Do your
characters practice safe sex? Or do you prefer to go with the fantasy, and have
them use nothing, leaving that practical stuff off page? I have done both, but
honestly, I prefer my characters to practice safe sex. It’s not a political
statement or anything like that. I just think condoms brought up in the
conversation can be sexy. Let me demonstrate:
From
Cooper’s Redemption:
She straddled his belly. His hands went to her ribcage, slowly sinking lower until they rested on her hips. Where they remained.
A boiling, building pressure deep within her needed an escape. And only Cooper could release it. Eager for his touch, she reached for her jeans’ buttons. His hands captured hers and he threaded his fingers through hers, effectively stilling her.
Puzzled by his sudden brakes—much as she loathed to—she sat up straight and said, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t carry condoms with me.” His voice carried a ton of regret.
“Oh. Me either. At least not in my saddlebags.” Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“There are other ways—”
“No.” Elizabeth rose. With her eyes locked on his, she and kicked off her boots. The she unsnapped her pants. Letting them fall to her feet, she stepped out of them. “If we don’t have trust between us, we don’t have anything. Would you agree with that?”
“Yeah.”
Stepping over him, she straddled him, then lowered herself, guiding his erection against her damp opening. “Would you say absolute trust is vital in any relationship?”
“Yeah.” His surprised tone deepened a bit.
Easing him inside her a fraction of an inch, she continued. “And there’s more.”
“More,” he agreed as his voice croaked a bit like a frog’s.
Holding her position, she said, “I want you to know I have complete faith in you. I always have. I do now.”
“I know.”
Satisfied with that, she took him completely inside her.
Blurb:
J.B. Cooper (just Cooper) is under suspicion for killing his neighbor, Henry Harper, over a water dispute. There is no evidence to convict him, but the shadow of doubt hovers around him. He just wants to be left in peace.
Circumstances throw Elizabeth and Cooper together when he tracks rustled cattle to her ranch … and discovers a body in the barn. Once again, he is the suspect in a suspicious death. Elizabeth is convinced Cooper had nothing to do with the murder of her cousin because to her, he’s a true western hero. Together, they search for her mother, clear Cooper’s name and fall in love along the way.
And from Rodeo Man:
“Cody, please,” she gasped. “Now.”
Instead of giving her what she needed, he removed his fingers and climbed on the bed, raised above her. The head of his penis pressed against her. His eyes stayed locked on hers as he reached between them to guide himself into her.
She grabbed his wrist with one hand. “Wait.”
Her free hand searched for the condom she’d stashed earlier. Her fingers wrapped around the package, and she brought it out. With the hand holding his wrist, she let go and clasped his erection while she ripped open the package with her teeth. As she removed the protection, he covered her hand with his.
“No.”
“What?” Had she heard right?
“Leave it off.” He nibbled her bottom lip then spoke against it. “If you want it off, leave it.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she nodded. “Yes.”
His hand covered hers, circling his straining penis, he guided the head into her. The pressure in her belly began to climb again, and she wrapped her calves around his legs, needing him deeper. He didn’t need urging and began to plunge into her, each time pushing a little farther. When she thought she could take him in no deeper, he pressed more.
Digging her nails into his shoulders and her teeth into his chest just above his flat brown nipple, she kept herself from screaming as he brought her to the edge of ecstasy. The tension in her broke, and she came, shuddering as intense waves flowed over and through her.
He found his own release, shaking as he, too, came.
For a long moment, they each found their breath, then he rolled off her, taking her in his arms. She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his still-pounding heart. For just a moment, she saw Wyatt’s face in her mind’s eye, but he didn’t linger, and she felt no guilt. Cody rested next to her, and she wanted it no other way.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” She raised her head and looked at him. “Are you?”
“Yes.” He tightened his arms around her.
“Cody?”
“Hmmm?”
“You…I mean…we didn’t use anything.”
“I know.” Faint humor colored his words.
Blurb:
When Laney Ellis’ husband is killed by
a bull, she is left alone to run their small cattle ranch and raise their son,
Justin, on her own. One thing she is determined her son will never do is ride
rodeo bulls. But that is the dream Justin holds dearest—to be exactly like his
dad, the onetime Colorado State High School Rodeo Champion.
After his rodeo career peaks and begins
to slide, Cody Utah opens a bull riding school. Although attracted to his next
door neighbor, he steers clear. Cody has heard rumors Laney trapped her husband
into marriage by getting pregnant in high school. The last thing Cody wants is
children. His mother was a drunk, and he doesn’t know who his father is.
A bull's hooves turned
Laney’s world to dust; bull riding gave Cody a life worth living—can they find
common ground?
Author Bio:
Falling
in love with romance novels the summer before sixth grade, D’Ann Lindun never
thought about writing one until many years later when she took a how-to class
at her local college. She was hooked! She began writing and never looked back.
Romance appeals to her because there's just something so satisfying about
writing a book guaranteed to have a happy ending. D’Ann’s particular favorites
usually feature cowboys and the women who love them. This is probably because
she draws inspiration from the area where she lives, Western Colorado, her
husband of twenty-nine years and their daughter. Composites of their small
farm, herd of horses, five Australian shepherds, a Queensland heeler, nine
ducks and cats of every shape and color often show up in her stories!
