April Fooling Around

Hi I’m Rue Allyn.  Here’s what my website bio says about me.  “Author of erotic romance, Rue Allyn holds an advanced degree in Middle English Literature.  She was introduced to erotic stories during her studies of Chaucer and his contemporaries and has been a devotee of popular erotica ever since.  She is happily married to her sweetheart of many, many years.  She and her husband share the home of two cats, who condescend to allow Rue to feed them and clean their litter box.  They occasionally permit her to pet them but demand her love and attention as their right.  She is in awe of their feline ability to dominate with half a glance or a mere twitch of tail.  Insatiably curious, an avid reader and traveler Rue loves to hear from readers about your favorite books and real life adventures.”  As you can tell from my dominant cats and the insanity of graduate studies I’m a bit of a masochist.  However, as an author, I’m definitely the one in charge, and I get a real thrill out of making life as difficult as possible for my characters.  This is as true in my June Release, The Widow’s Revenge, as it is in my current releases, The Catnapped Lover and Devil May Clare both written as Sue Charnley.  You can visit my websites http://RueAllyn.com and http://www.SusanCharnley.com for longer excerpts from all of my books.  Below is a short sample from The Catnapped Lover, the first of my April Fools for Love Duet.  BTW, if any of you saw my Susan Charnley blog over at TRS yesterday, you already know I love April Fool’s Day.  Leave a comment and tell me how you celebrate the day.  Include an e-mail address where I can reach you and I’ll get in touch with you about where to send an SASEfor swag.  Sorry, US postal addresses only please.

Set up—Our hero, wealthy, powerful Adam Talcott, who’s never done a days’ physical labor in his life has just spent the night at a farm where he’s taken work as a hired hand.  Our heroine, his employer’s niece, has just come to wake him up for his first full day of work. 

   Rue entered the dim room where Talcott slept. His first day at work and already he was late. She could almost sympathize, because it wasn’t his fault. Few people realized just how early 5:00 A.M. was. Still, she wasn’t cutting Mr. Adam Talcott any slack.

   She peered through the stingy light cast from the open door and found the foot of the bed. She grabbed on and started shaking the frame.

   Adam came awake with a shout. At the end of his bed a female shadow chuckled. Rue Clancy. He flopped back onto the mattress. “Exactly what do you think is so funny?”

   “You. Do you always wake up shouting?”

   “Only when someone creates an imitation of the San Francisco earthquake with my bed.”

   “I needed to wake you up.”

   He kept his voice low. “I can think of more pleasant ways to do that.” He wondered if she was blushing and pulled the string on the light bulb hanging by the bed. Adam felt heat flood his face. The inadequate light cast conflicting shadows over Rue’s face while it spotlighted the very obvious tent in the sheet. Appalled, his gaze froze on that distinct elevation. He heard a choking sound, followed by footsteps.

   So she thought he was funny, did she. He’d show her. No woman poked fun at a man’s most valuable piece of anatomy and got away with it unscathed. Determined to prove that his manhood was no laughing matter, Adam rose from the bed. He grabbed a towel that he wrapped around his waist. With slow deliberation he walked from his room to confront his nemesis.

   Rue sat on the steps just outside his door. Her hands covered her mouth, forcing gasps back into her throat.

   Adam approached, bringing his terry covered anatomy within inches of her face and waited for his presence to sink in. Soon the noises subsided to soft hiccups.

   “Rue.”

   She opened her eyes and turned her head toward him.

   Adam followed her gaze.

   The towel gaped.

   In the instant before he could cover himself, she got an eye level view of his rampant, early morning maleness.   

   She goggled and tried to back away. Losing her balance, she fell off the steps.

   “May I help you up, Ms. Clancy?”

   She scrambled to her feet. “No, no thank you, Mr. Talcott.” Her shoulders hunched, and she thrust her hands into her pockets.

   Good! Now she’s as embarrassed as I was. So why do I want to apologize? Why does it hurt to see her humbled? After all, she’s the one who laughed at me.

Here are purchase links for both of these books. The Catnapped Lover, Amazon, Devil May Clare, Amazon.

You can read longer excerpts at The Catnapped Lover and Devil May Clare