ABOUT THE SERIES….
Chained & Chastened (Steamy Historical Romance)
The three sisters, Marianne, Annabelle and Susanna are impoverished ladies whose cruel stepfather is determined to fob them off, marry them off, or barter them off… with no concern for what kind of rogues may acquire them or for what wicked whims…
ABOUT THE BOOK…
When the handsome but wicked Earl catches Marianne “stealing” his prize stallion, he is determined to punish her. The whipping he has in mind is designed not to bring her pain, but the sweetest pleasure...
This is a NOVELLA. It is the first stand-alone novella in the sizzling Historical Romance Chained & Chastened series. This novel is intended for mature audiences only, and contains frank language and steamy, hot, erotic historical romance set in the Victorian era.
EXCERPT:
“I will whip you for this, boy. Do you understand me? How could you be so careless? That is my prized stallion! No one, and I mean no one, is allowed to ride him!”
Marianne could hear his menacing words before she entered the stable and her stomach plummeted.
She stepped forward, to physically interpose herself between the irate Earl and the boy.
“Please don’t hurt him, sir. It was my fault!” she declared boldly.
Thaddeus stared at her in shock. Her wild hair tumbled freely over her shoulders. It was red, but not a garish orange, more of a deep bronze, subdued at first glance, but filled with fiery highlights upon further inspection. She wore a simple white blouse, falling off one shoulder, and a plain, threadbare skirt, that marked her as a country wench, perhaps some cousin of Dan the stable boy, or perhaps some girl from the local village. But the simplicity of her attire could not disguise the lushness of her figure. Indeed, the blouse revealed her rounded shoulder and a hint of cleavage, and the skirt, of too thin material, hinted at the shape of her hips and thighs.
Marianne faltered into silence. The Earl had turned his full attention from Dan to her, and she was suddenly, terrifyingly aware of what a large and imposing man he was. He stood taller than most men, definitely much taller than she, and beneath his fashionable riding clothes, she could tell his shoulders and arms bulged with taunt muscles. He did not at all resemble the dissipated dandy she had somehow imagined him to be. Worst of all were his eyes, as steel as sabers, and as sharp in the way they pinned onto her.
At first, he had only looked angry, then shocked. Then, as he raked over her body with his eyes, his demeanor transformed. Something dangerous and enticing entered his gaze, some dark emotion that made her want to close her thighs tighter. It was as if he could see directly into the darkest, naughtiest parts of her.
Despite the tremors that rippled through her, she could not let the stable boy be beaten for her. She knew all too well how that felt. Just as she often defended her younger sisters from her stepfather’s wrath by taking it on herself, she would do what she could to spare the lad, who was the same age as her youngest sister. So she forced herself to go on.
“I begged him to let me ride this black beast. He didn’t want to let me.” Marianne lifted her chin. “If you must whip anyone, sir, whip me!”
Whip me. Thaddeus savored her words as if they were a fine wine. Her challenge, both innocent and defiant, brought an image into his mind that had nothing and everything to do with punishment…
