Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!
Today we have a smooch from Alison Stuart but first
... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Sharlene!
Can you please contact barb (at) barbaradeleo (dot) com to receive your e-copy of Barbara De Leo's LAST CHANCE PROPOSAL
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Claiming the Rebel's Heart....
Herefordshire, England 1643
As the English Civil War divides England and tears families apart, Kinton Lacey castle is one of the brave few loyal to the roundhead cause.
With her father away, Deliverance Felton will do whatever it takes to defend her family home against the royalist forces ranged against it. She can shoot and wield a sword as well as any man and anything she needs to know about siege warfare she has learned from a book...but no book can prepare her for what is to come.
Captain Luke Collyer, soldier of fortune and a man with his own reasons for loyalty to the parliamentary cause, is sent to relieve the castle. Everything he knows about siege warfare in general and women in particular he has learned from experience, but when it comes to Deliverance Felton has he met his match?
Deliverance will not give up her command lightly and Luke will have to face a challenge to his authority as fierce as the cavalier foe outside the walls. He will do whatever it takes to win Deliverance’s trust but will he run the risk of losing his own, well guarded, heart?
Scene Set Up:
Imagine trying to find a few moments privacy in a small castle with a resident garrison of 100 people and 300 angry royalists outside trying to get in. For Luke and Deliverance finding a quiet place for a bit of unbridled passion is going to be a challenge. How about the chapel? It may be filled to the rafters with barrels of gunpowder but at least they will be alone… or so they might think…
Smooch
In the gloom, (Luke’s) face caught the light from a sliver of the painted glass window, showering it with coloured flecks as he drew her toward him, his other hand slipping around her waist.
“I thought this might be one place we could be alone and undisturbed for a little.” His voice held an unfamiliar husky tone.
(Deliverance) laughed, suddenly nervous. This moment had occupied her thoughts for days and all she could say was, “A strange place for a lover's tryst, Captain Collyer.”
“I'm sure there may have been stranger but none I can think of.” He tilted her face up to look at him. “You have a smudge of dirt on your cheek, Deliverance. No, don't rub it off, it looks rather endearing.”
“This pretence is killing me,” she murmured leaning her head against his chest as he gathered her into his arms.
Even beneath the thickness of his wool jacket, his heart beat steadily against her cheek, and she wound her arms around his neck, pulling his face down so their foreheads and their noses touched. She closed her eyes, feeling Luke's lips on hers. His arms tightened around her and they sank to the dusty floor, locked together.
Deliverance shut her eyes, surrendering to her other senses. The cold, hard flagstones beneath her, the warm smell of man, the rasp of his stubbled cheek against her, the sweet salty taste of his mouth on her lips and the sound of their own desire, mingled in the strange silence of a room filled with gunpowder.
She meshed her fingers in his hair, gasping as his hand cupped her breast. Even through her bodice, her nipples responded, aching for his touch. She began tugging at the laces of her bodice, loosening them enough to allow his questing fingers to find the sensitive nubs. She thought she would scream as a shudder of longing ran through her body. She wanted him to touch her there...and there...
She arched her back, her hips grinding into his. “Luke,” she cried out, remembering at the last minute to lower her voice.
Luke paused and his body stiffened. Deliverance moaned with frustration. He laid a finger against her mouth and she opened her eyes.
His concentration seemed to have moved from her. He poised above her, like a dog that had picked up another, more interesting scent.
“Ssh,” he said. “Can you hear something?”
‘Only the beating of my heart’, she longed to say. He released her, rolling off her to lie on his stomach on the floor beside her, his head turned to look at her and his ear pressed to the stonework.
“Listen.”
Reluctantly she rolled over and copied his actions. Her eyes widened as she heard the unmistakable sound of metal striking rock.
“What...?” she began.
“They're mining,” he interrupted. “The bastards are mining.”
Deliverance sat up, hastily retying her bodice laces and trying to restore some order to her hair as Luke continued to listen to the sound rising through the rock that lay beneath the castle's own foundations.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
In one movement he was on his feet, brushing the dust from his clothes. He put out a hand and pulled her to her feet, rearranging her collar and brushing dead leaves from her hair. His hands rested on her shoulders and he looked into her eyes.
"It means they are digging a tunnel beneath the chapel, Deliverance. They must know the powder is being stored here. What they will do is lay explosives in the tunnel and set them off. That will in turn cause a massive explosion within the castle. We will be lucky to survive. I need to alert the others."
Here's a gorgeous pic of Alison relaxing with her smooch cat, Oliver Kat!
Alison is giving away an e-copy of CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART to a randomly chosen lucky commenter!
Alison's website is www.alisonstuart.com
or you can find her on:
Twitter: @AlisonStuart14
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlisonStuartWriter
Blog: www.alisonstuart.blogspot.com
Claiming the Rebel's Heart is available from
Kindle
Smashwords
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Sharlene!
Can you please contact barb (at) barbaradeleo (dot) com to receive your e-copy of Barbara De Leo's LAST CHANCE PROPOSAL
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Claiming the Rebel's Heart....
Herefordshire, England 1643
As the English Civil War divides England and tears families apart, Kinton Lacey castle is one of the brave few loyal to the roundhead cause.
With her father away, Deliverance Felton will do whatever it takes to defend her family home against the royalist forces ranged against it. She can shoot and wield a sword as well as any man and anything she needs to know about siege warfare she has learned from a book...but no book can prepare her for what is to come.
Captain Luke Collyer, soldier of fortune and a man with his own reasons for loyalty to the parliamentary cause, is sent to relieve the castle. Everything he knows about siege warfare in general and women in particular he has learned from experience, but when it comes to Deliverance Felton has he met his match?
Deliverance will not give up her command lightly and Luke will have to face a challenge to his authority as fierce as the cavalier foe outside the walls. He will do whatever it takes to win Deliverance’s trust but will he run the risk of losing his own, well guarded, heart?
Scene Set Up:
Imagine trying to find a few moments privacy in a small castle with a resident garrison of 100 people and 300 angry royalists outside trying to get in. For Luke and Deliverance finding a quiet place for a bit of unbridled passion is going to be a challenge. How about the chapel? It may be filled to the rafters with barrels of gunpowder but at least they will be alone… or so they might think…
Smooch
In the gloom, (Luke’s) face caught the light from a sliver of the painted glass window, showering it with coloured flecks as he drew her toward him, his other hand slipping around her waist.
“I thought this might be one place we could be alone and undisturbed for a little.” His voice held an unfamiliar husky tone.
(Deliverance) laughed, suddenly nervous. This moment had occupied her thoughts for days and all she could say was, “A strange place for a lover's tryst, Captain Collyer.”
“I'm sure there may have been stranger but none I can think of.” He tilted her face up to look at him. “You have a smudge of dirt on your cheek, Deliverance. No, don't rub it off, it looks rather endearing.”
“This pretence is killing me,” she murmured leaning her head against his chest as he gathered her into his arms.
Even beneath the thickness of his wool jacket, his heart beat steadily against her cheek, and she wound her arms around his neck, pulling his face down so their foreheads and their noses touched. She closed her eyes, feeling Luke's lips on hers. His arms tightened around her and they sank to the dusty floor, locked together.
Deliverance shut her eyes, surrendering to her other senses. The cold, hard flagstones beneath her, the warm smell of man, the rasp of his stubbled cheek against her, the sweet salty taste of his mouth on her lips and the sound of their own desire, mingled in the strange silence of a room filled with gunpowder.
She meshed her fingers in his hair, gasping as his hand cupped her breast. Even through her bodice, her nipples responded, aching for his touch. She began tugging at the laces of her bodice, loosening them enough to allow his questing fingers to find the sensitive nubs. She thought she would scream as a shudder of longing ran through her body. She wanted him to touch her there...and there...
She arched her back, her hips grinding into his. “Luke,” she cried out, remembering at the last minute to lower her voice.
Luke paused and his body stiffened. Deliverance moaned with frustration. He laid a finger against her mouth and she opened her eyes.
His concentration seemed to have moved from her. He poised above her, like a dog that had picked up another, more interesting scent.
“Ssh,” he said. “Can you hear something?”
‘Only the beating of my heart’, she longed to say. He released her, rolling off her to lie on his stomach on the floor beside her, his head turned to look at her and his ear pressed to the stonework.
“Listen.”
Reluctantly she rolled over and copied his actions. Her eyes widened as she heard the unmistakable sound of metal striking rock.
“What...?” she began.
“They're mining,” he interrupted. “The bastards are mining.”
Deliverance sat up, hastily retying her bodice laces and trying to restore some order to her hair as Luke continued to listen to the sound rising through the rock that lay beneath the castle's own foundations.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
In one movement he was on his feet, brushing the dust from his clothes. He put out a hand and pulled her to her feet, rearranging her collar and brushing dead leaves from her hair. His hands rested on her shoulders and he looked into her eyes.
"It means they are digging a tunnel beneath the chapel, Deliverance. They must know the powder is being stored here. What they will do is lay explosives in the tunnel and set them off. That will in turn cause a massive explosion within the castle. We will be lucky to survive. I need to alert the others."
********
Here's a gorgeous pic of Alison relaxing with her smooch cat, Oliver Kat!
Alison is giving away an e-copy of CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART to a randomly chosen lucky commenter!
Alison's website is www.alisonstuart.com
or you can find her on:
Twitter: @AlisonStuart14
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlisonStuartWriter
Blog: www.alisonstuart.blogspot.com
Claiming the Rebel's Heart is available from
Kindle
Smashwords
Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Forbidden Affair by Amy Andrews will be posted!
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
