Brooding hero who gets cranky near the full moon. Sassy heroine who wants answers and won’t take any guff from said hero. Handsome hero who has a huge secret. Intelligent heroine who knows something isn’t quite right but needs his help anyway. Silly hero who believes his heroine won’t want anything to do with him if she knows about his inner beast. Amazing woman that she is, beautiful heroine sets the hero straight when it comes to love. Include some sizzling love scenes, a few arguments, a lot of fun, a glowering nephew, a jokester of a brother with his own lady problems, and that anticipated full moon and you have yourself one heck of a story in A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare.
Here’s just a little taste before you make that trip to the bookstore…
Lily sighed. Should she tell him of her concerns? Would it matter? “I suppose I don’t know what to expect from our marriage,” she hedged. “What it will entail.”
A slow smile lit his face. “Ah, well, let me show you.” Lily batted his hands away from her person as he reached for her. “You know that’s not what I meant.” Simon took another step toward her and she backed up, but she couldn’t hide the smile that erupted, no matter how hard she tried.
“Oh, but it’s what I meant,” he said, his grey eyes twinkling. She’d never actually seen the man laugh before. He was handsome even when he was sour, but when he laughed, he completely captured her heart. “You wanted to know what to expect from our marriage, and I want to show you.”
He stepped toward her again. She put a chair between them.
“Will every room in my house be left a shambles because of you and Maberley? Before you arrived, I had quite a lovely home,” he said as he slid the chair over. Lily ducked behind a second chair.
“You are the one who keeps making messes of the furniture, Simon. Not me,” she said, shaking her finger at him. Then she laughed and ran as he casually flipped another chair. They seemed to be nothing more than playthings to him.
“When we’re married, you will no longer be able to rearrange the furniture. I won’t have it.” She tried to look stern and unforgiving. She failed miserably. He simply smirked at her and pushed the final chair out of the way.
Lily squealed as she turned to run, but his hands snaked around her middle. He pulled her to himself, her back to his front, and leaned forward to say quietly in her ear, “Got you.”
Lily couldn’t hide from the sudden warmth she felt as his body pressed along the length of hers. One of his hands splayed on her belly, pulling her into the cradle of his hips. The other brushed the hair away from the nape of her neck.
When his lips touched the sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder, she thought her knees would buckle. Thank goodness for that hand on her belly that held her tightly to him.
“Simon,” she sighed. “This is quite improper.”
“It’s not nearly as improper as what I did to you last night,” he reminded her. She felt the heat creep up her face as she remembered his hand in her drawers, his mouth on her breasts, and that sweet, sweet release.
He must have sensed her hesitation because he simply said, “When we’re married, I’ll be able to kiss you here.” He pressed his lips to the skin beneath her ear. “And here.” He kissed her shoulder and spun her around. “And here,” he said as his lips hovered over hers.
Oh, please kiss me, Simon, she wanted to shout. But he didn’t. He simply stayed close to her. She finally gave in and reached for him, her fingers threading through his hair as she pulled him close enough to touch her lips to his.
When she finally allowed him to lift his head, he simply smiled and said, “Forceful little thing, aren’t you?”
“I am not little, Simon,” she gasped as his hands ran up her side slowly, moving closer and closer to her breasts. Her heart beat like she’d just run up the stairs.
“Compared to me, you are quite small.”
“You’re the exception.”
“I had damn well better be the exception. There will be no comparisons to other men.”
“I have nothing to compare you to.”
“And it will stay that way.”
Lily nodded, quite unsure of what to say next. She bit her bottom lip.
“What’s bothering you?” he asked as he lifted his head and looked into her eyes.
“Well, you have mentioned your lifestyle more than once. If you don’t plan to share me, then I don’t plan to share you, either.” She winced and closed her eyes, waiting for callous words to flood her ears.
“Done,” he said.
“What about this lifestyle you keep referring to? The one you want to maintain.”
“It doesn’t involve wenches, woman,” he growled softly.
Lily’s heart leapt. That was the one hesitation she had about marrying Simon. But he’d acquiesced so easily. Almost too easily.
She would worry about it later, because Simon was taking all her attention. His hands stroked her as if she were a cat just waiting to be petted. She looked into his eyes.
Oh, now she was in big trouble, because his dark eyes reminded her of a predator. And that meant she was the prey.
