scoot back a little as the next wave comes in, a little closer to us than the last.
And I remember, as we sit, the first time he came to my apartment. It was the day after we’d met in the lobby. Turned out that the apartment is a vacation home for his family; he’s from America, but his parents have friends here and like to visit often enough to justify keeping their own place. Obviously, they have money. He’d made sure to find out my name, and what floor I was on (one below him) before he and his parents left, and he’d simply shown up at my door the next morning. I didn’t want to be rude; I let him in. So it’s my own fault, really.
After that, he would simply arrive at my door every time they were in town. His parents went shopping, or visiting friends, and he came up with reasons he had to stay home instead. We talked, got to know each other. I could see he was exceptional for his age—but he was out of bounds. No way was what he clearly had in mind going to happen. And then, one day, he kissed me. Before I could stop him.
“Don’t do that!”
“Why not? Was I that bad at it?”
“Yes. Terrible.”
“Liar.”
Any sane woman of my age would have shown a seventeen-year-old boy the door for trying that. If I had, he wouldn’t have tried again. He wouldn’t have kept finding excuses to touch me every chance he got. He wouldn’t have thought it was all right for him to . . . fall in love. If I had, we wouldn’t be here, on Shelley Beach, right now. But I didn’t. I let him stay, I let him come back, time after time. Today is my fault.
I sit beside him, and watch another kite—a small red one—soar so high into the sky, it almost disappears. A second later, the breeze that carried it heavenward throws it down, and the kite crashes back to earth, splintered by the impact.
He’s looking at me; I can feel the pressure of his stare. When I finally look back at him, his expression is hovering somewhere between passion and anger.
“I love you. You believe me, I know you do. Why will you not let me near you? I’m not some—”
“Some self-centred, heartless little rich boy who wants what he wants, now? Some kid who wants to fuck an older woman just to see what it’s like, and then move on?” I push the words out from between clenched teeth.
His face goes blank with shock, as if I was suddenly a stranger to him. As if I’d suddenly slapped him. He doesn’t understand: I said those words deliberately, to hurt him and drive him away. I’m tempted to stop right there, not another word. Let him think, let him wonder. . . . But I can’t do it. Not to him. I turn away, turn my back to him, so I can say what I really have to say.
“I wish you were, Rowan. Christ, I wish you were that person. It would make things so much easier.”
“Oh, really?” he says softly. His voice is so cold, it makes me shiver.
“Yes. Because then we could have a fling. Nothing important, just a little . . . interlude. And then you’d go on your way, and. . . .”
I pause and look around, right into his beautiful, angry face.
“And I’d be the only one to get hurt,” I whisper.
His expression shifts from angry to bewildered in a second. It’s plain that, whatever he was expecting me to say, this was not it. He can’t think of an answer, and after a few moments, he simply stares into the distance, his eyes squinting slightly in the late afternoon sun as he takes my words in.
“But that’s not who you are, and that’s what makes it worse.” I go on, ripping at my own heart, hoping I’m doing some damage to his as well. Maybe I can stop this yet. “Yes, I know you love me. I know you want more than sex from me. I know . . . that I love you, too. But this is impossible. We are impossible. If we go down this road, nothing good will come of it. I’m certain of that. I don’t want that kind of pain, and I certainly don’t want it for you. Can you imagine what people would say? They will not understand, and it would be . . . wrong, very wrong of me to put you in the way of that kind of judgment.”
I stop and look into his face again, trying to guess what he’s thinking as he continues to stare out across the waves, the wind playing wildly through his hair. At last he shakes his head, and I can tell by the set of his jaw that he’s not listening to me. Or not willing to believe me.
“So . . . you’re saying it’s because I love you that you won’t let me make love to you.”
He turns to look at me, silently demanding an answer. I nod.
“Now who’s being ridiculous?” His eyes are flashing—again, not just from anger. The force of his emotions is almost enough to knock me over. Once again, before I can stop him, his hands are on me, he’s turning me back around and putting his arms around me, he’s kissing me. If I don’t say “no” right now . . . I’m lost.
I let him lay me down on the sand. I let him kiss me until we’re both breathless and the water is washing up around our toes. I look up into those clear, blue eyes that have gone beyond intense and think: How did he know I wouldn’t stop him this time? I can’t . . . walk away from him anymore.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Are we done talking now?” He’s determined not to lose his advantage. What he thinks is his advantage. “If we are, I have something to show you.”
Quickly, he jumps up and grabs my hands. “Come on!” And I allow him to pull me to my feet, and lead me wherever he wants to go.
“My friend Terry brought me out here a couple of weeks ago.” He’s explaining this to me as he half-drags me toward an even quieter, less populated part of the beach. “I did a bit of exploring, and when I found this, I knew I had to bring you here.”
Then I see where he’s headed. Tucked back in a remote spot, under a high, overgrown cliff face, there’s an archway. He’s found a cave. Oh, Jesus . . . he really means to do this.
I stop in my tracks, digging my heels into the sand. Jerked to a stop at arm’s length by the weight of my body, he turns back to look at me, puzzled.
“What? It’s a place for us to be alone.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, I told you.”
Closing the short gap between us, he puts one arm around me and with the other hand smoothes back the hair the wind is whipping around my face.
“Look me in the eyes, Lill, and tell me you don’t want to go in there with me.”
“Rowan, I don’t want to go in there with you.” I half mean it, too.
His confidence falters for a moment, then the stubborn look comes back. He takes hold of my arms and pulls me in tight against him. “Liar.”
I hold myself tensed, trying not to feel anything, trying to resist the warmth, the scent of him, so close. But I’m not that strong; now that I’m in his arms, I don’t know how I ever told myself I was. “Yes. Yes, I am,” I finally whisper in defeat, and slump against his chest.
Taking my hand, he almost runs toward the cave, forcing me to run, too, to keep up. We reach the archway, bend to fit under it, and we’re inside….
***
© 2013 Barbara L.B. Storey
Related products
-
Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance by Jean Oram
One woman. Two men. One meddling small town.
Raised by her older sister in the small town of Blueberry Springs, all Beth Wilkinson wants is to create a family so big she’ll never be alone. Things are going great until her accountant fiancé, Oz, experiences a family trauma, forcing him to rethink everything from his own career to their nuptial plans—leaving Beth alone.
As Beth works to rediscover her former bold and independent self in hopes of re-attracting Oz, she catches the eye of the charming new city doctor, Nash. Not only does he see her as she’d like to be seen, but he knows exactly what he wants from life—and that includes Beth.
Torn between the two men, as well as two versions of herself, Beth discovers that love and dreams are much more complicated than they seem.
A chick lit contemporary romance that will appeal to fans of Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, and Meg Cabot, and will have readers wondering who the hell Beth should choose.
Coffee Break by Hayet Brach
A girl putting herself on display. An unexpected guest. A couple overwhelmed by desire. Three new tales of love and lust – enticing, enthralling, and exciting.
Includes the stories ‘Coffee Break’, ‘The Guest’ and ‘Something In The Water’.
Three Happy Endings (Secrets, Surprises and Submission: Three Passionate Romances from New York Times Bestselling Author) by Opal Carew
“TOP 15 B&N BESTSELLER (THREE)
TOP 100 E ROMANCE ON AMAZON (THREE)
Three men are better than one…
Secrets, surprises, and submission – three torrid tales of triple passion!
THREE
Hot steamy dreams… a sexy stranger… and his two brothers… all add up to a sexy adventure she’ll never forget.
Lori’s steamy dreams about a hot hard stranger are hitting fever pitch. She needs way more than eye contact and a smile across a crowded subway station. An instant connection sizzled between them and now Lori, who’s never believed in love at first sight, is its helpless victim.
When Lori goes to her best friend’s cabin for the weekend to spend time with Marie, her new husband and his brothers, she’s surprised to wind up face-to-face with her fantasy stranger. But he’s Marie’s husband!
When she meets his brothers, however, she finds that there just might be a way to make her dream come true.
Now Lori is experiencing her wildest fantasy yet, three ultra-sexy men all focused on her. But she wants more than a steamy dream brought to life. Because she’s in love. But can her sexy stranger return her love?
Note: This intriguing short story is scorching hot, with more than one handsome hunk to bring your wildest fantasies to life. Consider yourself warned!
THREE MEN AND A BRIDE
What do you do when you can’t stop lusting after your new husband’s two gorgeous brothers?
Can Marie successfully suppress her fantasies of the three brothers making wild, luxuriant love to her, or will she have to endanger her happy marriage by admitting her feelings to her husband, Drake?
Although this is the second story in the erotic THREE series, this steamy read is the prequel to Three. You can enjoy Three Men and a Bride on it’s own, or after you have read THREE.
THREE SECRETS
Keeping one secret is intriguing. Two is naughty. Three… deserves to be punished.
Sharing secrets has never been so exhilarating…
When they met in Paris, Nicole and Abel enjoyed a sensual, romantic two month fling. The last thing Nicole wanted was to fall head over heels for this sweet, loving man, because she knew he would never accept the truth about her. Unfortunately, the heart wants what it wants, and hers wanted Abel. But Nicole was not one to be controlled by anyone or anything, so once they returned home, she walked away.
When the pain of losing Abel became too much, Nicole finally decided to share her secret with him. Little did she know he had a secret of his own.
Will Abel’s secret extinguish Nicole’s craving for him once and for all? Will Nicole’s revelation bring Abel to his knees?
This is a collection of super hot short stories.
Length: 25,500 words
Plus excerpts from The Office Slave (Volume 1 of The Office Slave Series) and His To Possess (about billionaires, bikers and bad boys all rolled into one).”
The problem of getting Rich Quik … part one by S M Mala
When you’re single and in need of hot love, both emotionally and physically, you think your options are limited. It’s just one glimmer of hope that could turn it all around, even if it involves falling back into bed with the trickiest bastard of them all, Richard Hayden-Quik, a man with a reputation of being a stud muffin on Viagra.
It was only six years before Lily spotted Richard, a successful film director, her aim to get Rich Quik – seduced by his looks, charm and the size of his wallet. Even her best friend Dominic knows it won’t be easy especially as Richard’s super bitch PA, Rosana, will do anything to stop Lily getting to her boss.
But she knows he’s a tricky bastard with a checkered past, a long term lover and a best friend who hates her guts. The road to her one true love is littered with female bodies and she’s not sure if she’s a match for a man who thinks monogamy is a type of wood. And she is the last one to realize he has an ulterior motive for being with her.
Lily hopes she can get Richard though life’s sudden shocks, twist and turns have the greatest possibility of making her literally lose everything she loves… all due to the problem of getting Rich Quik.
Sex With Strangers (8 super short erotic tales) by Natalie Foxe
A collection of 8 filthy erotic tales. Sex With Strangers indulges into this mysterious ‘no strings’ world where two sexy strangers come together for pure adulterous pleasure! No relationships, no emotions…just raw sex! Each tale is guaranteed to steam up your screen and make you squirm in your seat. This collection is designed to be quick bites of lust to be read individually or collectively. Ideal for bedtime quickies. Come inside and explore a world many have only ever dreamed of…
Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker
Click: An Online Love Story – Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night,” to the egotistical “B”celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC’s, FWD’s and inadvertent Reply to All’s, readers will root for Renee to “click” with the right man.
SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits by Erin Quinn, Caridad Pineiro, Erin Kellison, Lisa Kessler, Chris Marie Green, Mary Leo, Maureen Child, Cassi Carver, Janet Wellington, Theresa Meyers, Sheri Whitefeather, Elisabeth Staab
Bad boys, tortured alpha heroes, and kick-ass heroines all come together in 12 steamy full-length paranormal romance novels and novellas from NY Times, USA Today, and national bestselling authors! Whether you’re looking for tantalizing dark tales or the humorous side of the supernatural, you’ll get werewolves, vampires, fallen angels, monster hunters, and ghosts—every one of them a hot temptation you won’t be able to resist…
DIABLO SPRINGS by Erin Quinn: Gracie Beck vowed that she would never to return to Diablo Springs, but the haunted town lures her back—along with the man who betrayed her years ago. Reilly broke her heart with his lies. Now, he wants a second chance to win her, but can they survive the ghosts of Diablo Springs?
VAMPIRE REBORN by Caridad Pineiro: Would you be reborn for love? Ryder Latimer, sexy Southern vampire, will have to make one of the most difficult choices in his undead life: Become human again or protect his new wife and child.
SHADOW FALL by Erin Kellison: Just discovering her magic, ballerina Annabella Ames didn’t mean to summon a dark wolf from Twilight, nor the tempting fallen angel Custo Santovari, who has no place in Heaven. The cunning wolf stalks them relentlessly, and danger seduces as they fight for redemption and love.
NIGHT ANGEL by Lisa Kessler: When Colin Flynn returns home to Ireland, the immortal Night Walker’s flesh has healed, but the scars hide a broken spirit. Juliana Duffy plays piano in spite of her deafness, challenging him to redefine himself and find the strength to battle an ancient enemy.
SHADOWS TILL SUNRISE by Chris Marie Green: Two monster hunters fighting a star-crossed attraction and one bloodthirsty phantom leaving a trail of death… Can love survive till the sun rises?
A SHADOW AT TWILIGHT by Mary Leo: They say Hotel Colorado is haunted, but when Dillon Spencer appears in his hotel room to find Hilly Thompson, his assistant, soaking in the tub, he begins to question whether or not he’s alive, dead, or caught in another dimension.
MORE THAN FIENDS by Maureen Child: At 32, Cassidy Burke discovers she’s a legendary Demon Duster. But she’s got bigger problems than some pesky demons. Like, Logan Miller–first love, baby daddy to her genius daughter is back. Then there’s Devlin Cole, a walking orgasm with too many secrets. Cassidy’s life is out of control and about to get way too interesting.
IMMORTAL POSSESSION by Cassi Carver: When Dr. Evelyn Vale is paired with Immortal Bounty’s sexy commander to go undercover and infiltrate a supernatural body-trafficking ring, she’s eager to get to work. Until she learns the catch… To crack this case, he’ll need to possess her body.
FOREVER ROSE by Janet Wellington: Tarot cards predict a dangerous journey for Taylor Rose, but she doesn’t expect to travel back to 1888 San Diego. What the cards didn’t predict was falling for a man bent on revenge, a helpful ghost, and spooky séances. Is she there to prevent a murder or to find love?
WELCOME HOME, VAMPIRE by Theresa Meyers: Corporal Cole Wagner lost his humanity in war – literally. Turned into a vampire by the military’s Vector Force, he’s the ultimate weapon, but when he returns home to set the past right, will the enemy stop at nothing to get him, including threatening the life of the woman he loved, and lost, before?
VAMPIRE MAGIC (Blood Genie, books 1 and 2) by Sheri Whitefeather: Two tenderly romantic, wildly erotic stories featuring supernatural hybrids (vampires/genies) who grant wishes for the exchange of blood.
WILD NIGHTS WITH A LONE WOLF by Elisabeth Staab: A mandatory vacation lands Agent Sherri Walker in bed with a local werewolf. Asher Hughes walked away from his outlaw pack but couldn’t ditch the bad blood. Together they’ll have to pull off one hell of an act to get out of treacherous territory alive.
Killer Romances: 10 Dark, Deadly & Delicious Suspense Novels by Dana Delamar, Tallulah Grace, Sandy Loyd, Kristine Mason, Dale Mayer, Nina Pierce, Chantel Rhondeau, K.T. Roberts, H.D. Thomson, and Susan Vaughan
Ten of today’s hottest romantic suspense authors have joined forces to bring you an amazing boxed set of ten full-length novels–all for one low price! Romance, mystery, and thrills abound in these dark, deadly, and delicious tales of lethally sexy heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. Love bad boys? We’ve got ’em. Love good guys? We’ve got them too! There’s something for everyone who picks up this red-hot bundle. Ready to dive in?
Books included:
Dana Delamar ~ REVENGE (Blood and Honor, #1)
Amazon Bestselling Author Tallulah Grace ~ Cliffs of Starsdale
Bestselling Author Sandy Loyd ~ Deadly Misconceptions
Kristine Mason ~ Shadow of Perception (Book 2 CORE Shadow Trilogy)
USA Today Bestselling Author Dale Mayer ~ Haunted by Death (By Death Series Book 2)
USA Today Bestselling Author Nina Pierce ~ Blind Her With Bliss, Book 1 of the Dangerous Affairs Series
Chantel Rhondeau ~ Love & Deception (Agents in Love – Book 1)
Amazon Bestselling Author K.T. Roberts ~ The Last Witness
Award-winning Author H.D. Thomson ~ Shrouded in Darkness – Book 1
Award-winning Author Susan Vaughan ~ Primal Obsession
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.