Thursday Threads: The Bride Gift by Sarah Hegger
The Bride Gift
Genre: Historical Romance (Medieval)
Heat Level: Sizzling
Blurb:
It’s 1153 in the period
dubbed ‘The Anarchy’, King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones
embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.
Determined to control her
own destiny, willful Helena of Lystanwold has chosen just the husband to suit
her purposes. But, when her banished guardian uncle attempts to secure her
future and climbs through her bedroom window with a new husband by a proxy
marriage, she understandably balks. Notorious warrior, Guy of Helston, is
everything Helena swore she would never marry: a man who lives by the sword,
like the man who murdered her sister.
This marriage finally
brings Guy close to his lifetime dream of gaining lands and a title. He is not
about to let his feisty bride stand in his way. A master strategist, Guy sets
out to woo and conquer his lady.
Against a backdrop of
vengeance, war and betrayal, Guy and Helena must learn to forge a united front
or risk losing everything.
Excerpt
Slowly,
Helena turned and approached her husband.
His
large body barely fit in the wooden tub. He sat with his knees almost to his
ears. A slight frown creased his dark brows.
Helena
dipped her hand in the soft soap they kept for bathing; more jasmine. She
rubbed it between her fingers to create lather. When they next made soap she
would need to produce something less feminine for Guy.
From
this position, his head was almost on a level with her breasts. A feeling akin
to excitement fluttered through her belly.
He
watched her face as she leaned forward to soap his head, working it through his
cropped hair. The bristly ends tickled her palm.
She
reached for a bucket of rinsing water. He closed his eyes as soap and bubbles
streamed down the strong planes of his cheeks. Droplets clung to his lashes.
They were almost ridiculously long and so incongruous with the rest of him.
Probably the only part of him that could be called soft.
He
dropped his head forward onto his knees so she could finish rinsing.
Guy
presented the broad expanse of his back, and she laid her hands across the
sun-darkened skin. He was warm under her fingers and beneath the smooth skin,
his muscles bunched slightly as she spread the soap. This might be bearable.
When she rubbed her fingers on either side of his spine, he made a soft purr of
enjoyment.
Her
pulse jumped.
"Soft
hands," he said.
Her
fingers traced a long, puckered scar running beneath his shoulder blade and
disappearing around his side.
"A
lance man with poor aim," he murmured.
The
skin on his back was firm, but marked by the scars of a lifetime spent wielding
a sword. "It appears you really do fight," she commented lightly.
For
some reason those accumulated injuries and the pain they had caused angered her
as well as rendered her sorry for his suffering. Helena steeled her resolve. It
was just these sorts of wounds that made him perfect for her purpose.
She
lathered soap across his shoulders and down the thick, corded muscle of each
arm. Her belly reacted with another odd little quiver as her fingers slid
across his skin like oil poured from a vial.
Guy
raised his eyes to her face. A slumberous warmth made them glow nearly silver.
Her
breath quickened in her chest as if she had been running; her hands tingled
where they touched him.
Sarah is always
delighted to hear from readers. She can be reached at any and all of the
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