Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to another excerpt for my First Kiss Friday blog. Today my guest is Anne Knight who has an excerpt from her story Just Think of the Scandal. Isn’t the cover gorgeous? We hope you enjoy this first kiss scene. Happy reading!
Excerpt:
He had to kiss her. It was imperative.
“Miss Czerninová,” he rasped. “Eliska. I need to kiss you.”
Eliska blinked. I need to kiss you. No one had ever said that to her before. Her toes curled in her slippers in anticipation. It was polite, after all, she reasoned. He needed it. Who was she to deny him? And he’d be kissing her a lot tomorrow. She should let him now, so she could get used to the sensation. Ease herself into married life, in a way. She gave a jerky nod, holding her breath. “Yes.” She’d never been so nervous about a first kiss.
His mouth curved into a smile, and then his face descended toward hers.
His lips touched hers gently, oh so gently, at first. A thrill went down Eliska’s spine. She let him mold his lips to hers, still so gently it felt like a butterfly’s touch. When Theo pulled away she felt the scrape of his five o’clock shadow on his jawline. The softness followed by roughness made her shiver.
“Eliska?” he whispered, eyes searching hers.
Oh, he needed to do that again. This was like smelling her favorite dessert and being told to wait until tomorrow for a taste. She did not like being teased.
She placed her hands on his chest for balance and stood on her tiptoes, lips parted and begging for more.
“I need more,” he uttered with a groan. His hands moved from her shoulders to her back. Theo gathered her in his arms, heedless of her skirts and crinolines, and kissed her again. This time he pressed harder, a true kiss.
His warm breath made her clutch him tighter, and she moved her lips under his. He took the lead, nibbling and licking the corners of her mouth. She gasped when his tongue flicked between her lips, and he took that as the invitation she intended.
Growing bolder, Eliska slid her hands inside his jacket and gripped the edges of his waistcoat. The bristles on his jaw scraped against her cheeks as she opened to him, reveling in the wet heat of his mouth.
He sucked her tongue into his mouth, drawing up a moan of delight out of her. She could feel his heart beating beneath her hands. The scent of him filled her nostrils, the hint of sweat from his travels and the whiff of cologne he’d put on hours ago.
Eliska had never been kissed so passionately before. She clung to him, awash in sensation as her body responded to the virile man touching her.
He pulled away from her mouth only to kiss the pulse in her neck. His hands roamed her back, smoothing out tense muscles and sending flutters down her spine and her stomach. Her core began to ache in time with his touches. She yearned to draw closer, to put her skin against his skin.
Theo licked up her neck, then kissed away the moisture left behind, until he made it to her ears. She rubbed her cheek against his stubble. The new, masculine sensation was erotic; Eliska had the sudden urge to rub her face against him like a cat, to mark him with her scent and take his scent as her own.
Just Think of the Scandal
By Anne Knight
Theophilus Fairplace didn’t intend to wind up betrothed to a near-stranger by the end of his cousin’s house party. But after an act of kindness goes wrong, he accidentally compromises Miss Eliska Czerninová, and now they’re getting married.
Eliska isn’t sure she wants to wed Theo. He’s an excellent kisser, but she’s wary of marriage while her inheritance is still being held hostage in Prague courts by a nationalist judge.
It really shouldn’t come to Theo’s surprise when Eliska jilts him, but he can’t so easily walk away from her. Desperate to discover why she left, he sets off to find her. Once reunited, the sparking chemistry which sealed their fate heats up again. But when tragedy strikes during their journey, will they find the courage to claim their bond to protect one another?
For fans of Tessa Dare and Lisa Kleypas comes a humorous novella about what happens when a compromised lady decides she can’t follow through with a marriage of convenience to save her reputation—and jilts him instead.
Buy link: https://a.co/d/adYa8L2
Anne Knight has been writing stories since she was three years old. Before she could read or write, she followed her parents and babysitter around, begging them to dictate her words. Eventually she learned the alphabet and began writing herself. She sneaked her first romance novel when she was thirteen, but did not become an avid reader or writer of the genre until after college.
Anne lives in Arkansas with her real-life swoony hero, four children, and two cats. The cats are named Cyrano and Ivanhoe.
Learn more about Anne on her website at anneknightbooks.com