Tingling under his hungry eyes, she dragged in a ragged breath. “You taught me how to love—physically, emotionally, and in every other way. How could I not love you in return?”
Still he stared down at her, as if unable to accept the proof of his own ears. Laughing, Allegra stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers.
That kiss convinced both of them. She’d never dared to believe in happy endings. She still didn’t believe until Joscelin dropped to his knees on the deck of the Lucky Pelican and clasped her hands. Didn’t believe until she met his eyes, blazing with love and conviction, when he asked her to become his wife.
But she believed it was real when she accepted, voice clogged with the happy tears that were streaming down her face.
The bright sun of a new year poured over them, and the sea glittered like a million jewels cast at their feet, as Joscelin wrapped her in his strong embrace.
“We have the world before us,” she said as he kissed her. “And a lifetime to love.”
About the Author
In her other life, Laura Navarre is a diplomat who’s lived in Russia and works on weapons of mass destruction issues. In the line of duty, she’s been trapped in a nuclear power plant’s elevator and has stalked the corridors of facilities churning out nerve agents and other apocalyptic weapons. In this capacity, she meets many of the world’s most dangerous men.
Inspired by the sinister realities of her real life, Laura writes dark medieval and Renaissance romance spiked with political intrigue. She lives in a small vineyard in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two Siberian cats, and she blogs on books and writing at http://ljblog.net/blog4.
Laura welcomes email from readers at [email protected]. Fans are invited to visit at www.LauraNavarre.com, www.facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor and follow Laura Navarre on Twitter.
For king and country…or the love of one woman?
Knight Dreams
© 2009 C.C. Wiley
Knights of the Swan, Book 1
Wales, 1415
Terrwyn, the daughter of a dispossessed Welsh lord, is blessed with unusual talents. Her skill with a bow and cursed ability to dream the future, however, didn’t save her younger brother from conscription into the English army.
To honor a deathbed promise, she sets out to bring him home—and discovers that one of the king’s knights holds the key to locating her brother. Now she must stay close to her sworn enemy…and try to ignore the growing heat between them. A difficult task, when they wind up manacled together.
Sir James Frost, confidante to King Henry V, can trust no one, particularly the young Welsh maiden impersonating an archer within the ranks. With treason brewing, the last thing he needs is the secretive beauty chained to his side. The connection between them, though, becomes stronger than any links of metal.
When an assassination plot places their lives in jeopardy, James is torn between duty and the woman he loves. He must choose where his fealty lies…and Terrwyn must decide if changing Fate is worth the price.
Warning: This story includes steamy sex scenes with a hot knight who holds magic in his hands and a spunky Welsh archer who knows exactly where to place her arrows.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Knight Dreams:
Once safe inside the gloomy darkness of his tent, James slowly released the disturbing young woman from his side. The tension in her muscles leapt under his touch. The ruse of her sweet nature had turned to vinegar with the closing of the tent.
He clasped her shoulders and held her in place. “Well? Never tell me you have nothing to say.”
Terrwyn lifted her stormy gaze. Her anger filled the small tent. “Oh, aye, ’tis much to be said. But I’ll not waste words on a lying hound.”
“Lying hound?” James asked. “And what cause have you to name me thus when I just saved your hide from Sir William’s ire? Do you think to placate him with your pretty ways and make him forget you’re a woman? Though his need for archers is great, do you think he will believe your greatest wish is to march on France and kill the enemy? You, the daughter of a fallen Welsh lord?”
Terrwyn jerked her shoulders out from under his grasp and glowered in silent response.
“My little dove, I admire your skill and misplaced bravery. I do.”
“You’ll do well to remember that I am not your dove.” Her hand strayed to the little dagger she kept at her waist.
How he managed to miss it while he carried her, he did not know. Thoughts of smooth skin and the fullness of her breasts had overshadowed the possibility that his little dove had talons for claws. He tamped down his growing irritation and nodded his acceptance. “Terrwyn, you are no match against a man like Sir William. There would be no end to danger if you remain with the king’s army. It would break my heart to see you harmed.”
“You expect me to believe you hold a tender place in your heart for me? Didn’t the promise of burning my village come from your own mouth?” Resentment dripped off her voice. “You cannot expect me to trust you when all about me is proof that you are a stranger to speaking the truth.”
James found his position oddly uncomfortable and strangely unfamiliar. Never had his honesty been boldly discounted. At least not to his face. Nor in close proximity. Anyone else and he would have run his blade through the knave’s gullet at first opportunity.
Stepping forward, he narrowed the space Terrwyn had placed between them. “Have you considered what will happen if you are discovered?”
“Simon treats me with respect.”
James shook his head. “Young Simon serves one master. Forced to choose, he will choose Sir William.” He tentatively touched her hair, much like he would a wary mare. “I dare not describe their ill-treatment. You’ve had but a brief taste of it from Edgar.” His satisfaction welling, James noted Terrwyn did not move from his hand. “I offer you my protection. Stay here, where I will keep you safe from those who do not have your best interest in mind.”
The back of her head cradled in his palm, he drew her close. He could not help noticing the way her eyes glittered in the shadows. Senses heightened, he smelled her delightfully female scent, her essence more striking than he recalled. Never had she been more beautiful. Passion for life flowed through her. The memory of her grace had called to him in his dreams, and here she stood.
Despite all the warnings in his head, this time he could not let her turn away. He wished to taste the crest of her ear, the nape of her neck, the smoothness of her skin. He needed to run his hands over every portion of her body, memorizing for the days and nights when he had no one, nothing but his sketchpad and his thoughts.
Pulling her to his chest, he brushed his lips over her own. He pressed the small of her rigid back, nudging her closer to his need. His teeth slid against her throat, the scorched path soothed by the trail of his tongue. She tasted of salt and sweet nectar.
Her mouth remained sealed and once more he urged her to open under his touch. Hearing her breath catch, he swore he felt her quiver as he played her as carefully as he would a fine instrument. Emboldened, he found her hand and pressed her fingers around his burgeoning flesh.
James smiled against her lips. Soon he would weave his way into her deep valley and find release from this woman’s unwelcome distractions. “Spread your wings, little bird. Soar with me,” he whispered into the satiny flesh of her nape.
Groaning softly, Terrwyn shuddered and hastily pulled away.
The warnings in his head ignored, he stalled her efforts with a gentle caress. His attention lost on all but the coaxing of yet another sweet response from Terrwyn, James drew her back into his arms. He left a well-placed kiss upon her lips. Encouraged by the awakening of her body, he delved deeply yet again.
James jerked. Incredulous, he held her at arms length and wiped the nick on the edge of his mouth. “You bit me! Hell’s bones, woman, what manner of threat is this?”
Her smile flashed in the darkness. “Dare press me furt
her, Sir James, and you’ll find my teeth in you again.”
He slid his gaze over her elfin face, the defiant set to her chin. His lips twitched slightly. Drawing her to his chest, he felt the beat of her heart racing to the same rhythm as his own. “Tread carefully or I will mete out your punishment as I told Sir William.”
“I have no fear of your threats.”
“I would have never thought you dense, little one. Why would you think my words are empty?”
“You won’t set a hand of violence against a woman. You stated so yourself.”
James shook his head despite the faint hint of guilt nipping at his conscience. “Nay, you miss my warning. I have no intention of harming you.” Seeing the look of triumph warm her cheeks, he quickly forestalled her with, “Yet, if I must, I shall apply whatever means your cooperation requires.”
Terrwyn’s heated stare scraped over his face before the small hint of a smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “You shall surely be taken to the faeries to live for eternity for the lies you tell.”
James growled, yanking her close. “I warn you. I shall not be alone in the land of the faeries.”
“Nay?”
James shook his head and flicked the tip of Terrwyn’s nose, enjoying the glare that quickly followed. “For you, my dear, will be there by my side.”
“Hmph!” Terrwyn snorted, pulling her arm free from his grasp. “I told you before. I do not consort with those who know not the difference between truth and a lie. You would not recognize it, even if it jumped up, sat atop your head and crowed.”
His attention drawn to the commotion outside, he held his hand up in response. “Silence, imp. There are certain bits of knowledge that are better left known only to a handful.”
“Such as?”
James sighed as if humoring a petulant child. “Such as, it would be best if we agree to keep your identity secret for as long as we are able.”
“Obviously.”
“This is why you are my newly obtained squire of the body.”
Terrwyn looked like she was about choke on the words before she spat them out. “Your squire.” She rolled her eyes heavenward before pinning him with a snarl. “Leave it to the English knight to ferret out a servant for his every whim. I won’t wash your lily white backside.”
The world outside their tent forgotten, James eyed Terrwyn from head to toe. He let his gaze caress the curves he knew remained hidden under the travel-stained jerkin. He watched until a flush pinked her cheeks and tiny rosebuds formed where her chest rose and fell. Satisfied he held her attention, he said, “Although I see a few advantages to this situation, I will remind you that this is temporary. In truth, an untrained squire in my service hangs on my being like a mace ball. The hazard will most assuredly outweigh any benefit.”
Terrwyn shook with indignation. “Liar! You say you cannot abide my presence, yet your lips tell a different tale.”
“Then we both fabricate the untruth. As your lips lie as well as my own. You do not leave the safety of your home to fight for the English. A wise man such as I asks why you are here.” He ran the ridge of his thumb over her mouth. “Ah, such lovely, beautiful lips.”
Drawing her in, he gently, carefully, slid his arm around her back. Folding her close, he lightly trailed kisses from the tip of her chin to the lobe of her ear. He scraped his teeth across the tender flesh.
He felt Terrwyn’s outrage wane as she entwined her hands in his hair. She shivered when cool air touched where his lips had been. Her breasts pebbled. A soft moan bubbled. Lost to his ministrations, she loosened her hold on the shield of anger.
Scandal, murder and passion—an ordinary day for Richard and Rose.
Eyton
© 2010 Lynne Connolly
Richard and Rose, Book 5
When Richard and Rose visit his family estate in Derbyshire to celebrate the christening of their firstborn, Rose comes face to face with some hard realities about the powerful Kerre family. The vast majority of them are far from delighted with Richard’s choice of wife. Plus, they think a man who shares his bed with his wife every night must have something wrong with him.
Rose is driven half mad by Richard’s overly careful love for her. Somewhere underneath that smooth, sophisticated surface lies the passionate, intense lover she longs for—and she takes steps to seduce that savage lover back into her bed.
Their joyous occasion is marred by the theft of a valuable necklace. Richard’s family looks to him to solve the crime—but something isn’t adding up. Evidence pointing to two trusted servants seems too convenient…and then they’re murdered.
From the tangle of jealousies, secrets and desperate lies, Richard and Rose once again dance on the edge of danger to achieve justice—without dragging the family name into public scandal.
Warning: Sharp-shootin’ Rose goes gunning for her man in this one. So steamy sex ahoy!
Enjoy the following excerpt for Eyton:
“I suppose I was naïve; he laughed. “You can read about it, and men do exchange knowledge about such things. Some even boast of their conquests.”
“Did you?”
“I didn’t need to. I merely made no secret of it.” He smiled and touched my face with one finger, his breath catching in his throat when I firmed my grasp on him. “But that was before you. I took great care of you. I touched you, felt where I should go, what I should do, and I knew I must be gentle. Even then I hurt you.”
I smiled back at him. “Not much. And what you’ve brought to me since makes up for it a hundredfold.”
“Thank God the woman I fell in love with loves this as much as I do. Or do you? Is this all an act, to please me?”
He was teasing me, but I replied, “Do you think I’m that good an actress?” I let him go and swung myself on top of him, propping myself up on my elbows. I pushed my now-tangled hair back behind my ears. “I never expected this, but when we first met—no, the day after, when you were helpless and hurt—I saw the man beneath all the affectations, the finery. I wanted you although I didn’t know it was desire. My body seemed to recognise you first.”
He smiled and shifted a little under me, sliding his now-hardened member between my thighs, touching my cleft but not going any further. “And there you were in that hopelessly outmoded but obviously new riding habit, standing next to your sister who was so lovely she could make the sun come out at night, and I knew I wanted you, knew I had found you at last. I was horrified.”
That made me laugh. “Did you fight it?”
“Not for long. You wouldn’t let me. If you hadn’t been so openly responsive, the moment might have passed and I might now be married to Julia Cartwright.”
Even the name made me shudder. “Don’t let’s talk about her now.”
“No.” He looked at me, his gaze sweeping over what I was revealing for him, his smile telling me he was enjoying the sight. “I don’t want to bring either my error in judgement or her noxious husband into our bed anymore. Let them do as they please, so long as they leave us alone.”
I could do nothing but concur with that. I bent my head to kiss him, feeling his hand still on my breast crushed between us. I sat up, and his hand followed me. His other hand held my waist, and he lifted his knees, giving me something to lean on. I sat up and looked at him, decided to tease. “I was told tonight about some of your exploits.”
His look never left mine. “Which ones?”
“When you seduced two rivals in a week and spurned them both at a ball.”
He smiled reminiscently. I had not expected that, especially in this situation. “They deserved it. They had started their own book on which one could get me first, so I obliged. After I put a substantial wager on the winner. But she was only a winner by an hour or two.”
“Don’t you miss it?” I looked down at his face. I found it difficult to connect those stories with this person I knew so well.
“No,” he answered immediately. “It was pleasure engendered from a mixture of boredo
m and desperation. I didn’t care. You made me care.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. But there’s nothing to miss. I have so much here I can’t imagine ever wanting anything else. You shouldn’t listen to them.”
“I want to know what you were like before.”
He shook his head, serious now. “No, no you don’t. I spent twelve angry years trying to destroy myself. I’m not angry anymore, I have all I want, and it fell into my life before I went looking for it.”
I smiled and watched him. He lowered his eyes to look at my body and back up to my face again, taking his time, his loving gaze lingering on me. I delighted in the pleasure he took in me. “It’s like they’re talking about a stranger. I don’t know that man.”
“If you had known him, you’d never have taken me seriously. You’d have watched, as others watched, without coming close.”
“I’d have run away. I didn’t like hurt or distress and you went looking for it.”
He frowned. “I wouldn’t have let you. I love you too much to let you go.” His face cleared as he looked up at me. He reached his hands up to hold my breasts. I moved into his hands and lifted, so he found his way back home. I sighed in contentment as I felt him fill me. Our immediate needs, the desperation was gone now. This was loving. “And now?”
“Now,” he replied, “I don’t care what anyone else does. I have you, and I mean to keep you. Whatever it takes, I’ll take care of you and love you. Remember what I told you. This is love, this is making love, and whatever anyone else says can make no difference to this.”
He began to move slowly, sensuously, and I responded, my movements an echo of his. I kept my eyes on his face and watched him until his hands slipped down to my waist and I leaned back against his knees, putting my hands behind his legs to pull myself onto him.
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