It’s a truly exciting pleasure to talk about our new boxed
set, Entice Me! I’m thrilled to be a
part of this wonderful anthology. My contribution is called Desire’s Dilemma, and for once I didn’t
have to struggle for a name for a book. It seemed to name itself, and indeed
there’s a lot of desire, and a bewildering amount of dilemma.
Marcus Monteith has loved Valanna for years. The last thing
he ever expected was that he would be appointed her guardian. He cannot bring
himself to tell her how the torture he received when a spy for Wellington had
left him with a heart condition that can kill him at any time. Valanna, deeply
in love with him, is crushed by his cold treatment. And then Marcus is injured
and not expected to live.
These two have more than the ordinary trials of lovers.
Marcus’s best friend also loves Valanna, and an unexpected traitor waits his
chance to kill.
Here’s an excerpt --
Looking at the woman he’d loved
for so long, the impish look on her face made him long to grab her in his arms
and kiss that distracting impudence away. Instead, Marcus froze his features
and held out his hand to assist her into the carriage. He sprang in, but not
beside her. Rather he sat opposite her.
“I trust you are comfortable, my
dear. If not please tell me what I can do to make you more so.”
Valanna snorted. “You can sit
beside me, my lord. I could then make a fist and smack you someplace on your
perfect nose. Hard.”
Marcus couldn’t mask his start of
astonishment. Val, his Val, threatening to hit him? He couldn’t quite cover the
grin turning up the corners of his lips.
Furious at his disregard for her
feelings, plus her frustration at hiding her love for him made her reckless.
“You’re an idiot, my lord. A
blind, opinionated ass. How you ever became noted for your bravery I’ll never
know. You’re afraid to face up to your own emotions.”
Marcus growled, low in his
throat. No one, but no one could accuse him of cowardice. He’d faced more than
anyone could ever understand of pain and torture. Yet this one slight girl
could look him in the eye and call him names he’d kill a man for even thinking
of voicing. He moved so fast Valanna gasped, and was beside her, grabbing both
her fists in his strong hands.
“I may be many despicable things,
but I’m no coward. Not even you, my love, can call me that.”
His furious eyes glared at her,
but all she seemed to hear were the two words, ‘my love’.
“Oh, Marcus.” Her lips were only
a breath away from his. “If you only know how I’ve longed to hear you say that.
Just that. You’ve been my love for so long.”
She moved to kiss him, and almost
succeeded, but he suddenly caught her hands and shoved her from him.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Valanna.
You’ve confused whatever you think you heard. Of course I love you, but as a
dear, very dear sister. You belong with a man who will treasure you, and you
have him in Lance. We had better return. He isn’t that indisposed. He’s
probably waiting for you.”
He moved abruptly back to the
facing seat. Ignoring the tears running down her cheeks, he looked out the
window all the way home. He thought he’d known everything there was to know
about pain and agony. Nothing he’d endured compared to the knowledge he could
win Val if he’d been a completely well man. A small part of him want to dwell
on her sweet words as she’d as good as said she loved him, but the pain of not
being able to accept her love nearly doubled him up into helpless agony.
He tried not to listen as she
valiantly stifled her sobs. Pray god they would both be able to present an
unruffled countenance to Lance. His good and worthy friend.
Things get much worse, believe me! I loved writing this book
and hope you enjoy reading it… and all the wonderful
books in this anthology.
Visit Jean's website to learn more about her other great titles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.