Welcome to my First Kiss Friday Blog. Today’s guest is fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from her novella Wait for Me in the Belles’ boxset Storm & Shelter. The set releases April 13th. The paperback is now available and the eBook is currently up for a special preorder price of only $0.99. Grab your copy quick before the price goes up after release date. Enjoy this excerpt from Rue’s novella. Happy reading, my lovelies.
Excerpt:
An unidentifiable racket interrupted, but she could not look away. Then an unseen force pushed her in Gilroy’s direction. His arms closed about her as a storm of activity surrounded them.
“Ooof.”
Eyes wide she tilted her head and stared past his shoulder. At full speed, Hector, the dog from the inn fled out the open church door with a stream of boys trailing after him. She straightened and found herself smiling into Brandon’s face. He smiled back.
She could not have said how the kiss happened, or who broke away first. She found herself with her back against the wall, fingers to her mouth astonished at the sensations the brief meeting of lips caused.
Gilroy seemed equally surprised. He did an about face and fled, moving as if Napoleon’s entire army were on his heels.
What in the world? Her lips still tingled and confusion swirled below her stomach. In front of her, the register stood forgotten. She’d never experienced anything like that. She’d kissed men before but had never wished the activity had gone on for hours.
About Wait for Me: Esmeralda Crobbin, aka the pirate Irish Red, and Captain, Lord Brandon Gilroy were enemies by nature who first met during a battle at sea. But fate trumps nature when a fierce storm creates a chance encounter and forced proximity. Brandon learns the pirate is a woman of serious honor and responsibility. Esmeralda discovers the captain is more than a uniform stuffed with rules and regulations. Both love the sea with boundless passion, but can they love each other?
About Storm & Shelter: When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel. One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.
Storm & Shelter is available for Pre-order now for only $0.99 until release day, April 13, 2021 when the price goes up.
About Rue Allyn: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south. When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
Thank you for joining me today for another First Kiss Friday! Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who has a scene from her latest release The Legend of Skinner Robelard. Happy reading and take it away, Rue!
Sherry, thank you so very much for inviting me to First Kiss Friday. This first kiss scene is from The Legend of Skinner Robelard, and I may have posted it here several months ago. For this visit, I give a bit more context to the kiss. We begin with the end of a wild celebration at a saloon.
Excerpt: He set his nearly empty mug on the bar as he walked toward the piano. He stepped over bodies littering the floor. The barkeep slept with his head pillowed on the polished wood. The piano player’s hands still moved over the keys, but the melody, if there was one, was completely unrecognizable.
“Play Goodnight Ladies,” Boyd told the pianist then reached for Elise, as the tune took shape, “Time to call it a night, Mister Skinner.”
Elise batted at his hands in a very un-masculine manner. “Naw, party’s just gettin’ started.”
At least she’d kept her mule-whacker’s voice. He grasped her waist. “All the same, you’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
She speared him with an amazingly steady gaze. “I do?”
“Yeah, you do.”
“’Kay.” Her eyes closed, and she fell forward.
Boyd caught her and settled her against his chest, one of his arms supporting her back, one under her knees. The hat she always wore to hide her hair tilted against his face, blocking his vision.
The music stopped. A hand took hold of Elise’s hat and moved it to cover her face. Over it, Boyd’s gaze met that of the piano man.
The man studied the room. “Ain’t no one t’ hear me. So, you take good care of her. And stop looking at her like she’s a girl. You’ll give her away.”
Boyd tried to look surprised. “How many people know?”
“A few folks Robelard trusts. Did most of ‘em a good turn at one time or another, like she did me. Won’t none of us say nothin’. It’s someone like you who’s the greatest danger. Skinner’s friends all love her enough to make any sacrifice needed, but we ain’t in love with her.”
Boyd snorted. “You got that all wrong, Mister.” In love with a hellion shemale? That’s plain loco.
The pianist raised an eyebrow. “I know what I see. You just see you don’t hurt her, or half of Wyoming will string you up whether they know she’s a girl or not. Ain’t no one don’t like and respect Skinner Robelard.”
“I don’t intend any harm.”
“Even good intentions can hurt. Now git her outta here. Somma these saddle bums are startin’ t’ stir.”
Boyd had caught slight movements in his peripheral vision, so he didn’t argue. Skirting around drunks and furniture he got himself and Elise outside. Before he stepped off the boardwalk, he scanned the street in both directions. Nothing moved. All the same, a prickle on his nape made him keep to the shadow of the buildings rather than taking the smoother route down the middle of the street.
A five-minute walk brought him to the boarding house. He circled the building and entered by the back door headed for the kitchen stairs. Miz Riper must have retired. Only the cat dozing before the potbelly took brief notice of him and his burden before going back to sleep.
Halfway up the stairs, Elise woke up. She jerked awake. Her hat pushed upward, blocking his vision and knocking his own hat to the floor. Her head banged into his chin, forcing him to bite the inside of his cheek. He stumbled, twisting this way and that to keep his balance until her fist struck his shoulder.
“Ow.” He sat with a thump.
“Put me down, you cock-assed son of a bull-moose.”
He glared at her and released her immediately.
Poised on his lap for a long two seconds, she grabbed her hat then slid downwards, pushing herself off his legs onto the stairs. Once she stopped moving, she put her hat on her head and looked back at him.
A sheepish grin spread across her face.”
What the hell does she have to smile about? Boyd glared all the harder.
Elise grasped her middle and subsided into a fit of giggles.
He lunged for her, slapped his hand across her mouth, and anchored her against the stairs with his body. “Will you be quiet, or do you want to bring Miz Riper and the other boarders down on us,” he hissed.
Against his hand, laughter still burbled. Against his body, hers wriggled as the laughing fit shook her, and he went instantly hard. Damn, this had to stop or he’d take her right there, Miz Riper and disguises be damned. He had to shut Elise up. He refused to use force; striking a woman was just wrong. So, he used the only part of his body he was certain would do the job.
He covered her mouth with his. The giggles faded into a hum. Her arms went around his neck and hot damn if she didn’t kiss him back. Enthusiastically, to the delight of his least responsible organ. Inexpertly, to his surprise. She’d been an innocent when he first met her. He’d assumed she’d have learned a few things in the past five years, but her kiss told another story. He lifted his head. Kissing a drunk woman was almost as wrong as hitting one, but how else was he supposed to keep her quiet.
She stilled instantly, but she didn’t pull away. How could she, with him plastering her to the stairs? She had to be uncomfortable. He started to ease away. But her hands grabbed his neck and pulled him back. She attacked his mouth, thrust her hands into his hair, and gentled her kiss to tiny nips on his lower lip.
She wanted kisses? Well, they’d do it right or not at all. He opened his mouth over hers. It took her a moment, but she opened in return, and her tongue tangled with his, her mastery of the basic mechanics growing as she copied every move he made. Boyd’s head spun. We can’t do this on the stairs. He rolled over. Elise clung and rolled with him, ending with their positions reversed.
He felt the stair treads press into his spine and his shoulders, but more, he felt the firing of every nerve as she stroked his arms, throat and chest. Chest? When did my buttons come undone?
“Elise, stop.”
“No.” She’d left off kissing his lips to nuzzle the fine hairs of his torso. Her hands raced downward.
He caught her wrist before she could unbuckle his belt.
“You don’t know what you’re doing?”
“Do, too.” She slipped from his grip and aimed for his trouser buttons.
“No.” He lifted her bodily away and sat her beside him. “You don’t. You’re drunk.”
Her expression would have done a mule proud. “I know how to handle my liquor.”
“Maybe.”
She added a glare to the mulish set of her jaw.
“Probably.”
Her mouth twisted, and she folded her arms before her.
“All right, definitely. You definitely know how to handle your liquor, but I don’t know how to handle you.”
She dropped her arms, and a smile replaced the mule imitation. “Way I see it; you did some pretty good handling just now.”
He wanted to puff out his chest and preen like a rooster. Instead he bowed his head and stared at his room key on the floor. When had that fallen out? “I’m glad you liked it, but I shouldn’t have. I took advantage of you.”
She stood in a blink. If she’d been taller, he would have said she loomed. Her mouth opened and closed like a squawking chicken. “For your information, Mr. Alvarez,” she growled in an angry whisper. “No one—I repeat—no one takes advantage of Elise Van Demer. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do. But I’ve changed my mind. Don’t. Ever. Touch. Me. Again. Ever.”
“Since I shouldn’t be touching you, that suits me fine.”
“Good.” She bent and swept the key into her hands then retreated up the stairs.
She’d taken his key. Boyd turned to go after her, then slumped back to the steps. He’d get it from her later, or he’d wake Miz Riper and get her to unlock his room. First, he wanted some time to think over what had just happened.
The kiss had been fantastic, way beyond fantastic in fact. He couldn’t deny he wanted more, and if she’d done this before, maybe… No point in maybes. Next thing, he’d be convincing himself that she’d had a dozen lovers, and one more time wouldn’t matter, and that was two lies right there. Yes, she’d more or less attacked him, but he knew an innocent when he kissed one. And under all the dirt, she was a decent woman. Decent women cared about the men they let into their beds. Elise deserves a man who plans to stick around, and that isn’t me.
The Legend of Skinner Robelard By Rue Allyn
Pampered and privileged then betrayed and disowned, Elise Van Demer hides in plain sight and plots her revenge on the men who destroyed her life. With her goal in sight, she encounters a lawman from her past. Boyd Alvarez could ruin everything, and the last thing she needs is wanting some man who only wants to protect her.
His family dead and without a home, Boyd Alvarez rides the range and hunts bounties for a living. When he stumbles on Elise Van Demer his only thought is to keep her safe. He can outgun just about every man, but can he protect her from her own plans of revenge? Can he teach her that loving a man is a better dream than destroying her enemies?
Author Bio: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south. When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance.. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
Welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from her upcoming novel that’s currently up for preorder. Happy reading, my lovelies, and take it away Rue!
Sherry, thank you for this opportunity to reveal The Legend of Skinner Robelard to your readers. The time is 1875. The setting is a fictional Wyoming camptown. This story’s two main characters, Boyd and Elise met briefly five years ago. He’s never forgotten her, nor she him. So, when they are reunited, of course the sparks fly.
Excerpt:
Poised on his lap for a long two seconds, she grabbed her hat then slid downwards, pushing herself off his legs onto the stairs. Once she stopped moving, she put her hat on her head and looked back at him.
A sheepish grin spread across her face.”
What the hell does she have to smile about? Boyd glared all the harder.
Elise grasped her middle and subsided into a fit of giggles.
He lunged for her before she could tumble down the steps, slapped his hand across her mouth, and anchored her against the stairs with his body. “Will you be quiet, or do you want to bring Miz Riper and the other boarders down on us,” he hissed.
Against his hand, laughter still burbled. Against his body, hers wriggled as the laughing fit shook her, and he went instantly hard. Damn, this had to stop or he’d take her right there, Miz Riper and disguises be damned. He had to shut Elise up. He refused to use force; striking a woman was just wrong. So, he used the only other part of his body he was certain would do the job.
He covered her mouth with his. The giggles faded into a hum. Her arms went around his neck and hot damn if she didn’t kiss him back. Enthusiastically, to the delight of his least responsible organ. Inexpertly, to his surprise. She’d been an innocent when he first met her. He’d assumed she’d have learned a few things in the past five years, but her kiss told another story. He lifted his head. Kissing a drunk woman was almost as wrong as hitting one, but how else was he supposed to keep her quiet.
She stilled instantly, but she didn’t pull away. How could she, with him plastering her to the stairs? She had to be uncomfortable. He started to ease away. But her hands grabbed his neck and pulled him back. She attacked his mouth, thrust her hands into his hair, and gentled her kiss to tiny nips on his lower lip.
She wanted kisses? Well, they’d do it right or not at all. He opened his mouth over hers. It took her a moment, but she opened in return, and her tongue tangled with his, her mastery of the basic mechanics growing as she copied every move he made. Boyd’s head spun. We can’t do this on the stairs. He rolled over. Elise clung and rolled with him, ending with their positions reversed.
He felt the stair treads press into his spine and his shoulders, but more, he felt the firing of every nerve as she stroked his arms, throat and chest. Chest? When did my buttons come undone?
“Elise, stop.”
“No.” She’d left off kissing his lips to nuzzle the fine hairs of his torso. Her hands raced downward.
He caught her wrist before she could unbuckle his belt.
“You don’t know what you’re doing?”
“Do, too.” She slipped from his grip and aimed for his trouser buttons.
“No.” He lifted her bodily away and sat her beside him. “You don’t. You’re drunk.”
Her expression would have done a mule proud. “I know how to handle my liquor.”
“Maybe.”
She added a glare to the mulish set of her jaw.
“Probably.”
Her mouth twisted, and she folded her arms before her.
“All right, definitely. You definitely know how to handle your liquor, but I don’t know how to handle you.”
The Legend of Skinner Robelard By Rue Allyn
Pampered and privileged then betrayed and disowned, Elise Van Demer hides in plain sight and plots her revenge on the men who destroyed her life. With her goal in sight, she encounters a lawman from her past. Boyd Alvarez could ruin everything, and the last thing she needs is wanting some man who only wants to protect her.
His family dead and without a home, Boyd Alvarez rides the range and hunts bounties for a living. When he stumbles on Elise Van Demer his only thought is to keep her safe. He can outgun just about every man, but can he protect her from her own plans of revenge? Can he teach her that loving a man is a better dream than destroying her enemies?
Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mVKJDJThe Legend of Skinner Robelard is currently available for pre-order only. Release day is Nov. 16, 2020.
Author Bio: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south. When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance.. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. Today’s guest is my friend Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from One Moment’s Pleasure. Enjoy this first kiss scene!
Excerpt:
All sense fled before Edith’s fury. At the same time she wanted to hit him and kiss him.
Kiss him? Where had that thought come from? Massively uncomfortable, hot, nerves itching, overwrought with confused emotions, and uncaring of the consequences, she had to show him who was in charge. She marched up to him, stood toe to toe then stretched toward his frown and pressed her mouth to his.
The softness of his lips shocked her. Who would believe such a hard expression could feel so good? She inhaled. The scents of mint, leather, and the faint odor of chocolate swirled in her head, anger drowned in a flood of desire. After a moment, his mouth responded, moving ever so slightly back and forth across her own. This was even better. Tiny lightning bolts struck her skin. The itching hadn’t stopped, in fact the tingling sensation increased. It felt wonderful, and Edith wanted more.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her body fall against his until they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. A thousand new sensations overwhelmed her, and she tried to get closer. His arms tightened around her in a most gratifying manner.
Inwardly Edith crowed, and the knot of tension in her belly loosened. She’d kissed him, and he’d returned her kiss. She’d shown him that she was in charge. Her desires would take precedence.
One Moment’s Pleasure
Wildfire Love Book 1
By Rue Allyn
Love will build a future on the ashes of the past.
One Moment’s Pleasure will become a lifetime’s passion when spinster, Edith Alden, embarks on a search for her missing sister. Pretending to be a rich bored woman looking for an interlude with an anonymous male Edith enters the San Francisco bordello where her sister was last seen. She escapes the bordello almost too easily, but she can’t escape the passion ignited by a stranger’s kiss.
Born and raised in the brothels of the California gold rush, Dutch Trahern worked for years to erase a childhood spent committing petty crimes and worse in order to survive. That past comes back to haunt him in the form of a woman he rescues from prostitution. Now his hard won respectability is threatened by an irresistible desire for a woman he shouldn’t want.
Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south. When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
Welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. Today’s guest is my dear friend Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from her upcoming novel One Day’s Loving. It’s available for pre-order now.I love this cover, don’t you? Happy reading my lovelies and enjoy!
EXCERPT:
“You do not love me, sir. What you offer is a marriage of convenience. Although what convenience such an alliance may be to you, I cannot imagine.”
His expression hardened, his jaw growing tighter by the moment.
Mae gathered her courage and continued. If she was going to reveal her feelings, she would show them all. “Grandfather did not encourage participation in the social scene. Therefore I have no social standing that can bring you any advantage. You cannot possibly want to marry a penniless woman, and I will not believe you so callous that you would propose marriage as a means to have a child simply to allow yourself access to the Alden fortune. A fortune that, I remind you, you already control as executor. Marriage to me can do nothing for any ambitions you have.”
The ice left his eyes. “You say a great deal of what I will not gain by wedding you, but nothing of what you will lose.”
Her lips trembled, and her hands fisted in her skirt. She would not expose herself further and risk derision for her fears. Instead, she fell back on pride. “As long as the Alden estate remains unsettled, my sisters and I will be objects of pity, whether we wish it or not.”
“I do not pity you, Mae. I despise your situation, and I am greatly concerned for your safety.” He grasped her shoulders, turning her to face him.
She wished she could mistake his meaning. “Once the terms of Grandfather’s will become public, I am well aware I may be the object of undesirable and unwanted attentions from men of all sorts.”
“His will places you in danger of another abduction and worse. You need a protector.”
“You believe that protector should be you.”
“It would be one advantage of our marriage. You would also have a confidante, someone with whom to share your troubles. You might even discover unexpected pleasures.”
“Being under the legal protection of a man has brought me more sorrow than pleasure.”
“Not all men are like your grandfather. Marriage to me would be very different from his guardianship. Allow me to demonstrate.”
“How?”
He drew her close and bent his head. His eyes filled her vision, and he laid his lips over hers.
She inhaled a silent gasp of surprise. Then heat and surging pleasure overwhelmed her senses. She should not want this. She should resist. If she yielded, she would have no place to hide. Her feelings would be exposed. Did she have the courage to step from the shadows? She wasn’t in any danger now—or was she?
His lips played on hers. The kiss lingered sweet with yearning. Something—desire?—rippled through her as his arms enfolded her and his mouth coaxed hers open. Yet she still held herself back from the fascinating changes his touch wrought in her body.
Despite a burning rush of sensation, she could not throw caution to the flames. Nonetheless, she returned the kiss, desperate to know if he offered safe harbor or only deeper darkness. She wanted to cast aside fears to indulge in one bittersweet instant of madness, one day of loving when pleasure and delight held the world and worry at bay. She did not dare. She nearly wept, certain she would never again have the chance.
When James lifted his head and released her, Mae felt dazed, disoriented. Fire leapt in his hazel gaze. A tender smile tilted his mouth—that talented, hazardous mouth.
She wanted to reach for him, but she’d already risked too much. Safer to retreat, rebuild the defenses where she could hide from the emotions he stirred.
***
“Well?” His question dropped into the silence.
A becoming blush colored her face. She stepped back, looking everywhere except at him. He wished that blasted will to Hades.
She lifted her hands to cover her cheeks and cleared her throat. “I have given you my answer and do not feel obliged to explain. Once that onerous will is in the past, I may see things differently. If you still feel so inclined, you may restate your offer then.”
His mouth twitched. He was sorry to have embarrassed her, but he could not regret the kiss. “What if I don’t want to wait?”
Though strained, her voice was steady, but her hands trembled. She made a valiant attempt to maintain outward calm.
“While our acquaintance is short, you have never shown yourself to be an impatient man. A single kiss will not convince me that you have developed a sudden and demanding passion for me. Be practical, sir. Our marriage would serve neither of us well.”
One Day’s Loving
By Rue Allyn
Pre-order Now
Release Date: August 17, 2020
Persephone Mae Alden is the invisible Alden sister, quiet, industrious, generous, kind-hearted, loyal and reliable. The words used to describe Mae remind her of a well-trained dog. She’s not happy about it, but what can she do? She likes her quiet life and would be seriously upset if she had to defy convention like Edith or act on instinct like Kiera. But everything changes when necessity forces her to bravery and she must choose between love and family.
A horrifying bequest convinces Boston attorney James W. Collins V that Mae Alden needs a husband, and she’s just the type of wife he wants. The two of them will be a perfect match. Refusing his offer makes no sense, so why won’t the woman accept?
About Rue Allyn: Author of historical and contemporary romances, I fell in love with happily ever after the day I heard my first story. (Yes, I was a precocious little brat who read at the age of two, but I could hear much earlier than that.) I studied literature for far too many years before discovering that writing stories was much more fun than writing about them. Heck, as an author, I get to read the story before anyone else. I am happily married to my sweetheart of many, many years. Insatiably curious, an avid reader and traveler I love to hear from readers about your favorite books and real-life adventures. Crazy Cat stories are especially welcome. You can send me your words of wisdom . . . Don’t shake your head at me; all words are wise in one context or another. You can trust me on this; I’m an author. As I was saying, you can send your words of wisdom, humor, and friendship to me at Rue@RueAllyn.com. Can’t wait to hear from you
Welcome to First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle, Rue Allyn. Rue has an excerpt from One Night’s Desire. You may wish to have your fan on hand. #just saying Happy Reading, my lovelies!
Excerpt:
“Please don’t.”
Kat’s whispered plea was so quiet that Ev almost didn’t hear it. He sat up rapidly checking the campsite for intruders. Then she begged again louder.
“No, please. I promise. I’ll do anything you want.”
He swiveled to look at her and was held agog by the sight.
She sat in her shirtsleeves. Sweat gleamed her face. She held the buffalo robe at arm’s length, bunched material clutched in each hand.
“This is wrong. You can’t be so cruel.” Her voice continued to rise. “Please don’t ask me to sell myself. I’m not a whore.”
Releasing her hold on the robe, she let it fall to the ground then began to wrestle the covering as if fighting for her life.
At the thud of her fists against the robe covered earth, Ev leapt from his bedroll. Coming up on Kat from behind, he knelt and secured her in a bear hug. He didn’t want to hurt her, but feared that she would harm herself. She was scorching hot to the touch. Fever-born delirium possessed her, and she shifted from fighting the buffalo robe to fighting Ev, twisting and turning to get better aim at him.
This was not good. He had to snap her out of it.
“Kat! I’m not asking you to whore.”
Her hands stilled against his chest, and she blinked at him. “Really? Oh Herbert, I knew you wouldn’t want me to do that. You really do love me.”
Who in Hades is Herbert?
That was Ev’s last thought before Kat plastered her lips to his, filling his head with sweet surprise and his body with sweeter agonies.
Momentum brought him to the ground, and her legs tangled with his.
Her mouth was soft. Her breasts pressed warm against his chest. He pulled her closer and gave himself to madness.
She twined her arms around his neck then ran her tongue along the seam of his lips.
He opened, licked, tasted, groaned. She was sweet like honeysuckle, delicate like silk, like heaven, everything he wanted.
Her fingers stroked his shoulders, his arms, his chest. Cool air and hot woman struck his skin. She’d unbuttoned his shirt.
His blood boiled with longing. His body hardened. He wanted, needed, to be inside her, love her, make her his.
Her hips moved, undulating against his erection. He had to have her.
“Please, make love with me, Herbert.”
Forever afterward, Ev would associate ice cold water with the name Herbert. Nothing could have doused his ardor more effectively.
“No. I can’t do this. We can’t do this.”
Bracing her hands against his chest, she levered herself up. Delirium still burned in her eyes “We’ve already done this. How can you refuse me?”
As gently as he could, Ev took her by the waist and lifted her from his body. “Simple. I’m saying no.”
“You think I’m good enough to whore for you, but I’m not fit to be your lover. After all your demands, you’d deny me. I won’t let you.” She clawed and scratched at Ev, twisting against him and breaking his grip.
He scrabbled to restrain her, but her flailing arms went everywhere. He managed to secure one wrist. Before he could move to grasp the other, she swung and connected with his eye.
“Stop this now!”
As if struck, she went rigid then collapsed with a moan into a shivering, still sleeping heap against Ev’s chest.
He hurried to wrap her in the buffalo robe, built up both fires, and buttoned his shirt then donned his boots and coat. He checked on Kat who, despite the heat of the fires, her own fever and the robe, continued to shiver. The chill air had him doing a bit of shivering himself. He took a minute to consider his alternatives and noticed that the sky had lightened. Dawn was breaking.
About One Night’s Desire – Wildfire Love Book 2, Kiera’s Story:
A WOMAN ON THE RUN ~ Rustlers, claim jumpers and fire, nothing will stop Kiera Alden from reuniting her family. But an accusation of murder threatens her dreams and sets Marshall Evrett Quinn on her trail. She may be able to escape prison bars and eventually prove her innocence, but she can’t escape Quinn’s love.
A LAWMAN IN HOT PURSUIT ~ Marshall Evrett Quinn is relentless in pursuit of law-breakers, and pretty Kiera Alden is no exception. Clever and courageous, she evades him until chance encounter turns the tables. Finally he has this elusive desperado under arrest, but success is bittersweet when she captures his heart.
Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.
When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at contact@RueAllyn.com. She can’t wait to hear from you.
Welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is my friend and fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn. Rue is sharing an excerpt from One Moment’s Pleasure. Happy reading and take it away, Rue!
Sherry thank you so very much for the opportunity to share with your readers the first kiss from One Moment’s Pleasure. I hope your readers will understand that I am truly sorry I can only provide a part of this scene. They will have to read One Moment’s Pleasure from the beginning to find out why Edith believes the man she is with is a paid stud and why Dutch believes she is a prostitute. They both happen to be wrong. But there it is. Love’s course is never easy, and this couple has a doozy of a time getting to their HEA.
Excerpt
Suddenly Edith was beyond furious. She’d lived her entire life in unpaid servitude catering to or circumventing the absurd, unreasonable wants of a man. Now, when she’d spent good money to have a man at her beck and call, to cater to her needs and desires, that man had the temerity to insist that he was in charge. That she should cater to him. She finally found her voice.
“What you want? What you want!” Her tone rose with every word. Her arms dropped to her sides. Her hands fisted. “I’m fed up with men and their insistence on having everything their way. Well, not tonight.”
A flush rose to heat her cheeks. Her shoulders stiffened. Her chest heaved, and her bodice slipped.
“I’ve invested everything in this venture,” she ranted, beyond caring. “Tonight we do things my way.”
Kicking her trailing skirts aside, she advanced.
The man stood there, his mouth open, staring at her chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
All sense fled before Edith’s fury. At the same time she wanted to hit him and kiss him.
Kiss him? Where had that thought come from? Massively uncomfortable, hot, nerves itching, overwrought with confused emotions, and uncaring of the consequences, she had to show him who was in charge. She marched up to him, stood toe to toe then stretched toward his frown and pressed her mouth to his.
The softness of his lips shocked her. Who would believe such a hard expression could feel so good? She inhaled. The scents of mint, leather, and the faint odor of chocolate swirled in her head, anger drowned in a flood of desire. After a moment, his mouth responded, moving ever so slightly back and forth across her own. This was even better. Tiny lightning bolts struck her skin. The itching hadn’t stopped, in fact the tingling sensation increased. It felt wonderful, and Edith wanted more.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her body fall against his until they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. A thousand new sensations overwhelmed her, and she tried to get closer. His arms tightened around her in a most gratifying manner.
Inwardly Edith crowed, and the knot of tension in her belly loosened. She’d kissed him, and he’d returned her kiss. She’d shown him that she was in charge. Her desires would take precedence.
***
This was the most awkward, ill-practiced, unsubtle attempt at seduction that Dutch had ever been party to, and as Cerise Duval’s one-time toy he’d been party to a great many. The woman kissed like a child. Lips together and almost no pressure, suction, or movement of her mouth, as if mashing faces was all she knew about the process.
Still, Dutch kissed her back. Kissed her like he was starved for it. His lips moved over hers, sampling her tenderness, tasting her sweetness. His hands skimmed along her soft curves to cup her buttocks and urge her closer. The pressure of her breasts against his chest stirred his senses. His manhood hardened, and he ground his hips against her softness. He hadn’t lain with a woman in more than six months. Abstinence alone could explain his body’s response. He waited for her to open her mouth. For a whore, she sure didn’t seem to know what to do. She just hugged him and pressed inward with both her mouth and body, but she didn’t move. Didn’t rub.
Didn’t do anything else. She might as well have been a stick of wood were it not for her heat and heady female scent. The spicy odor of daisies engulfed him. No working girl ever smelled like daisies.
His cock surged, straining toward that eager, inexperienced, feminine warmth. No! He put his hands on her shoulders, pushed her to arm’s length, and stared into her puzzled, hugely dilated, green eyes.
He recalled her approach when he’d entered the room. She’d swayed from side to side in the oddest way. Was she drunk? When he considered her rapidly changing moods and the sudden flush of her skin above the sinking neckline of her dress, he knew drugs to be the cause.
One’s Moment Pleasure
By Rue Allyn
Available for Pre-order
One Moment’s Pleasure will become a lifetime’s passion when spinster, Edith Alden, embarks on a search for her missing sister. Pretending to be a rich bored woman looking for an interlude with an anonymous male Edith enters the San Francisco bordello where her sister was last seen. She escapes the bordello almost too easily, but she can’t escape the passion ignited by a stranger’s kiss.
Born and raised in the brothels of the California gold rush, Dutch Trahern worked for years to erase a childhood spent committing petty crimes and worse in order to survive. That past comes back to haunt him in the form of a woman he rescues from prostitution. Now his hard won respectability is threatened by an irresistible desire for a woman he shouldn’t want.
Please join me and author Jude Knight on Monday, April 20, 2020 at https://www.facebook.com/groups/BellesBrigade/. We will celebrate release day of our most recent novels with a Book Tennis party and all sorts of other fun. Yes, there will be prizes.
About Rue Allyn
Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.
When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com
Happy Valentine’s Day to all our wonderful readers!
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for making Fire & Frost a bestselling box set. The Bluestocking Belles and I are thrilled with all the marvelous reviews we’ve been receiving and also for the set hitting several bestseller lists including, Amazon, Goodreads, and Smashwords.
You are the ones to make this happen. Thank you for supporting the Bluestocking Belles by purchasing a copy of Fire & Frost. Your purchase also supports our mutual charity, the Malala Fund. Our readers are the best!
♥ ¸.•*(¸.•*´♥`*•.¸)`*•.♥
Fire & Frost – Only $0.99
Curl up with the gift of a great book this Valentine’s Day. Fire & Frost will warm your heart!
In a winter so cold the Thames freezes over, five couples venture onto the ice in pursuit of love to warm their hearts.
Love unexpected, rekindled, brand new or rediscovered—even one that’s a whack on the side of the head—heats up the winter. After weeks of fog and cold all five stories converge on the ice at the 1814 Frost Fair when the ladies’ campaign to help the wounded and unemployed veterans of the Napoleonic wars culminates in a charity auction that shocks the high sticklers of the ton.
In their 2020 collection, join the Bluestocking Belles and their heroes and heroines as The Ladies’ Society For The Care of the Widows and Orphans of Fallen Heroes and the Children of Wounded Veterans pursues justice, charity, and soul searing romance.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day 2020 with five interconnected Regency romances.
It’s another First Kiss Friday and today’s guest is fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who is sharing a first kiss scene from her latest release, The Herald’s Heart. We hope you enjoy this excerpt so happy reading, my lovelies. Take it away, Rue!
Sherry, thank you very much for the chance to share the first kiss from The Herald’s Heart, released just this past Monday. I do want to give your readers a small warning. Please do not be put off by the start of this scene. It is period appropriate. However, I assure you that Lady Larkin puts Sir Talon in his place very rapidly. Thank heaven he’s a quick learner and is willing to change is ways.
EXCERPT:
His eyes opened with the dawn. He shifted in the bed and looked over the side at the woman asleep on the floor. She lay curled, shivering within his cloak, only her hair and face showing. He regretted having to leave her there, but sharing a bed with her, no matter how attractive she might be, wasn’t an option. He could have given up the bed to her, but even his chivalry had its limits. ’Twas enough that he’d resisted the temptation her body offered.
A delicate snore snuffled from her. Good. She was sound asleep. He rose and donned his chausses, then sought out the chamber pot behind the corner screen.
When he returned, he found her where he’d left her. One long-fingered hand peeked out, clutching the wool around her. A whiff of lavender knifed through the smell of the keep. He knelt, lifting away the cloak, seeking more of that sweetness. He ached with longing for the comfort he might have found with her.
He sat behind her, lowered his head, and nuzzled his face into her soft cloud of hair, trying to memorize the specific combination of scents she used. God’s bones, but she smelled good. Warm and yeasty, like fresh bread, and was there a hint of pansy among the lavender?
He had a weakness for pansies. His cock lengthened painfully, and he readjusted his position, stretching out along her back. She was soft and warm. A man could resist only so much temptation. He sought and found her delicate nape, then scraped his teeth along her skin until he located her earlobe. He closed his lips over the pliant morsel and sucked. His tongue darted forward to tickle the firmer shell of her ear as his fingers released the knots he’d tied last night. Her bottom wriggled, and her feet swept up his legs. Yes, she wants me. He relaxed against her and moved his hand to her thigh.
She kicked him.
Talon howled in pain and rolled away from her. A thumb’s length higher and she would have unmanned him.
She rolled after him, pummeling his chest and head.
“Cease, vixen.” He raised his arms to ward her off.
“Nay. You sought to maul me in my sleep. I will teach you to try rape.”
Talon set his jaw against guilt. He had touched her without her leave. Still, he had never forced a woman in his life and would not start now. He fought her for control before she could harm herself.
“I intended no rape,” he grunted.
“What else could you intend?” She battled back, raining blows on his chest as she spoke.
In moments, he manacled her hands between their bodies. He used his legs to hold her down while he fumbled with one hand to retie the rope around her. She shifted and bucked below him, causing no undue amount of stress to his aroused flesh, but their positions protected him from direct attack.
Once the rope was secure, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders, weighting her legs down with his own. “Cease,” he shouted when she continued to rage beneath him.
His words had no effect. Was she mad? He caught a glimpse of her eyes as she tossed her head. He had seen such looks on men gone berserk in battle. To stop those men often required a strong blow to the head. He was not about to hit a woman. So he did the only thing that came naturally. He clamped an iron grip upon her chin and ground his lips upon hers.
Her screams became muted grunts, and she stilled. He eased back the pressure on her mouth and suckled on the plush lower lip, urging her to open for him.
She did, but only to bite him.
He whipped away from her, put a hand to his bleeding mouth, and stared at her. “I apologize. ’Twas the only way I could think to make you stop without doing you violence.”
Her lip curled, and he heard a snarl start low in her throat. “You would say anything to try to excuse your lust. You’re a man, so of course the situation is all my fault.”
“Nay.”
“Aye.”
“I only sought comfort. Then you seemed to want me.”
“The day I want you in any manner is the day the dead will walk.” She sidled as far from him as possible. “What sort of dunce are you to think a woman who kicks you wants you?”
“I thought that before you kicked me,” he mumbled. He pressed hard on his lip, trying to stop the bleeding.
She stared at him with disbelief and frustration and no little fear in the quiet trembling of her mouth.
This had to stop. She did not wish to lie with him. Fine. He did not require it. But if he could not have comfort, he would have peace with her. He would not permit anger, distrust, or fear to get in the way of that.
He pushed himself up. Then grasping her by the arms, he lifted her into a sitting position.
Her mouth dropped open. The muscles in her throat worked, but she remained silent.
“Yes?” he invited, setting her on the bed. Now that she no longer fought him, he would not mind hearing what she had to say. If her words bothered him, he could always gag her, since kissing proved dangerous.
The Herald’s Heart by Rue Allyn
Her identity was stolen. He thinks she’s a murderer. Will love help them discover the truth?
Royal Herald Sir Talon Du Quereste imagined he would someday settle on a quiet little estate, marry a gently bred damsel, and raise a flock of children. The wife of his daydreams was a woman who could enhance his standing with his peers, and certainly not an overly adventurous, impulsive, argumentative woman of dubious background.
When her family is murdered, Lady Larkin Rosham lost more than everyone she loved—she lost her name, her identity and her voice. She’s finally recovered her ability to speak, but no one believes her claim to be Lady Larkin. She is determined to regain her name and her heritage, but Sir Talon Du Quereste guards the way to the proof she needs. She must discover how to get past him without risking her heart.
About Rue Allyn: Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.
When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com She can’t wait to hear from you.
Welcome to another First Kiss Friday. Today’s guest is fellow Bluestocking Belle Rue Allyn who has an excerpt from her soon to be released novel, Her Cadillac Cowboy. Take it away, Rue!
Sherry, thank you so much for the opportunity to share Josh and Sara Anne’s first kiss with your readers and followers. I love writing Her Cadillac Cowboy, and hope everyone has as much fun with them as I did.
Excerpt:
Like yesterday, her tone was hard, completely at odds with the smiling, gentle Sara he remembered. As a teen, despite her father’s warnings, she’d filled the angry void that denied his mother’s death. But he wasn’t that kid anymore, and she wasn’t the starry-eyed teen who liked and respected him enough to make him finally feel safe. This woman wasn’t about to brave her father’s displeasure. And Josh wasn’t about to let memories of sweet, gentle Sara ruin his chance to make other kids feel safe. Nor his chance to prove he was more than a rodeo jock from a Detroit slum.
He lifted his head and watched for any sign of emotion. The glower was gone and her expression remained carefully set. Harder to read than a professional gambler.
“Well?” Impatience flashed in her eyes.
Finally, some emotion other than stony indifference. Could he prompt more than impatience from her? The urge was irresistible. “At your service, Miss Carson.” He grinned and swept in for a quick kiss.
For an instant, her mouth softened beneath his, just before she stepped back and slapped him.
“Ow.” He put a hand to his burning cheek and ran the other through his hair. “I suppose I deserved that.”
“Ya think.”
He nodded despite knowing the question was rhetorical.
She stared at his forehead. Her hand lifted, then dropped back. “What…what happened to you?”
Had she been about to touch him?
Tagline: The past and a classic car stand between them. Will he give up the car he treasures, or will she abandon her dreams in order to ride into a loving future?
Blurb: A rich cowboy with a classic Cadillac—sounds like the stuff of dreams for a small-town Texas girl, right? Wrong! Josh McKinley and his classic car have been Sara Carson’s nightmare since Josh left ten years ago. Now the cowboy and his Caddy are back. Sara must choose between loyalty to her family and love for the one man she shouldn’t want.
Is the key to Sara Carson’s heart the Cadillac that their families have been feuding over for ten years? Or will Josh McKinley have to give up the car he treasures in order to win the woman he loves?
Interested in more by Rue Allyn? Sign up for her newsletter https://www.rueallyn.com/ravonsubscribe/and get a FREE sneak peek at her May release, Forever Hold My Heart.
Save the Date: March 18, 2019 from 7PM to 9PM EST Her Cadillac Cowboy release day FB party. Many authors and prizes.
About Rue Allyn: Hi, I’m Rue Allyn, I write heart melting romance novels. Books about characters and adventures in which love triumphs at the darkest moment. The kind of hopeful, steal-your-breath romance that melts a reader’s heart. The type of book I like to read. Hope you will too.
Find Rue Allyn at the following social media sites:
Sherry Ewing 