It's my absolute please today to have the delicious Lily Harlem here to tease us with her new book, The Silk Tie - I'm just about to scurry off and buy The Glass Knot and cannot wait for the ride!
The Silk Tie
by Lily Harlem
“If you enjoyed The
Glass Knot you’ll LOVE The Silk Tie.”
New from Lily Harlem, The
Silk Tie, a steamy ménage a trois novel (mmf) that celebrates
desire, fantasy and follows the brave decision of a woman to let a
third into a her relationship. It’s steamy, sexy and leaves no
detail unexplored. Grab a copy, settle down and enjoy a rollercoaster
of emotions with Hayley, Gabe and Brent.
The
Glass Knot is available from Amazon and all other good
ebook retailers
Back cover information
Professional life in
the City of London is tough going which is why my husband Gabe
and I live by the motto work hard and play hard. So when
something, or rather someone, comes along that changes how he
wants to play I’m intrigued by our sexy new game.
But there's always
private sides to the ones you love, and in this case new
thoughts and desires are stealing Gabe’s dreams. It’s not
until I meet Brent—gorgeous and sophisticated yet
soul-achingly alone—that I begin to understand the complex layers
of Gabe’s needs and exactly what I have to do.
But I’m not afraid;
in fact the idea of two men turns me the hell on. In a whirlwind
of romance, fear, desire and a new cresting wave of passion we
open up to each other, testing the water for one weekend
only. Or is it? Will we ever be the same again? Can Gabe and I
survive our decision to let a third into our bed? Can Brent
just walk away and, more importantly, will we let him?
Excerpt
After
placing the papers on the desk and setting down my purse, I put my
iPhone on charge. There was no message from Gabe.
“
You
can’t…you can’t go in there. You don’t have an appointment.”
I
turned at the sound of Jeannie’s panicked voice.
“Sir,
really you can’t,” she said again.
I
stepped toward the door.
“Sir.
I have to insist…”
A
man—tall, wearing a suit and with dense facial hair—strutted into
the center of the room, placed his hands on his hips and set his gaze
on me.
“Brent?”
“Please,
you must leave.” Jeannie appeared, twisting her hands together and
shifting from one foot to the other.
“It’s
okay,” I said, not tearing my attention from Brent. His expression
was dark, his mouth, usually upturned, a dead-flat line. “I’ll
handle it from here.”
“Are
you sure? Shall I call security?” Jeannie asked.
I
wasn’t sure. He was breathing fast and his eyebrows were pulled
low. Something had really pissed him off.
“Yes,
I’m sure.” I nodded. “Just shut the door please, Jeannie.”
“Good
idea,” Brent said, his voice low and husky.
Jeannie
hesitated.
I
nodded at her. “It’s fine.”
She
frowned then pulled the door up.
The
second it clicked shut Brent moved toward me, fast.
I
backed up.
My
shoulders hit the polished paneling that clad the walls of my office.
I couldn’t move any farther.
“What
the hell,” he said, coming up close then pressing his palms against
the wood either side of my head, “do you think you’re doing?”
“What?”
I asked, gulping and looking up at him.
“Jesus
Christ, don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“I
have no idea what you’re talking about,” I managed, flattening my
hands behind myself and pulling in fast breaths.
I
knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Gabe,”
he said, lowering his face. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
I
could feel the air leaving his lungs through his nose as it washed
over my cheeks. His aftershave invaded my nostrils and laced my
tongue. The heat of his body radiated onto mine, blasting through my
silky blouse as though it wasn’t even there.
“What
about Gabe?” I asked, tilting my chin.
“He’s
just asked me to fuck him.” His eye contact was unwavering. “And
he told me that it was your idea.”
“What?
No, that’s not right.”
“Which
bit of that isn’t fucking right, Hayley, because it all sounds
pretty fucking not right
to me?”
I
gathered my strength and refused to be intimidated by him. “You
can’t deny you like Gabe.” I gave him a steely glare.
“That’s
not the issue.” He narrowed his eyes.
“And
he likes you,” I snapped back.
“All
of that is irrelevant because he’s married…to you.”
“Which
surely means, if there is one person who can give Gabe permission to
fuck someone else, it’s me. His wife.”
His
mouth opened slightly and he stared at me.
“What?”
I asked. “It makes sense. Gabe’s got a crush on you, I suppose
that is one way of describing it, and he wants you, badly, he—”
“He’s
not even bloody gay.”
“No,
but he must have elements of being bi for him to be feeling this
way.”
Brent
stepped away, turned and locked his fingers on the crown of his head
with his elbows outstretched.
“Brent,”
I said, pushing away from the wall. “Please don’t be mad.”
“I’m
not mad…just…”
“What?”
“Confused,
I suppose.” He dropped his hands and turned to me as he sighed. The
hardness had gone from his face.
“Why?”
I moved to my desk and leaned my behind on it, kept my arms at my
sides in an effort to look open and available for him to express his
feelings to. It was a tactic I used with clients. “Tell me, Brent.
We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Yes,
we are.” He sat in one of the two chairs in front of my desk and
sighed. “I like you, Hayley, a lot, and I like Gabe too. I care
about him.”
“And
do you fancy him?”
“I’m
not gay either.” He paused and appeared to summon courage. “But I
am bi. I have been with a man before.”
I
nodded and kept my expression neutral even though there was something
electrifying about his admission. No longer a rumor but a solid fact
he was able to share with me.
“And
would you want to be with Gabe that way?” I asked. Again words were
coming out of my mouth that I wouldn’t believe I could utter. This
time last month this conversation would be ludicrous.
“Do
I want Gabe that
way,” he repeated.
I
waited for him to go on.
“Yes,
in a word. He’s bloody gorgeous and damn sexy too, but I don’t
need to tell you that, Hayley. Heck, you married him.”
I
smiled. “He is gorgeous and sexy, and also the most passionate,
loving person I’ve ever met.” I paused. “His happiness is also
my responsibility and right now, him not being with you the way he
wants to be is screwing with his mind.”
“Have
you had a third person in your relationship before?”
“No,
it’s always been just us. We’re strong, our bonds are tight,
but…”
“And
you’re willing to risk it all.”
“Perhaps
it’s a risk for it not to happen.”
“Bloody
hell…” He pressed his hands over his face and looked at me from
over his fingertips. “You’re really are deadly serious.”
“Yes.”
I sat on the seat at his side. “I am. He’s been on edge,
preoccupied. I know he loves me, would die for me, we’ve been in
each other’s lives for a long time now, there’s nothing that will
tear us apart.”
“Except
me. Maybe I will.”
“Do
you really believe that?”
“It
would be my worst nightmare to split you two up. Seeing you and Gabe
together makes me very happy. You have something special, something
I’ve hunted for, seen glimpses of, but never truly found.”
I
reached out and rested my fingers on the sleeve of his gray suit
jacket and rubbed my thumb on the smooth material. “Gabe and I are
strong. Strong enough to cope with this.” I paused, hoping to hell
that we were. “If you feel the same way about Gabe then this can
happen. I don’t have a problem with it.”
He
stared at me, long and hard, then, “You’re right, I do want to
fuck him.”
My
belly clenched and I squeezed my internal muscles. This might
actually happen for Gabe.
“But
I have one condition,” he said, leaning back and folding his arms.
His suit jacket bunched at the lapels.
“What’s
that?” I asked.
“You’re
there. You watch us.”
“You
can’t be serious.” I knotted my fingers together and gripped them
in my lap. “Why would…?” Much as the idea appealed, I’d never
thought it would become reality.
“You
remember that film, Indecent
Proposal? Robert Redford I think
it was.”
“Yes.
What about it?” I laughed but the sound caught in my throat.
Brent
reached out, rested his palm over my clasped hands. “It screws him
up, the husband. After his wife has spent a night with another man
for a huge sum of money, he obsesses about what they did, how they
were together. Was there love or was it just sex? Had she had more
fun with the rich guy than with him?”
I
nodded. I’d seen the film.
“That’s
what causes the problems,” Brent went on. “They had a million in
the bank but the husband’s imagination, his not knowing, was a much
bigger problem than being poor.”
“And
you think I’ll be like that?”
“I
don’t know. You seem pretty…cool with the idea at the moment.”
“I
am. I’ve given it a lot of thought.”
He
lifted his hand from mine and shifted on the seat.
I
glanced at his groin and wondered if he was getting hard talking
about screwing my husband. “Okay,” I said. “It wasn’t how I
thought it would go. But yes, I’ll be there.” A flush traveled
over my skin just at saying that. I could hardly begin to think how
horny it would make me to actually see them together, for
real—fucking.
Brent
stood, slid his hands down the front of his suit jacket then
straightened his tie. “You can tell him yes for me. I’m afraid I
was a little harsh on him when he blurted it out over a cheese panini
in Costa. It had been the last thing I was expecting him to say.”
“I
will, but…” I hated to think of Gabe being upset, confused by
Brent’s reaction.
“Yes.
I’ll call him too.” He looked at his watch. “But right now I’m
late for a meeting with my bank manager, and I really have to run.”
“Yes,
of course.”
He
walked to the door.
“Brent,”
I called.
“What?”
He turned and a long shard of sunlight sliced over his face and down
his body.
“Thank
you.”
He
smiled and swept his tongue over his bottom lip. “I should be the
one thanking you.”
Lily Harlem Bio
Lily Harlem lives in the
UK and is an award-winning author of contemporary erotic romance. She
writes for publishers on both sides of the Atlantic including
Ellora's Cave, HarperCollins, Totally Bound, Xcite and Sweetmeats
Press. Her HOT ICE series regularly receives high praise and industry
nominations.
Before turning her hand
to writing Lily Harlem worked as a trauma nurse and her latest
HarperCollins release, Confessions of a Naughty Night Nurse, draws on
her many experiences while nursing in London. Lily also
self-publishes and The Glass Knot and Scored have been blessed with
many 5* reviews since their release in 2012.
Her latest novel, Breathe
You In, is a super-sexy romance with a twist that will not only heat
you up but stay with you for years to come. Breathe You In was named
a USA Today Reviewer’s Recommended Read of 2013.
Lily also co-authors with
Natalie Dae and publishes under the name Harlem Dae - check out the
Sexy as Hell Box Set Trilogy available exclusively on Amazon - The
Novice, The Player and The Vixen - and That Filthy Book which has
been hailed as a novel 'every woman should read'.
One thing you can be sure
of, whatever book you pick up by Ms Harlem, is it will be wildly
romantic and down-and-dirty sexy. Enjoy!
Lily Harlem Links
Author Pages
Except... any time I buy a cupcake it tastes of icing sugar and paste. Huge heaps of it. On a dry cupcake. I won’t go there today, let’s stick with the butter cream. A friend said she doesn’t like cupcakes because the frosting doesn’t taste of anything. She hasn’t had mine yet! My cupcakes bring all the girls (and often discerning boys) to the yard. 
Continuing the fruit theme, blackberry minis with blackberry and whiskey frosting, for a book launch – berries gathered from the house where the memoir is set! This was a really lovely one.
Start with about half a pound of butter, mix it ‘til it’s creamy. If you’re adding melted chocolate, mix it in afterwards. Slowly add about three cups of icing sugar bit by bit. If adding cocoa or drinking chocolate, mix it in with the sugar. Once it’s incorporated, pop on your mixer to medium speed and let it mix away for a while, ‘til it gets paler. Now you can add your vanilla (I would suggest always adding vanilla, vanilla makes everything better). Any other liquid flavours like liqueur or lemon go in now too. You can add your fruit purée then, pop it in bit by bit, so it doesn’t curdle. I’ve had really good results with strawberry, berries, lemon (zest and essence) and passion fruit. I used to put in a couple tablespoons of cream, but now I find myself adding more, as the lighter and fluffier the better. You can’t really beat it too long – the longer you leave it the whiter, creamier and lovelier it becomes. 
