Prevailing wisdom in the indie-author world is that one should control one’s own content. Which means, an author should provide their own excerpts on their own website. So, in light of this wisdom, I am starting a new blog series of Excerpts, whereby I re-post on my own blog all the excerpts of my stories posted on other people’s blogs.
We begin with an excerpt from The Pleasure Device which was first posted on historical romance author Sherry Ewing’s blog in 2017 as part of her “First Kiss Friday” feature. I adore Sherry. She’s a wonderful person and an engaging author and has been so supportive of me and so many other historical romance writers.
Excerpt from The Pleasure Device: Nicholas and Helena’s first kiss
Helena shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again. “What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?”
“Falling in love.”
A spine-tingling shiver shot through him. How the devil was he supposed to answer that? It’s like what I’m feeling right now for you? Well, at least he imagined that’s what falling in love felt like. “It’s a sensation of just wanting to be with someone, no matter how mundane the situation. I think magazines and novels will tell you it’s all flowers and carriage rides, but really it’s feeling comfortable and elated all at once. I think you’ll know when you’ve fallen in love.”
“And how will I know if he loves me back?”
That was something Nicholas could not answer. He hoped Helena felt something for him, thought she might, but short of outright asking, he really didn’t know. “He might tell you.”
“Then what do I do if he does love me?” she said timidly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if he wants to kiss me? I’ve never been kissed before. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
The shiver stirred inside, swirling around his heart. “Never? You’ve never kissed a man?” Why on earth no one had ever tried was beyond his comprehension.
“Never.”
She stepped closer to the elm, to the crook of a large low branch. Nicholas joined her, moving until he could see her face illuminated by the tiniest sliver of pale moonlight. A stubborn root raised above the earth meant he had to be very close to her to get the view. Very close. The warmth of her flesh, her delicate perfume enlivened his senses.
“Is it nice?” she asked eagerly.
Nicholas felt his burgeoning arousal grow more insistent. “Is what nice?” he said, stalling.
“When you kiss Lady Foxley-Graham.” She shifted again, ever so slightly, but enough that her hand touched his. Her bare, ungloved hand.
Every nerve in Nicholas’ body came alive at the contact. “It is very nice,” he choked out.
Her fingers, delicate and soft, threaded through his. “Will you…will you tell me what it’s like?” Her eyes widened at the prospect of merely listening to him tell her about kissing.
Nicholas swallowed hard. “When two people kiss you don’t just feel it on the lips.”
“No?” she asked ingenuously.
“No. You feel it…other places.” As if on cue, his cock twitched to full stand.
“Like where?”
His body ached from self-restraint until he could bear it no longer. He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers, his heart thrilling at how wonderfully soft and warm she was.
Helena flinched a little in surprise, a reaction that only encouraged him, his determination to explore emboldening her. Nicholas pecked gently at her upper lip, then the lower, then repeated the motion more languidly. She placed her hands tentatively on his shoulders, holding herself steady before sliding her hands around his neck drawing herself more closely to him. An eager pupil, she mimicked his tasting of her by eagerly tasting him back, her sighs of desire natural, instinctive. When he tantalized her with his tongue, she opened her mouth for him, letting him plumb her depths, letting him take his pleasure with a rumbling growl, mewling her yearning approval. She was an absolute natural at the game.
He pulled back, panting, incredulous. “That was your first time?”
“Yes.” She was breathless. “I felt it.”
“Felt what?”
“Felt the kiss in…in other places.”
The Pleasure Device (Harwell Heirs Book 1)
In Victorian London of 1879, a new device for the treatment of hysteria has just arrived from France. Dr. Julius Christopher plans to use the invention for his own salacious scheme. Can Dr. Nicholas Ramsay prevent his beloved, the virginal debutante Helena Phillips, from being the next patient?
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