Newsletter, May, 2015

 Well, I’m on my annual pilgrimage to Texas! I’m sitting here looking out at a glorious Texas afternoon, the sun blazing down on the ranches and vineyards, fluffy clouds in the sky and it’s all good!

Next week, I’ll go to Dallas and look around a bit, before the RT Convention. I’m so excited about RT, but I am every year! If you’re near Dallas, or if you’re coming to RT, come and see me there! I’m at the Convention and the Round Up, and I’m there to chat!

Texas is so different to what I’m used to. The same but different. Slightly different terms, all those trucks and pickups on the roads, small farms and huge, huge ranches. And the bikers, of course, sporting lots of hair and a “What are you looking at?” attitude.

I’m in the German part of Texas, visiting places like Fredericksburg and Luchenbach. The bakeries are a sore temptation, of course!

But I’m still writing, and getting a little work done. This month I have another reprint to offer you, this time it’s the last Department 57 book, Diamonds of Ice. A male Sorcerer has to find his way in the world after he is deprived of his powers. He finds a vampire, but a very unusual one! “Diamonds of Ice” is set in the world of London advertising agencies, a world I used to work in several moons ago.

Look for the first in a new series, “Agents of CAT,” coming out soon. This is a brand new, never seen before book, and it’s a contemporary paranormal. I am so excited about this book, I can’t tell you! I’ll be able to show you the cover soon, but I’ve seen a preview and it’s fabulous!

The anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is getting closer, and preparations for the two novellas from me to commemorate the event are inching nearer. Two very different sets of heroes and heroines are preparing for their entrance to your hearts. The first is a surgeon, and his lady is an assistant, the only one who can do her work without flinching. The second is about an officer called “Lucky” by his men and the Duke of Wellington, but the last thing he feels is lucky, and the wife he left behind when he went to battle. They barely know each other, and yet they are supposed to get together and make an heir. I love marriage of convenience stories!

Then the month after, sees the next Emperors of London historical romance. I am really pleased with the way this series is turning out, and with the readers’ enthusiasm for the series. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to make this series a success!

I’ll be on Twitter and Facebook as much as I can during RT, so please keep in touch.

See you next month!

Extract and New Release – Diamonds of Ice

Read an Extract and Buy the Book
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Sorcerer Fabrice Germain lost his Talent when he was assaulted, but he still has his job. Relocating to London seems like the answer, and then he meets Gemma, who works for his rival. She’s a vampire. That’s two reasons to avoid her, but Fabrice and Gemma still end up scorching the sheets one Saturday night.
Then the world goes to hell. Fabrice ends a weekend of passion and tragedy as a converted Talent – a vampire now, like Gemma. One who has sworn to avenge two murders, and is back as an agent with Department 57. After that, he’s happy to die.
Except there’s Gemma. Fabrice really wants Gemma.
Gemma doesn’t want Fabrice to surrender to the blood phobia that threatens to take his life. She wants him for longer than a night–in fact she thinks she might never get enough of him. When they’ve caught the murderers, what is there to stop him starving to death? Only her.

Extract

Fabrice looked down at the screen of his cell phone. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll get a minicab.”

“It’s Friday night,” she pointed out. “You won’t find one for hours.”

He looked up. “You’re right, but I don’t want you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with. I can manage. I’ve enjoyed this evening. I don’t want to spoil it.”

“But?”

“But…” He breathed and, as if he couldn’t bear it any longer, shoved his phone in his pocket and took her in his arms. It felt good, so good—his hard body under the luxury fabrics surrounding her, male heat. Instinctively she lifted her face and met his eyes, still brilliant blue in the dim light. “I’m ready.”

They had to have a physical connection for her to flash them, she recalled, quelling her pang of disappointment at her first assumption that he wanted to kiss her. She entered his mind and saw the flat, small and crowded, a table under the window covered in books and a closed laptop, a cheap bookcase crammed with paperbacks and hardbacks, a rug in the center of a tiled floor, and a big bed covered with a plain cream throw. She concentrated on the rug and flashed.

They arrived in a flurry of movement, still clasped together. It would be polite to break apart at that point. But he didn’t let her go. Instead he drew her closer so her breasts crushed against the hard planes of his chest, and he brought his mouth down to hers.

A good-night kiss. Okay, she could do that.

It went on a bit longer than usual for a good-night kiss. A lot longer. She heard a thump as something soft hit the floor. Then his embrace tightened around her. Slowly he lifted his head. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“No, we shouldn’t.”

“You don’t sound sure.” When she said nothing, he continued. “I’m sure I want you, Gemma, but I don’t want you to regret anything. I won’t.”

“So we have to agree not to talk about work?”

“Honey, I don’t give a fuck about work. As far as I know, we’re only rivals on one account, and that’s over now. The decision’s up to the client.” He swallowed. “But whatever you decide about us, make it quick. Please. I’m dying here.”

She wriggled her hips provocatively against him, letting the delicious heaviness of his erection push against her stomach. Too much. “I can’t resist either.” This might get him out of her system so she could relegate him to a pleasant memory and get on with her life. Yeah. Sure it would.

Laughing, he swept her up and took the two steps to the large bed that dominated the room. As she landed on the mattress, bouncing, she laughed too. What a great way to finish a tough week.

He smiled and let himself fall on top of her, but caught most of his weight on his arms. He was in shirtsleeves, and she realized the gentle thump earlier must have been his leather jacket falling to the floor. He lowered his head to take her lips, but where she had expected passion, she received tenderness. He kissed her gently, his lips just caressing hers as though they had all the time in the world for just one kiss. She curled her arms up around his head, sliding her fingers into his hair, feeling the silky texture in the sensitive notches between her knuckles. Nothing had ever felt so fucking good before.

When she opened her mouth to him, he took his time, running his tongue around just inside her lips, exploring an area she never knew could feel so sensitive. He touched her, smoothing his hands up to rest under her arms, at the sides of her breasts, and where another man might have taken instant possession, he stroked gently. Then he entered her mouth with one deep penetration of his tongue, and she gasped, taken so high she felt the damp warmth between her thighs increase. She lifted her legs, running the sensitive inner surfaces along the fabric of his pants.

He finished the kiss and lifted, looking down at her. “Much as I like you in this top, it’s time for it to go.”

Her breath in her throat, she sat up just enough to let him grasp the hem of the silk and draw it over her head. The top prevented her from seeing his expression at her lightweight, lacy bra, but she heard his gasp and his low groan. When he cleared her head and cast her top aside, she brought her hands down to his shirt and began to unbutton it. Each revealed portion of tanned skin came as a new revelation, another step in their journey to paradise.

The scant hair on his chest was, like his brows, a midbrown, softly curling, softening the hard muscles set into relief by his pose, arms supporting his body so he didn’t squash her. Perversely she wondered what it would feel like to support his entire weight. It would feel wonderful, she just knew it.

Newsletter for April, 2015

 We have daffodils springing up all over the place. I love daffodils. They shout the spring’s news. When I was in Texas last year I saw the last of the bluebonnets, and I guess they do much the same thing. They look a bit like our bluebells, drifts of heavenly lavender-blue like they’re reflecting the sky.

But now it’s very windy. Trees are toppling on to cars and roads are closed. Small potatoes to those of you who are fighting gales, but a bit scary all the same. Our cat has taken to hiding in people’s beds, so you have to be careful when you sit down! He hates the wind, it drives him wild.

I’ve not done much this month except prepare for my annual trip to the States and write. Lord, I’ve written a lot, but for once the words have flowed. I’ve just completed the next “Emperors of London” book, and I’m about to start Julius’s book. We had a few problems with the title, though, and I’m waiting to hear on that. Apparently “Born to the Purple” doesn’t scream historical, so we’ll see which of the alternatives they like better!

Danger Wears White is on presale. It comes out in July, and has a lovely cover. It’s about the younger of two brothers, whose family has a difficult history. His mother married for duty and produced the son, then when she was widowed, she married for love. Our hero, Antoninus, is the product of that marriage. Having left the army, he rushes off to do Julius a favour and finds more than he bargained for in the spirited daughter of an impoverished man. He’d given all his money to the Jacobite Cause, as so many in Lancashire did, and now she is stuck trying to keep what remains going. She lives in the fictional version of a house I fell in love with a long time ago, and still love it today, Little Moreton Hall.

The US Amazon presale link is here.

The other historical series is also going strong, and Samhain have been kind enough to contract another book from me. It’s Mars’ turn this time!

And oh, the build up to Waterloo! It’s very exciting. I’ve got two novellas coming out to commemorate the event, so more about those next month, since they’re both releasing in time for the commemoration on June 19^th. Over here, the commemorations are getting under way. It’s one of the dates that schoolchildren know. 1066 and 1815. Apsley House has been gussied up, and there are special exhibitions and websites springing up all over the place!

And to this month’s release. Wow, that sounds as if I have a release every month, doesn’t it?

Rubies of Fire is a Department 57 re-release. It’s Andreas, a vampire. It seems an awful long time since I’ve written a vampire, and I miss them!

Rubies of Fire is a re-release, so if you have the Loose-Id version already, you’re probably best not picking this up unless you want a brand new copy with pretty new cover art!

Extract and New Release

Buy and read excerpt here:
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Note that these links may change over the next couple of days, because Amazon got the author wrong. But you can still get there with the Search function! I’ll update on my website as soon as they are available.
Vampire and full-time field agent for the CIA, Andreas’s only loyalty is his job with Department 57. Until he sets eyes on sexy Roz Templeton. He already hates his assignment to pose as the office wolf, but he hates it even more when he realizes Roz is also a vampire.
Roz is out to discover who killed two members of her family, and when she does, the culprit will die. Andreas is a distraction. And she can’t understand why she’s drawn to him, anyway–he’s a sleaze. But she can’t resist.
Drawn into a passion neither can fight, they set fire to the night, and then some. For a young vampire, Andreas is fully versed on how to keep a woman happy in bed, even one that is centuries older than he is, and as dominant and demanding as any man. From their first steamy kiss in the elevator on the way to work, to bed and beyond, Andreas and Roz can’t get enough of each other.
But that passion may be a deadly distraction when Roz’s life is on the line.

Extract

The lobby was just as nondescript. Indifferently cleaned, tiled in fake marble, it might have been noticeable in a smaller town, but it seemed to know it didn’t stand a chance in this city of architectural marvels. Roz liked it. It was like her, trying to get by without drawing too much attention to itself.

Unlike Andreas, who stood by the elevators, waiting for the car to arrive. She was surprised one hadn’t arrived by now, but perhaps he’d let a couple go without him. She felt targeted, and not without reason. His smile of greeting barely creased his lips, but the warm look in his eyes intensified. “You busy today?”

“Kinda.” Closer to him, Roz felt a prickle of awareness. She wished she’d stayed with Nancy, but she hated the idea of lurking around just because he was there, waiting to step into the elevator on his own. She had as much right to use the elevator as he did.

She shifted her briefcase to her other hand, the one closest to him. Keeping a distance.

A light ping heralded the elevator’s arrival, and she watched the steel doors slide open. With a sideways glance at Constant, she walked forward, and he followed. Nobody else did. That came of getting to work half an hour early. She’d hoped to catch up on some paperwork she’d been too tired to finish last night and to avoid the rush when the other employees arrived.

She wouldn’t make that mistake again. She’d wait for the rush or make sure she got in the elevator on her own.

The elevator wasn’t large, but there was room for them to stand with half an arm’s length between them. Not that Constant even tried. He reached across her on the pretext of pressing the button. Instead of leaning back, he looked down and smiled. It warmed his eyes. “We have to stop meeting like this,” he suggested, his light, musical voice tinged with amusement.

Roz didn’t smile back. “We do indeed.” Unlike him, she meant it.

He smelled too good, something citrusy and himself, a spicy, masculine odor she found herself drawn to. His crisp white shirt revealed a slight shadow underneath. Chest hair and the suggestion of a nipple. Hell, wasn’t she supposed to tempt him with her nipples? Not that there was a chance of that under her buttoned-up suit jacket and light knit top, not to mention the lacy but substantial bra underneath.

“Or perhaps not.” He lifted his long, strong hand and touched her chin, urging her to look up at him. “You’re single. I’m single. What’s the problem?”

“With what?”

“Getting better acquainted. Knox wants us to work together, so maybe we should try it.”

Somehow, she didn’t think her boss had this in mind when he asked Andreas to join the team.

She stared up into his eyes, hoping she wasn’t betraying her speeding pulse and heightened senses in any way. This wasn’t what she was looking for. Not at all.

“You’re suggesting a date?”

His slow smile spoke of sin and wickedness. He reached over and pressed a button. The elevator came to a sudden, jolting halt, urging her against him. He pressed a few more buttons, and she knew he’d keyed in the code that stopped the security alarms going off. She was trapped in an elevator with him. So why wasn’t she screaming the place down? She didn’t need to look too hard inside herself to guess the answer.

He took the invitation she hadn’t meant to give, curling the arm not braced above her head around her waist. “Now, don’t you think it would help if you learned to relax around me?”

She stayed perfectly still. “I’m as relaxed as I need to be.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Why do you think he wants to see us first thing?”

She shrugged, or tried to. “Because something new has turned up. Maybe he wants to take you off the assignment. Why would he want you on the case? Your security cover is really low. You’re a grunt, a clerk.”

If she’d hoped to deflate his ego, she failed. He only grinned and moved closer. “Because I’m the only person who’s met Cristos, been inside Department 57. You need me.”

“Not for long.”

He laughed. “We’ll see. Cristos is a slippery customer. He’s evaded the authorities for years. Do you think he’ll be easy to catch? This operation could go on for a while, baby.” He touched her chin, stroked his fingers down her throat, and paused at the base. She stayed where she was, kept his gaze, but seethed at that “baby.” She was nobody’s baby. “We’ve been dancing around each other for the past two months. Don’t you think I’ve been patient?”

His heat, his closeness, all seeped into her as though her body was just waiting to welcome him home. Yet he’d never even touched her before, just watched her, talked to her. Roz was no longer sure if she was excited, nervous, or panicked. No one had ever made her feel like that before. She needed time to think.

She didn’t get it. When he lowered his head and that sinful, sexy mouth grew closer, she rose up to accept him, almost without thought. Natural, like breathing.

His lips caressed hers, gently moving where she had expected fierce passion and rough treatment. His gentleness unnerved her, but her whole being lifted to him, begging him for more.

She didn’t even like him. Andreas Constant moved and behaved with a confidence that amounted to arrogance, especially considering his lowly status as a clerk in the Department of Internal Business. He probably made love the same way. The thought both attracted and repelled her, and she couldn’t be sure which was the stronger emotion.

Before she quite realized it, she’d opened for him and let him taste her. His tongue slid into her mouth, his control absolute, so it was a slow, gentle seduction instead of a fierce taking.

The kiss turned deeper, and wildness curled low in her belly. She should have called a halt, turned in his arms, and hit the button to start the elevator, but she didn’t. She wanted more.

She wanted him. Now. Personality, hell. The man had the body of a god.

As though he heard her, his hand slid smoothly around her body to her breast, pushed aside her jacket, and stroked through the thin knitted silk and bra.

At the same time she felt something insidious slip into her brain. She froze. That was a psychic link, small but obvious to one of her kind. With Andreas caressing her, she had trouble concentrating, but the small, sharp, highly skilled query had been evident for a brief moment before the probe had withdrawn. It couldn’t have been Nancy. Roz knew her signature, the feel of her. She wasn’t sure it was Andreas. The probe felt impersonal, and she couldn’t get a bearing on its origin.

Besides, Andreas was stroking her to a fever of want, the need rising inside her and starting to take over every sense she had.

When he slid the jacket off her shoulder, she gasped, and he pulled back just enough to speak.

“You want it, don’t you?” That sounded like a statement, not a real question. A statement of intent. And crude.

He’d given her her second wake-up call, and for a girl fond of the Snooze button, her last. A chill swept through her when she realized how close she’d come to screwing a colleague in an elevator. The reminder was like a bucket of water dumped over her head. That and the psychic invasion killed the mood and brought her back to reality. “We can’t do this.”

Newsletter April 2014. The Emperors of London are coming! And a re-release of an old favourite.

News

Here it is. If you’re on Facebook you might have heard this already but I was absolutely bursting with this last month. However the contract was only just signed and verified, so I didn’t want to say anything until it was done.

I’ve signed a new contract with Kensington Lyrical and it’s for a new series of historical romances set in the mid-eighteenth century. This is my first big venture into “straight” historical since Richard and Rose came to an end last year, and I’m super-excited about it.

When I wrote the first book it was planned as Freddy’s story. Freddy from Richard and Rose, since so many people asked me for it. But the book didn’t turn out as well as I wanted, and so I put it aside and worked on it. Occasionally I’d send out a version of it, but it still didn’t do it for me.

I loved the central idea, that of a respectable widow tempted by a rogue, who is forced to rescue her when she is drugged and put up for auction at a whorehouse, but somehow the theme was missing.

Then I started reading my text books, and I hit on the idea. What if this was part of a scheme by the Jacobites to bring the hero and his family down?

The 1750’s was packed with Jacobite schemes. They didn’t just go away after the ‘forty five. In 1752 there was a scheme to assassinate George II, for instance, and the Young Pretender visited London at least once. Probably more times.

The new series is concerned with a family nicknamed “The Emperors of London” because the Duke of Kirkburton and his sisters decided to call their children after emperors and empresses of the past.

The first book had long left Freddy gasping in the dust, poor boy. So the new hero is Alex. A revision using the enemies of the Emperors, the Dankworths, and the story had the backbone it needed. More ideas happened, because I couldn’t leave the cousins as also-rans, and I packaged the whole scheme up and sent it off.

Renee Rocco at Kensington Lyrical loved it. And I’m now thrilled to tell you that the first in the new series, “Rogue in Red Velvet” is out this September.

Such exciting news! I have a beautiful cover for the book, which I’ll be revealing on my website shortly, but I want to do the series justice and give it a lovely set of pages all to itself.

And don’t forget that I also have a new series from Samhain, the first of which is out next month. It’s historical paranormal, but the history is as accurate as I can make it, trying to blend the paranormal elements in. All the events “could have” happened! “Lightning Strikes” is a project that’s been building for a long time. In fact, I conceived the idea years ago, but I didn’t have the time to develop it until recently. And my new editor at Samhain, Amy Sherwood, is as enthusiastic as I am about the series. We get on line and talk myths!

I’m planning to showcase that series in the newsletter next month, so stay tuned.

Plans for RT Convention are almost complete. I’m sorting out my wardrobe now. As usual, I have far too many clothes to pack, so I’ll have to winnow them down. I either travel with a pair of jeans and a couple of T-shirts, or I go way OTT, and dress up in the froth. I’m doing Gothic Fairy this RT, so there’s lots of froth! If you’re anywhere near New Orleans, do drop in and give me a yell!

And just before RT I’m giving a talk about Writing the Erotic Romance at Warrington Literature Festival, here in the UK. That’s on May 3^rd, a Saturday. Local recognition, no less!

The new release this month is a reissue, at a cheaper price, of “Griffin’s Treasure,” my Dept 57 story about a British soccer star and an ex-cop from San Francisco. Get it for $3.99 instead of its original price of $7.99!

More details and an excerpt below! And check out that gorgeous new cover!

Excerpt

http://lynneconnolly.com/griffins-treasure/

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International soccer star Josh Friedland has a secret. He’s a griffin shapeshifter, and a covert operative for Department 57. Josh’s brother Laurie is missing, and Josh is sure businessman George Skeffington is involved.
So he can’t trust Skeffington’s stepdaughter, Chana Rafiz, even though he wants her with every cell in his body.
When her controlling stepfather asks Chana to look after his guest, she suspects another trick to keep her by his side. Only to find that Josh is the man she’s been waiting for all her life.
Long, hot Californian nights see their bodies twined in more inventive positions than Chana knew existed, but when she finally discovers his secret, she uncovers one of her own. One she doesn’t even know about herself.
Together, Josh and Chana have to face dangers only Department 57 can help them with, only to plunge the whole Department into peril. If Cristos and the Department are to endure, Josh and Chana must succeed in their mission.

Excerpt

Exhaustion filled Chana. Knowing she had to get up in the morning to attend to Josh’s requirements, she staggered upstairs to get to bed as quickly as possible. Only when she stood outside the door to her bedroom did she realize her stepfather hadn’t even thanked her for her efforts. She remained by the door, her forehead resting on the wall, gathering her thoughts before she went inside, because she knew as soon as she took off her clothes, she’d be asleep.

A sound just behind her made her start, fully awake. “Tired?”

“Oh, I didn’t hear you.” Heart beating wildly, she turned to confront Josh.

He stood very close to her, so he didn’t have to move to take her in his arms, except to curve them around her and urge her to lean against him instead of the wall.

“You’re done in. Come on, I’ll help you.”

He’d changed out of his tuxedo and wore a soft robe of silk that came down to his knees. As far as she knew he wore nothing else.

She heard the catch on her door click as he opened it, and then he guided her inside.

“I’ll just help you into bed. Then I’ll go. I won’t hit on you. Enough people have tried to do that tonight.” His voice turned grim. “I hope your stepfather’s paying you well for this. I wouldn’t let you do this, if you were mine. Come on.”

Her gown unzipped at the back, and the halter parted around her neck. Too tired to protest, she felt the gown slide down her body. When she began to pull away, he hushed her with soft words and led her to the bathroom.

She hadn’t known what he intended until she heard the shower, the hard sound of water on tile. With a sinking heart, she realized her evening hadn’t ended. She felt too tired to enjoy any sexual encounter she might share with Josh. Yes, she found him attractive. Yes, she would probably have ended up in bed with him sooner or later, but not tonight.

He lifted her with gentle hands, and his voice came just as gently. “No, not tonight. I’ll help you get ready for bed. That’s all. You’re too knackered to do it for yourself. How do you take your makeup off?”

With an effort, she lifted her head and stared at him, his golden eyes clear and wakeful, watching her calmly. “Cream in the cupboard over there.”

He chuckled. “Get in the shower. I’ll bring the cleanser.”

She did as he told her, stripping off her thong and stockings before she got in and gloried in the warm spray cleaning her body. He’d taken off the needle setting she usually used and set the temperature to pleasantly warm. He’d aimed everything at relaxing her. She felt cared for, the notion alien to her.

When he drew back the screen and got in, she didn’t protest; she only wished she could stay awake enough to appreciate the toned body drawing her close. His arousal jutted against her stomach. “Ignore it,” he told her. “I want you—of course I do—but that’s not what this is about. Not now.”

He reached for the cream and tilted her face up, stepping back so his body was out of the hot stream of water. She hadn’t realized the simple action of spreading cleanser on her face could feel so enjoyable, but his gentle touch made it more than that. Despite her exhaustion, her lower body stirred, came awake, although he did nothing other than clean the makeup off her face. He reached for a handful of tissues he’d placed on the broad shelf at the end of the shower and wiped her face gently, paying special attention to her eyes, which she’d loaded with cover-up and mascara to hide her tiredness.

“Keep them closed,” he murmured and steered her under the shower again, tipping her head up to receive the gentle, warm spray.

“You do that better than I do,” she confessed. “Sometimes I just wash it all off with soap.”

“Hmmm.”

She shook her head and opened her eyes to see him pick up a bottle of shampoo.

“Turn around.” He pulled her against his chest, where she rested gratefully while he pulled out all her hairpins, tossing them on the shelf. When they’d all gone, he ran his fingers through her hair, loosening its heavy weight and letting the water soak through. “You apply makeup very well. Too well.”

“What does that mean?”

“It wasn’t until I took it off I saw the shadows under your eyes.” He rubbed shampoo through her hair.

“How much do you charge for showering women? I could employ you every day.”

He chuckled. “I might be too expensive for you.”

“You’d be surprised. My expense account is very large.”

“Who’s talking money?”

He pulled her back when she jerked away in shock, realizing just how relaxed she felt with him. How could she allow him to take her off guard like this? She’d opened to him again, let his mind soothe hers, persuade her to take part in this outrageous scene.

“Don’t worry,” he said as if he could read her. Of course he could. She’d just let him. “We’ll talk about it another time. For now, just accept that it is. That we can communicate mentally. Your barrier is strong, so I can’t read your inmost thoughts, just your outer layer. Okay?”

She nodded, relishing the sensation of his fingertips gently massaging the shampoo through her hair. He guided her head under the showerhead to rinse, then drew her close to him again, her back to his front. His cock pushed against her, and she flinched before relaxing back against him. “You’d be puzzled if it didn’t happen, wouldn’t you?”

Yes, she would. They were naked and relatively fit, so yes, a natural reaction when she thought about it in that way. “I’m too old for you. You shouldn’t want me.”

A rumble began low in his chest and erupted in a gale of laughter, but he wouldn’t let her go, holding her around her waist, close to him. “You have no idea,” he managed weakly. “No idea at all.”

He wouldn’t explain but instead reached for the body shampoo. It smelled of one of her favorite scents—vanilla—sweet but not too feminine for him to use. He disdained the sponge and washcloth, using his hands to smooth the shampoo over both of them, turning her to face him. Kneeling down, he soaped her legs, her calves, her thighs, then her pubis. That he sent thrills through her when he touched her sensitized skin was hardly his fault. He couldn’t have failed to notice.

“Relax,” he said. “I’d have to be a monster to take you now. Your tiredness is beating at my mind. You’ll be in bed soon, I promise.” He separated her labia, guided her so the water rinsed her, and just grazed her clit when he released her. A sharp jolt of arousal went through her, enervating her, but he didn’t take advantage. He could, so easily.

He rinsed her thoroughly but slowly, doing nothing to break the sense of warmth and well-being suffusing her mind and body. He leaned over her to turn off the water.

“Just relax. I’ll do everything. Close your eyes, sweetheart.”

She did as he asked her, feeling the warmth of a soft towel draped around her shoulders. He toweled her hair, then rubbed her body, all his movements cherishing, gently caring rather than arousing. “You’re in complete control of your body, aren’t you?”

His rich chuckle answered her. “Almost. I have to be, in my game.” He lifted the towel away from her hair and then lifted her into his arms. His lips, pressing softly against hers in a featherlight kiss, hushed her small squeak of protest. She relaxed as he took her through to the bedroom and laid her against the cover, pulling it back before lifting her to lie on the crisp ivory sheets. Before he could cover her, she gripped his wrist and opened her eyes.

He gazed at her. Only the bedside light remained on, and softened by the golden shade, his skin gleamed invitingly. “Don’t go yet,” she murmured. “Please stay for a while. Get into bed with me.”

She didn’t want to be alone. She spent every night alone. A long time had passed since she’d shared the dark hours with anyone else. Tonight she wanted company, and she no longer cared if he wanted sex in return. She’d welcome it. His toned, gorgeous body made her mouth water, he liked her, and this would be the first time she’d had a younger man in her bed.

He met her gaze honestly, and she felt him stirring in her mind, removing his presence. She didn’t want that.

“I can’t,” he whispered, so close his breath heated her skin. “I’m at the end of my endurance.” His mouth flattened in a wry grin. “I have to go, or you’ll get no sleep.”

“I can stay awake a little while longer.”

“You need to sleep.”

“Please, just get in.”

He straightened and glanced around the room. “If I get into bed with you, I’ll make love to you. Fuck you. Are you sure you want that?”

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