The Curse of Lord Stanstead
The Order of the MUSE, #1
Mia Marlowe
Entangled Select Historical
July 28, 2015
About the Book:
Wherever Cassandra Darkin goes, fire is
sure to follow. It's not until she's swept into the arms of a handsome, infuriating stranger that she
learns she's responsible for the fires. As it turns
out, Cassandra is a fire mage...and with her gift comes a blazing desire for
sins of the flesh.
With his pretenatural ability to influence the thoughts of
others, Garrett Sterling is sent to gather Cassandra for the Order of the
M.U.SE. He's entirely unprepared for his immediate attraction to the comely
little firestarter. But it's an attraction that he must quell, even as his body
craves her touch and her fiery, sensual hunger.
For Garrett's gift has a dark side...and the moment he begins to
care too much for Cassandra, he knows he will doom her to an inescapable fate.
Excerpt from The Curse of Lord Stanstead:
Garret Sterling and Cassandra Darkin
are on a mission for the Order of the M.U.S.E. to recover a psychic relic
called the Infinitum. Using their unusual gifts, they’ve crashed a party that’s
descending into a bacchanalia because the relic is believed to be there. Garret
has just confessed to Cassandra that if he dreams about someone he cares for,
something terrible happens to them. Like his fiancée Alice who died a few days
before they were to be wed…
“After Alice died, I
didn’t care about anyone or anything,” Garret said. “My destructive behavior
was just a way to stop feeling pain. But now all I can see, all I want to see,
is you.”
She leaned on his
chest, snuggling closer. She wanted to fill him up, as thoroughly as he filled
her.
He bent down and
murmured into her ear. “I want to do such lovely wicked things to you. I’d have
you singing my name, begging me to go on.”
Then he claimed her
mouth in a savage kiss. She rose on tiptoe to meet his fury. She wanted to be
enough for him. For him not to need anyone else to ease his pain. She kissed
him back with all the longing inside her until he pulled back.
“What did you do to
forget?” she asked in a gasping whisper.
“Women, mostly, that
wasn’t all. I buried myself in opium, in whiskey—anything I thought might work.
Anything not to dream again.”
His evil dreams. Her
heart ached for him afresh. She couldn’t even feel jealous of his lovers in the
past. He was her entire world in the present. His brokenness hurt her, too, and
she longed to find a way to make him whole.
Somehow, they had to
discover a way for Garret to be rid of that nightmarish aspect of his psychic
power. She lifted a hand to palm his cheek. Her arm felt strangely heavy, but
she wanted to comfort him. She yearned to make it better. To lie down right
there on Old Lady Bellefonte’s Turkish rug and give him ease of her body, never
mind that anyone might look on. She wanted to—
“Steady on, now,”
Garret said, catching her when her knees gave way. “There must be something in
this incense. A drug designed to lower inhibitions.”
“It seems to be
working.” Cassandra wrapped her arms around him. “It’s so hot in here, isn’t
it?”
The fireplace had been
cold, but between one blink and the next the single log on the grate burst into
flames. She’d lit the blaze without conscious thought.
Garret’s eyes went
wide. “Cassie, are you all right?”
“No, I’m not all
right.” She pressed feverish kisses to his exposed neck. “Oh, you taste
wonderful—salty and male. I want to… Oh, Garret, I want to taste you all over.
Why don’t you let me? You always give and give and never take.”
“If I took you now, it
would be like stealing.” Garret picked her up as if she weighed no more than a
child. “We need to get you out of here. Where do we go?”
About the author:
Now an award-winning author, Mia Marlowe writes historical
romance for multiple publishing houses—Entangled, Kensington & Sourcebooks.
Mia’s work was featured in the Best of 2010 issue of PEOPLE magazine. One of
her books is on display at the Museum of London Docklands next to Johnny Depp
memorabilia. The RITA nominated author has over 20 books in print with more on
the way!
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card
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