Awakening Augusta – Cindy Spencer Pape

Awakening Augusta

Author: Cindy Spencer Pape
Ellora’s Cave

Regency Scotland can be a lonely place, but Augusta MacLeish has four mischievous younger siblings for company; now if she only had money to feed them! Colin Fordyce has recently inherited an earldom, along with five wards in a remote Scottish castle. When he travels up there, he discovers his predecessor was skimming their funds. He also learns the oldest Miss MacLeish is absolutely stunning. A knock to his head leaves him seeing two of the buxom beauty, just as one kiss from her tempting lips leaves him longing for more.

A night spent together forces Colin and Augusta to marry, leaving them all the opportunity in the world to explore the sexual hunger between them. Colin delights in teaching Augusta all the pleasures of the flesh, awakening the wanton lover beneath her ladylike veneer. From Scotland to London, the flames burning between them refuse to be doused, and oh, how they will set the Ton on fire.

Excerpt:

Miss MacLeish—he’d already begun to think of her as Augusta—hurried to his side and slid her arm around his waist again. “You won’t be riding anywhere tonight, I’m afraid. Let’s get you to a bed, my lord.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. Truth was, while he probably could make it back to the village inn, it would hurt like the very devil to do so. By tomorrow, he hoped to be back to normal, but for tonight, perhaps it would be all right for him to just rest

 “The MacArdles have quarters here on the first floor,” she told him. “That might be easiest, if you don’t object to being put in a servants’ room.”

“Not at all.” Given what he’d seen, the servants probably lived as comfortably as the family. Besides, he’d spent two years in Calais, posing as the bookkeeper to a shipping operation, during his work for the Crown prior to Trafalgar. He was intimately familiar with living rough.

“This way, then.”  She picked up one of the lamps she’d lit during the meal and led him through the kitchen into a butler’s pantry then down a narrow hall. A plain wooden door opened into a small suite, simply but comfortably furnished. She led him through the sitting room into a bedroom with a decently sized wrought iron bed and a fire ready to be started in the grate.

“This is perfect,” he said, leaning against the doorframe. His arm around her shoulder felt natural and he let himself enjoy, just for a moment, the sensation of having an attractive woman snuggled close to his side. “I am sorry to impose, but I’m not sorry to have had the chance to meet in such quiet surrounds. I imagine our conversation would have gone very differently with four children in the room.”

“Aye.”  He felt her relax against him and lean that glossy chestnut head against his chest. The soft scent of heather mingled with the musky aroma of a woman who’d spent the day working.

“I’m still finding it hard to believe this is all real—that we can truly stop worrying about whether we can afford shoes when Arthur has outgrown his last pair or nails to fix the footbridge.”

“ I promise, ‘tis real.”  He heard the gruff huskiness in his own voice, felt his shaft harden. He touched her cheek with one finger. “On my honor, your family will never need to worry about such things again.”

She lifted her face to his, her eyes bright and shining in the flickering light of the lamp. “Thank you.”

Colin didn’t stop to think. His body simply responded by instinct. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he slowly lowered his face to hers, their eyes never breaking contact. There was plenty of time for her to pull back, or even just turn her head and reject his kiss, but she didn’t. Then his lips touched hers and time hung suspended. She was soft, so very soft. His hand tightened on her waist as his lips moved against hers. When he lightly nipped her full lower lip, she let out an inarticulate cry, which gave him the opportunity to slip the tip of his tongue inside her mouth.

Oh lord, she tasted like heaven. How had he ever been attracted to willowy blondes who never did a day’s work in their lives? This woman, curvy, sweet and strong, felt perfect in his arms. Her untutored but eager response to his kiss had him reaching for the fastening of her gown. She didn’t stop him as he untied the tapes at the back of her gown, making the snug bodice droop off her shoulders. The sleeves trapped her arms at her sides and he nudged her shift down as well, revealing two lush, white mounds. With one arm still wrapped about her waist to hold her still, he used the other to cup one of her heavy breasts. Her nipples were small but tautly furled, and he grazed it gently with his thumb, wondering how it would taste.

“Oh!”  She pulled away from him, clutching the burning oil lamp that she’d clearly almost dropped.

Colin swallowed hard and sagged against the doorframe. Holy hell, they’d nearly burned the house down, literally as well as figuratively. With his own hands shaking more than he’d like to admit, he reached out and took the lamp from Augusta’s hands while she made an effort to cover herself.

“I’d apologize, but it would be a lie,” he said thickly, setting the lamp down on a nearby chest. “Still, I am sorry for getting carried away.”

“I—ah—” She squeezed her eyes shut and backed out the doorway until her back bumped into the wall of the corridor behind her. “G-g-goodnight, my lord.”

“Colin,” he told her as she turned and fled toward the kitchen, without so much as a candle to light her way. “After that, you had probably better know my name.”

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Tags: Awakening Augusta, Cindy Spencer Pape, Regency Romance, Romance, scotland
Posted under: Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Romance