~Sweet Saturday Sample~ The 11th Commandment

Sweet Saturday Samples are back and here I am with my offering! 

First, an intro. The 11th Commandment is a serial Regency romance I'm currently writing for InD'Tale Magazine. Here's the short blurb for the story as a whole: 

Lady Katherine never learned the fine art of hiding one's indiscretions. Thus her one mistake became Society's biggest scandal. Can she overcome the shame and learn to love again?

The following excerpt is from Part 7, the installment set to appear in the February 2013 issue. Enjoy! ♥

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Part VII: The Escape

She had to escape. Her very sanity depended on her swift removal from the premises. If she stayed, she knew—KNEW—she would do the unthinkable. She would seek him out, welcome him into her arms and her bed.

Again.

Katherine stifled a scream, her hands fisted at her sides. How could this be happening again? She'd returned to England to bury her husband, not take back the lover she'd taken years ago, the lover who'd ruined what little remained of her marriage.

Angry, frustrated steps took her first one direction, then the other, pacing a line in the soft carpet covering her chamber floor. She'd yet to disrobe, her assertion that she had to leave sending her immediately into nervous pacing. Three handkerchiefs lay in melancholy shreds on the floor, littered at her feet as she moved.

Her mind focused on one thing and one thing alone: Simon would ruin her again.

And she would enjoy every second of it!

Therein lay the problem. She would cheerfully go to her own ruin. She knew herself better than she used to and that meant knowing her own weaknesses. And if she knew Simon at all, he would be making his way to her room—

The knock barely sounded before she spoke, “Go away, Simon.”

Silence lay so thick Katherine wondered if she'd imagined the thunk on the door. Then, “I promise I won't touch you,” rumbled through the thick wood.

“It is not proper,” she insisted, holding her breath, a traitorous part of her urging her to let him in.

“You are a widow, Katherine. To hell with propriety.” She'd annoyed him, his rough words grating to her ears. She said nothing for a long moment. Just as she opened her mouth to tell him to take his gutter language straight to the very place he mentioned, he added softly, “Forgive me.”

Something in his tone struck Katherine. She touched the door, the smooth wood cool against her palm. Did he simply apologize for his language? Or more?

The middle of the night, in the middle of her late husband's home, the soon-to-be home of the new duke, was not the time for Katherine to have such a conversation with her former lover. If she was intelligent, she'd walk away, pretend she'd never heard his whispered plea.

If she was intelligent and not the woman who'd once tasted heaven in this man's arms. Latent desire curled its way through her limbs, a weakness in her knees tempting her to lean against the door, grasp the latch, and allow him entrance. But thoughts of her daughter and the example she must set for her firmed her determination to resist the temptation of Simon's embrace.

Straightening, Katherine took a deep breath and decided. She walked away.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my little excerpt! If you want to read the rest, click on over to InD'Tale's website and subscribe to the magazine. Each issue is delivered right to your inbox. Subscribers also have access to past issues, where six previous installments of this story can be found. The best part? Subscriptions are FREE!

And don't forget to check out the other Sweet Saturday Samples offered by other lovely authors. 

♥Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!♥

There's a jukebox in my head. It's currently playing

♫♪ Hayley Westenra ~ Dark Waltz