Series: Celtic Heat #2
Publication date: September 22nd, 2020
Publisher: Kristina Cook
Pages: 100
Synopsis:
From Nationally bestselling author Kristina Cook (writing as Kristi Astor) comes this erotic historical/paranormal novella set in Edwardian-era England.
MADELINE: Imprisoned in a loveless marriage, Lady Briarton yearns for escape with a passionate stranger, but her unearthly lover is not who he claims to be. Can she risk her heart--and her very life--with the beautiful Scot who sets her blood and her body on fire, even as he claims the impossible?
SIMON: Forced to roam the earth for more than a century following the Battle of Culloden, Simon McKenzie is a hunter, and the sad, lonely woman walking the grounds of Hartsdale Castle on the Eve of Samhain is his prey... until she lays claim to his heart and shows him that there can be light in his life once more.
She only needs to invite him in...
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Excerpt
Simon sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, gazing down at her with drawn brows. He'd doffed his coast and waistcoat, discarded his necktie and opening the top button of his fine linen shirt. His hair looked as if he'd recently run his fingers through it, and there was a smudge of coal dust on one sculpted cheek.
And yet even in his disheveled state, he was perhaps the most handsome man she'd ever seen, which went against her usual preference for men with dark hair and eyes. never before had she found herself attracted to a blond, but this one looked like... an angel. A warrior angel, she amended, noting the breadth of his shoulders. He looked powerful. Rugged. Dangerous.
"I could get you a warm brick wrapped in flannel," he offered his voice tender and soft, in direct opposite to her current train of thought.
A lump formed in Madeline's throat, her vision swimming with unshed tears. In all their years of marriage, Francis had never looked at her with such warmth, never spoken to her with such tenderness. How she'd craved it, she realized with a start. She'd never had a man fuss over her, put her needs before his own.
"No," she said at last, her voice thick. "Just... you warm me." She wanted nothing more than his body pressed against hers, warming her skin with his touch.
He swallowed hard, his irises dilating, the mossy green suddenly replaced with a fathomless dark depth. "I... can't," he said, his voice seeming to break. "I'd only chill you more."
Madeline laid a hand on his cheek. It was cold, but not uncomfortably so. "Nonsense. Simon, I... I want this. I want you," she added.
"I thought you wanted answers," he hedged, the barest hint of a smile dancing on his lips.
She bit her lower lip. "That, too. They aren't mutually exclusive, are they?"
He reached a hand up to her hair and began pulling out the pins one by one, releasing the elaborate up-do that had taken her lady's maid more than an half-hour to accomplish. Soon her hair lay fanned out around her face while Simon combed his fingers through the length of it.
Madeline closed her eyes, giving herself up to his ministrations.
"Are you warm now?" Simon asked, his lips brushing her ear.
"Mmm," she murmured in reply. Her entire body felt warm and heavy. Comfortable. Relaxed. Even her eyelids felt heavy.
"I won't hurt you, Madeline," came Simon's soothing voice. "You have no reason to fear me."
She could only nod, smiling happily as the room's warmth settled into her bones.
He laid his hand on her wrist. "Look at me, Maddy. Open your eyes and see the truth."
Slowly, her lids fluttered open. Her heart leapt against her breast, her breath catching noisily in her throat.
Simon's eyes were rimmed in red, his canine teeth elongated. He was the same, and yet he was altered somehow. He was beautiful, and yet terrifying.
Whatever he was, he wasn't human.
Kristina Cook is the author of more than a dozen books for adults and teens, ranging from historical and NASCAR romance to paranormal and contemporary young adult fiction (also writing as Kristi Astor and Kristi Cook). Since the publication of her first novel in 2004, her books (with Kensingon/Zebra Books, Harlequin Books, and Simon & Schuster) have hit national bestseller lists, landing on bookseller association lists, and won awards, including the National Reader's Choice Award.
When she's not writing a book or reading a book, she's probably online somewhere, talking about a book. Kristina lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters, but in the summer months escapes with them to sunny Miami, where she lounges on the beach and teaches creative writing classes at Miami-Dade College.
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