Samhain Publishing

2009 EPPIE Finalist
Behind the mask lies love-a dangerous and deadly emotion

Constance Athelson, Viscountess Westbury has a gift she can’t reveal. She sees things others can’t, including the dead. The only thing she can’t see is into the heart of Lucien Blakemore, Earl of Lyndham. After one blissful night in his arms, she knows if she’s ever to win his heart, she must free him from his tortured past.

Lucien Blakemore met the Egyptian goddess Isis at a masked ball, but she vanished into the night before he could learn her real name. It’s just as well, since the Blakemore Curse makes love a dangerous and deadly emotion for him. But the erotic night he spent with his mysterious lover makes him want to throw caution aside-if only for one more night with his masked goddess.

EXCERPT
“Turn around and look at me, Isis.” The hoarse command pulled the air from her lungs as her body went rigid against his.

He knew.

He knew who she was.

Unable to move, she trembled as his hand cupped the side of her neck then slid downward across her shoulder. It was a lover’s caress. She didn’t resist as he forced her to turn and face him. With her back pressed against the door, she looked up into his blue eyes. Desire flared in his gaze as he trailed the tip of his finger across her cheek before tracing the edge of her jaw.

“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a beautiful widow in London?” There was just a hint of irritation in his voice as his penetrating gaze locked with hers. Her heart skipped a beat. He really had been looking for her. Her dreams had not lied about that. The knowledge filled her with a sense of delight. Instantly, she swatted the emotion aside. Why had he been looking for her? Wetting her dry lips, she shook her head.

“Since it’s not my habit to look for beautiful widows, I wouldn’t know.” She was pleased that her voice held just the right note of amusement so as to disguise her agitation.

“It’s damned difficult,” he bit out between clenched teeth. “But I find it interesting how you managed to find me so easily.”

“Find you so easily!” she sputtered. “I did no such thing, you arrogant beast.”

“No?” he sneered. “And I suppose you expect me to believe you don’t know Malcolm Standish either.”

Infuriated by his assumption that she found him so irresistible as to deliberately seek him out, she glared up at him. The blazing anger in his gaze made her try to push herself free from the way he had her pinned to the nursery room door. It was a futile effort.

“Frankly, my lord. I could care less what you believe,” she puffed angrily as her hands shoved at his unyielding chest. “I don’t know anyone named Standish, and I most certainly did not try to find you. I had no idea Lyndham Keep was yours. If I had, I wouldn’t—”

His eyes narrowed as she abruptly closed her mouth. “You wouldn’t what?”

“This conversation is ridiculous. I wish to return to my room to pack my belongings.” She flinched at the determination in his gaze. She’d said too much.

“Answer me.”

“I wouldn’t have come here,” she snapped.

“You wouldn’t have come here,” he murmured, almost as if he was speaking to himself.

She experienced a brief moment of relief as she realized he wasn’t curious about why she would have stayed away from Lyndham Keep. His hand cupped her chin while his thumb rubbed across her lower lip. The action sent a stream of lava coursing through her veins straight to her nether regions. Sweet heaven, it was happening all over again.

With just one touch he had stirred a fire inside her. His mouth beckoned to her, and she struggled not to lean into him like one of Pharaoh’s odalisques. Oh God, what was it about this man that made her respond to his touch so quickly?

“My lord, I—”

“Lucien. I want to hear you say my name again.” It was another command and she tried to stifle the thrill of it. She didn’t like anyone telling her what to do, but there was something about his dominating manner that excited her.

“Lucien, please. I must pack.”

“No, Isis. I want you to say it like you did before.” Desire darkened his blue eyes as his mouth hovered over hers. “I want to hear you cry out my name in the heat of passion.”

She shuddered as his hand curled around the back of her neck and pulled her head toward him. Powerless to resist, she molded herself to his hard, muscular body as her mouth parted beneath his. In that split second, fire engulfed every one of her senses. Passion flowed hot and heavy through her as she gave in to the need gripping her body.

Her tongue mated with his with a ferocity that stunned her, but she held nothing back as his large hand slid over her bare shoulders to trace the line of her bodice down to her breasts. God, how she wanted him to suckle her again. She craved him, hungered for him with the same intensity she’d experienced that night at the Clarendon.

The desire to feel his skin against hers spiraled through her, and her fingers quickly undid the buttons of his shirt. She splayed the material open so she could caress the warm steel of his chest. Touching him wasn’t enough. She wanted to taste him too. She broke away from their kiss, her mouth edging its way along the line of his jaw, then down his throat to where his heart pounded against his breastbone. Breathing in his delicious spicy scent, her tongue flicked out to taste him. He was hot and tangy.

Dear Lord, she wanted him more now than she had that night. What power did he wield over her to make her so willing to forget everything but the sensation of his touch?
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CRITICAL ACCLAIM
4.5 Stars “Jane Eyre meets The Mummy…[her] characters are so multidimensional that readers will swear they’re based on real people.” Romantic Times BOOKreviews

I find Dangerous is a pretty good read…” Mrs. Giggles.com

“…a powerful, sensually driven historical paranormal that is a testament to Ms. Burns’ gift of keeping her readers spell-bound. Highly Recommended Reading!”
ParaNormal Romance.org

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