Release Week Blitz: Excerpt of Too Beautiful to Break by Tessa Bailey

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

• Title: TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK
• Author: Tessa Bailey
• Series: Romancing The Clarksons, #4
• On Sale: September 26, 2017
• Publisher: Forever
• Mass Market: $7.99 USD
• eBook: $5.99 USD
• Add to Goodreads

A love of a lifetime . . .

Leaving Belmont Clarkson is the hardest thing Sage Alexander has ever done. From the moment they met, she knew Belmont was the one, and getting up close and personal with him on his family’s epic road trip has taken her desire to a new, even hotter level. But there’s no way she can go there—not without revealing secrets that could devastate them both.

Losing Sage is  not an option. Belmont’s heart is hers, has always been hers. He knows she’s hiding something from him, but nothing will stand in his way of telling her just how much she means to him. Finding her is easy—saving her from her past could cost him everything.

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EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

“You don’t have to leave right away,” Sage said when Belmont turned, watching her from beneath his eyebrows. “Can you wait here while I take a quick shower?”

Maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to say. His big back heaved and the touch of his tongue in her mouth came crashing in like a behemoth wave. They had crossed an unspoken boundary on the train platform. There was no going back to before, to when they stopped at rough, crushing embraces. As if that hadn’t been…more than sexual somehow.

“Yes, I’ll wait,” he said, his voice sounding like serrated metal. “I can light the fire for you.”

I’ll say. God, why did everything sound like an innuendo now? If her body weren’t flush and sweating beneath the jumpsuit, she would have laughed about it. But there was nothing funny about having Belmont looming mere yards away, looking like one word of encouragement would snap his chain and send him barreling toward her. “That would be perfect. I’ll just be…a few minutes.”

Sage all but dove into the itty-bitty bathroom, pressing her back up against the door and willing her racing heart to calm down. Why had she asked him to stay? Her resolve would weaken with every passing second. Biting down on her lower lip, she began the excruciating task of lowering the zipper of her jumpsuit, which kicked up a protest in her triceps and shoulder muscles. When she finally got it down, she gripped the hem of her T-shirt and attempted to lift it over her head.

Her arms wouldn’t cooperate. They flat out wouldn’t rise any higher than her ribs, leaving the T-shirt suspended in midair. Her muscles burned like someone had doused them in lighter fluid and held them above a flame. Sage’s agony must have escaped in the form of a whimper, because Belmont’s boots scraped just outside the door. And her stomach hollowed with awareness, lightning racing all over her skin.

“Sage.” His voice was deep, urgent. “Do you need help?”

No. Say no. She’d only gotten finished reminding him she didn’t need him. But in this case, it would be a lie and she’d done so much of that lately. With Belmont. The most truthful person she knew. “I can’t get my shirt off.” Her nose started to ache, the tip probably turning red. “My arms hurt.”

His growl was short and broken. A beat passed before the door opened and she felt Belmont filling the doorway behind her. She flicked a glance up to the ancient mirror and confirmed what she’d seen in her mind’s eyes. Belmont towering over her like an avenging angel, outlined by candlelight. He’d taken off his coat, leaving him in a black long-sleeved shirt, which he’d rolled up to the elbows. Every inch of visible skin was shot through with strained cords of muscle, as if his frustration were written on him like a road map.

Sage still had the shirt halfway lifted, so her lower back was visible. Not a big deal to most people. But Belmont had never seen anything below her neck. Or above her knees. With the jumpsuit peeled halfway down, the band of her underwear might even be peeking out.

Breathing grew difficult as Belmont took one step closer and took hold of the T-shirt, his knuckles grazing the small of her back. “You’re wearing”—his breath ghosted down her neck—“my shirt.”

Sage only realized she’d closed her eyes when they popped open. Oh God. In the shock of Belmont arriving, she’d forgotten. “I am?” Her mouth was parched. “L-look at that.”

“I am looking.” She jumped when Belmont reached over her shoulder with his left hand and turned on the shower, the sound of spray filling the room. Then the roughness of his knuckles returned, sliding up her spine along with the shirt. “I like knowing there was a layer of me standing between you and the earth.”

Her legs took on the consistency of Jell-O. His touch was a drug, making her languid, although it was different than the way he usually touched her. There was sex this time. So much of it. And it was that major difference that allowed Sage to accept the skimming of his fingers. Accept the part of herself that lusted. They were in a dark room and time had surely suspended anywhere outside this little plot of square footage. Words ached to leave her mouth, words that wouldn’t be suitable in the sunlight. This man, so warm and brave and large at her back, knew things about her no one else did. What was one more secret? “I stole it out of your suitcase. I broke a commandment and everything.”

“Why?” He breathed into her hair, sinking heat like an anchor in her belly. The shirt came off, her arms dropped to her sides, and she was left in nothing but a bra from the waist up. Inches from Belmont. “Why, sweetest girl?”

A light steam had begun curling in the air like beckoning fingers. Maybe this is a dream. It felt like one of the fevered fantasies she woke from on occasion, sweat slicking her breasts and neck. “Because I like the way you smell and it hadn’t been washed.”

His exhale was gravelly. “Sage.”

“Yes.”

She thought he might not respond, but finally he asked a question that made her nipples turn to hard points. “Can you manage”—a long, windy inhale—“the bra?”

Sage tried. She really, truly did. Her arms felt as though they might break off and hit the floor, but she reached back until her muscles locked up, refusing to move farther. But Belmont was already there, pushing them back down, holding them at her hips.

“Jesus. Please, stop. I can’t watch it.” His touch disappeared only for a second and then the cotton material of the bra tightened over her breasts. She could feel him working the back clasp with fingers she knew so well. They’d tunneled through her hair so many times, twisted in her clothing, but had never, ever, touched her with any kind of…intent. Intent to seduce. And that’s what he was doing, intentional or not. The inhibitions she’d held close forever, circled the drain, along with the shower water. “Your back is so beautiful.” A ghost of a fingertip traced down her spine. “But I need to leave before I—”

“What?”

“Before I turn you around.” They weren’t touching, but she could sense the shudder that ran through him. “Or look in that mirror.”

Right or wrong, the mine, their codependency aside, Sage knew if she let him leave just then, she would regret it for all time. Her body had been woken up. By one man. He’d kept her on the razor’s edge for thousands of miles, surrounding her with his power and taking it away. Over and over. And this fever wrapping around them in the tiny bathroom was completely different from easing his anxiety. Finally, she felt like a woman standing in front of him, instead of a calming device. This was mutual and alive and she couldn’t stand it to end. Tomorrow might be a different story, but this moment was the culmination of a thousand dreams and she could no more deny herself than she could forget his face.

“Belmont, do you think of the kiss?”

“I never stop,” he groaned into her hair. “Never.”

She took a deep breath for courage. “Will you shower with me?”

The Series

Series Page on Goodreads

About the Author

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

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 Review

3.5 Stars. I was all over the map with this book. Parts of it were a five star read and then parts of it were a two star read. I found some parts so frustrating but other parts so wonderful. To be fair I’ve been waiting for Belmont’s book since the first book in the series and sometimes when you are looking that forward to a book you build it up to be too much and maybe I did that.   I have been fascinated with Belmont since the the moment he showed up in book 1. He is this intense, quiet, smart but obviously broken man. He suffers from anxiety and Sage seems to be able to ground him. Honestly, Sage seemed to be very put together through the last couple of books so it really threw me off when in this book we discover that Sage also depends on Belmont. That their relationship is really a bit dysfunctional and codependent. I wish that had been a bit clearer in the build up for this book I think I would have been better prepared for the direction this book took.

This story concludes the journey by the Clarkson siblings and I don’t think you can really enjoy it to the full depth without having read the previous books. Along the way the other siblings have found their happy endings and have stayed behind although all agreeing to meet up for the New Year’s Day Polar Plunge that was their ultimate destination. It’s down to just Belmont and Sage but Sage has another destination and needs to leave Belmont behind. I was truly heart broken for Belmont when Sage left him and I still didn’t really get the whole it’s for his own benefit. Again if I had understood the nature of their relationship better I think I would have gotten why Sage needed to leave although it was more for both of them then just for Belmont.

Of course, they don’t stay apart for long and Belmont ends up going to Sage and this is where he discovers her past and the issues that Sage faces. Again, this is where I had a few issues with the relationship. It turns out Belmont really doesn’t know Sage that well, he’s put her on a pedestal and she’s kept a lot from him. Belmont was such an interesting character but I had a hard time reconciling the childlike side of him with the alpha side and the sexual side. Sage realizes her relationship with Belmont isn’t healthy and it reminds her too much of her parents relationship. Belmont of course is extremely protective of Sage and can’t help but want to solve her problems for her. However, Belmont isn’t willing to give up and if he needs to change to be with Sage then that’s what he will do. I loved that Belmont realizes he needs to face his past and deal with it in order to be in a healthy relationship with Sage but this is where the book felt rushed to me.

I really wanted to see a bit more of a conclusion between the relationship between Belmont and his brother Aaron and also more when he finally meets up with his father. All of this was rushed and then a quick epilogue wraps everything up between Sage and Belmont. I also wish the revelation about Belmont’s childhood would have been addressed more. It was so huge and then it just went nowhere.

However, even with my frustrations and the rush at the end of this book I enjoyed this story and Belmont is a character that will stick with me for a long time to come. This entire series was a great read and I enjoyed all of them.