Her Heart's Desire

A Novella by Adriana Ryan

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release: March 23, 2012

Editor: Carrie RO

Line editor: Penny Ehrenkranz

Cover Designer: Charlotte Volnek

Words: 21413

Pages: 69

ISBN: 978-1-927361-92-4

Price: $3.50

Back Cover:

Millie Fields’s life could be a Greek tragedy. As if frizzy hair and a dead-end job weren’t enough, the heartthrob of her dreams, Graham Lance, doesn’t even know she exists. The only man in her life these days is her best friend Braedon Hill, who seems to have an endless supply of tissues for her equally endless tears. Ironically, Millie is so blinded by her yearning for Graham that she can’t see Braedon’s heart yearns just as keenly for her.

Excerpt:

With the dipping of a peachy pink, candy-like sun, Millie’s pendant began to glow. This time she stood in front of the mirror and watched the transformation happen.

Everything began to get hazy, as though a soft fog was wrapping itself around her like a cloak. As she watched, her fingers and toes seemed to vaporize into wispy tendrils. The fog, tinged with the purple light from the pendant, got thicker and thicker, until she couldn’t see herself in the mirror anymore. And as she watched, it disappeared as if it had never been there.

The transformation was complete. The glowing pendant dimmed until its purple light was only just visible in the gloom. Millie smiled at herself in the mirror. She was Hope Night once again.

As she slathered herself in pearlescent lotion and slipped on her new sexy boy-cut panties, she felt longing begin to touch her with its hot fingers. She could just imagine Graham’s eyes roving all over her body.

She was sliding into her gray suede boots when the doorbell rang.

“What, Braedon?” She leaned against the door jamb, glaring at him. He was in a rumpled green T-shirt and jeans, with dark circles under his eyes, looking completely discombobulated at her question.

“Uh…do I know you?”

Shit. She’d totally forgotten she was Hope Night. “Oh…no, you don’t. I’m, um, Millie’s cousin, Hope. I’ve seen pictures of you, and Millie told me who you were.” Millie smiled and extended her hand, which Braedon shook without enthusiasm.

“Is Millie here?” he asked, trying to look around her into the apartment.

“No, she’s not. But won’t you come in?” An idea took hold in Millie’s brain. Maybe she could flirt with Braedon and show him how hot nighttime Millie could be! When he melted under her hands like butter on a sunny day and took his pants off, she’d walk out on him. That would show even he wasn’t impervious to the person she became at night. She’d just text Graham that she would be late. Judging by his reaction to her last night, he shouldn’t have any problems with that.

Braedon followed her in and sat straight-backed in the recliner. “Where is Millie, anyway?”

Millie smiled at him and shook her head so her hair flounced prettily. “Let’s open a bottle of wine, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Braedon shifted on the recliner. “Oh, I really have somewhere else I need to be in a little while, so that’s not a good idea—”

“You wouldn’t refuse Millie’s cousin, now, would you?” Millie pouted her bee-stung lips.

Braedon exhaled. “I guess not. I’ll have a small glass, thanks.”

“Good boy.” Millie winked at him and made her way to the kitchen. When she got there, she hurried over to her cell phone charging on the counter. Working quickly with one eye on the door, she texted Graham to say she would be an hour late because an old acquaintance had unexpectedly stopped by.

As she was uncorking the wine, she heard her cell phone beep. It was a text from Graham.

For you, I’d wait forever. – G

Millie smiled and made her way back into the living room with the wine bottle and two glasses. As she poured, she made sure to turn her back to Braedon while she bent over so he could have a great view of her ass.

“Here you are, gorgeous,” she said, handing him his glass.

“Thanks.” Braedon took a deep breath and sipped at his wine. “So, you’re Millie’s cousin?” He shrank back as Millie perched her butt on the arm of his recliner.

“Mm hmm. Second cousin.” She licked the rim of her wine glass with the tip of her tongue, making it seem like she was just getting a taste of wine drops that might have splashed up there.

Braedon set his glass on the coffee table. “That’s funny. We’ve been friends for most of our lives, and I’ve never heard about you.”

Damn Braedon and his sharp memory. Millie thought quickly on her feet, or rather, on her bum. She placed her arm lazily on the back of the couch, letting her fingers graze the back of his neck with a feather-light touch. “That’s because I’ve been out of the country. I went to boarding school in England for all my childhood, and now I live there. I just came back to visit family.” Guys thought English girls were hot. And hot she was.

To Millie’s intense surprise, Braedon moved forward on the recliner so her fingers couldn’t reach him anymore. Was he actually…rejecting her before she’d even busted out her best moves? Well, never mind. She had enough time to change his mind.

“I see. How come you don’t have an English accent?”

Annoyed, Millie tried to control her tone as she said, “Well, I’ve always had American family around me, so I guess my American accent just stuck. But let’s not talk about me. Tell me more about you. Millie says you’re a doctor?” She slid forward a little bit and let her leg rest against Braedon’s thigh.

Braedon lifted his wine glass from the table and took another teeny tiny sip. “Yeah. I’m a pediatric surgeon at Charleston Medical.”

“Really,” Millie breathed. “I think doctors are so sexy in their scrubs.”

“You know, I think I should get going,” Braedon said, looking at his watch. “Could you please tell Millie I stopped by?” He stood up and set the wine glass back on the coffee table.

When he turned, Millie pressed herself against the length of his body, her hands on his chest. To her surprise, she felt heat rush through her body till her cheeks flushed. She’d never realized before just how hard and muscular Braedon was.

She pressed herself even closer so her slender legs could feel his taut thighs, until she could feel the dizzying heat of him curl around her. With a start, she realized she’d done that more for herself than to con him. “Stay,” she whispered, her voice just a breath in the still air.

Braedon looked down at her for a long moment, his sapphire eyes unreadable. Then, without warning, he grabbed her upper arms, lifted her a few inches into the air and set her down on the recliner. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You are an attractive woman. But…there’s someone else.”

As the front door closed softly behind him, Millie sat there on the recliner, breathing heavily, her mind reeling with all that had just happened. Braedon had made her… Well, there was no other way to say it. She was aroused. And who the hell was this someone else? How did she not know about this already?

About the Author:

Adriana Ryan is lucky enough to be able to write in a beautiful setting like Charleston, SC. She is a prolific writer and has written in many genres, but Her Heart’s Desire is her first novella.

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Author's Other Works:

Contributor: Inner Fears Anthology, 2010 - Static Movement Press

Contributor: Twice the Terror Anthology, Vol. 2, 2010 – BearManor Fiction

Customer Reviews:

Very good read, thoroughly enjoyed!

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