An Appetite for Passion Kari meets Max online, and the relationship sizzles. But there is a BIG obstacle--her weight. He knows she loves to eat but doesn’t know what that’s done to her figure. Will it bother him when he finally meets her in person? Meanwhile, Jeff is funny and fun, and Kari loves being with him as a friend, but he admits he has a secret. Could it be that he is, after all, the guilty party in the political campaign sabotage? But if he’s innocent, can Kari prove it and clear Jeff’s name? And can they be more than just friends? Note: Heroine has an affair with a secondary character. Genre: Contemporary Length: 45,482 words AN APPETITE FOR PASSION Cynthia MacGregor ROMANCE www.BookStrand.com ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000." If you find a SirenBookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected] A SIRENBOOKSTRAND TITLE IMPRINT: Romance AN APPETITE FOR PASSION Copyright © 2010 by Cynthia MacGregor E-book ISBN: 1-60601-908-2 First E-book Publication: September 2010 Cover design by Jinger Heaston All cover art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. PUBLISHER www.BookStrand.com AN APPETITE FOR PASSION CYNTHIA MACGREGOR Copyright © 2010 Chapter 1 The drubbing raindrops pelted the white lawn furniture insistently in the early September morning. Their demanding clatter was so loud that they pierced Kari’s sleep-fogged brain, even through the nearly closed window, and roused her to semi-consciousness before her alarm ever went off. Sleepily, she raised an arm in the direction of the clock, then realized that what had awakened her was not the cheery electronic rooster. The rooster clock had been a gift from Lylah. “Another customer was messing around with it,” she’d explained, “and when I heard it crow just like the real thing, I turned around to see where the rooster was. It was a hoot.” Lylah was a hoot herself, an irrepressible woman with a wild sense of humor. Kari and Lylah had been friends since high school, though lately Lylah’s time seemed too often claimed by other interests...most notably, her pregnancy. As Kari lay listening to the pelting raindrops, she felt an irrational pang of jealousy toward the baby. Not even born yet, and already it was taking up so much of Lylah’s attention. A more subtle drip than the noise of the rain on the lawn furniture caught Kari’s attention. Oh no! Not the leak in the living room again! She thought the roofers had fixed it, but like a horror movie monster, it was ba-a-ack. They ripped me off! Charged me big bucks and didn’t even fix it. Now I’ll have to stay home emptying buckets all day. But getting wearily out of bed, she found the leak was minor. Nothing a big bucket wouldn’t handle while she was gone all day. Too bad. There goes my excuse for staying home. It wasn’t work she was trying to get away from. Kari actually enjoyed her job in a corporate publicity department. It was Glenn she was avoiding. Glenn...that bastard! They had dated...once. He’d invited her for dinner, and she’d accepted. Though she’d never thought of him in a romantic or sexual light before, he was tall, suave, deep-voiced, and charming, and when he asked her to have dinner with him, not long after breaking up with Judy in Accounting, Kari had been flattered. Not knowing where he was taking her, she’d dressed up. After a drink at her house, he took her back to his house. “I thought we’d stay in,” he informed her. “I’m a whiz in the kitchen. You won’t starve.” True to his word, dinner had been a gourmet feast, although Kari found herself on the menu as his dessert. She gave herself willingly, though she insisted on leaving the lights off. Dates were few and far between for women of her size. Though she was too embarrassed by her mounds of flesh to let him see her in the buff, she followed him to the bedroom willingly enough and gave herself enthusiastically to his caresses. Glenn had been an able, though not a caring, lover. At first, Kari wondered if this indicated anything of his feelings toward her, but then she got caught up in his passionate caresses and calculatedly sensuous maneuvers. Swept into the grasp of emotions engendered by his knowing moves and educated touch, Kari lost her misgivings and gave herself fully to pleasuring the man who was both fanning the flames of her passion and promising to satiate her need. “You set me on fire,” she murmured to him as his hands stroked over her eager flesh and touched her in all the right places. There was no kissing; there were no endearments. But he touched all the right buttons and set off fireworks in her under-appreciated, over-abundant body. Their bodies merged, and his swollen organ surged into her. She delighted in the feel of his strength pistoning in and out of her. She crested even faster from his plunging rod than she usually did when her own finger sent her to ecstasy, and she was left a whimpering and utterly satisfied pool of melted womanhood on his bed. He climaxed a moment after she did.