Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

September 15^th kicks off the start of Hispanic Heritage Month! The first celebration took place in 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Reagan expanded the observance to a full month. During the period of September 15-October 15, Hispanic culture and the contributions of people of Hispanic descent will be celebrated across the country. The 2011 theme is “Heritage, Diversity, Integrity, and Honor: The Renewed Hope of America.” For more information, visit  http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/.

Whenever I think of Latin culture, two things come to mind immediately: the food (of course) and the language. Although English is the official language in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as children we were required to learn Spanish throughout elementary school. There is a large Spanish-speaking population in the islands, mostly from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

I think because I learned Spanish at such a young age, it’s always stayed with me even though I don’t have occasion to use it in my everyday life. On my trips to Mexico and Spain (or Miami ), I was pleasantly surprised how much I had retained. I can understand it much better than I speak it, but even with my halting Spanish, I didn’t find it difficult to express my needs.

In my latest release, Fight for Love, I sprinkled in a few Spanish words here and there to lend authenticity to Rafael’s Mexican background. Having lived in the United States for about ten years, he speaks English fluently, but he tends to revert to his mother tongue during emotional periods, such as in the passage below.

The content below contains material of a mature and adult nature that may not be suitable for younger readers. You must be at least 18 to read the excerpt.

BLURB

Science teacher Rebekah Jamison lives a quiet life in the suburbs of Atlanta. Devastated by a tabloid scandal nine years ago, she ended her marriage to the man her parents never approved of.

Rafael Lopez, former professional wrestler and “Sexiest Athlete Alive,” regrets the lapse in judgment that caused him to lose his wife. He shows up unannounced one day with some startling news, but he gets a surprise of his own. He finds out he’s a father. To get to know his son, he whisks him and Rebekah off to his home in the Hollywood Hills for the summer.

EXCERPT

Now he understood what he saw in her eyes. Fear. His recounting of Rich’s story must have made her imagine a similar accident happening to him.

“We both made mistakes. It’s in the past.” She nodded, but she still appeared disturbed by her thoughts. “I was always fine.”

“You were, but I wasn’t,” she said softly.

The husky intonation of her voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. She was so close, so tempting, the craving inside him increased at a dramatic clip.

“If that’s all, I think it’s time for you to go back to your room. It’s late,” he said tersely, in a vain attempt to divert his desire for her.

Ever since he’d laid eyes on her back in Atlanta, making love to her had consumed his thoughts and increased after what happened between them in her kitchen. He could still taste her and hear her jagged breaths. The longer she stayed in this room, the harder the battle to repress the bone-deep hunger he held for her. If she didn’t leave soon, he may not let her leave.

Rebekah laughed nervously. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get rid of me.”

He didn’t see the humor in the situation. “I am.”

Startled, the smile on her face dissolved, only to be replaced by a pained expression. “I don’t understand.”

“¿No entiendes?” he growled in Spanish, because he was at the end of his rope, unable to think and function like normal. His shoulders, rigid with the need to maintain control, ached as if in a vice grip. “Then let me explain.” He strode toward her. In a lowered voice, he spoke slowly so she could understand every word he said. “If you don’t get out of here in the next three seconds, I can’t promise you will ever be able to leave this room tonight. Because all I can think about is bending you over the arm of that sofa, or dragging you down onto the carpet, or laying you across those sheets. The position really doesn’t matter, Rebekah, because they all end the same way—with me deep inside you.”

Her lips parted on a silent gasp. Emotion flared to life in her eyes. “That’s what I want.”

The earth shifted under his feet. His hard flesh strained against the zipper of his trousers. “Rebekah—”

“I mean it.” She stepped closer and ran her soft hands over the contours of his chest. “I want to feel close to you, Rafe. I need to feel close to you.”

He grasped her slender wrists in his hands, holding her fast. If this was a dream, he prayed he wouldn’t wake up. “Are you sure?” He wanted to be unselfish and do the right thing—send her away so she wouldn’t regret her actions in the morning, but she was making it so hard.

“Yes.”

The word was a seductive hiss. She rose up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth, another to the column of his throat, drifting downward to lick the hammering pulse at his collarbone. A tremor of desire traveled through him…

With a guttural groan of her name, he buried his fingers into the soft thickness of her hair, claiming her mouth, filling it with the probe of his tongue. The taste of her eclipsed the taste of every other woman. At last, he could sate himself in the pleasure of his angel, his sweet Rebekah.

_________________________

For those of you who’ve read the book, I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. I’m working on Samirah Jamison’s (Rebekah’s younger sister) story. If you haven’t read the book, purchase it at the following locations: Amira Press, Amazon, ARe, B&N.

Check your local listings to find out about events taking place during Hispanic Heritage Month. In the comments, let me know about your experiences with Latin culture and if you plan to participate in any activities in your city during Hispanic Heritage Month. 

For more steamy books with Latin heroes, visit author Fiona McGier.