Snippet Sunday: CAIT AND THE DEVIL

I picked Cait and the Devil this week for two reasons. First of all, I released my new historical spanking novel Disciplining the Duchess, so I’ve had Cait and the Devil and Lily Mine on the brain since they’re also historical novels. Second, I received three separate notes this week from readers who’d recently finished Cait and the Devil and had the sweetest things to say about it.

It’s funny, but when I was writing it, I was aware that I was coloring WAY outside the lines of erotic romance, and certainly outside the lines of historical romance, but at the time I didn’t have any readers so I thought, what will it matter? It’s fun, it’s silly, it’s horny and it contains just about everything that turns me on. Back then I wrote without considering my audience, or reviews, or reader reactions or any of those things, and I guess that’s why I’ll always love good old Cait and her Devil. It’s just…over the top. 🙂

One cool thing about Cait and the Devil is that it starts with a “sight-unseen” wedding. This was a long-time erotic fantasy of mine–the bedraggled lady turning up on the doorstep of a man who is handsome and commanding but does not want to marry her. Within hours they have to marry anyway, usually at the edict of a king or due to some non-negotiable circumstance. (It’s a very medieval trope.) Of course, over time they fall in love, but there’s something about starting a marriage when the various parties are either irritated or scared to death. This scene takes place during the hurried preparations for the impromptu wedding, as Duncan (the Devil) chats with his man Connor.

     Connor nudged Duncan as Henna led his bride into the hall. By God, he recognized the dress at once, but the girl wearing it, that was something else altogether. Gone was the dust covered urchin of the courtyard, replaced by an astonishingly beautiful woman.

     And she was a woman, not a child at all. Lenore’s dress revealed that, even swimming in it as she was. Lenore had been taller so the material pooled at Cait’s feet, but the bust and hips of the dress were filled out by delicious curves.

     But no, it wouldn’t do for her to wear this dress. Not tonight. Lenore was in his memory enough as it was. He shot a reproachful look at Henna, beckoning her to his side.

     “It was the only dress that was suitable,” she insisted.

     “It is not suitable. It belonged to my dead wife.”

     “The dress does not matter,” Henna argued under her breath. “What matters is the woman inside it.”

     “The dress does matter!”

     “Why?” asked Henna.

     Because I hated her. Because she made me miserable. Because she died. “Because I say so. She cannot wear Lenore’s dress for this ceremony. Find her another. I don’t care if it’s yours, or the laundress’s, or the cook’s, as long as it’s not Lenore’s.”

     “She needs a fine dress for the wedding!”

     “Henna, you know I love you well but do not test me on this. Find her another. I order it. Now.” He looked over at the girl. Caitlyn. Cait. She watched them arguing with an anxious look on her face. As if she had not been through enough, he thought. Now he would make her be married in a washerwoman’s dress.

     Henna led her from the hall and Cait let herself be dragged along without complaint. He could see she was tired, absolutely exhausted. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. His friend Connor chuckled.

     “Duncan, it’s not the end of the world, man. She’s half a comely thing anyway, isn’t she though? If you’ve got to take a wife, it’s nice to have a pretty one to look at.”

     “Lenore was a pretty wife,” Duncan replied.

     “Ah, well,” Connor sighed.

If you’ve read Cait and the Devil, you know his issues with his late wife Lenore color a lot of his initial interactions with Cait and lead to some pretty fucked up sex scenes (and misunderstandings). It’s definitely an interesting journey these two take. If you’re up for some early, early Annabel Joseph, check it out! Click the book cover below to read a blurb and find buy links.

And don’t forget that Disciplining the Duchess came out last Thursday! Different era, same hotness factor. Buy it, love it, tell all your friends about it. Historical perversity rules.