As I mention on the website, my most recent release, Deception, isn't what you might expect going into a medieval romance. It's more suspense-y and thriller-y (I hope!)
It's less about knights and chases across the countryside, and more about cons. And dirty money. And the powerful men who want it, and the lengths they'll go to get it.
And of course, the person who will risk everything to stop them.
I thought you might enjoy a little excerpt!
Set-Up
The hero, Kier, has returned to his lodgings after a meeting that set his plans of revenge in motion, a sword fight with a brigand who stole an important piece of documentation, and an unexpected, heart-stopping encounter with Sophia, the woman he once loved, then abandoned, many years ago. She was not happy to see him.
Suffice it to say, he's had a bad day.
He's back in his rooms, about to undress and fall into bed, when he realizes Sophia is here, in the shadows of his bedroom.
She's got a blade in her hand and the devil in her eye, and she wants something Kier has no intention of giving: into his schemes.
Excerpt (c)
"...let us be clear, Kier," she
added in a low voice. "You did not find the ledger. I did."
He leaned back and interlaced his
fingers, considering her. "Now that is indeed a thing of note,
Sophia. You went directly to the
coffer where [your father's old] ledger was housed. The question is: how?
She
leaned forward, the yellow silk pressing atop the dark wood [of the
table.] "How badly do you
want to know?"
He shifted his gaze away, to the dark
night outside the window. Still,
from the corner of his eye, she glowed at him, yellow silk and burnished
hair.
"Are
you offering me something Sophia?" he asked in a slow drawl, but his body
was hardening, readying. For a
battle, for trickery, for passion, it hardly mattered; Sophia was all those
things. He was readying for her.
"I
am offering to help, Kieran," she replied, rounding his name as no one
else in England did, as no one had for years--Ciarán--and in it he heard wild,
sea-sprayed lands he'd not seen for half his life. He pushed it away with an
almost physical shove.
"No." He shook his
head. "Sophia, even if you
once had some useful knowledge about the [Darnly] ledger, you no longer
do."
"And
thus, I am of no use to you," she said, her voice cold and brittle.
"None at all," he agreed,
ignoring the way he had to force his mouth to form the words. It was like chewing sap.
They stared at each other down the
length of the table.
"That is unfortunate, Kier, for I
am not leaving." She made an
impatient gesture. The blade tip swiped through the air. He watched its
wild arc. She was getting
careless. Reckless. Angry.
"Perhaps you should set down the
blade, Sophia."
She narrowed her eyes. "No."
He pushed to his feet. She scrambled up too, so quickly she
sent the bench skidding backward. He started down the length of the table toward her. She skirted around the far end.
"We are finished here,
Sophia," he announced, coming after her.
"But Kier, you have not
considered--"
"I have considered
everything." She slid up the
length of the other side of the table, staying exactly opposite him. "You do not have the ledger. You have no money, no useful
information, and furthermore, you have been seen."
"As have you."
He stopped short. "Pardon?"
"I have seen you."
He blinked at the veiled...threat? Was she threatening him?
He flushed cheeks reflected candlelight
but her fierce eyes did not waver.
"I have seen you,
Kier," she repeated softly.
"How much do you think such knowledge would be worth to the men who
you betrayed? To the king?"
“You
would not,” he said slowly.
She
nodded, just as slowly. “I most
certainly would.”
They
stared across the table at each other.
He waited. And waited. Waited until her arm wavered, lowered
the slightest inch. Then he leapt
atop the table, grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked the blade, with her arm
attached, halfway across the table to him.
She
lay there, chest across the polished tabletop, hair scattered in sprays of dark
fire, their mouth inches apart.
“Ever
were you my sinking ship, Sophia,” he growled.
Her
green eyes were fierce and bright.
“And ever were you the rocks upon which we crashed.”
A
knock hammered at the door..........
Hope you enjoyed!
Want to see who was at the door? You can buy the book via your favorite bookstore's website--see Buy links:
http://kriskennedy.net/deception
Or link directly to seller sites here!
Ebook:
