"You wish to see me naked?" His mouth twitched as he stripped off his coat.
"Yes. You are not the only one with an imagination. Mine has quite run wild these last two days," she teased.
"That is less than reassuring, Hen. Now I wonder if I can possibly live up to it."
"I doubt you have much cause for worry given that you will be the first naked man I have ever seen and thus become the standard to which all others will be measured."
"What others?" he asked with a mock scowl. "Do you now intend to inspect naked men?"
"That's not how I meant it," she protested. "I only meant that you are now the model to me, the ideal."
Calmed by their easy banter, her fingers ceased trembling enough to go to work on his waistcoat buttons. Once open, she slid her hands inside and over his shirt, relishing the heat of his body and the planes of hard muscle covered in soft linen. Teased by the mixed essences of manly musk and ambergris, she drew in a breath. Closing her eyes, she memorized the scent of Julian. It wasn't enough. Her senses cried out to feel his warm skin. She tugged impatiently at his shirttails, freeing them from his breeches. "Take it off."
He removed his shirt, revealing to her gaze what she had only imagined, but the amorphous images her mind had conjured were no match for Julian in the flesh. His shoulders were broad, his chest and arms well developed and dusted with dark hair that beckoned to be touched. Her gaze followed the dark line of it that led to his falls. Once more, they revealed his arousal.
"The breeches too," she said.
His mouth twitched again. "All in good time. First, remove your shift," he said.
He stepped in to assist, his heated gaze seared her by inches as he took in her nakedness. His breath was warm and sweet on her skin as he dipped his head once more to her neck. "I want to taste you, Henrietta." She titled her head to allow him full access. "I want to devour you whole, but I'll begin by slow inches."
He took her mouth with long, languid kisses. Their mingled moans and synchronous sighs filled the air as he backed her to the bed. Breaking from the dizzying kisses, he sat her on the edge of the mattress and removed one shoe and then the other. He raised one foot to his shoulder, kissing the length of her leg from ankle to knee as he slowly rolled down her stockings. Henrietta shivered with the unfamiliar sensations that created warmth in her belly and moisture between her thighs. Would he touch her there again? She hoped so.
Stockings removed, he wordlessly urged her to lie back and nudged her trembling legs apart. She was growing breathless with anticipation, but she didn't resist. She wanted this fervently. She didn't care if it hurt or how much. She wanted him. But most of all, she didn't want to disappoint him with missish fears.
This time, both of his hands caressed her thighs. She shut her eyes on a blissful sigh only to have them snap open at a brand new sensation, the light scrape of beard bristle and the feel of his hot, wet tongue approaching—Dear God! What was he doing?
"Julian!" She reached down to grab a handful of his hair. "What are you about?"
"I told you I wanted to taste you, Hen."
"But… but… I thought you meant to kiss me."
"I do. I intend to kiss you very thoroughly."
"Down there?"
"Yes. Down here. Do you recall what I told you in the carriage? If you truly wish to please me, you will allow me to pleasure you." He nuzzled into her sex and then followed with a long swipe of his tongue. She sucked in a gasp and exhaled it on a long, shuddering breath. "Do you like that, Henrietta?"
"Yes," she confessed. Shutting her eyes, she gave herself up to his masterful ministrations. Plying knowing lips, a skillful tongue, and seeking fingers, he stroked and tongued her until she writhed with an emptiness that ached to be filled. "Julian," she called out. "I want… I need…"
JULIAN KNEW HE COULDN'T avoid hurting her, but there was a way he could minimize her discomfort. He slid a fingertip inside her passage, gently massaging and stretching her membrane as he applied himself single-mindedly to her pleasure. He added another finger as he continued to lick and kiss her until she begged for release. In that precious moment when she edged toward the brink of ecstasy, he plunged his fingers into her passage, breaching her just as her body climaxed. Moments later, he came over her as she lay panting and dazed, spent from the throes of ecstasy. He kissed her passionately.
"I don't understand," she said. "Why didn't you take your pleasure with me?"
"Because a virgin almost never attains release with the first penetration. I couldn't save you from the pain, but I wanted you to find pleasure in the experience."
"As I desired for you. I wish you to take your pleasure from me, Julian."
"I can wait," he said. "Now that you are breached, it will be easier for you to accommodate me."
"I don't want you to wait. I want to feel you inside me. I want you to stop the ache."
"Are you sure, Hen? You really want this now?"
"Yes, I'm sure. It was wonderful, but it feels somehow incomplete." She reached out to him as her gaze sought his. "Please, make me complete…"
Her words spoken with soft and imploring eyes were more than he could take.
Julian took himself in hand, sliding into her wet folds until he was poised at her entrance. He shook with anticipation as he drew back and muffled her cry with his mouth as he thrust into her. Blinding bliss engulfed him in a wave as he sheathed himself in her welcoming warmth. For countless heartbeats, he held himself still, eyes squeezed shut, afraid to move, and almost unable to breathe for fear of breaking the spell that penetrated him to the very marrow of his being. He'd been so cold, so empty, for so very long.
He finally opened his eyes to gaze into hers. "Did I hurt you?"
She winced. "A little, but I wanted this. I wanted you, Julian." Her gaze held his as her lips curved into a shy smile. "And now I am yours for the taking. Please. Make me yours completely."
With their eyes locked, he began moving, slowly, cautiously at first until she pulled him closer, tighter, and began meeting his thrusts with soft sounds of pleasure. Losing himself in her eyes, Julian found not just his release, but the missing pieces of his soul.
"I am yours, Henrietta Price. Yours completely. Body, heart, and soul."
The Redemption of Julian Price: Epilogue
HENRIETTA LAY IN HER NIGHT RAIL snug beneath the covers, nose buried in a book, when Julian pounced onto the bed beside her. "It's barely a sennight into our marriage, Hen. What the devil are you doing in bed with a book?"
"I'm reading it, Julian. It's a highly engaging story."
His brows rose. "Is it indeed?"
"Shall I read a few passages to you?"
He exhaled a petulant sound and threw himself onto his back, hands thrust behind his head. "Reading is hardly what I had in mind when I came to bed."
Henrietta stole a glance at him before licking her finger and turning the page. She then read aloud, "He is now in bed with me the first time. Thrusting up his shirt and my shift, he laid his naked glowing body to mine… Oh, insupportable delight! Oh! Superhuman rapture! What pain could stand before a pleasure so transporting? I felt no more the smart of my wounds below; but, curling round him like the tendril of a vine, as if I feared any part of him should be untouched or unpressed by me, I returned his strenuous embraces and kisses with a fervor and gust only known to true love, and which mere lust never rises to."
He sat up abruptly and scowled at the cover. "What the devil kind of book is that?"
Ignoring the question, she licked her finger and turned another page. "My beauteous youth was now glued to me in all the folds and twists that we could make our bodies meet in; when, no longer able to rein in the fierceness of refreshed desires, he gives his steed the head, and gently insinuating his thighs between mine, stopping my mouth with kisses of humid fire, makes a fresh eruption, and renewing his thrusts, pierces, tears, and forces his way up the torn, tender folds that yielded him admission. Soon his thrusts, more and more furi
ous, cheeks flushed with a deeper scarlet, his eyes turned up in the fervent fit, some dying sighs, and an agonizing shudder, announced the approaches of that ecstatic pleasure when the warm gush darts through all the ravished inwards; what floods of bliss! What melting transports! What agonies of delight! Too fierce, too mighty for nature to sustain…" Henrietta gasped as he snatched the book from her hands.
Julian's brows rose as he read the spine. "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure? You are reading Fanny Hill? Where the devil did you get this?"
"Lady Cheswick gave it to me."
"This obscene work has been banned for decades."
"Obscene?" Henrietta laughed. "I find it well written and most enlightening."
"You do understand that this is a work of prurient fantasy, specifically designed to incite sexual arousal?"
"Yes. I quite comprehend that part, Julian." She glanced up at him, unable to suppress the curve in her lips. "And I am not unaffected by it. Are you?"
Tossing the book down, he threw his head back in raucous laughter. "My God, Hen! What have I gotten myself into?"
"Why are you laughing? I told you I wanted to learn how to please you. It is my greatest desire to inspire your love and passion, Julian."
"My love and my passion?" He rolled her beneath him and kissed her deeply. "My dear, dear, girl," he murmured between the kisses he rained all over her face. "You should be very careful what you wish for… because you just may get it."
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
JULIE JOHNSTON is an USA TODAY best-selling author of edgy Regency Romance. She feels she's living the dream by working with her passion of creating worlds from her imagination. When not writing, she's chasing her precocious children around, cooking, reading or exercising. Julie loves to hear from her readers. To connect with Julie or learn more about her books, visit:
www.juliejohnstoneauthor.com
www.facebook.com/authorjuliejohnstone
www.twitter.com/juliejohnstone
KATHERINE BONE is a best-selling Historical Romance Author passionate about history since she had the opportunity to travel to various Army bases, castles, battlegrounds, and cathedrals as an Army brat-turned-Officer's-Wife. Now she lives in the south where she writes about Rogues, Rebels and Rakes, aka Pirates, Lords, Captains, Duty, Honor, and Country and the happily-ever-afters every alpha male and damsel deserve. To connect with Katherine or learn more about her books, visit:
www.katherinebone.com
www.twitter.com/katherinelbone
www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katherine-Bones-Official-Fan-Page/134578253291785
JILLIAN CHANTAL is a 2015 RONE Finalist and lives on the beautiful coast of Florida, and even though she loves her little slice of paradise, she's an Anglophile at heart. Writing in a variety of romance genres makes her happy, but she has a particular fondness for the Georgian/Regency era as it was the age she adored as a teen and as her introduction to the world of happily-ever-afters. Living on the gulf coast also reminds Jillian, daily, that even though she loves the past, she needs the present. Air conditioning is vital for her survival. To connect with Jillian or learn more about her books, visit:
www.facebook.com/jillian.chantal
www.twitter.com/JillianChantal
www.JillianChantal.com
COLLETTE CAMERON is a best-selling and award-winning Historical Romance Author of more than ten Scottish and Regency Romances featuring rogues, rapscallions, rakes, and the intrepid damsels who reform them. Mother to three and self-proclaimed Cadbury chocoholic, she makes her home in Oregon with her husband and five mini-dachshunds. You'll always find animals, quirky—sometimes naughty—humor, and a dash of inspiration in her novels. To connect with Collette or learn more about her books, visit:
www.collettecameron.com
www.facebook.com/collettecameronauthor
www.twitter.com/Collette_Author
SAMANTHA GRACE is a best-selling, RITA- nominated Historical Romance Author who discovered the appeal of a great love story at the age of four, thanks to Disney's "Robin Hood". She didn't care that Robin Hood and Maid Marian were cartoon animals. It was her first happily-ever-after experience, and she wanted the warm fuzzies to go on forever. Now that Samantha is grown, she enjoys creating happy-endings for characters that spring from her imagination. Publisher's Weekly describes her stories as "fresh and romantic" with subtle humor and charm. Samantha describes romance writing as the best job ever. To connect with Samantha or learn more about her books, visit:
www.samanthagraceauthor.com
www.facebook.com/pages/SamanthaGrace/264436686918343?ref=bookmarks
www.twitter.com/SamGraceAuthor
ALANNA LUCAS is a best-selling author and grew up in Southern California, but always dreamed of distant lands and bygone eras. From an early age she took interest in art, history, and travel, and enjoys incorporating those diversions into her writing. However, she believes that true love is the greatest source of inspiration and is always an adventure. Alanna makes her home in California where she spends her time writing historical romances, dreaming of her next travel destination, spending time with family, and staying up too late indulging in her favorite past time, reading. To connect with Alanna or learn more about her books, visit:
www.alannalucas.com
www.facebook.com/alannalucas27
www.witter.com/alannalucas27
LAUREN SMITH, an attorney by day, is a best-selling, award winning author by night, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She's a native Oklahoman who lives with her three pets: a feisty chinchilla, sophisticated cat, and dapper little schnauzer. She's won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including being a New England Reader's Choice Winner, Greater Detroit Bookseller's Best Award Finalist and a Semi-Finalist for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award. To connect with Lauren or learn more about her books, visit:
www.laurensmithbooks.com
www.facebook.com/LaurenDianaSmith/
www.twitter.com/LSmithAuthor
VICTORIA VANE is a bestselling author of smart and sexy romance. Her works range from comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance and have received over twenty awards and nominations to include: a 2015 Red Carpet Finalist for Best Contemporary romance (SLOW HAND), 2014 RONE Winner for Best Historical Post Medieval Romance (Treacherous Temptations), and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 (The Devil DeVere series). Victoria also writes romantic historical fiction as Emery Lee. She currently resides in Palm Coast, Florida with her husband, two sons, a little black dog, and an Arabian horse. To connect with Vicki or learn more about her books, visit:
www.victoriavane.com
http://on.fb.me/YVeXrf
www.twitter.com/authorvictoriav
Dearest Reader
Thank you so much for purchasing Once Upon a True Love's Kiss!
We hope these tantalizing kiss and tell stories kept you awake reading all night and caused a sigh or two of contentment. If you enjoyed them, we would so appreciate you sharing your opinion by way of a review or recommendation.
Warmest Regards,
Julie, Katherine, Collette, Jillian, Samantha, Alanna, Lauren, and Victoria
Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Ratings
AFTER FOREVER
After Forever: Chapter One
After Forever: Chapter Two
After Forever: Chapter Three
After Forever: Chapter Four
After Forever: Chapter Five
After Forever: Chapter Six
After Forever: Chapter Seven
After Forever: Chapter Eight
After Forever: Chapter Nine
After Forever: Chapter Ten
After Forever: Chapter Eleven
After Forever: Chapter Twelve
THE PIRATE'S DUCHESS
The Pirate’s Duchess: Pr
ologue
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter One
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Two
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Three
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Four
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Five
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Six
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Seven
The Pirate’s Duchess: Chapter Eight
The Pirate’s Duchess: Epilogue
HER SCANDALOUS WISH
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter One
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Two
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Three
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Four
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Five
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Six
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Seven
Her Scandalous Wish: Chapter Eight
Her Scandalous Wish: Epilogue
MILADY AND HER SPY
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter One
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Two
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Three
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Four
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Five
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Six
Milady and Her Spy: Chapter Seven
KISSED BY A SCOTTISH ROGUE
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter One
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Two
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Three
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Four
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Five
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Six
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Seven
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Eight
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Nine
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Ten
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue: Chapter Eleven
Once Upon a True Love's Kiss Page 71