Beyond Romance: New release! Luscious, lyrical lesbian romance

Today is release day for my brand new FF historical romance, By Moonlight. I’d hoped to get this out during June, in celebration of Pride Month, but life intervened and I didn’t quite make it.

On the other hand, one could argue that we should be celebrating diversity in sexuality every month.

This is a story I’ve wanted to write for years. It’s a riff on one of my favorite poems, The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. I thought Bess, the innkeeper’s daughter, deserved a happy ending. I also wanted to play with stereotypes and twist tropes. If you’ve read my work over the years, you’ll know that’s typical!

Anyway, here is the blurb and an exclusive excerpt not available anywhere else.

Enjoy!

Blurb

I’ll come for you by moonlight – though Hell should bar the way

In her eighteen years on earth, Bess has never traveled more than twenty miles from her Devonshire village. The raven-haired innkeeper’s daughter has little time to dream of adventure as she labors from dawn to dusk to keep her abusive father satisfied.

Then, at the weekly market in Tavistock town, she meets a handsome dandy who claims her with a single stolen kiss. When the gallant gentleman makes a midnight visit to the inn, Bess learns that her new lover is none other than Kit Latour, a notorious French highwayman who has been boldly relieving the local nobility of their valuables. Well-aware of the risk she’s taking, Bess still offers herself to the seductive outlaw. Even Kit’s darkest secrets cannot quench the flames of her love.

Exclusive Excerpt

No more than half-awake, Bess clung to her lover’s body and endured the endless ride. Delilah’s hooves pounded the earth and rattled her bones. The wind whipped her hair into knots. Autumn’s chill fingers found every gap in her clothing. By the time Kit finally reined in the mare and slid to the ground, Bess ached all over. She slumped against the saddle, exhausted and numb, awaiting Kit’s instructions.

“Jump, my sweet. I’ll catch you.”

Bess tumbled into the bandit’s waiting arms. Kit’s warmth and strength restored her to some extent. They’d stopped halfway up a hill, in a natural depression protected from the wind. The height offered a clear view of the surrounding countryside. Impending dawn brightened the sky to the east. Behind them, a slope thick with underbrush climbed to a craggy summit. Her ears caught the sound of running water.

“Where are we?”

“My secret hideaway.” Kit led the horse to a small pool, fed by a spring that bubbled from the moss-covered stone above. “Some ten miles west of Exeter. We’ll rest here today, then set out again after sunset.” Tethered to a nearby oak sapling, Delilah drank her fill, then bent to nibble the long grass. The tangled vegetation surrounding the pool would hide her sleek body from anyone on the moors below them.

Bess understood that the spot had been chosen with an eye to defense, but she saw no sign of any sort of shelter. “Where–?” she began, then stopped as Kit lifted a screen of artfully woven foliage to reveal the entrance to a cave. “Oh, how clever! I would never have known!”

A smile lit her lover’s tired, grimy face. She gestured toward the dark hole in the earth. “May I invite you into my lair, sweet Bess?”

The portal into the hillside was tall enough that Bess scarcely had to duck. She stepped into surprisingly large, airy space. Light filtered into the cave through a shaft in the ceiling, so instead of the blackness she’d expected, everything was a ghostly gray. The walls and floor appeared to be solid rock. Once again, she heard water, echoing from deeper in the cavern. She guessed that the spring had a second outlet within the cave, which made the place a perfect refuge.

Kit struck a light and ignited several candles, which were glued with melted wax onto a natural shelf in the wall. The gray light turned to warm gold. Bess looked around her, marveling at the neat, comfortable den Kit had created.

Against one wall she saw a straw-filled mattress covered by a worn quilt. Immediately she yearned to lie down and rest. On the opposite wall, several shelves held bottles, earthenware jars and a few dishes. A ring of stones in the center, directly below the ceiling shaft, marked a fire pit. Around the fire, Kit had arranged several folded sheepskins, apparently as seating cushions.

A gleam from the shadows at the back of the cave caught Bess’s eye. Peering closely, she was just able to discern a small trunk and several strongboxes, one of which was open. Gold chains dangled over the rim.

“The spoils from my profession.” Kit’s sharp eyes had noted Bess’s curiosity. “Which we’ll need to get us to America.” She placed the basket from the inn near the fire ring, then retrieved a jar and two mugs. “Are you hungry?” she asked, apparently considering the subject of her loot to be closed for the moment. “Would you like some tea?”

Bess was about to decline, to insist that all she wanted was sleep, when she realized she was in fact ravenous. She’d not eaten since yesterday noon, and now the sun was rising. “Oh, please! But can we risk a fire? Won’t the smoke be visible?”

“’Tis well you’re thinking about the dangers, but no one is likely to be about this early. You look as though you are about to collapse, my love. Sit, and let me play the hostess for once.”

Bess sank to her knees on one of the sheepskins, then flopped onto her hip in a muddle of skirts. Kit bustled around the cave, lighting a small fire, boiling some water from the spring, and decanting it over the loose tea in their mugs. Bess breathed in the steamy aroma, invigorated despite her exhaustion. Meanwhile the other woman divided the victuals they’d scavenged from the inn.

Kit seated herself cross-legged beside the fire and sank her teeth into an apple. “Delicious,” she murmured. “Hunger improves even the simplest meal.” She tore off a hunk of bread and chewed with relish.

Bess found herself transfixed by Kit’s mouth. Vivid recollection overwhelmed her: those red lips pursed around her aching nipples; that nimble tongue dancing along her cleft; those teeth worrying the swollen bead that was the key to her pleasure. Her own food forgotten in her lap, she spun helplessly in a maelstrom of lust.

Taking another hefty bite of her apple, Kit finally noticed her companion’s desperate stare. “What is it, my sweet? Why aren’t you eating?

“I want you.” Bess could barely get the words out. “I need you, Kit.”

“Let’s eat first.”

“No – please. Now! I can’t wait.”

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/1183-by-moonlight-/

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C99C59RY

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C99C59RY

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1413596

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/by-moonlight-lisabet-sarai/1143711659?ean=2940166073495

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/by-moonlight-8

Apple Books - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6450718058