Tessa Teevan - Incinerate

“Let’s go congratulate the newlyweds and then get the hell out of here while we can.”

Looking around to find them, I spot Dad and Olivia greeting their guests, but when I see that they have Cade and Chloe, our five-month-old twins, I stop Knox before he can lead me across the room. I can see that my dad and Olivia are having fun showing the babies off, and I know it’ll be a while before they hand them back over. This is one of the many reasons that grandparents are so awesome, and I’m going to take advantage of it, stealing a few moments away with my husband while I can. Knox’s parents love the twins, and they’re almost overwhelming when it comes to wanting to watch them. Even still, I’m wary of my babies being gone for too long, so it’s been a while since we’ve had a night alone.

“What are you doing, Charlie?”

“Back away slowly. The way I see it, we have at least ten minutes. That’s long enough, right?”

I can hear him chuckle behind me, and I let out a yelp when he picks me up and carries me out the door, into the elevator, and up to our room. He doesn’t put me down until he drops me on the bed, where he promptly joins me.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I cherish the feel of him pressed up against my body. “I love those two, but they have me so tired that I don’t know if I want to take this break to nap or let you have your way with me.”

He unzips my dress, and I stand to step out of it, careful to lay it out on a chair so it doesn’t get wrinkled. I quickly get out of the lingerie I’m wearing underneath. When I turn back to him, he’s already out of his uniform and waiting for me. And when I say he’s waiting for me, I mean all of him is one hundred percent ready.

Pulling me onto his lap, Knox runs a finger down my back as I straddle his waist.

“We can nap later, babe. Right now, I’m too turned on after seeing you in and now out of that dress.”

“I don’t know, Rugged. They were up all night last night, and Lexi said they slept all the way through the wedding, so I’m afraid it’s going to be a long night.” I’m only teasing, knowing I’m too sexually charged to even think about sleep right now.

He wraps his arms around me, and pulls me in so our chests press against each other. “I don’t know how much sleep you’ll get tonight, but it won’t be because of the twins,” he says, grinning at me.

I pull back, wondering what he means. “What are you saying?”

“I may have arranged for Jace and Lexi to keep the kids tonight,” he tells me, and he barely gets the words out before I grab his face and plant a big, wet kiss on his lips. I love my twins, I really do, but the thought of a night of sleep without hearing a baby cry? Yeah, my husband is definitely getting lucky at least twice tonight.

“Lexi’s taking on the twins and Maya? She’s a saint.” Knowing that Lexi already has her hands full with her one-year-old, I feel a little bad that she’s going to be juggling three babies, but I push the thought aside. “Have I told you that you’re the best husband ever?”

“Only one or two hundred times, but that’s probably the same amount of times you’ve called me an ass, too.”

Lifting up, I guide him to my entrance and sink down until I’m fully filled, but I remain still. “Yeah, well you’re the best husband ever who can sometimes be an ass. But you’re my ass and I love you. That’ll never change. Not even when you pretend you don’t know a dirty diaper when you smell one and then hand a baby to me before disappearing.”

Knox leans in close, pressing a kiss to my lips as he lifts his hips up, trying to get me to move. “What can I say? My sense of smell must be going out,” he jokes, grinning at me before he pulls back and stares deep into my eyes as he rocks up into me. “I love you, Charlotte Rose Wellington, and I always will. That’s a fucking promise.”

The End

Read Jace and Alexa’s story in Ignite - Available Now.

Stay tuned for Inflame, Kale and Lucy’s story - Coming Spring 2014.

Let It Be Me- Ray LaMontagne

You Have My Attention- Copeland

Broken- Lifehouse

Say You'll Haunt Me- Stone Sour

So Contagious- Acceptance

Different- Acceptance

Taciturn- Stone Sour

If You Want Me- One Less Reason

Can't Shake You- Gloriana

Kissed You Good Night- Gloriana

Come Wake Me Up- Rascal Flatts

You Make Me Want To- Luke Bryan

Let Me Down Easy- Billy Currington

Haunted- Taylor Swift

Make Me Wanna- Thomas Rhett

Everything Has Changed- Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran

Wrecking Ball- Miley Cyrus

Tomorrow- Chris Young

Don't You Wanna Stay- Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson

Hands On You- Florida Georgia Line

Whatever It Takes- Lifehouse

All I Need- Needmore

Ring of Fire- Johnny Cash

Say Something- Tyler Ward

Falling- Tyler Ward feat. Alex G.

That's When I Knew- Alicia Keys

Stay Awhile-Journey

Hell On The Heart- Eric Church

The Mess I Made- Parachute

She Is Love- Parachute

Crazy Girl- Eli Young Band

Blank Page- Christina Aguilera

Climax- Usher

Sex Never Felt Better- TGT

Hand on Heart- Olly Murs

Beg For It- Chris Brown

I Choose You- Sara Bareilles

Lucky- Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat

Hot N Cold- Katy Perry

On My Mind- Tyler Ward

All of Me- John Legend

The Day Before You- Matthew West

Say Something- A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera

Some Kind of Beautiful- Tyler Ward feat. Lindsey Sterling

Derek, no amount of words would ever been enough to express how grateful I am for all your love and support, and most of all, your patience. You’ve put up with an ungodly amount of dirty dishes, laundry loads, and uncooked meals while I wrote Incinerate. I’m sure our cats also appreciate that there’s still someone around to feed them! I love you, whole-heartedly, and I couldn’t do this without you.

Teri Beth, you’re a magician. Seriously. Incinerate wouldn’t be nearly as polished if your eyes hadn’t come over it with a fine-tooth comb. There’d be an insane amount of ‘so’ written through the book. I’m so grateful to have you on my team.

Stacy, thank you! That’s all I can say. You’re my sounding board on so many things, and I’d be ridiculously stressed if I didn’t have you to vent to. I love your notes by way of voice message. They’re pretty awesome. Keep them coming!

Jenna, he’s the guy you’ve been waiting on! Your notes were invaluable in making Knox the character that you’ve loved since the beginning. I hope I did him justice for you!

Michelle and Bianca, I am so excited I was able to turn you from ARC readers to beta readers. Your input is extremely invaluable, and I love the passion that you express for all of my characters, from Jace to Knox to Sawyer. Michelle, you’re the music queen, and I love getting all your ramblings and music videos that make you think about my characters. Bianca, I always love making you cry, and I promise to never stop!

Aly and Stacey- My OG sprinting partners! You guys are pretty much the best. I love love love every single moment of our sprints, even if we often get sidetracked with wine and pictures of hot guys. I love you ladies to pieces and I am so happy to call you my friends!

The ladies of IRAC, you are the best group of women that I’ve had the pleasure to meet. It’s amazing that we get any writing done with all of the crazy, daily shenanigans, but somehow, we do it. I’m so blessed to be part of such a supportive group. Here’s to many, many, many more successful books for all of us!

The BCG, you’re the best beta group an author could have. I’m so grateful that you guys are there to kick my ass when it needs and that you let me bounce ideas off you without you all thinking I’m crazy. It’s also nice being able to share pics of hot guys!

Ash and Erica, I couldn’t have done this without you guys taking over the blog. You are ROCK STARS and I love you both!

Joshua Saari, not only are you an awesome cover model, but you’re a complete sweetheart. I appreciate all of your support, and the shout-outs you give your fans. I appreciate you giving a chance on me and my work. You choosing me as your first author and book cover is an extreme honor.

There are so many people that worked behind the scenes to make Incinerate happen. Jennifer, Robin, and Mickey, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this such an easy process. I couldn’t do it without any of you!

Lastly, to my readers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking a chance on me and my book. I hope you fall in love with Knox and Charlie just like I did.

I'm a twenty six year old book junkie who decided that there were too many stories in my head to keep to myself. I work for the government by day and write by night. It’s a crazy, busy life, and I love every single second of it.

If I’m not writing or looking through tons of photos of hot men, all in the name of research, then you can probably find me curled up with my Kindle, ignoring the rest of the world. I love my sports almost as much as I love my books. My other obsessions include red wine, hot men, country music, and all things Grace Potter.

I LOVE to hear from readers, so please feel free to contact via any social media site listed below.