Excerpt!
Tessa whirled away from him toward the door.
His hand was on her arm in a second. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. The sudden awareness of how slim her arm was in his grasp caused him to loosen his hold.
“I won’t stand here and argue with you,” she told him.
“Then let’s not argue.”
Slowly, he pulled her closer, watching the pulse jump in her neck. She didn’t resist when he lowered his mouth to hers.
Gunnar could have sworn her bones liquefied as she melted against him, into him. This was risky. It should stop. She was like a drug, the feel of her an addiction, and he feared if he didn’t break it off now, there would be no going back. He drank in a few more seconds before levering her away.
His own ragged breathing drowned out the sound of hers, but her mouth opened and closed, evidence that she too struggled to form a coherent sentence. Desire snapped in the air between them, and he turned away before it could draw him back.
What was he thinking, kissing her that way? He wasn’t—that was the problem. He hadn’t recognized how close he was to flashpoint and had allowed emotion to rule. Normally the emotion was anger. It was familiar, safe, he knew how to direct it, what to expect in retaliation.
But this…altogether different. In the short time he’d known Tessa, she had infiltrated his core needs, forcing him to reevaluate his objectives, making him realize he still wanted things he’d long ago dismissed as impossible: a home, children, stability. Consequently, he feared things he hadn’t before: isolation, failure, dependence. It was too much, too soon.
He hadn’t lied to her mother, he hardly knew her. Yet she had already influenced him in ways he couldn’t express. What would happen over time, six months maybe, when he became more attached and unable to let her go?
When Tessa finally realized who and what he was?
“We can’t do this,” he told her, looking back. Tessa stood frozen, catching her breath. “I won’t get us into a situation we’ll regret.”
“But…”
“You’re not ready for this.” The light of battle sparked to life in her eyes,
dissipating the haze of longing. “Neither am I.”
“Because I’m a virgin,” she said, disgusted.
“Yes.” He snapped the word out, but hearing the harshness of it, softened his tone. It wasn’t her fault he wanted her. Nor was he pushing her away because of her inexperience—at least not in the way she thought.
“You’re innocent and I’m not. In any sense of the word.”
Tessa crossed her arms. “So it’s your plan to keep turning me on and off like a light switch until when? Until you’re bored or decide to move back to your house?”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“You want me.”
It was a simple statement. He couldn’t have said why it sounded like a threat. “I do. But it’s not going to happen.”
Reviews!
"Ms. Dana Pratola has presented us with a book dissimilar to any other I've read. Her plot was solid. Her descriptions were graphically expressed and emotionally expressed. The powerful intensity of this book was almost unprecedented. The storyline was gripping. The in-depth look at someone facing life and death was fascinating to read. I haven't read anything to date that explored the act of praying God's care around another in quite this way."
--The Romance Studio
"As always , I love the stories that come out from the White Rose Publishing House , they are so inspiring , sweet, suspenseful and romantic at times. Though every now and again, they publish an OMG story and THE COVERING by Dana Pratola is one of those books that everyone should read."
--Paula Phillips - The Phantom Paragrapher
"The Covering is a well written look into the lives of characters that are down-to-earth, engaging and 'living' with real-life ups and downs. From the first page to the last, I savored every moment reading this book, I absolutely LOVED it! It touched my heart, and gave me a new perspective on life. This author is gifted, and I look forward to reading many more of her books!"
PURCHASE AT:
Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Covering-Dana-Pratola/dp/1611161010/
Pelican Book Group: http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php
Barnes and Noble.com http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-covering-dana-pratola/1104473665?ean=9781611161014&itm=4
Dana is a 40-something mother of 3 and wife of 25 years. She lives and works in her home state of New Jersey, where winters are tough but living someplace that doesn’t have Autumn would be tougher. Her favorite non-writing past time is walking in the woods with her husband, Rob.
Dana writes Christian Romance. Not the kind with women buttoned to the neck and men daring no more than to hold their hand after a long courtship, but the contemporary kind. She doesn’t write explicit sex scenes but her characters have real desires, struggles and choices to make. A lot of the time they make the wrong ones. No subject is prohibited but good always triumphs.
Visit Dana online at http://www.danapratola.webs.com/.
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