Lawrence laughed and nodded. “I find I have no argument with that idea,” he said, and went off in search of his wife.
***
Henri sighed with content and turned on her side to consider her sleeping husband. They had been married almost two weeks, and she still could not quite believe it had happened at all. It was such a short time ago she had been standing in the little haberdasher's shop with her heart in her throat as she gazed upon the dashing and rather terrifying figure of a pirate with bright blue eyes.
She reached over and pushed a lock of hair from his forehead, admiring the strong jawline, and still a little regretful at the loss of his gold earrings. Last night, however, when she had complained about their absence, he had promised to wear them for her when they were alone, an idea which made her smile. She trailed her fingers down a muscular arm and then pushed the covers back further to admire him as a whole. It was morning, and there was just enough light creeping around the curtains to allow her to enjoy the view. The new scar on his side was still pink and fresh but was healing well, and the older wounds did nothing to mar his perfection in her eyes. Broad shoulders and chest, with just a scattering of dark hair that led her fingers down a taut stomach to narrow hips and heavy thighs, and signs that her husband was possibly not as sleepy as he was making out. Her smile widened and she trailed a finger over the hard length of him, biting her lip to stop herself laughing as goosebumps shivered over his skin. With a lazy and barely-there touch, she continued, stroking one finger back and forth until there was a plaintiff huff.
“Henri, it's cruel to tease.”
Chuckling she bent her head and continued to tease him nonetheless, this time with her tongue, until he was writhing beneath her and cursing.
“Keep still,” she scolded, trying to sound cross.
“I'm going to make you sorry for this,” he growled, and she looked up to see his blue eyes gleaming with a wicked light that promised to make good on that threat.
“I should think so,” she said, one eyebrow arched, before she returned to her work. With diligent practise she had come to discover exactly what it was that made her pirate groan and buck his hips and she was only too willing to indulge him, finding her own pleasure in the harsh sounds of his breathing and the soft curses as she worked with mouth and tongue against his most sensitive flesh. But the sweet torment had clearly gone as far as he would allow and the next moment she found herself flipped onto her back and restrained against the mattress.
“And here I was,” he said, his voice low and intimate. “Believing I had married such a sweet, warm-hearted creature, and now ...” He moved against her, sliding himself between her legs and making her gasp with pleasure. “And now I discover that she's a wicked temptress, determined to drive her poor husband out of his mind.”
“Oh dear,” she sighed, blinking up at him with as innocent an expression as could be found in the circumstances. “I suppose you will have to punish me, now that you've discovered my evil intent.”
He nodded, his expression grave. “I am sorry to inform you, madam, that you will not be leaving this bed until I am satisfied that you are properly contrite.”
Henri bit her lip. “That might take some time,” she said, once she felt able to contain her laughter, though her voice still trembled with it.
She looked up to find her husband grinning at her. “I'm counting on it,” he said, before joining them together with a sigh of pleasure.
Henri gasped and wound herself around him, sinking her hands into this thick hair, pulling his head down for a kiss. “You may call your ship The Redemption,” she said, laughing. “But you don't fool me, you're an irredeemable rogue!”
“Aye,” he chuckled, biting her lip lightly and kissing her again, before adding with a smirk. “But I'm your rogue.”
Want More Emma?
I would love to hear from you. Please email me at [email protected] .
Or feel free to join my website for up to date news, short stories, photos and much more. Membership is always free! :
Emma V. Leech
I can also be found on:
Amazon Emma on Amazon
Facebook: Emma's Facebook
Twitter: Emma's Twitter
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Thank you!
Other works
by
Emma V. Leech
Rogues and Gentlemen
The Rogue
The Earl’s Temptation
Scandal’s Daughter (May 2017)
The Devil May Care (June 2017)
Les Corbeaux: The French Vampire Legend
The Key to Erebus
The Heart of Arima
The Fires of Tartarus
The Son of Darkness (tba)
Les Fées: The French Fae Legend
The Dark Prince
The Dark Heart
The Dark Deceit (tba)
The Darkest Night (tba)
Novellas:
A Dark Desire
A Dark Tale
A Dark Design
A Dark Collection
About the Author
Emma V Leech is currently the author of two series, Les Corbeaux: The French Vampire Legend and Les Fées: The French Fae Legend with much more to come. With the release of The Rogue she is taking her first foray into the world of Historical Fiction.
As an accomplished paranormal romance author, Emma won the world’s largest online writing competition ‘The Wattys’ two years running, first with The Darkest Night, and then with her short story, A Dark Imperfection, A Les Fées Novella. Her third published novel, The Dark Prince has been touted as one of The Top 50 Self Published Books Worth Reading in 2015 and is #2 on the list of the Top 50 Indie Books in 2015 as well as being hailed as "An enchanting fantasy with a likable heroine, romantic intrigue, and clever narrative flourishes." by Kirkus Reviews.
Emma's novels have garnered attention worldwide, and fans who continue to clamour for more through email, Facebook, and Twitter.
When she's not writing she strives to live as far from the real world as possible. but otherwise she can be found in Darkest Dordogne, South West France with her husband, three children,
The Earl’s Temptation
* * *
Book 2
Rogues and Gentlemen
Alexander Sinclair, the Fourth Earl of Falmouth, has a reputation for revelling in vice. But his taste for wine, women and dice is only a fraction of the dangerous truth, for the earl is the force behind a powerful gang, smuggling contraband between France and Cornwall.
Never afraid to get his hands dirty and with an abiding love of living recklessly, Alex leads many of these runs himself, until one fateful night when the Revenue appear. Forced to sail into a violent storm, the ship is lost and Alex is washed ashore, barely alive, close to the French port of Roscoff.
Innocent beauty, Célestine Lavelle, has lost everything. The daughter of a noble French family forced to flee during the Revolution, she has been forced to work in the kitchens of the local whore house, where her future is shrouded in sin. Desperate and completely alone, the discovery of a half drowned English smuggler on the shore will lead her heart in directions she never dreamed of.
Determined to save his beguiling rescuer, Alex plans that her future should be full of everything that is good and honourable, but will the temptation to take her as his own be too hard to resist?
Scandal’s Daughter
* * *
Book 3
Rogues and Gentlemen
Coming May 2017
Sebastian Grenville, The Duke of Sindalton, known as Sin to the ton, has had his fair share of scandal. His father's involvement in what became referred to as 'The Scandal of the Century' plunged him into the spotlight at the tender age of twelve, and he's been there ever since. Egged on by his best friend, Beau - The Marquis of Beaumont, his life is one of dissipation and ease. But every duke needs an heir and everyone knows Sindalton is in the market f
or a wife.
Both men, bored to death by balls and matchmaking mamas, go to a friend's hunting lodge in Cornwall where Sindalton gets caught in a storm and heads for cover. Seeking shelter in a cave, the duke is delighted when he stumbles upon Miss Georgiana Bomford, the niece of the local doctor. But the feisty red-headed beauty is unimpressed by his attempt to entice her. Sindalton however is captivated, and intent on seduction, makes her the target of his all too tempting charms. But Georgiana is not who he thinks she is, and when they meet again in London, the scandalous past is in danger of repeating itself.
The Key to Erebus
Les Corbeaux: The French Vampire Legend
The truth can kill you.
Taken as a small child, from a life where faeries, sirens and mythical creatures are real and treacherous, Jéhenne Corbeaux is totally unprepared when she returns to France to stay with her eccentric Grandmother.
Thrown headlong into a world she knows nothing about she seeks to learn the truth about herself, uncovering secrets more shocking than anything she could ever have imagined and finding that she is by no means powerless to protect the ones she loves.
Despite her Gran’s dire warnings, she is inexorably drawn to the dark and terrifying figure of Corvus, an ancient vampire and master of the Albinus family.
Jéhenne is about to find her answers and discover that, not only is Corvus far more dangerous than she could ever imagine but that he holds much more than the key to her heart…
FREE DOWNLOAD
Click to download The Key to Erebus from Amazon
The Dark Prince
Les Fées: The French Fae Legend
The man of your dreams is coming ... or is it your nightmares he visits? Laen is Prince of the Dark fae, with a temper and reputation to match his black eyes, and a heart that despises the human race. When he is sent back through the forbidden gates between realms to retrieve an ancient fae artifact, he returns home with far more than he bargained for.
Océane DeBeauvoir is an artist and bookbinder who has always relied on her lively imagination to get her through an unhappy and uneventful life. A jewelled dagger put on display at a nearby museum hits the headlines with speculation of another race, the fae.
But the discovery also inspires Océane to create an extraordinary piece of art. Océane's lonely and romantic heart has created the story of The Dark Prince, but it soon becomes apparent that her story cannot be confined to the pages of a book. And it seems that her hero is far from the troubled, romantic figure she had painted, but something far more sinister
Click to buy The Dark Prince on Amazon
Acknowledgements
Thanks as always to my wonderful editor Gemma Fisk of FiskLit for being patient and guiding me through this adventure into Regency England!
To my wonderful BFF, PA, personal cheerleader and bringer of chocolate, Varsi Richardson Appel, for moral support, confidence boosting and for reading my work more times than I have. I love you loads!
To the betas! Varsi, Alejandra Avila, Varsha Shurpali, Veronique Glotin Phillips. Thank you so much for all your help and advice.
To all of the dedicated Dark Addicts and wicked Angels. Thank you all for your continued support and excitement over my work and for taking a chance on what for some of you is a new genre. You guys are such an inspiration and your enthusiasm keeps me excited to write for you. I’m always so happy to hear from you so do email or message me :) [email protected]
To my husband Pat and my family ... For always being proud of me.
The Rogue Page 23