Many thanks to Gina for the extended excerpt of this really CRAZY HOT scene in Rules of Entanglement. If you aren’t part of the >>>>Maxwell’s Mob<<<< already, head on over there and join, cause Gina featured 16 pages of DELETED WATERFALL SCENES from the book. It was her way of thanking her Mahbstahs for their kind words, and for sharing the love of her books!

“What do you say we make things a little more interesting?”

Vanessa raised a brow as she poured them both their next shot. “That depends on what you mean by interesting.”

“A harmless get-to-know-you game.”

“A drinking game?” She actually looked excited about the prospect for a whole two seconds. Then she narrowed her eyes, nearly twining those long sable lashes. “Does it involve losing articles of clothing?”

He held up his right hand, “I swear the loser is not required to remove any of his or her clothing.” Said the spider to the fly.

Her shoulders relaxed and she leaned in slightly. “Okay, how do we play?”

“I’ll make a statement about myself. It can be true or completely fabricated. You then have to guess which and say ‘true’ or ‘bullshit.’ If you’re right, you get to pick a place on your body that I do a shot from. If you’re wrong, I get to pick the spot. Then we switch roles.”

Vanessa opened her mouth but nothing came out. She closed it. Tried again. Finally, she shook her head. “I’ve played a lot of drinking games in my day, but I’ve never heard of anything like this. Dare I ask what it’s called?”

Jax grinned. “Bullshit Body Shots. Reid and I made it up with our girlfriends in high school.”

“I have no doubt,” she said wryly.

“C’mon, V. You’re a lawyer, and according to you, a damn good one. You should be able to smell my bullshit from a mile away. Unless of course you’re not as good as you claim.”

Yeah, he was baiting her. Again. He seemed to be making it a habit with her. And even though she clearly recognized them for what they were, she couldn’t resist accepting his challenges. A trait he loved about her.

Finally, with a roll of her eyes, she said, “Go ahead and start.”

Game on. He’d start them off easy. “I was all-conference in wrestling my senior year in high school.”

“True. Your sister told me that forever ago.”

He figured as much, but he wanted her comfortable. And unsuspecting. “Where am I doing the shot?”

She made a show of thinking it over, then held out the inside of her wrist. He knew she’d go with somewhere safe. Or at least what she thought would be safe.

Grabbing the saltshaker in one hand and her wrist in the other, he kept eye contact with her as he brought his face slowly closer to his target. He licked a languid path across the soft skin, feeling her strong pulse speed up against his tongue. Vanessa’s pupils grew larger as he added a dash of salt, then licked it off in the same manner as before. He threw back his shot, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat.

When she tried to pull her hand back—most likely assuming that was the end of its use—he held firm. “Ah-ah-ah. I still need this.”

“For what?”

He didn’t answer her with words but took one of the lime wedges and lightly squeezed it—enough for several drops to land and stream over the edges of her wrist—and then finished the process with an open-mouthed kiss to suck off the remaining juice. Then he released her.

“That’s not…” Her voice broke slightly and she cleared her throat to try again. “That’s not how body shots are done.”

“They are in this game. Your turn, Viper.”

Reminding her of her tough-girl persona did the trick. She composed herself, donned her game face, and took her turn. “I grew up in a really shitty neighborhood in Queens, New York.”

“Bullshit. You don’t have the accent.”

“Wrong, and your assumption is the reason I worked to strip the accent out of me. I didn’t like that people could identify where I grew up and pass judgment on me simply for how I sounded.”

He wasn’t surprised to hear she’d actively worked to improve something about herself she saw as a fault. Vanessa seemed intent she and everything else in her life was above par. More than ever he suspected something in her past was what drove her to be so strict about how her future should be. The question was, what?

“Good for you, V, I think that’s great. It also means you get to choose where you’d like to do your shot.”

The thought of Vanessa licking him anywhere had his blood draining to a central area of his body. She indicated his neck and didn’t hesitate to go through the ritual. Every stroke of her tongue licked flames up the side of his throat, consuming him a little at a time. He swore he almost cracked his jaw from clenching it to keep from turning his head and attacking her mouth.

When she finished, he gave her a half smile that he hoped said, That was about as much of a turn-on as shopping for car insurance, but thanks for trying. The slight widening of her eyes revealed a hint of incredulity at his lack of reaction, but he played it off like he was oblivious. Oblivious. Yeah, right.

Jax felt more like he was wired to notice every minute detail about her. From the shape of her eyes to the freckle on the back of her left knee. From the way her green irises could throw sparks when pissed to languid pools when relaxed.

Oblivious was the last thing he was when it came to this woman. And for the life of him, he didn’t know why.

“Are we done or are you going to take another turn?” she asked.

He grinned. “Anxious to have my mouth on you again?”

“In your dreams, surfer boy.”

He dropped the joking manner and stared directly into her eyes. “Actually, I’d appreciate it if you’d stay out of my dreams. Lusting after you during my waking hours is about all I can handle right now.”

Her mouth opened as if to respond, but nothing came out. For a long moment they were silent, just stared at each other, until she lowered her gaze and tucked a side of her hair behind her ear. Finally, he broke the silence by taking his turn in the game.

“I’m deathly afraid of spiders. True or bullshit?”

She studied him carefully and then rendered her verdict. “Bullshit.”

“Wrong.”

“Really?”

“Reid and Lucie are the only people who know my weakness, so I expect you’ll take that intel to your grave, MacGregor.”

She made a production of crossing her heart and holding her right hand up. “I swear. I won’t tell anyone you’re afraid of itty-bitty bugs.”

The little wench thought his phobia was amusing, eh? He’d show her amusing.

“My turn to drink.” Grabbing the hem of her tank in his hands, he started lifting it up her stomach. He didn’t make it much past her belly button before she grabbed his wrists and held tight. He looked up at her with a questioning arch of his brow.

“I thought you said there wouldn’t be any removal of clothing.”

“No, I said the loser wouldn’t be required to remove any clothing. However, the winner can remove anything that gets in the way of him doing a shot in the location of his choosing.”

“Holy shit,” she said with wide eyes. “You lawyer loopholed me.”

He winked. “Don’t take it too hard. I took advantage of your arrogance.”

“My arrogance?”

“Settle down, princess.” Jax rotated his hands up, breaking free of her hold. “Your arrogance is one of the things I like most about you.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, he laid a finger against her lips. “Shh. Rules are rules, after all.”

She slitted her eyes, but there was no hiding the humor dancing behind her lashes. Sure she wouldn’t argue anymore, he pulled her shirt over her head, discarding it somewhere on the floor behind him. A fancy black bra covered with sea green lace encased her breasts. They swelled over the tops of the cups that barely covered her nipples. It was quite possibly the most glorious piece of lingerie he’d ever seen.

“Sweet Jesus. Is that a matching set?” He zeroed in on her shorts, praying for X-ray vision.

“You’ll have to win another round to find out.” She gave him a satisfied smile. “Rules are rules, after all.”

“Touché,” he said, answering with a smile of his own. Too bad he was about to wipe that smirk right off her face.