Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Sample!  All excerpts here are rated PG-13 or milder. Here’s another post from my new WIP, my medieval trilogy Time Enough To Love.  Part 1 is called Betrothal.  The series is set in England and France in 1348.  Betrothal takes place at the court of King Edward III.

Lady Alyse de Courcy is a waiting gentlewoman to Princess Joanna, youngest daughter of King Edward.  After receiving the news that the new courtier, Sir Geoffrey Longford, is her betrothed, a dazed Alyse manages to finally speak.   She acquits herself well, but just as she thinks her ordeal before the court is over, Geoffrey turns the tables and escorts her around the Great Hall. During their procession, Alyse sets him a feat to win her regard.  But when they finally arrive back at Alyse’s table, she finds they are not alone:  Lord Brayton, who had caught Alyse’s fancy, skirts courtly wordplay with a serious flirtation, leaving Alyse wondering how her betrothed will answer. (Disclaimer:  This work is not yet edited, so please forgive any flaws.)

“Thomas!” The censure in Geoffrey’s voice was aimed squarely at his friend, not his bride-to-be and Alyse could breathe again. “Would you seduce my lady before my very face?” The disapproval was mocking, but she detected a subtle undertone of truth to it.

“Only if it could not be accomplished behind your back, Geoffrey!” Thomas laughed, moving his words into the realm of fashionable wordplay.

Geoffrey continued in this vein with his friend, though Alyse prayed he would take her back to her place before she collapsed. Her mind fixed on thoughts of respite, she started when Lord Brayton rose, plucked her hand from its place atop Geoffrey’s and raised it to his lips.  “Fair lady, I wish you great joy in your coming marriage. May Sir Geoffrey prove himself worthy of so lovely a maid.”

Her breath caught in anticipation of the fire of his lips, but her eagerness changed to bewilderment when Lord Brayton’s kiss did not arouse her in the least. Disappointed and puzzled,Alyse was not paying attention as he returned her hand to Geoffrey’s arm. The unexpected shock as her bare skin met his made her gasp anew at the fiery sensation sent coursing throughout her.

She jerked her head up to stare at Geoffrey, amazed he did not feel it too. But he perhaps did. A slight widening of his eyes and the deepening of their color to darkest sapphire revealed that something had stirred him as well. The look she had seen twice before, the something unknown to her, was back and with a shock she finally recognized it for what it was: desire.

I hope you enjoyed this latest sample from  Time Enough to Love.  Stop by SSS tomorrow for six sentences from Only Scandal Will Do.  And today be sure to click here to visit more Sweet Samples.