Gray's Girl Read online

  Make the line, make the line, she chanted in her head as he ran, heavily muscled legs pumping, driving him toward the try line. The opposition marshaled their defenses, several solid-looking players running to intercept, but the camera stayed on Gray, picking up the silver web of scars over his left leg that told the tale of his near-death injuries and determined recovery.

  “Gray has the ball. God, look at him go—There’s the gap. Gray is through!”

  Her back ached, stomach muscles tightening into a hard band, but Frankie ignored it as she held her breath with the rest of the fans in the stadium. As though he ran with wings on his heels, Leighton brushed off the last of the tacklers and threw himself into the air. A graceful arc, his huge body stretched to the maximum as he reached with the ball…

  And slammed it down.

  “Try!” the commentator bellowed as the crowd went wild. Cheers and bellows erupted from the stands as the clock went into overtime. It didn’t matter; with one last run her husband had secured the Wolves’ victory. The kick would be converted, a mere formality not captured on screen as the commentator rabbited on.

  “Gray has the try, sealing the deal on his first match back at national level. I swear, this guy is amazing. Since he came back from injury, there’s literally been no stopping him…”

  Smiling as the players milled about on the pitch, swarming over Leighton and raising him high on their shoulders, Frankie picked up her bag and slowly made her way down from the families’ area toward the changing rooms.

  Slow was the word. Just days before her due date, she didn’t walk, she waddled, and even the stewards watched her with a wary eye as she paused for a moment to catch her breath.

  “Shh, Mummy’s here,” she murmured, rubbing her hard belly as she finally reached the bottom of the steps and headed toward the players’ area. The clatter of boots in the corridor behind warned her that the Wolves were coming off the pitch, but she carried on at her dogged pace.

  “Hey Frankie!”

  “Looking good, pretty lady.”

  Several commented as they passed, their expressions tired but triumphant as they headed for hot showers and, in several cases, medical treatment. She waved as they went, stopping again to catch her breath.

  “Hey sexy, what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

  The familiar voice sounded behind her, stroking along her spine like a silken caress. Turning in place, she watched as Leighton walked toward her, his gait smooth with only a slight limp on his left side. He’d done fantastically, proving all the doctors wrong and regaining almost all the strength back in his damaged leg. Determination and stubbornness served him well as he fought to regain his dream and return to the pitch. He had, and as he’d just proven, he was faster and stronger than before.

  “Hey, handsome.” Her fingers tightened on the corner of the wall as she smiled at him. “Just come down to see if I can pick up a handsome player. You’ll do. How quick can you shower?”

  His eyes darkened as he reached her, looking down at her with a mixture of love and desire that hadn’t wavered in the year they’d been married. If anything, it had grown stronger. His gaze dropped to her swollen belly and the look softened for a second, becoming protective, before it hardened again, that feral, sexy edge in it that she loved.

  “If you’re waiting for me in a cubicle, two shakes of a lamb’s tail…” he murmured, moving in closer, his expression suggestive.

  Pain lanced through her, and she gasped. Then grinned.

  “Make it one shake, and get your kit on, not off. You’re about to be a daddy.”

  ~ About the Author ~

  Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband and young daughter…the true boss of the family.

  Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few.

  A full time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Nutella on toast.

  Find out more about Mina Carter here:

  http://mina-carter.com

  http://twitter.com/minacarter

  http://www.facebook.com/mina.carter

  ~ Coming Soon ~

  Imperial Princes

  Commando’s Cowboy Book 3

  Soldier’s Angel Book 4

  ~ Also by Mina Carter ~

  Prince's Courtesan

  Imperial Princes Book One

  He wanted the one woman he couldn't have...

  Outlawed noblewoman Jaida Lianl had been everything from a high speed courier on Arcalis Prime to a waitress in the cloud café’s on Selenis. Different careers, different names, different identities. When a cover got this easy--so easy she started to believe it herself--she knew she’d been in the same place too long. It was time to move on before she got comfortable and started to make mistakes. Mistakes would allow Imperial Prince Sethan to find her, and if that happened, people would die…

  Now after five years, Seth has found her, and she can no longer outrun her destiny: she'll be the prince's courtesan, but he'll never own her heart…

  Harem Mistress

  Imperial Princes Book Two

  Illicit love, burning hot sex...

  Keliana is an imperial harem mistress, but that doesn't stop Jareth Nikolai from wanting her. A colonel in the imperial fleet and the prince's right hand man, Jareth has earned his reputation as a loyal, stone-cold soldier, but thoughts of Keliana heat his blood to boiling--even though she's the property of his prince.

  Keliana knows it's forbidden, but she can't get the handsome colonel of out of her mind, nor can she ignore her dreams of one day loving him openly as a free woman. When she's called before her prince and given to Nikolai as a gift, she thinks her dreams have finally come true. Until Nikolai is raised to prince and cannot marry his harem mistress.

  And deep within the shadows, enemy machinations work to keep them apart forever...

  Faery Wedding

  It's Asharra De Silve's wedding day, and this real life faery princess isn't looking forward to meeting her prince charming at the altar. Sold to the highest bidder as a virgin faery princess, she’s not sure how to tell the unsuspecting prince that he’s been had by false advertising. She was certainly a faery, and a princess, but the bit about being a virgin...?

  What she doesn't expect is for her one night stand to turn up before the ceremony....or the wild sex...or the fact her bridegroom turns out to be the exact opposite of what she expected...

  Wildcard

  Mina Carter and Chance Masters

  Sometimes the Wildcard beats the deck…

  Michael Thrivener is a Sniper in the Army. Just back from a deployment, he and his squad mates decide it’s time to formally reinsert themselves back into society--more specifically the female populace on Ladies Night. Unfortunately the country dive they pick doesn’t suit Michael’s mood, and he finds it hard to get in the groove with the sharp twang of country music in his ears. So he does what any red blooded male would do--he finds the bar and starts to load up.

  Enter Jasmine, fresh out of a nasty divorce and pried from her apartment by her friends for a “fun night out.” Jasmine, like Michael, is not feeling the night at all. When she comes out of the ladies room to find her friends all paired off with a bunch of soldiers, she finds herself the target of Michael's practiced charm. But it'll take more than charm for Michael to win his way into Jasmine's bed. And in the process, he might just end up winning more than he intended...

  ~ More Erotic Romance from Etopia Press ~

  Mr. Buff

  April Angel

  Every morning,
Alexandra drinks in the sexy vision of Mr. Buff through his office window across the street. He takes his workouts seriously, and Alexandra never misses the opportunity to see him return, sweaty and pumped, to his office suite to shower. Turns out Andrew enjoys the view just as much as she does and can’t take his eyes off the woman who makes his blood roar.

  But when Alexandra bumps into Mr. Buff at a club, things go from visual to physical. And much to her delight, she learns that Mr. Buff is really Mr. Dominant. She loves spending time with him and getting to know him the way nature intended, but she’s looking for more than a fling. How’s she supposed to make Mr. Buff realize he’s Mr. Right?

  Phoenix Rising

  Kaitlin Maitland

  With sex hot enough to burst into flames, what will rise from the ashes?

  Jessa Kincaid is done with men. After nineteen years, her cheating executive husband has left her for his younger, sexually adventurous mistress, and Jessa can't even seem to care. She's been stuffing herself into the mold of the perfect wife for so long, she can't even remember who she is. Feeling adrift, she finds herself inside a downtown bar in the middle of the afternoon, pounding black and tans like a college kid--had she ever been a college kid?--and letting herself wonder what it would be like to be the kind of woman who went to bars like Phoenix Rising. Or slept with that amazing bad-boy bartender who looked like he could break her in half...or maybe even make her feel...

  Connor Archuleta is done with women. His last relationship ended in betrayal, broken bones, and jail time. But when the shrinking wallflower enters his bar, he can't tear his gaze away. He can practically smell her sexual repression, but intrigued, he makes it his mission to teach her everything he knows about embracing the wilder side of sex. It doesn't take long for Connor to realize she has just as much to teach him.

  By Surprise

  Alyssa Turner

  Sex that's twice as good, love that's three times stronger.

  When Jodi returned to Burlington after a nasty divorce, broke and without a much needed place to sculpt, she never expected to bump into Paxton, her best friend from growing up. With her unresolved feelings for him still smoldering, it was a shock to find him married—to a great guy. But when Paxton and Nicholas offer her a room for rent in their too-big, too-expensive Victorian, complete with a turret to use as her art studio, it seems like the perfect solution for everyone. Until Jodi overhears Nicholas and Paxton making love—and finds herself burning hotter than she ever imagined.

  Nicholas always knew his husband Paxton was bi-sexual, but finding his forgotten stash of cheerleader DVDs makes him wonder if Paxton's been tamping down his old desires. As strong as their love is, he knows there are things he just can't give Paxton...or can he? He decides to get Paxton a very special birthday present—a night with a woman—a no-strings arrangement to grant him the fantasies Nicholas isn't equipped to fulfill. But when he meets Paxton's best friend Jodi, Nicholas finds himself facing new feelings of his own. If only he could stop imagining Jodi's body wedged between Paxton and him and figure out what to do...

  Dark Without You

  Sue Lyndon

  Total Love. Domestic Discipline. He takes her world firmly in hand…

  Alice Grove owes her brother a lot. After all, he adopted her after their parents died and worked several jobs just to keep food on the table. When he asks for her help keeping a musician from the band he manages happy until the end of their tour, Alice is more than willing. She’ll do just about anything to please the enigmatic drummer she’s had a crush on since they were kids.

  Andy Steel detests life in the limelight. Touring for weeks on end with no company besides his fellow band members, trashy girls, and an endless supply of booze doesn't suit his old-fashioned ideals. He aches to have a long-lasting relationship with just one woman—but not just any relationship. He expects obedience inside and outside of the bedroom, and he won't hesitate to enforce his rules by giving his woman a good spanking. When he meets up with his childhood friend Alice in Chicago, all grown up and aiming to please, Andy knows the heat they generate is something special. Until he hears about Alice’s real reasons for joining the tour, and until she skips town without so much as a good-bye. Andy has no qualms about chasing after her, but he may not like what he discovers along the way.

  Long Time Coming

  Jennifer James

  One scorching weekend of no-strings sex? Or the first two days of something special…

  Going home for his older sister's wedding has been a real pain. Unable to get a room at a local hotel, he's stuck in his parents’ spare bedroom, in a twin bed too short for his six-four frame, with nothing to do but fantasize about his sister’s maid of honor and her little purple bikini. Joey Sanchez: the woman he’s had a crush on for the last ten years. All grown up in all the right places.

  And it just so happens she’s had a crush on him too.

  Lucky for him, Joey knows what she wants. In the pool, in the movie theater, with some very hot text messages, she quenches his desire and demands no promises. She’s married to her career, and that’s the way she likes it. But with the weekend winding down, Rob realizes she’s only left him wanting more. And he doesn’t want to spend the next ten years without her…

  Mountain Devil

  Sue Lyndon

  Only deal with the devil if you can resist his charms…

  On the eve of her wedding with Mr. Wrong, Ella Emerson’s cold feet lead her to the Catoctin Mountains, where a few days in the woods seems like the best way to clear her head. But when she’s attacked by an escaped convict, hiding out in the woods becomes more dangerous than she’d planned. And the convict isn’t the only one who’s looking for her.

  Bounty hunter Ed Peters can’t believe his bad luck—the convict he’s trailing has run right into a police ambush. There goes payday—or maybe not. The beautiful woman in his sights has a $10,000 reward on her head, and she’s more than willing to let him collect: if he can keep her hidden until all the wedding guests leave town. Seems like easy money until the tension between them explodes into a passion neither of them expected, and Ed finds that what Ella really needs is a good spanking…

  But when Ella returns home, Ed finds her difficult to forget, especially when he learns the dangerous truth about the man she’s decided to marry after all…

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven