Meet the hero: Dr. Dev Fillmore from Power Struggle

With the prices reduced on many of my Ellora's Cave books, I thought I'd introduce you to some of the heroes of those books. This week we'll meet Dev from Power Struggle; Joe from Taming Tara; and Gabe from Power Shift. First up is Dev.

 

Meet Dr. Devlin Fillmore from Power Struggle (now only $3.00 at Amazon!)

Don’t let the boyish good looks fool you…Dev is a physician and good at his job. He’s caring and determined and principled. He takes his physician vow to "do no harm" very seriously. So it’s a big challenge for him when he falls for a woman who likes a little pain… Can he learn to give Tori what she needs? Or will his principles stand in the way of a relationship with the woman he loves?

Here’s a short excerpt from Power Struggle:

Dev paused next to Tori Markham. He’d spotted her from across the room—the little blonde in a strapless black gown speeding across the ballroom on crutches had attracted looks from more than just him.

“Okay, seriously, I think three times is a sign,” he said, smiling down at her.

Her lips curved into what appeared to be a reluctant smile. “Three times?”

“Yeah.” He was crazy, but dammit, he was attracted to her. “Three times we’ve run into each other now. It has to be a sign. That maybe we should go out, or something.”

Her smile disappeared and she lowered herself into the chair at the table. “Sorry,” she said. “I have to sit down. I got really tired and my ankle hurts.”

He pulled out another chair and dropped into it, sliding it close enough that their knees touched. “Are you okay? Want me to get you something?”

“I’d love a drink, but I’m afraid of getting drunk and falling down again.”

“You fall down drunk often?”

Her laughter warmed him inside. “No, of course not.”

“Then have a drink. What can I get you?”

“Um…maybe a glass of wine. Those martinis pack a punch.”

“Okay. Be right back.”

He’d ditched his parents and their friends to chase Tori, but they’d be fine without him. They’d just dragged him to this shindig to introduce him as the newest partner at the clinic. He snagged two glasses of white wine—shit. Did she want red or white? He paused. He’d go with the white. He wasn’t wasting any time when Tori was sitting there alone. No doubt some other guy would be putting the moves on her if he didn’t get right back there. An urgent possessiveness gripped him.

But she still sat there alone, listening to the music judging by the small movements of her body. He handed her a glass of wine.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. So. Are you here alone?” Crap. What if she had a date with her?
“I’m with my director. It’s a business thing.”

“Oh. Okay.” What did that mean, her director? Her boss? Whatever. He swallowed a mouthful of wine.

“What about you?” She eyed him with those sapphire blue eyes over the rim of her glass as she sipped.

He rolled his eyes. “My parents dragged me here.” At the look on her face, he instantly regretted his words. She already thought he was a dorky kid, and then he had to say that. Christ! He gave himself a mental smack on the back of the head. “I’m taking over my dad’s practice,” he continued. “He’s retiring. Well, he’s supposed to be retiring. They thought it would be good PR to come to this.”

She nodded. “I guess so.”

He almost started telling her about how annoying his dad was being about this whole retirement thing, but his problems were kind of a downer and not something she likely wanted to hear. “I guess dancing is out of the question tonight, huh?” he said instead with a grin.

She gave him a crooked smile. “I guess so.” She sighed. “This is such a pain.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be better in no time.”

“If you say so, Dr. Fillmore.”

Was she making a joke by calling him that? But no...duh ! He was a complete dork! She probably didn’t know his name!

“I guess we weren’t really properly introduced, were we?” he said.

“No,” she murmured.

He stuck out his hand. “Devlin Fillmore. Dev for short.”

“Well, you know my name. Victoria Markham. Tori for short.”

They shook hands, smiling into each other’s eyes, maintaining both the eye contact and the hand contact for a long, drawn out moment. Her hand was small and fragile in his and his body tightened. He dragged his gaze away from her face, letting it slide over small bare shoulders, down over delicate breasts outlined by layers of sheer black fabric. An urge to lean forward and lick her shoulder swept over him, an intense burning desire to taste her skin, to put his mouth on her, to eat her up. His body started to move toward her…

Get a grip, man.

“So,” he croaked. “About that going out thing.”

She yanked her hand back out of his and frowned. “Don’t be silly.”

Not quite the answer he’d been hoping for. “What’s silly about it?” He frowned too. She gave him a stern look back, but he’d seen the heat and feminine interest in her eyes seconds ago.

“First of all, I don’t think doctors are supposed to date their patients.”

“You’re not my patient. Not since you walked out of the urgent care center the other day.”

She pressed her lips together briefly. “Well, there’s also the fact that I’m way too old for you.”

He laughed.

Her eyes widened.

“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed.

“You’re twenty-nine. You’re a baby.”

Heat swept up from beneath his dress shirt and tie and into his cheeks, and surged through his veins. Jesus, he was sick of hearing that. He narrowed his eyes at her. She squirmed a bit in her seat. “A baby, huh?” Now he did lean forward, close enough to brush his mouth over her ear. “I don’t think so, sweet thing.” She tried to ease away from him but the back of her chair kept her in place. “I am most definitely…all…grown…up.” He nuzzled her exotic-scented hair, drifted his lips over the curve of her jaw, hovered near her mouth, her lips parted. He waited. Neither of them breathed. Then he kissed her, a slow, soft brush of mouths with just a hint of tongue lingering on her bottom lip.

He pulled back and met her gaze, her blue eyes wide and dark. She swallowed and lifted a hand to her hair. They sat there, nearly nose to nose, just looking at each other. Heat curled inside him.

“Don’t give me that bullshit about age,” he finally said, very softly. “You know that doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.”

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