Jessica Russo knows nothing about her mother's family or her Cuban culture. Every time she's asked about it, her mother has shut down. But when the Cuban grandmother she's never met sends her right-hand man, Luis, to offer Jessica the chance to come to Miami and meet her estranged family, she can't help but say yes, even as she knows it will pain her mother.
The woman that Jessica meets is nothing like what she expected. Her grandmother is successful, intelligent, determined, and all too willing to take blame for what has happened to cause the estrangement, and, more importantly, to try and set things right. As Jessica spends time with her grandmother in her beautiful island home, she learns about her family's history and what caused the schism between her mother and grandmother.
As days with her grandmother turn to weeks, Jessica is determined to find a way to heal her fractured family. And in the end, Jessica might just learn something about herself and what it means to embrace the many facets of her identity.
Read an excerpt:
Her breath trapped in her chest and her heart pounding in her ears, Jessica waited, anticipation twisting her gut into a knot.
Luis rocked back and forth on his heels and looked away before nailing her with his gaze. “I am. I think I’m falling in love with you too.”
He grasped her hand and she took the lead, tugging him toward the stairs and up to her room.
At her door she hesitated, but then pushed through, eager for what would follow.
As she turned to face him, he was immediately there, moving his hands to her back to cradle her close. Her body was flush against his and she shifted against him, but he stilled her motion.
“Shh, mi amor. There’s no need to rush. We have all night,” he whispered and kissed her again.
He tasted of rum and cigars and Luis, and she took it all in. Took all of him in. The press of his body. The way his muscles shifted beneath her hands as he tightened his hold on her and walked her back toward the bed.
As her knees bumped the edge of the bed, he stopped, sat, and urged her in between the V of his thighs.
With his help, she quickly undressed, baring herself to him.
“Dios, you’re beautiful,” he said, encircled her waist with his hands, and drew her near.
***
Luis splayed his hand across the smooth skin of her back as he caressed her.
She kissed his forehead and whispered his name. “Luis. Please.”
As much as he wanted to wait and make this first time special, he needed her too badly.
In a flurry of action, he ripped off his clothes with her assistance, and they fell onto the bed together, kissing and caressing and laughing. Joyful in anticipation of what was about to happen.
She lay beneath him, gazing at him as she skimmed her hand across his face and then up to brush away a stray lock of hair. She seemed about to say something, but then held back and instead leaned up to kiss him. She shifted her hand to his shoulder and urged him down.
He went willingly, eager to be with her. Eager to taste her lips again and her breasts and her skin and everything that was Jessica.
He didn’t think he could ever get enough of her.
***
His heavy weight pressed her into the mattress and a maelstrom of emotions filled her. Comfort. Peace. Need. Such intense need.
She spread her legs and reached down to guide him to her, but he shook and whispered, “Protection.”
He shifted off her only long enough to rummage through his pants and wallet and hastily ease on the condom. And then he was back, staring down at her, his hazel eyes burnished gold with passion.
The earlier rush to this moment was forgotten as he joined with her.
Her breath caught in her chest at the perfection of it. At the feel of his power above her, inside her. He was so big, so strong, but he was hers in that moment. Totally hers as she laid her hands on his shoulders and joined him in the rhythm of their lovemaking until they both slipped over together.
She urged him onto her, but he protested and said, “I’m too heavy.”
“No, you’re not,” she said and dug her fingers into his back to pull him to her. She gentled him, stroking her hands across his sweat-slick skin. Savoring the connection with him.
“Give me a second,” he said and hurried to the bathroom.
She eased under the sheets to wait for him, and he returned quickly and joined her. He tucked her into his side, and she nestled her head on his shoulder, laid her hand on his chest, and tossed a thigh over his. Contentment and satisfaction filled her, but slowly, other emotions crept in no matter how hard she tried to keep them from surfacing.
He must have sensed the tension in her since he said, “Penny for your thoughts.”
“I’m not sure a penny would be enough,” she said and leaned on her elbow to peer at him.
“Sometimes you can think too much,” he said and skimmed a hand across her upper arm to press her back down.
“Avoidance mode much?” she challenged, but truth be told, maybe avoidance was what was needed right now because she wanted to enjoy this night with him. She wanted to explore the feelings that had sprung up so suddenly. So powerfully. She shut down her thoughts, not wanting them to go to the next stage. A stage that would only bring separation and pain.
She didn’t want separation now. She wanted him. Again, and maybe again after that.
She wanted to make the most of their time together.
She’d think about everything else tomorrow.
Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with the Jersey Shore. When Caridad isn’t taking long strolls along the boardwalk, she’s also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million romance novels sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country. You can connect with Caridad at www.caridad.com.
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Thanks so much for sharing!
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