“And what was so grand about your parents’ marriage?”
“They loved each other.”
“You canna expect a love match?” Ian sounded horrified.
“Yes, that is exactly what I do expect.” For the first time, Annabelle felt she had succeeded in piercing Ian’s complacent assumption that she would marry him. Giving him a full-blown smile, she nodded her head for emphasis.
“Ye’ll get over that soon enough. Love is no basis for a marriage.” In his agitation, Ian’s burr was more pronounced.
Her smile died on her lips as indignation filled her. “I will not get over it. Marriage for me will have a great deal to do with love or I will not get married at all.”
“Finchley said your head was no filled with romantic drivel.”
Incensed, she frowned at him. “Love is not drivel.”
He put his finger under her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. “You will marry me.”
“Never.”
He shrugged and stepped aside. “I’ll call on you tomorrow.” Catching Annabelle’s hand, he bowed over it, never taking his eyes from hers. When he let go, she felt she had been branded by his touch.
She stood dazed for several moments after Ian left. She noticed that he left after speaking to her without dancing with anyone else. Why should he? He had found what he was looking for, an aging spinster to marry.
They say that love is blind…too bad it’s not, it sure would help.
Lady Strumpet
© 2007 Gia Dawn
Return again to Westmyre in this second installation of the Demons of Dunmore series.
When the elegant architect Wynn meets Lady Jane Seville—ex-tavern wench and trollop—they clash like the outrageous colors of her clothes, her temper and fiery passion sending him to realms of frustrated arousal he has never known before.
The stakes are high. The king has promised Wynn the position of Lord High Mason…but only if he can marry Jane and gain her newly restored title. Jane, however, is jaded by a lifetime spent on the fringes of society, and is unwilling to reclaim her heritage due to the tragic circumstances of her past.
Wynn has issues of his own. Born albhus, with no pigmentation in his skin or hair, he has spent his entire life climbing the ranks of his profession in order to fit in and be accepted by the upper-class elite. Jane has no such intentions.
Can these two opposites learn to love?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Lady Strumpet:
“Come to my bed,” he said.
He could hear her try to catch her breath, feel the heat of her skin. She was everything he had imagined, everything he had hoped. Beautiful, so beautiful.
He grabbed the candle and practically dragged her upstairs. He had a plan. A plan to plant himself so deep in her heart, she could never think of another. Neither of them would reach completion. He fully intended to take Jane to the very edge and leave her there, let her spend the rest of the night aching for his touch. He wanted her to know how it felt to truly needand he wanted her to see his face whenever that need returned.
He would be the man who stood out in her mind. And when she’d longed for him enough, when she’d ached and wanted and cried out in frustration, he would be the man to set her passion free. But he didn’t know how he was going to survive the night. If she was left hurting, he would hurt, too.
After he opened the door and led her inside, he dropped her hand and lit every candle he could find, bathing the chamber in golden light so he could see each emotion that played across her face. She reached to undo the lacings of her chemise, but he stopped her, pulling her back into his arms and locking her tight against his groin.
Then he very deliberately dropped to his knees. She trembled when he pressed his face into her stomach. She whimpered when he curled his hand around her mound, working his fingers between her thighs to feel the wet that spilled onto her gown.
“Spread your legs for me,” he ordered, looking up at her face.
Her shaking grew anew as she shifted her thighs apart. He kept his eyes locked with hers as he slipped his fingers against her, pressing through the wet linen to find the swollen hill of her clit. Jane gasped as he worked her, her hands tightening on his shoulders, her legs shaking even more. He could feel her try to lock her knees to keep from falling, and when he knew she had lost the battle, he stood, swept her into his arms, and laid her on his bed.
Her eyes were drowsy with desire as he kissed her once again. This time he teased, pulling back when she tried to draw him deeper. She whimpered and twisted in his arms, her legs snaking around his, her hands reaching again for his cock.
He circled her wrist with his fingers and drew her hand away, holding it above her head as his other hand reached to pluck the tip of one rounded breast. Jane gasped and arched against him, pressing harder against his fingers.
“More?” He nuzzled her neck.
“Yes!” Her voice was tainted with desire, and Wynn thrilled at the sound of it. He pinched her nipple harder, rolling it between his fingers, pulling until it knotted and swelled, before he moved to take it in his mouth. Jane squirmed as he laved her with his tongue until her gown grew so wet it became transparent.
“’Tis too much,” she protested, trying to release her hand to push his mouth away.
“No, lady,” he assured her solemnly, “’tis but a small sampling of the pleasures yet to come.
She whimpered. “Wynn, I swear I cannot stand it. Please!”
Ah, so she was beginning to beg. This was a very good sign of things to come. But he bit back a groan of agony as she shifted her legs and ran one thigh over his throbbing cock. He loosened the lacings of his breeches to give his length some relief. This time he was the one to curse when he felt the ache settling deep into his balls.
She would surely kill him. But what a way to die, he admitted, gritting his teeth against the pain as he let his hand slide down to pull her knees apart. He rolled to pin her thigh beneath his leg, trying to regain a measure of control. She stilled and turned her face into his shoulder.
“Enough, Wynn. It is enough.” Her breath was harsh, her words broken.
“Kiss me,” he ordered as he thrust his fingers between her thighs and rubbed at the heavy wet of her slit.
Jane tried to speak as his fingers worked their madness. Tried to find some remnant of reason as she felt the fire lick along her cunt. In near desperation she did as he demanded, lifting her face to touch his lips with hers. She gasped into his mouth when he thrust his fingers deeper, exploring her through her gown, sliding across the wet material to rub the pearl of flesh that gave her so much pleasure.
In truth she had not known it could be like this. No man had ever held her this way, touched her this way, kissed her this way. He pinched and rolled her clit between his fingers, easing the pressure only to deepen it again, his tongue moving against her mouth in rhythm with his hand. She tried to arch against him, to intensify his touch, but he had her legs trapped securely and her strength was no match for his.
She was reaching for something, some place beyond her grasp, falling, falling into the hunger that made her tremble like grass in the wind, and she was almost there, almost flying, almost letting the pleasure break free, when he jerked his hand away, leaving her waiting, wanting, unable to find release.
What if you’re in love—but you can’t make love?
Last Chance, My Love
© 2007 Lynne Connolly
Book One of the Triple Countess series.
Miranda and Daniel, Earl and Countess of Rosington, are in love, but for the past five years their love has been purely platonic. Because if Miranda has another child, she will die.
Daniel resolves to take a mistress, one who will understand the purely physical business arrangement, but when Miranda discovers his plan, she can’t bear it. So Daniel’s brothers scheme, and Daniel finds himself on the losing end of a wager.
Daniel and Miranda must pose as a simple innkeeper and his wife,
forced to work together to save a failing business. Their masquerade brings them into temptation, their searing desire for each other threatening to ruin their good intentions, but it also brings danger, in the presence of the brutal father of a young girl who turns for them for help.
Can Daniel and Miranda save themselves, their protégée and their marriage?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Last Chance, My Love:
Daniel closed his eyes, and then opened them again to see Miranda, calm now, watching him. “I have needs. I thought I could do it, but I could never have gone through with it. I couldn’t hurt you any more than I had already. I thought you would understand. I didn’t know you hadn’t realised just how serious your illness was. There is no doubt, Miranda. I spoke to another doctor, and he said the same. With your history, another child would be your death.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That you had two boys, and the second birth was worse than the first. About the bleeding, and the fever.”
They stared at each other, remembering the horror of that time. Then she said the bravest thing he’d ever heard. “I’d do it again, go through the birth and the illness. If it meant you would love me again, I’d go through it all without a qualm.”
Now it was his turn to weep. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he blinked them away. “I couldn’t let you.” His voice came out hoarse and thin. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Miranda studied him, her head tilted slightly to one side. “You should want to lose me. You could marry again, and continue your family.” When he would have responded, she laid a gentle finger across his lips. “No, there’s no need. I know you would not, but there are many that would. Is that why you won’t touch me? The whole reason? Please, Daniel, the truth. If you can’t want me, I’d like to know. You did seek out a mistress, after all, and she did look most unlike me.”
Lifting a hand, he moved her finger from his lips and tugged on her hand, forcing her to lie down once more. He pulled her close, so she lay with her head pillowed on his shoulder, looking up at him. “No. If I took a mistress it would be someone like her, someone who didn’t remind me of you in the least. She is dark where you are fair, dainty and small where you are tall and elegant. I want only one Miranda.” He kissed her temple. “And in any case, I didn’t choose her. She came looking for me.”
“She did?”
“She had her own reasons. She isn’t a hardened courtesan, although her mother is. She wants Blyth, and thought she could make him jealous.”
“Did she succeed?”
“She must have. After all, it’s Blyth’s doing that we’re here, isn’t it?”
He wondered at her frown, but thought no more of it until she sighed and said; “I confess, it was partly me.” He stared down at her, unsure of her meaning. “I saw you with the girl, and I was jealous. Jealous, Daniel. I thought I was over such things, I was convinced you didn’t want me any more, not in bed at any rate, and so it didn’t come as a surprise to hear the rumours and then see you with her. Blyth was with me that day, and he saw my distress. He promised to do something about it.”
A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Properly gulled I’ve been. You and Blyth made hay with me, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry.”
His free hand slid over her waist. “Don’t be. I think it’s done us good. At least we both know now.” She moved closer, snuggling in. The movement made him gasp. “Miranda, be careful. You know I won’t make love to you, don’t tempt me anymore. It’s not fair.”
She lifted her hand to his chest, covered with fine lawn, but he felt her fingers gently tracing patterns on it. “I know you’ve taken the entire responsibility on yourself. I know you want to preserve me. What if I don’t want to?”
He caught her hand with his own, and curled it inside the warmth of his. “Miranda, if you get with child again, you will die. I can’t do that to you. If I think of it, it fills me with terror. How could I face the boys?” He paused. “How could I live without you?”
She stared at him, her mouth slightly open, moist and inviting, even though he didn’t think she meant it that way. With a groan of submission, he bent his head and kissed her, dragging her close with both arms, holding her as though he would never let her go.
Since that day he escorted her to the house, after their visit to the farmer, Daniel had longed to kiss her again, but known he couldn’t trust himself not to go further. Now he couldn’t help himself. Her body, so warm, nestled against his, her lips opening softly for him, inviting him to slide his tongue inside. It was more than a man could stand.
Daniel caressed her mouth, warm and sweet, and felt her response with joy, a slow burn starting somewhere deep inside. He leaned over her, revelling in the feel of her body under his.
An impulse he had learned how to control. While enjoying the kiss Daniel drew part of himself back, tucked it away again. The wild part, the part that urged him to take her now and never mind the consequences. That part must stay hidden inside.
Finally he drew back. He reached up to smooth her hair, soft caresses replacing the abandon he longed to release. She smiled. “That felt good. It won’t come all at once, Daniel.”
“What won’t?”
“Restraint. What you don’t want us to do. I still want to, I don’t care, but the risk isn’t all mine, is it?” He shook his head. “I have to think of the children, and of what it would do to you. But I’m not giving up. There must be a way, Daniel, there must. There are times every month—”
“I’ve thought of that. It won’t do, Miranda. There are ways to make conception less likely, but none to stop it completely. If there was a way, believe me, I wouldn’t let you leave this bed for a fortnight.”
“You want me?”
This was no time for half truths. “I never stopped wanting you. When I withdrew from your bedroom, I persuaded myself it was for your own good. Perhaps, if you thought desire had left me, you might find it easier to bear. I know your nature, you see. You hate to see anyone suffer.”
She lifted a hand and caressed his cheek in the age-old caress of lovers. “But you did, and so did I. I mean it, Daniel. We’ll find a way, I’m determined on it.”
“I’ve thought about it for years. Years, sweetheart.”
“Have you ever asked anyone else about the problem other than the doctors?”
His eyes widened. “No, of course not. It’s no one else’s business.”
“Just for advice? Blyth is very experienced—”
He couldn’t suppress a slight shudder. “How could I ask my brother something like that? And Blyth is so volatile still, there’s no saying what he might do.”
Her hand still rested on his cheek, as though it belonged there. Which, in a way, it did. “He’s not as volatile as you think. Oh, I’m sure he was as a boy, but he’s turned the fortunes of his estate around. You don’t do that without clear thinking and planning.”
He touched his lips to her palm, lapping it gently with his tongue before turning back to her. “You might be right. But I don’t think I want to ask him.”
“I shall find something out,” she said firmly, then smiled. “But not tonight. Enough, I think, to know we both want the same thing. You’ve brought me joy with the sadness tonight, Daniel. It was agony thinking you didn’t want me anymore. How could you think anything else?”
He closed his eyes against the loving understanding in hers Understanding he didn’t deserve. He’d thought he was acting for the best, and it seemed to be the other way about. “I don’t know. I thought you wouldn’t want to any more, when the result cost you so much pain. I didn’t want you to see I suffered, so I didn’t let you see.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have you back, and that’s enough for now.” She leaned up and touched her mouth to his. He responded to the tender caress in the gentle spell she wove around him. He could trust her not to push him over the edge. The only danger now was if they both succumbed at the same time. He relaxed
his hold on her and leaned back. “I’m very tired suddenly.”
She snuggled close and lifted her leg over him, but only as far as the knee. “Revelations can make you tired. We should sleep. We have another busy day in the morning, running the inn.”
He smiled. “So we do.”
A Chance to Dream
Lynne Connolly
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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A Chance to Dream
Copyright © 2007 by Lynne Connolly
Cover by Anne Cain
ISBN: 1-59998-683-3
www.samhainpublishing.com
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2007
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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