Where for art thou Emmeline?

I am chatting on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/ on Wednesday 29th August from 2 – 8pm EST – which is bloody early Thursday morning Aussie time. Please feel free to come along and keep me awake. Joining me will be some great authors with some hot excerpts.

And now…our serial blog continues…

“Oh for heaven sake I cannot watch this Emmeline crap any longer. Fangs, peelers, yellow quills? Turn the television off!” Louella had seen more than enough. “How much longer do I have to be here?” If she had to stay a moment longer Louella knew she was going to puke.

“Until the danger passes.” Sam Patterson watched the woman with interest. She was cranky as hell but deliciously hot to look at.

“It’s been two bum numbing weeks!” Witness protection? Witness boredom more like it.

“Duh, remember your life is in danger.” She was hot but thick…like something else he could think of.

“I’m in danger of being bored to death.”

“Hey I’ve done my best to keep you busy.”

“How? By watching schlock 1960’s television shows about warrior women who carry humming potato peelers and men who don’t know their phallax from their foot?” Louella snorted in disgust.

“You are a hard woman to please.”

“You have no idea” Louella licked her lips and looked at him thoughtfully. “We could have some fun together Sammy.”

“I am not doing that again.” He liked adventure but there were limits even with a beautiful woman.

“Come on you liked it.” Louella remembered vividly how it felt and tasted. She moved towards him

“It made me too hot.” Sam knew he had almost lost control last time and that was not on. He was there to protect this woman.

“But it was worth it.” She placed her hand on his chest. His heart beat wildly. Good to know she was not the only one excited.

“Oh yeah but…”

“No buts,” Louella slid her hand down his body. “Let’s do it again Sammy boy.”

Anny…you’re up to the challenge. Check her out tomorrow on www.annycook.blogspot.com. Then take a squiz at www.kkirch.blogspot.com Thursday to see what Kelly does…god help us all.

What the heck does Kelly Kirch write you ask? Why Regencies of course. Do I have a sample? For you – yes….
Marriage Mart – Released December 2007 - http://www.kellykirch.com/KellyKirch.html

The excerpt

Ester clutched the stony baluster for support, hanging her head. Tears streamed down her face in hot trails. She didn’t care if she ruined her disguise. The orchestra’s sweet notes drifted a tender waltz, wrapping around her as if to comfort her. She moved off to the edge of the balcony where the shadows enveloped her. Covering her face with her hands, the grease at her temples saturated her gloved fingers. She removed them with quick jerking motions.
Why hadn’t father told her? Was it so hard to claim he had stood up for a young doctor and felt bound to him? And why the bloody hell didn’t her father call upon Baxter when mother got pregnant again if her own birth nearly cost her mother’s life?
Too many questions.
Ester shook her head almost hypnotically from side to side and tried desperately to muffle her crying. Between the tears and her rubbing hands, she knew her disguise was decimated. She could feel the smooth skin of her jaw and didn’t care. Ester wiped her cheeks along her sleeves and shed her coat allowing the cool November air to sooth her heated body.
In the depths of the shadows, a warm hand fumbled to her shoulder and gently squeezed her. Ester jumped, her heart pounding in her chest. “Who’s there?”
“A friend.” The voice was a soothing balm and she hiccupped. “Do you want to talk about what’s upsetting you?”
“No. I don’t even know you.” Ester tried unsuccessfully to keep her voice from wobbling.
“I don’t know you either but I heard you crying. Come, you need a friend.”
Ester felt her ire rise. “Contrary to popular belief, not all women need to be coddled or seduced.” She prayed the embodiment of that voice hadn’t seen her exit to the balcony as a man. She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
The voice chuckled warmly. “I’m here for neither, though perhaps it is a promising idea to take your mind off your troubles.”
Ester breathed an internal sigh of relief, her identity was preserved. “If I had wanted to be coddled,” she snuffled, “I would have sought out my father.”
“And where would you go for the seduction?”
Ester thought wildly, grasping for any outrageous name that came to mind. She smiled at the incongruity of the one which sprang to mind. “I suppose I would seek out someone like Lord Rochester.” She hoped the defiance in her voice wasn’t overshadowed by the embarrassing hiccup that escaped her.
The man’s voice chuckled with a secret joke. “Lord Rochester, eh? You are in luck then.”
Uneasiness grabbed hold of her. “Why?” she whispered, already knowing the answer.
“Lord Marcus Rochester, seducer of young virgins and mysterious crying women at your service.”
She sensed, more than felt, Marcus gather himself around her.
“You see,” he whispered, lifting her chin, “your tears are already ceasing.” She was so distracted that the sudden sensation of warm breath on her lips caused her to inhale sharply.
She had a flash of momentary irritation for his arrogance. His lips brushed lightly over hers and her irritation vanished, replaced with curiosity. The whisper of a touch could have been imagined, it was so gentle. Ester waited, absorbed with the slight tingling sensation on her lips.
His lips touched hers again, this time with deeper, tender pressure. An image of Marcus as he appeared in the Braithwaite ballroom invaded her mind and she felt her stomach flop unexpectedly. Marcus captured her bottom lip between his and suckled it tenderly.
She moaned. She didn’t remember placing her hand on his chest for support but she felt the rumble of his chuckle before she heard it. On some level, she realized her enjoyment of this stolen kiss could present a problem.
He leaned forward tentatively, as though sensing her hesitance and respecting it, allowing her to pull away from him if she wished. Ester thought she should stop but couldn’t make herself. He held her with no more than a touch of fingertips beneath her chin and the sear of his lips on hers. Her fingers curled against his great coat. She felt a trill in the knowledge that the thumping of his erratically beating heart mirrored hers.
His kiss broke off suddenly, leaving her bereft of his soft warmth. “Somebody is calling me.” Marcus’ voice was husky and he seemed to waiver between kissing her again and dispatching the potential for discovery.
“Marcus, I must go home immediately. I know you are out here.”
Ester recognized Caroline’s voice and realized Caroline must have seen her exit to the balcony too.
He stood very still. His heated breath still fanned against her lips. “Will you be all right?” he asked.
She nodded not thinking about the darkness concealing her from his gaze. The softness of his lips grazed her again and she sighed into the sensation.
“Marcus?”
He groaned.
Ester whispered, her lips brushing his as she spoke, “I’ll be all right.”
“I was afraid you might say that.” He smiled against her lips bemusement tinting his voice. “I’m not sure I am able to go.”

More hot news
Next Monday Claire Siemaszkiewicz – the Publisher from Total-E-Bound will be on the Amarinda blog answering the hard questions. Come by and check it out. In the mean time swing by Total-E-Bound and check out the books…in particular one called Lust in Time.

www.freewebs.com/janetdavies

Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?