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My Only Desire
Adrianne Byrd
Kappa Psi Kappa brother Taariq Bryson loves the single life.So when his frat brother sets him up on a date with his sister-in-law Anna Jacobs, Taariq figures it will be just another notch on his freewheeling playboy belt. But the two prove to be a stormy combination, that is until they're stranded together and share a night of explosive passion. Anna's track record with men is a disaster.And her blind date with sexy, arrogant Taariq Bryson tops the list. So when they're isolated in a remote cabin, Anna prepares for the worst. Instead, the sexual sparks fly. . . but it's more than body heat that keeps this unlikely pair coming back for more. Can their combustible, passionate affair ignite a real love match?
“Your skin is so soft,” he said, sounding fascinated. He stroked her breasts a few times before his fingers zeroed in on pinching her hard nipples.
“Ooh.” Her head fell back, exposing her long neck.
Hylan recognized an invitation when he saw one and leaned down to plant kisses on the line of her jaw all the way down to her sensitive collarbone. Kissing her was like finding the golden ticket to the chocolate factory. She tasted so damn sweet. What he really longed for was the taste of her caramel-tipped nipples. So much so that his stomach growled with hunger.
Nikki was lost in the magic that Hylan was creating. As far as that little pesky voice in the back of her head, she’d gagged it and locked it in the deep recesses of her mind. All she wanted was for Hylan to keep doing what he was doing. She’d think about the consequences later.
Dear Reader,
I hope that you enjoy My Only Desire, book four in the Kappa Psi Kappa series. Taariq and Anna were fun characters to create, and of course it’s always a pleasure to revisit all of the other characters in this popular series. And judging by all of the wonderful emails I’ve received, you enjoy getting to visit with them, too.
The idea for this story sort of hit close to home. I, like a lot of my single girlfriends, have been on my fair share of blind dates and even met some nice Mr. Right Nows. Taariq was a hard nut to crack, but I’m sure that you’ll be happy with the results.
I hope you’ve had a chance to check out the first three books in the series: Two Grooms and a Wedding, Sinful Chocolate and Body Heat. The fun never stops with these fine frat brothers.
And after reading My Only Desire, I hope you will come and visit me at my website www.adriannebyrd.com and drop me a line, or check me out on Facebook.
Adrianne
About the Author
ADRIANNE BYRD is a national bestselling author who has always preferred to live within the realms of her imagination, where all the men are gorgeous and the women are worth whatever trouble they manage to get into. As an army brat, she traveled throughout Europe and learned to appreciate and value different cultures. Now she calls Georgia home.
Ms. Byrd has been featured in many national publications, including Today’s Black Woman, Upscale and Heart and Soul. She has also won local awards for screenwriting.
In 2006 Adrianne Byrd forged into the world of Street Lit as De’nesha Diamond. In 2008 she jumped into the young-adult arena writing as A. J. Byrd, and she is just hitting the women’s fiction scene as Layla Jordan. She plans to continue creating characters that make people smile, laugh and fall in love.
Books by Adrianne Byrd
MY ONLY DESIRE
ADRIANNE BYRD
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Thanks to all my friends and fans that encourage me
every day to keep going. And a special thank you to
Brenda Jackson, Tu-Shonda Whitaker and Evette Porter—
you each inspire me to be a better writer.
Back in the Day
Chapter 1
Morehouse College, 1995
Anna Jacobs was already a little tipsy when she arrived at the Kappa Psi Kappa fraternity house. As usual on a Friday night, the place was jam-packed and the music booming from the mega-speakers could be heard three blocks away. It didn’t matter. No one complained because they were all either at the party or headed to the party.
After a night of celebrating her passing Mr. Gallagher’s brain-crushing calculus class, Anna and her roommate Roxanne decided to check out the frat house that had the reputation on campus for throwing the best parties. Anna was starting to look at the Kappa house as a second home since she and Charlie Masters had become fast friends. It was a Twilight Zone phenomenon since Anna wasn’t particularly popular and didn’t belong to any sorority herself at neighboring Spelman College.
Charlie Masters on the other hand was not only popular, he was gorgeous—or maybe he was popular because he was gorgeous. Then again, most, if not all, the Kappa Psi Kappas were delectable eye candy. And the small crew that Charlie ran with were at the top of the heap.
She waltzed through the frat house door in her ittybitty black minidress that showcased her long legs and boosted her C-cups so that they looked like double Ds to the casual observer. Men paused and a few women eyed her up and down to determine her threat level. That never really happened to her before, mainly because she normally didn’t dress like a hoochie.
Anna’s gaze swept across the crowd until she spotted Charlie and his crew in the middle of a step performance in the main room. Everyone was hyped as they watched the complex hand-and foot-work the frat brothers had coordinated for the step show. To Anna there was just something about watching such strong and powerful brothers stomping, yelling and sweating that served as an incredible aphrodisiac—especially Charlie.
She smiled when her eyes landed on him.
Charlie, a tall, golden-skin-toned god with seductive hazel-green eyes was technically just a good friend of hers. But secretly, she’d hoped that one day they could be much more than that. Why not? All the signs were there. Lately, he kept coming up with all these lame excuses to call or come by her dorm the last couple of weeks. Wasn’t that a clear sign that he was feeling her?
It was possible. She was reasonably attractive. She wasn’t the overtly here-look-at-my-titties kind of attractive like her roommate Roxanne, but more of a conservative-good-girl kind of pretty—except for tonight.
Anna was just shy of six feet with thick, long black hair that hung to the center of her back. Again, it was a rarity that she even wore her hair down. It was usually pulled up into a ponytail and twisted around into a tight bun. But she was hoping this self-made makeover would help her stand out more.
The step-show ended to thunderous applause. Derrick Knight, Randall Jarrett, Charlie Masters, Hylan Dawson, Taariq Bryson and Stanley Patterson all took a deep bow before blending into the crowd for drinks and a few excited ladies.
Stanley Patterson spotted Anna and made a beeline straight for her. She smiled. Stanley was sweet, but was pretty much a tall, goofy redhead. In her opinion he sort of tried too hard to fit in, which she sort of understood, since he stuck out as the only white member of the Kappa Psi Kappa fraternity that she knew of. Anna cut him a little slack because she knew what it was like to be a bit awkward.
“Hey, Anna,” Stanley cheesed, sliding his hands into the front of his jeans and shifting his weight from side to side. He had a curious look, especially for a white boy. Sagging pants, gold chains and a box fade haircut that had been out of style for at least three years. “It’s good seeing you here tonight.”
“Well, you know … I was just passing through,” she lied and glanced around. Charlie had disappeared. She stood up on the tips of her toes and scanned the crowd.
“Would you like for me to get you something to drink?” Stanley asked eagerly. “What’s your pleasure?”
As usual, Anna didn’t have the heart to hurt Stanley’s feelings, especially when he looked at her with those large, blue puppy-dog eyes. “Sure, um … I’ll just have a rum and coke.”
“I’m on it!” He tossed her a wink and then took off like a shot.
“You know that he has the hots for you, don’t you?” Charlie said, from behind her.
Anna’s smile broadened as she turned on her heels. It was a miracle that she didn’t melt under his green-eyed stare. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
Charlie’s expression twisted while he pressed a hand against his chest. “Me? Jealous?”
Now he’s going to act all innocent.
“Hey, if you like Breadstick we can hook it up.”
“Breadstick? Why do you call him Breadstick?”
Charlie chuckled. “Because that’s what he looks like—a long, skinny breadstick. That and an older Howdy Doody.”
“Minus the freckles,” she added.
“So you’ve noticed. Maybe you do like him.” Charlie turned up his bottle of beer and drained the rest of it.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You haven’t denied it either.” He winked.
Anna folded her arms. The last thing she wanted was for Charlie to think that she had a thing for Stanley. “Then let me officially deny it. Stanley is sweet and all, but—”
“Hey, he’s cool.” Charlie shrugged. “I know I give him a hard time, but that’s my dog. For real. He has a good heart. You’d probably be a good match for him.”
Suddenly, she was confused by the mixed signals. Is he really trying to push me off on his boy?
Just then a girl with a whole lot of junk in her trunk sauntered by and Charlie did a quick rubberneck for a second look. Miffed, Anna glanced down at her enhanced breasts and tried to push them out a little more.
“I, uh, noticed that you came with your roommate tonight,” Charlie added casually. “I thought you two didn’t get along? ”
Anna’s hackles rose. Why was it that lately every time she talked to Charlie, he always brought up Roxanne? Had she totally misread his intentions? Had he been hanging around her in order to get closer to her roommate? “We get along all right,” she said, shrugging even though she was slowly starting to feel like a desperate idiot. “We went out to celebrate my acing my calculus test.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” He smiled, causing his dimples to wink at her. “Of course I wasn’t worried. You’re like the smartest woman I know.”
Anna blushed. “I am?”
“I know I wouldn’t have been able to get through that French class last quarter without you.” He held up his beer bottle in a silent toast.
She shrugged again. “Ah. That was easy. I have family that lives in France. I go there every summer.”
“Mmm.” He nodded his head while his eyes roamed over her slim figure. Sucking in her flat stomach, Anna pulled her shoulders back so that he could get a good look at all she had to offer. She hoped she measured up. Sure, she was trying to look like some video-ho, but it was only because that was usually the kind of chick that the Kappa men went for. Charlie was no different. He dated the hottest girls on campus. It stood to reason that if she wanted to break out of the friend zone, then she needed to take drastic measures. He never stayed with them for long, but she was sure that she had what it would take to keep his interest.
For a few seconds, they held each other’s gaze. Anna wished that she could read his mind, but it was an amazingly hard thing to do. Did he just like her as a friend or was there truly a chance for something more?
“I’m back,” Stanley announced, smiling.
Anna quashed the urge to shoo him away and accepted the rum and coke. “Thanks, Stanley.”
“Not a problem.” He stretched his arm and attempted to brace it against the door frame directly behind her. But instead he missed it completely and went sailing to the floor, taking the coat rack down with him.
Anna and a slew of party-goers jumped out of the way. Stanley landed hard, but surprisingly bounced right back up like a jack-in-the-box. “I’m all right. I’m all right,” he announced holding up his hands so that everyone could see for themselves.
A few people snickered and laughed.
“Real smooth, Slick,” Charlie said, giving Stanley a playful elbow to the ribs.
“Yo, Charlie.” Taariq Bryson threaded his way through the crowd. “Randall and I are about to make a beer run. You want to ride shotgun?” His eyes swung toward Anna. He lifted a curious brow and smiled. “Well, well. I didn’t know that you were … busy.” His gaze caressed Anna’s tall frame as if she was standing there naked. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks while Anna’s gaze shifted from Charlie’s twinkling green eyes to Taariq’s smoldering dark ones. There was no need to try and guess what was on his mind since pure carnal lust was written over every inch of his handsome face.
The heat Charlie generated was reduced to a candlelit flame compared to the inferno Taariq generated. He was also at least two inches taller than Charlie with a smooth milk chocolate complexion, compared to Charlie’s caramel. She loved milk chocolate. Absently, she licked her bottom lip and noticed how his eyes lit up when she did so.
Stanley cleared his throat and put his arm around Anna’s shoulder possessively. “Actually, I was hollering at li’l shawty.”
Anna’s neck swiveled. Li’l shawty?
Taariq chuckled. “Oh. Is that right?”
Stanley’s chest grew bigger. “Yeah, that’s right.”
Anna opened her mouth to respond, but Charlie quickly cut her off. “Yo, T. C’mon, man. Let’s head out and let Red here handle his business.” He winked.
This was getting out of hand.
Stanley held up his fist. “Good looking out, dog.”
Charlie exchanged dabs with Stanley while Anna looked on with horror. Say something. But what? Stanley looked so proud of himself that she was afraid hurting his undersized ego in front of his boys would be tantamount to kicking a box full of puppies.
“I, uh—”
“Let’s go, T,” Charlie said and then winked at Stanley and Anna. “And you two, don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”
Stanley’s chest puffed out even farther. “C’mon, man. You know how I do.”
If Anna wasn’t mistaken, she would’ve sworn that she saw a flicker of disappointment in Taariq’s eyes. But in the next breath, he said, “You two play it safe.”
Stanley waved them off.
Taariq cast another look in Anna’s direction and then headed out the front door behind Charlie. The moment he walked out of the fraternity house, her body suddenly seemed to need oxygen. She sucked in a deep breath. But when that didn’t steady her nerves, she remembered the drink in her hand and downed its contents in one gulp.
Stanley blinked in stunned silence.
“Ahh. I guess I needed that.” Anna handed her empty glass back to him.
“Um. Okay.” He cleared his throat. “Would you like another one?”
“No. I’m good,” she told him, allowing the awkward silence between them to drift and expand, while everyone else in the frat house was bumping and grinding to Shaggy’s “Bombastic.” More than a few rocking hips and butts bumped her closer to Stanley, so much so that he got the wrong idea.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked, setting her glass down on a table.
“I don’t know. Maybe I should be getting back to my dorm room.” She gave her best apologetic smile.
“What? But you just got here.” He grabbed her hand. “C’mon. Don’t be a party pooper. You can share one dance with me. I swear I won’t embarrass you.”
Anna dug her heels in a bit, hoping that it would buy her brain enough time to come up with another excuse. It didn’t.
“C’mon,” Stanley urged again with another tug. “Show me what you’re working with.” He started popping his hips and surprisingly had pretty good rhythm … for a white boy. “Ah. You didn’t think I knew anything about this here, did you?”
Damn. He’s a better dancer than I am. The realization made her laugh.
“See? I told you that I wasn’t going to embarrass you.” He moved in close then busted out a few more slick moves.
A few partiers peeped his style and started pointing and egging him on. After a few dance songs, Anna realized that she was actually starting to have a good time.
