He stood there with his focus directly on her, trying to figure out what attracted him to the point where he wanted to strip her naked, right there in his kitchen

      But not before he got to taste her again, to see if the flavor of her mouth had changed, and to see if she could still work her tongue as she had before.

      His eyes slowly shifted lower to her chest, to the top she was wearing. He pulled in a choppy breath. He saw her nipples start to harden, right before his eyes.

      Hell, if just a look could do that to her, he wondered what would happen if he were to touch her, taste her. He could feel his own eyes darkening with heat and knew the moment she saw it, as well. She continued to hold his gaze, then asked, “Is there something else?”

      He couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips, a predatory one at best. She could ask the damnedest questions. This time he would give her an answer and he hoped she was ready for his response. “Yes, there is something else,” he said, walking towards her.

      Dear Reader,

      I love starting a new series! I can recall when I wrote the first books of my Madaris, Westmoreland and Steele series. It felt wonderful introducing my readers to a family I had created in my mind and held in my heart. I am proud to now introduce to you men whose ties that bind them forever were created by their fathers, best friends in college.

      I envisioned close friends, deciding their lives would be connected forever through their offspring and making their firstborn sons godbrothers to each other. What also would be unique was that their first names would be taken from the last letters of the alphabet.

      These guys, for various reasons, are members of the Bachelors in Demand Club, and are determined to stay single for as long as they can. It will be fun to see how many will retain their membership when the right woman comes along.

      Book one, Bachelor Untamed, is Uriel Lassiter’s story and his leading lady is someone from his past, Ellie Weston. And although Uriel wishes otherwise, she is also someone for his future.

      I hope you enjoy reading Uriel and Ellie’s story.

      Happy reading!

       Brenda Jackson

      About the Author

      BRENDA JACKSON is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because she’s always believed in the power of love, Brenda’s stories always have happy endings.

      In her real-life love story, Brenda and her husband of thirty-seven years live in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two sons. A New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than sixty romance titles, Brenda is retired from a major insurance company and now divides her time between family, writing and traveling with her husband, Gerald. You may write Brenda at PO Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, by e-mail at [email protected] or visit her website at www.brendajackson.net.

      Bachelor

      Untamed

      Brenda Jackson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

       To all the members of the Brenda Jackson Book Club.

       This one is for you.

      Apply your heart to instruction,

       and your ears to words of knowledge.

       —Proverbs 23:12

       Prologue

      “Go ahead and do it, El. You’ve been dying to kiss him forever. Do it. I dare you.”

      Ellie Weston rolled her eyes at her best friend Darcelle Owens’s statement. She was used to Darcy getting them in trouble with her dares. But, this was one dare that she was more than tempted to carry through.

      The two of them stood hiding in the thicket of trees and bushes while spying on the guy Ellie had had a crush on forever. It didn’t matter that Uriel Lassiter was twenty-one to her sixteen and a senior in college. All that mattered was how her heart started beating fast in her chest whenever she saw him.

      “Come on, El. He’s leaving tomorrow to go back home, and you’re going to hate yourself for a missed opportunity. This will probably be the last time you’ll see him until who knows when. He graduates next spring and will probably never come back here for the summer.”

      Ellie felt a thump in the pit of her stomach and pondered Darcy’s words. With Uriel graduating from college next year, he probably wouldn’t be coming back to the lake, at least not as often. Uriel’s parents owned a summerhouse right next door to her aunt’s home on Cavanaugh Lake, a few miles outside of Gatlinburg. For a entire month during the summer she would visit her aunt, and it was only then when she would see Uriel. The thought that she might not ever see him again was too painful to think about.

      She could recall only one summer that he hadn’t come, and that had been last year. She’d heard that he and his five godbrothers had taken a trip abroad that summer. It had been the most boring summer of her life.

      Ellie glanced over at Darcy and whispered, “If I take you up on your dare, what do I get?”

      Now it was Darcy’s turn to roll her eyes. “I would think to lock lips with your dreamboat would be enough. But since you want to be greedy, if you take me up on my dare you can have my autographed picture of Maxwell.”

      Ellie’s eyes widened. She had been scheduled to go to that Maxwell concert with Darcy, but had come down with the mumps and missed it. “You’ll risk the chance of losing that?” she asked, since she knew what a big Maxwell fan Darcy was. She probably sang “Fortunate” in her sleep.

      “Yes, but only if the kiss lasts for more than a minute. I don’t want to see just a peck on the lips, El. You’re going to have to make him kiss you for a long time.”

      Ellie was aghast. How was she supposed to do something like that, when she’d never kissed a boy before? “Any bright ideas how to pull that off?”

      Of course Miss-Know-It-All Darcy would have all the answers. “You’re going to have to use your tongue. I heard Jonas tell one of his friends that he liked kissing girls who used their tongue.”

      Ellie lifted a brow. Jonas was Darcy’s oldest brother, who was a senior in high school, so he would know. All the girls back home in Minneapolis just loved Jonas and he loved all the girls. “And he said guys actually liked it?” Ellie asked, to be sure.

      Darcy nodded her head. “Yes, I heard him say it. He and Leroy Green didn’t know I was hiding under the bed.”

      Ellie knew better than to ask Darcy what she was doing hiding under her brother’s bed. “Well, okay. But if he doesn’t want to keep his mouth on mine I can’t make him. But I’ll try.”

      Darcy’s eyes brightened. “You’re going to do it?”

      Ellie released a deep breath. “Yes, but you can’t make a sound.”

      “Okay, but remember the kiss has to last for at least a whole minute.”

      Ellie frowned. “You don’t have to remind me.”

      Uriel glanced to the side when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching on fallen leaves.

      Ellie Weston.

      Good grief! She was only sixteen, but last week when he had arrived to join his parents at the lake, he hadn’t been able to believe how much she changed since two summers ago. She was no longer a tall, lanky girl,