Read an Exclusive Excerpt from CAGED by Lorelei James

About CAGED

In the searing fourth novel in the Mastered series, following UNRAVELED, only one woman can set a hardened fighter free from his past...

In order to survive a life of tragedy, Deacon McConnell embraced his roughest edges and learned to fight on the streets. Then a life-changing jujitsu seminar led by Sensei Ronin Black led Deacon to become a professional fighter. With his muscular physique and his body covered in tattoos and scars, the MMA fighter defines mean, both on and off the mat.

But everything changes when innocent Molly Calloway signs up for his kickboxing class. Molly is Deacon’s opposite in every way: She’s kind, sweet, thoughtful, and educated. After a heated argument between them turns into a passionate encounter, Deacon realizes Molly is eager to experience more, and she looks to him to take her to the darker edge of lust....

The last thing either of them expects is how deeply their lives will be thrown upside down by the passion they find together.

Read an Excerpt from CAGED

Deacon took her to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint.

He scooted into the booth so she could sit next to him. Then he stretched his arm behind her and played with her hair.

After they ordered, she said, “The staff seems to know you.”

“I eat here once a week. It’s the only place in Denver that serves Tex-Mex.”

“Mexican food is different in Texas?”

“Yep.”

“Do you miss the Lone Star State?”

“Sometimes.”

“Do you miss your family?”

“Nope.”

“How often do you go home?”

“Rarely.”

“Don’t get along with them?”

“Nope.”

Molly decided to stop asking questions that could be answered with one word. She jokingly said, “So I guess that means you won’t be taking me home to Texas to meet the family.”

He scowled. “I don’t do family shit, so no.”

She slid out of the booth and moved across from him, folding her arms on the table. “If you keep scowling like that, your face will freeze that way.”

Deacon finally smiled. “Good one.”

“First-date rule. Tell me something about yourself that you’ve never told another woman.”

A momentary look of panic crossed his face. Then the mask settled in place again. “I don’t like to answer a bunch of questions.”

“Ha! I’ll bet that’s standard answer with you. Not new, so try again.”

“I hate this shit.”

“I know. But that also doesn’t count as an answer. Tell me a secret.”

“I like to watch skating on TV.”

“Men’s or women’s or pairs?”

“Hockey.”

Molly leaned forward. “Hockey is not figure skating, Deacon.”

“I didn’t say figure skating. I said skating. Hockey players are the shit on the ice. So hockey counts as skating. Just a rougher version. Your turn.” He lifted his beer to hide his smirk.

You asked for this, smart-ass. “Sometimes I fantasize about a rougher version of sex.”

Deacon choked on his beer. “What the hell, Molly? Why would you . . . ?” His eyes narrowed. “You’re fucking with me.”

“Not yet,” she said sweetly. “And no more than you were when you said you liked to watch skating on TV.”

“I was telling the truth.” He sighed. “I changed it to hockey at the last second because I thought it might make me sound like a pussy, all right?”

She didn’t believe him. “So you really like figure skating?”

“To the point I fucking DVR’d the world championships and the Olympics.” He pointed at her with his beer bottle. “And if you tell anyone that, I’ll lie.”

“I believe you. Anything you tell me, I’d never tell anyone else.”

“Good. Back to your answer. Do you really like it rough?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never had it that way, which is why I said I fantasize about it.”

“Jesus, woman.”

“What? Men don’t look at me and imagine pushing me up against a wall and fucking me, pulling my hair as I’m being fucked, or just taking me fast and hard in the heat of the moment.” When Molly looked up at him, her stomach cartwheeled at seeing the hunger in his eyes.

“You toss that out there? Expect I’ll pick it up and run with it. Because, babe, I can do rough.”

“Good. That’s what I want.”

“Then that’s what you’ll get,” he said softly. “But sometimes you’re gonna get it sweet from me too.”

Chills skittered down Molly’s arms from his first declaration, and her heart went mushy at his second. “I can deal with that.”

Posted by arrangement with New American Library, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Lorelei James, 2015.

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About Lorelei James

Lorelei James pens sexy, fun contemporary romances set in the modern day Wild West. When she's not squirreled away behind her laptop creating tales of sex, lies and murder, she can be found reading, practicing yoga, running a kid's taxi service, glued to the TV watching the Professional Bullriders Tour, and shootin' her .22 ~ all in the guise of avoiding housework, rustling up vittles and paying bills.

She lives in the beautiful Black Hills of western South Dakota with her husband of 20+ years and their three beautiful daughters.

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