Oh, how we love to tease you! We want you hooked. We want you clamoring for more of Once Upon a Kiss in Jayne Fresina‘s Book Club Belles Society series. And we know just how to do it…
So this little visit with Darius and Justina is just enough to whet your appetite for one of those special stories ala Jane Austen. Our Jayne will have you hooked and clamoring in no time.
Summary:
In the sleepy village of Hawcombe Prior, the five young ladies of the Book Club Belles Society are looking for their own leading men.
The Perfect Hero
When handsome, mysterious Darius Wainwright strolls into town, the Book Club Belles are instantly smitten with this brooding good looks and prideful demeanor. It’s as if he walked out of the pages of their favorite new novel, a scandalous romance called Pride and Prejudice. But Justina Penny can’t understand why her fellow Belles are starry-eyed in the newcomer’s arrogant presence—surely a wicked Wickham would be infinitely more fun…
An Unlikely Leading Lady
Justina is the opposite of Darius’s ideal woman—not that he’s looking for romance. But when he discovers her stealing apples from his uncle’s orchard, he can’t resist his own thieving impulse. A stolen kiss from the mischievous Miss Penny leaves Darius wanting much, much more. If it’s a dashing villain she desires, Darius is more than willing to play the part…
As she moved to leave, Darius suddenly tightened his hands on her again and pulled her back. Justina grabbed his upper sleeves, her fingers not nearly long enough to encompass even one third of the hard muscle beneath, and this time when he bent his head, she lifted slightly on her toes. Enough to meet him partway.
Oh, she wanted more. Much more. It was terrible. It was delightful. It was every forbidden thing, wrapped up in temptation, topped with a bow of opportunity.
He smelled of spice and sweat and earth. The heat of his muscles surrounded her, seemed to enclose her on all sides, and she was, for those breathless few moments, entirely his prisoner, a weak woman of the sort she’d always heartily disdained. But she did not mind it. Heaven help her, but she did not mind being his prisoner then.
His hand came up and closed over her left breast, the palm so hot she feared it would melt the material of her gown. That touch, firm and possessive, made Justina suddenly very conscious of her breathing, of her heart thumping away beneath her chemise and his hand. Her nipple tightened, responding instantly to that caress. Every pore of her skin was awakened to the strangeness of a man’s intimate touch.
The wet tip of his tongue brushed the side of her neck and she caught her breath in a shuddering gasp.
Abruptly his lips left her again. His hands followed. The fingers that had touched her breast now swept up and back through his hair. He looked down at her, his eyes dazed.
Neither spoke.
For once she was at a loss for words. It took all she had just to keep breathing.
