A Knight of Passion
by Tarah Scott
Erotic Historical
Romance
Publisher:
Broken Arm Publishing
Release
Date: September 1, 2013
Heat
Level: Sizzling
Word
Count: 36,000
Available at:
Blurb:
Lady Riana
Ellis will risk the fires of Hell for those she loves. Can she let a man do the
same for her?
As whore for the Duchess of Arundel, Lady Riana
Ellis keeps her sister safe from the duke’s lascivious desires. Now the duchess
demands that Riana murder the man already sent to her bed.
Sir Bryant Cullen determines to have the
duchess’ whore. Her land is a prize, but it’s her secrets he wants. Once he
knows what she knows, he will control one of the most powerful houses in
Scotland. And she will be his.
Warning:
This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains explicit
sex scenes and/or situations (including voyeurism) and adult language, and may
be considered offensive to some readers.
Excerpt:
Scottish Highlands, 1338
Lady Riana Ellis dribbled three drops of poison
from the wooden phial into the goblet sitting on the nightstand beside the wine
she would drink.
Fill the goblet to the brim, and death would be
quick.
But the fires of Hell that followed would last
forever.
Even hellfire paled in comparison to the
nightmare that was Arundel.
If not for her younger sister living as ward of
the Duke and Duchess of Arundel, Riana would have ingested poison long ago…if
not for the fact the duke and duchess now had food tasters, she would have
slipped poison into their food long ago. Instead, she must now feed the
lethal fluid to Sir Neas Dunbar in order to save Siusan from the duke’s cock.
Riana fitted the top back onto the phial. She shivered
despite the fire that crackled in the hearth to her left, and rubbed gooseflesh
from her naked arms. The duchess’ order to murder the knight came with the
explicit instruction, “Fuck him hard first.”
Anger clenched Riana’s stomach. The duchess thrived
on the fact this would be the man's last night amongst the living, and had
issued the edict because she wanted to watch. Her morbid fascination would be
Riana’s advantage—if she pulled off what was to be the performance of her life.
The very thought of watching a man fuck the
woman who was about to murder him would have the duchess panting like a bitch
in heat. Already, she would be sitting behind the large painting that hung over
the bed…waiting. Riana had purposely kept her naked breasts from the duchess’
view, knowing just the sight of her rounded buttocks in the soft firelight
would hold the older woman spellbound in anticipation of that first glimpse of
rosy areola and dark curls.
In the hours the duchess watched Riana from
behind the painting, Siusan and their surrogate father Glen would flee Arundel
for a village in the south of France. By the time Sir Dunbar sucked Riana’s
nipples into painful hardness, the duchess would be unable to tear herself from
watching them. When he finally stuffed his fingers between her folds and rammed
his cock into her arse, Siusan and Glen would be riding hard. The knight was
sure to do all this and more, for the duchess would instruct him as she did
every man Riana serviced: “Ride her hard. She is made for it.”
Siusan and Glen’s final security would be if the
duchess had brought one of her favorites from among the servants to suck her
cunt while she watched. Once she had satiated her perverted desires, and Riana
fed the knight the poisoned wine, the duchess would retire to her chambers and
await news that Sir Dunbar had been found dead in his bed.
The Sheriff would be called from his chambers,
where the duchess had installed him the night before, and he would conclude the
knight had died of a heart attack while rutting between Riana’s legs—even if
the duchess had to throw coin his way to ensure the verdict. If Riana
administered the poison first, Sir Dunbar’s heart would slow while he pumped
into her, until, at last, the veneer of death would be complete. That would be
a sight that could keep the duchess distracted indefinitely. But Riana had been
unable to overcome her revulsion at thought of the knight’s cock going limp
inside her as his dead weight pinned her to the mattress.
Sir Dunbar had left a trail of English blood
across the Scottish Highlands. The duchess was a fool to think anyone would
believe the heart that beat within his massive chest could give way due to even
the most rigorous thrusts of his cock into a woman’s cunt. Yet, if the duchess
had her way, he would fuck Riana, she would hang for his murder, and Siusan
would take her place as Arundel’s whore.
A tremor rippled through Riana. She had served
as a whore too long to feel guilt over spreading her legs. But murder? And to
what end? The fact she had killed a man at the duchess’ command wouldn’t
obligate the older woman to safeguard Siusan from the duke.
Siusan had grown into a young woman whose pale
beauty surpassed Riana’s darker hair and complexion. The duke’s increasing
demands to have Siusan’s maidenhead tightened the duchess’ stranglehold over
Riana. But Riana had her own leverage. The moment the duchess could no longer
protect Siusan, Riana would forego the poison and drive a dagger into her
heart. Then hang for the crime without remorse. Riana suppressed a bitter
laugh. Apparently murder was as easy to grow accustomed to as was fornication.
But until Siusan was safely away, Riana couldn’t
forget that the duchess’ cruelty was matched only by the duke’s depravity. She
choked back a recollection of the day he had stripped away her memory of how
sweet love could be and replaced it with understanding of how a man’s cock could foul a woman’s every
orifice. Riana bit back tears. Curse the war that had taken her father and
husband. Even God had deserted them. But she wouldn’t wait for God or anyone
else to save them. Tonight, she would end this madness. Riana closed her eyes
and released a slow breath. Fail, and the duke wasn’t the only threat they
faced.
The duke and duchess secretly supported Edward
Balliol, Scotland’s puppet king of Edward III ,
King of England and self-appointed Lord Parliament of Scotland. Most of
Scotland had been retaken by Sir Andrew Murray, leader of Robert the Bruce’s
faction. But King Edward III
intended to wrest Scotland from him at all costs.
Two months ago, one of the Disinherited—the
Anglo Saxon Scots led by Balliol—had secretly visited Arundel, and Riana learnt
the duke and duchess had plotted with him to finance Balliol. She’d passed the
information to Sir Fostar, who had fought alongside her father and husband.
Sir Fostar warned Riana that Scotland would
bring a sentence of forfeiture against the duke, and seize his wealth
and land. If Riana and Siusan weren’t far away, they would become casualties in
the political aftermath. They couldn’t return to their mother—her new husband
would shun women branded as followers of the English king. Riana envisioned her
and Siusan wandering the streets and, eventually, forced into a brothel.
She glanced from the goblet laced with poison to
the door. Her pulse raced. Tears rushed to the surface and burned her eyes
before she could halt them. Once the knight appeared, there would be no turning
back. Her heart twisted. She was as big a fool as the duchess. There had never
been any turning back.
About the Author:
Award winning author Tarah Scott cut her teeth
on authors such as Georgette Heyer, Zane Grey, and Amanda Quick. Her favorite
book is a Tale of Two Cities, with Gone With the Wind as a close second. She
writes modern classical romance, and paranormal and romantic suspense. Tarah
grew up in Texas and currently resides in Westchester County, New York with her
daughter.
Connect
with Tarah Scott
Website: http://www.tarahscott.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TarahScott
Tarah's Reading Group: http://microcerpt.com/groups/tarah-scott-reader-group/
Thank you for introducing me to a new historical author!
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ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting Tarah Scott, she is an amazing author <3
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