Delicious Tease Day #45: Charlotte Featherstone

I'm thrilled to have my very dear friend Charlotte Featherstone here today. A wonderful writer who always pushes the envelope in her historical eroticas, Charlotte is one of a kind-- I hope you enjoy her excerpt as much as I did. Remember to comment for a chance to win a copy of Sinful.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.
—Anaïs Nin
This is the quote that inspired the overall theme of my upcoming erotic historical romance, Sinful (May 1, Harlequin Spice). It has profound meaning, for both the hero and heroine, and it paints a nice visual at the same time. It also brought me back to a time and a place that greatly inspired me. It was in England, in Evesham, and I was on vacation. It was May, and I was following the blossom trail; a path that is miles long and filled with the heavenly scent of apple, cherry and quince blossoms. It was gorgeous. I also spent a lovely day picnicking on the grounds of Stourhead gardens. I even started the beginnings of an untitled book while sitting beside the romantic Gothic cottage situated on the grounds. I always knew that one day I would write a book with the gardens and the cottage as a setting. And Sinful turned out to be that book.
Nin’s most apt quote, along with the memories of the English countryside in spring cemented what I wanted for Sinful, which is a story about growth, about shedding that dark cloak we wear and stepping out into the light, reborn and transformed.
Personally, I love writing stories set in the spring. It feels fresh and new and alive. And I had a lot of fun digging out the old photos of that vacation and reliving those weeks. As the copy edits for Sinful arrived—right before Christmas, it was a special treat to read about feeling the sun on my face, the chirping of birds, and the smells of spring. It’s put me in the mood for spring ever since, and finally, here in Canada, the first tentative signs of the season are beginning to show.
My most favourite thing to do in the spring, is to climb into bed with the windows open and feel the night air blowing through the curtains. I love to listen to the crickets, and see the moonlight filter in. It’s my best time for thinking up new hunky heroes, and romantic loves scenes. There’s something about the smell of spring, of fresh cut lawn, of seeing the grass turn green, and the scent of sheets hung to dry in the wind and the sun. It’s spring, and it makes us feel happy and alive after a long, cold winter.
I’ll leave you with an excerpt from Sinful, a spring teaser, to get you in the mood for those sunny days, and maybe a bit of sinful behaviour beneath your very own apple tree!
I’ll be giving away a signed copy of Sinful, and all you have to do is comment, and tell me what your Sinful good weather indulgence is!

Blurb:
In Victorian England vice of every kind can be purchased, and Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford, makes certain he avails himself of every possible pleasure. Bored and jaded, he is as well-known for his coldness as for his licentious affairs with beautiful women. While these numerous dalliances fulfill Matthew's every physical need, they secretly leave him numb and emotionally void. Until one night when he finds himself beaten, eyes bandaged and in the care of a nurse with the voice of an angel - and a gentle touch that soothes the darkness in him and makes him yearn for more. Yet Jane Rankin is a lowly nurse, considered shy and plain by most. There is no place for her amongst the lords and ladies of the aristocracy - despite Matthew's growing craving for the fire that burns behind her earnest facade. And then there is Matthew's secret. A secret so humiliating and scandalous is could destroy everyone he loves. A sin, he fears, not even the love of a good woman can take away...


In this excerpt, Jane and Wallingford are on a picnic, by the lake that surrounds his estate. Wallingford is an artist, accustomed to be beauty...

"I am full of flaws, Jane, but with you—" He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, making Jane wish to press her lips to. "With you, Jane, I have the very great desire to be the sort of man that cares. That feels. A gentleman, I believe the ladies call that sort of man."

Jane smiled despite herself. Matthew, Lord Wallingford, would never be the gentlemanly sort, and the knowledge secretly thrilled her.

He reached into a satchel that lay on the grass and pulled out a book. “ Look.”

She flipped through it and scanned the elegant nudes he had sketched. They were of a woman with a lovely body, sprawled in many positions. The woman was faceless in every sketch, until the last. There she saw her face. It was her in bed, blossoms covering her.

"I want to paint you like this," he murmured, taking the book from her hands. He pressed her back onto the blanket with his palm on her belly. "I want you naked, surrounded by blossoms."

Matthew slid in beside her, his hand resting beneath her breast. The breeze blew across them, sending a few blossoms wafting down, landing on the exposed flesh of her chest. She moved her hand to brush them off, and Matthew clasped her hand in his, threading his long fingers slowly between hers.

"Let me." Then, lowering his head, he gently blew the blossoms off her gown. Jane couldn't smother the small cry that escaped her, nor could she hide the goose bumps that sprang up to cover her flesh. His hand tightened on hers, then his lips brushed over her skin in much the same way as his breath had. Her skin tingled, and an ache developed in her breasts.

"You taste so sweet," he breathed against her flesh. "Your skin is so soft, so warm."

Jane cried out when he unlocked his hand from hers, but her protests ceased when she felt his fingers beneath the edge of her bodice.

"It all went so wrong last night, Jane. So wrong," he murmured as he tugged the bodice lower and ran his tongue along the edge. "You thought I believed you insignificant, but the truth is, I find you fascinating. You think I suppose you're not pretty, but, Jane," he said, looking up, "I find you stunning. Your eyes…your imperfect mouth. It's beautiful, and I want to paint you how I see you, sensual and womanly, dying to break free of an ideal that imprisons you." His fingers unhooked the top buttons of her gown as he parted her bodice to reveal the swells of her breasts, " I know your body is not mine, that you will not give it wholly, but could you give me something of you, Jane?"

She closed her eyes and allowed him to bend his head to her breasts. He nudged the gown lower with his mouth, nipping her skin.

"Yes," she murmured. Tentatively, she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Yes, Matthew."

He exposed her, pulling her breasts free of her corset. The warm breeze kissed her nipples, hardening them, and she opened her eyes to see him tracing one areola, his circles becoming smaller and smaller until his fingertip caressed the very tip of her nipple. Reaching above her head, he picked up a handful of blossoms and dropped them onto her chest, then he lowered his head, and blew them so softly away from her.

"Matty," she whispered, catching his gaze. A tear slipped from her eye, trickling beneath the lens of her spectacles, before sliding down her cheek where he brushed it away with his lips. "What have you done to me?"

Question of the day: What is your sinful good weather indulgence? Comment for a chance to win Sinful!