A single stolen kiss – #Sapphic #Historical #WomensHistoryMonth

On Wednesday I hosted a guest, so I did not participate in the weekly MFRW Book Hooks blog hop. However, I figured I should continue my observation of Women’s History Month by posting historical excerpts that feature my heroines.

Today’s snippet comes from my Sapphic romance By Moonlight. This is a re-imagining of the classic poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, but with a twist – and a happy ending. The tale is set in mid-eighteenth century England.

Enjoy!

Blurb

She risked all, loving an outlaw – especially a woman

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.

Excerpt

Bess watched her sharp features relax and soften in the aftermath. The notorious Kit Latour, outlaw, bandit and thief, looked much younger with her eyes closed and her shoulder-length russet locks fanned out over Bess’s pillow.

Somewhere in the distance, a cock crowed. Bess bent to kiss her drowsing lover.

“You’d best be off. It will soon be light.”

Kit stirred. She pulled Bess down into a desperate embrace. Their breasts mashed together. Below, their juices mingled, black curls tangling with ginger. Kit’s greedy kiss just left Bess hungry for more.

“I can hardly bear to leave you. But I’m after a fine prize today. If my plan succeeds, I shall have more than enough to take you away with me.” Kit slipped the fancy shirt over her head, hiding her small but shapely bosom. She’d already donned her breeches.

“Where would we go?” Bess had never been more than twenty miles from the village where she’d been born.

“Back to France, perhaps. Or to the colonies. As far away as possible from the King and his soldiers. There’s nothing for me here, my sweet, but a rope around my neck or a knife in my gut.”

A chill seized her, though the hidden sun was already warming the autumn air. “Do not speak of such things, Kit.”

Fully dressed now, her lover swept her into a final kiss, then cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes. “Until tonight, bonny Bess. I’ll come to you by moonlight—though Hell should bar the way.”

She vaulted over the casement and clambered to the ground. Bess watched from the window as Kit crept toward the stables to retrieve her horse, Delilah. The sense of Kit’s cool palm on her face lingered, long after the mare’s hoof beats had died away.

Somewhere in the quiet inn-yard, a gate creaked. Bess held her breath. Now that Kit was gone, she was newly aware of the dangers that threatened them. She listened intently, but aside from another crow from the early-rising rooster, all was silent.

The moon had set. The wind had fallen. In the east, the stars were fading. An hour or two remained before dawn, when she needed to be about her chores. Her eyelids drooped. She could afford to sleep, at least for a while, to sleep and to dream of her lover.

 

Find the buy links at https://www.lisabetsarai.com/bymoonlightbook.html