Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

By Justine Elyot (Guest Blogger)

Hello, and many thanks to Lisabet for extending her kind hospitality to me today.

One of the many pleasurable aspects of writing my paranormal erotica novel, Saxonhurst Secrets, was the opportunity to weave a number of my own personal fascinations into the plot. Ever since learning in a school history lesson that the Puritans banned Christmas, I've been interested in them. What kind of people could be so joyless? What was their mindset and how did they justify their hardcore approach to life?

The character of Tribulation Smith in the book is a dyed-in-the-wool puritan preacher man, spreading his visions of hellfire and damnation through the seventeenth century village. But he has feet of clay, in the form of his obsession with the comely young witch, Evangeline Lillie. His attempts to 'bring her to God' cast a terrible shadow over Saxonhurst, one which it will take centuries to dispel.

His modern day counterpart, vicar Adam Flint, finds himself troubled by dreams in which he takes the form of Tribulation Smith, battling the same manner of infatuation he has for the village siren, Evie Witts.

Here's a small sample:

She swallowed then, and reached for his face. What ecstasy in her fingertips as they travelled along his cheekbone. He put his hand over them, holding them against his skin.

"If you have lived wickedly," he murmured, "it is because you suffered evil influences to flourish in your life. You did not act against them, and that is your sin. But it is a sin capable of redemption. Allow yourself to be redeemed. Come to me."

"You've a pretty face and you speak pretty words," she said. "I could almost…"

"Consent. And you will be protected."

"I will live," she whispered.

"I promise it."

"And my kinswomen?"

He hesitated, wanting those inconvenient crones out of the way, but he was so close to having her, how could he let them ruin it?

"I will do such as I can," he said.

"Then I shall say yes."

A potent amalgam of happiness and triumph beat in his veins. He leant towards her, breathing in the scent that lay beneath all the blood, sweat and tears – her unique Evangeline Lillie fragrance, that which had driven him wild since he arrived in Saxonhurst.

His lips touched hers, and the flame of desire streaked instantly through him. How she bewitched him, and yet her witchcraft was of a kind he felt he could not live without.

The kiss moved quickly from a tender brush to a raw and salty clash of mouths. Adam felt he could never get enough of her taste, of her warmth, of her tongue. Finally, his increasingly desperate prayers had found their answer, and the answer was yes.

He awoke to find himself snogging the pillow, one hand wrapped tight around his erection. Oh, no Evie after all, no full lips, no slip of tongue, no breasts bared to his eye. But the imprint of her remained on his memory for as long as it took him to bring his cock to complete engorgement.

I should let go. I should turn my mind to other thoughts.

But Evie's hold on him was absolute now. She had slipped past every moral defence, to place herself at the centre of his world, which was no longer a world of cool ascetic pursuits but one of thunder and blood and lust.

He thought of her underneath him, her curves and smoothness, her careless eroticism, her joy in the act of sex. He had to have her, had to, had to.

Here's some more information about the book:

On the surface, Saxonhurst is like every other sleepy English village in the Vale of Parham.

But what explanations are there for its unfailingly bountiful harvests, its amazingly successful cricket team, its bizarre and bacchanalian May Day rituals?

New vicar Adam Flint is bent on finding out why Saxonhurst has the nickname 'most godless village in England'. With the help and hindrance of village siren Evie and the strange and remote Lady of the Manor, Julia, he uncovers closets full of skeletons. And not just skeletons - flesh and blood bodies rich in temptations as well...

 

Will the secrets of Saxonhurst be Adam's ruin?

It's available in paperback and ebook formats from Xcite Books: http://www.xcitebooks.co.uk/Book/6920/Saxonhurst-Secrets.html

Thanks for reading!