Stephanie Laurens' historical romance series, the Cynsters, is still going strong and the author just released her twenty-second novel in the series yesterday! Find out more about The Tempting of Thomas Carrick below!
The Tempting of Thomas Carrick (Cynsters #22)
by Stephanie Laurens
Paperback, 464 pages
Expected publication: February 24th 2015 by Mira
ISBN 077831782X
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns to Scotland, where destiny and passion intertwine...
Thomas Carrick is determined to make his own life in the bustling port city of Glasgow, far from the demands of the Carrick clan, eventually with an appropriate wife on his arm. But disturbing events on his family's estate force Thomas to return to the Scottish countryside—where he is forced to ask for help from the last woman he wants to face. Thomas has never forgotten Lucilla Cynster and the connection that seethes between them, but to marry Lucilla would mean embracing a life he's adamant is not for him.
Strong-willed and passionate, Lucilla knows Thomas is hers—her fated lover, husband, protector, mate. He is the only man for her, just as she is his one true love. How can he ignore a bond stronger than reason and choose a different path? She's determined to fight for their future, and while she cannot command him, she has enticements of her own to wield when it comes to tempting Thomas Carrick.
EXCERPT:
Somewhat to his surprise, she made no demur at his taking control; instead, she walked beside him, courtesy of the narrowness of the corridor rather close, her velvet riding skirt brushing the material of his trousers. Once he was sure she was, indeed, consenting to leave the scene, he eased his grip, then released her altogether.
He would have increased the distance between them, but there was no space.
Lucilla found herself dealing with a rather odd fracturing of her awareness. On one level, she was increasingly exercised over the matter of the Burns sisters’ deaths, and very conscious of the tug of duty on that score, yet simultaneously her sensual awareness was reveling in Thomas’s nearness. In his touch, however brief.
The toe of her riding boot hit something, and she stumbled. “Oh!” She pitched forward—
Thomas caught her and hauled her upright. Hauled her to him.
She ended in his arms. Locked against him, her palms flat against his chest.
The first thing she registered was the heat of him, the warmth that seeped through the layers of fabric and sank into her.
Into her flesh, feeding her senses.
They came alive on a giddy rush of anticipation.
She raised her gaze to his eyes. In the same instant registered the sudden tension that had gripped him, that had turned taut, resilient muscle into granite and steel. The arms that held her so securely felt less malleable than iron.
But it was his eyes that most gave him away; the gold-flecked amber burned.
She didn’t stop to think. To question.
To give him time to snap his shields back into place.
The Lady might help and create the chance, but it was up to her to seize it.
Stretching up on her toes, she barely paused to whisper “Thank you” before she pressed her lips to his.
For one instant, her confidence wavered. What if he didn’t respond?
Then she sensed it—a sharp hitch in his breathing, a leaping, uncontrollable, barely reined impulse to seize.
She’d felt that reaction in herself—she recognized it in him.
All doubt evaporated. All caution fell.
She pressed her kiss on him, sure, certain.
Stepping boldly into him, she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, savoring the heat and the strength beneath her palms, then she reached further, to his nape, and slid her fingers into the thick, heavy locks of his hair.
The feathery touch caught her, steadied her.
All her senses alive, she turned her mind from conquest to persuasion.
Drawing one hand from the silk of his hair, she placed her palm against one lean cheek and gave herself over to the communion of the kiss.
Thomas was lost, his anchor gone, swept away by a tide of ferocious yearning. His, but equally hers. Her longing had poured into him, inciting a response he had no hope of reining back. Of taming. Of restraining.
He wanted her; he always had.
But the part of him that wanted her—still, regardless—was the part of him he normally kept leashed, controlled. Hidden.
It hadn’t been her kiss, the sharp and shocking pressure of her lips against his, that had shattered the chains, that had broken the lock and flung wide the doors of his inner prison.
It hadn’t been the searing heat of her touch as she’d slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, an evocative, provocative come-hither act that yet had felt curiously innocent.
Even her fingers tangling in his hair—he was more than experienced enough to set all such temptations aside.
But the feel of her palm, her fingers, lightly riding against his cheek…
It was as if by that touch she’d tamed him. Slayed all resistance and claimed the man he truly was.
He’d always known she was dangerous. That she and she alone could rule him.
He hadn’t wanted that. He still didn’t want that. Yet…
Her lips tasted of a heady blend of rose and nectar. He couldn’t resist the temptation to sip.
Just a little. A bit.
About Author
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens began writing romances as an escape from the dry world of professional science. Her hobby quickly became a career when her first novel was accepted for publication, and with entirely becoming alacrity, she gave up writing about facts in favor of writing fiction.
Laurens's novels are set in the time period of the British Regency, and her settings range from Scotland to India. Laurens has published fifty works of historical romance, including 29 New York Times bestsellers. All her works are continuously available in print and digital formats in English worldwide, and have been translated into many other languages. An international bestseller, among other Stephanie's email contactsaccolades Laurens has received the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award for Best Romance Novella 2008, for The Fall of Rogue Gerrard.
Her continuing novels featuring the Cynster family are widely regarded as classics of the genre. Other series include the Bastion Club Novels and the Black Cobra Quartet. For information on upcoming releases and updates on novels yet to come, visit Stephanie's website. http://www.stephanielaurens.com/
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