At the Heart of the Stone: What Dreams May Come
Hello, I’m Roxanne D. Howard, and I write erotic
contemporary and paranormal romance novels. Today I’d like to share with you an exclusive. piping hot excerpt from my first romance novel with Loose Id, At
the Heart of the Stone. Before I do, I'd like to talk about how locations can inspire writing. The novel has three major different settings;
London, the dreamscape of Lark’s nightly fantasies, and her family’s ranch
house in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Though the novel is purely fictional and not
based on any person or circumstances, the settings were inspired by my
real-life travels. My husband and I lived in England for three years before
moving back to the states. He is originally from Kent, and I had the
opportunity to see some of the back trails and more hidden, beautiful niches of
the villages there, which served as a great inspiration for the more sensual
dreamscape moments in the novel.
In the opening of the book, Lark lives with her fiancé,
Charles, and works in a corporate high-rise in Central London. Their swanky flat is close to the Houses of Parliament, and she commutes past it each
day on the way to work.
Lark’s vivid, erotic dreams involve lush settings and a
thorough, mysterious Irish lover who knows what she wants and needs. This
picture is one I took ten years ago of an English village in Kent called Loose.
The whole village literally looks like a Thomas Kincade painting with
tumbledown cottages and thatched roofs, and is one of the most beautiful
villages I’ve ever visited. This photo of the local creek served as inspiration
for the setting of one of the love scenes from Lark’s dreams.
Lark’s family’s ranch house is in Forest Grove, Oregon,
nicely nestled among the conifers and pines. She grew up around horses, and
after a whirlwind successful career in London, she is suddenly called back to
return to the life she knew of Appaloosa horses, mountain trails, and a much
slower pace than city life. It is here that she first encounters her dream
lover, Niall O’Hagan, in the flesh, and her life is never the same again
What are some of your favorite places to visit that have
inspired your creative side?
Enjoy this book trailer for At the Heart of the Stone, and a hot as hell excerpt below. Check out At the Heart of the Stone today!
Description:
Dreams are the perfect shelter for our fantasies, safe havens to step
inside without changing our daily lives. For Lark Braithwaite, all that
is about to change. During the last six months, Lark has dreamt of a
mysterious Irish lover who knows what she wants and gives her exactly
what she needs. In her waking life in busy London, things aren’t as
ideal, as her long-term relationship with Charles, her controlling
fiancé, has hit a dry spell.
When Lark is called home to Oregon for her father’s funeral right in the middle of a high-stakes corporate merger, she heads back to face the demons from her past. What she doesn’t expect is to meet her dream lover in the flesh. Niall O’Hagan steps straight out of her fantasies and right into her life, and the powerful connection they share rocks her foundation. Although she's dealing with the bitterness of being betrayed by Charles and his jealousy, Niall soon stirs Lark’s awareness of the superficiality of her existence and reawakens not only her sexuality, but her soul.
When Lark is called home to Oregon for her father’s funeral right in the middle of a high-stakes corporate merger, she heads back to face the demons from her past. What she doesn’t expect is to meet her dream lover in the flesh. Niall O’Hagan steps straight out of her fantasies and right into her life, and the powerful connection they share rocks her foundation. Although she's dealing with the bitterness of being betrayed by Charles and his jealousy, Niall soon stirs Lark’s awareness of the superficiality of her existence and reawakens not only her sexuality, but her soul.
Excerpt (NSFW):
The abyss of sleep eventually overtook her, and she welcomed
it, praying for escape…
* * * *
“Relax,” he said, his lips skimming the shell of her ear.
Needing this, she closed her eyes, trying to do as he bade.
She had no idea where they were; it was different each time. This time, they
were in a bright and airy white bedroom somewhere. She wore a sexy light
sundress and sat at the edge of a soft bed. He slid his large, strong hands
over her tense shoulders from behind and began to massage them. The stress
practically lifted away as she melted into his touch.
She couldn’t recall the last time anyone had given her a
massage. His hands were exquisite. He lifted her hair and twisted it over her
shoulder, then worked his thumbs and fingers to draw out the tense knots of her
upper back.
“That feels wonderful,” she whispered, leaning her head back
as he pressed his lips against the side of her neck.
“You’re wonderful,” he murmured against her skin. “I need
you, Lark.”
She sighed as he kissed a sensitive spot below her ear. His
lips were full and warm as they moved down over her collarbone. He stopped
massaging her altogether. He trailed his fingers along her shoulders, smoothing
them over her skin as he stroked the taut muscles above her breasts.
Deep down, she knew she was dreaming again, that this wasn’t
real, but it was heaven to be touched and attended to after so long.
“I wish I could stay here, with you. You make me feel so
good.” She gasped as his hands slid down to cup and knead her sensitive
breasts. She turned her head to the side and met the sweet warmth of his mouth.
His tongue demanded entrance, and she met him eagerly, moving in tandem with
the rhythm of his hands, caught up in the slow, steady rush flowing through
her. She had the faint sense of awakening the more they kissed, and she pulled
back. “Wait. This is… We shouldn’t be doing this.” The last thing she wanted
was for him to stop.
“Don’t think about it.”
His Irish brogue trickled over the consonants like a gentle
stream. He closed his mouth over her earlobe and began sucking on it, hard. A
surge of hot energy shot through her straight to her core, which pulsed with
demand.
“Just relax. You deserve this. You deserve to be loved.”
She gave herself over to him, letting the guilt wash away
with the flow of his words. He continued using his lips, this time assaulting
her neck, until finally his long, strong fingers turned her chin toward him. He
captured her mouth again, pulling her back on the bed with him. Her heart
pounded as he shifted position, and his arm encircled her midriff, laying her
down beside him. He wore only black silk pants, his body well-built and
coltish, and the coarse hair on his broad chest grazed her nipples as he loomed
over her.
She slid her hands beneath the waistband of his pants and
grasped his hard cock. He growled and paused to yank them down. His cock fully
free now, he pressed into her, his stiff heat against her thigh. She opened her
legs, cradling him with her hips.
His warm mouth enticed hers to yield to him, and soon they
were exchanging long, drawn-out kisses. Lark closed her eyes, his kisses
drugging her. He slid his hand beneath her back and ran his hand along her ass,
while his other hand combed through her hair. Lark squirmed beneath him,
bucking up, hoping he’d take the hint. She wanted to open her eyes, to see this
man who had invaded her dreams, but his kisses became more ardent, more
persuasive, and she felt like she was drowning. His tongue stroked hers, and
she moaned at the taste of chocolate and oranges. While some part of her
comprehended she was dreaming and she had another man, a real man in her waking life, this dream-lover’s kisses sent her
over the edge into a delicious inferno.
He reached between them, holding his cock as he ran the tip
slowly up her wet pussy. He pressed the tip inside, and she welcomed the weight
of him, rubbing against him and arching up, unable to get him to come into her.
She gasped as he continued to drug her lips with ardent kisses.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him into her
aching need with a fever she’d never shown any man. He groaned and sank inside
her.
“Lark.”
Startled, she opened her eyes. His face was close to hers,
and for the first time, she could make out how strikingly handsome he was, as
if he were a real flesh-and-blood person. He had a full head of thick, dark
curls, hawk-like green eyes framed by thick brows, dark olive skin that gave
him an exotic air, a straight nose and full lips, and a look on his face that
told her he was about to devour her.
He thrust deep, groaning as they became one. Lark held on to
him as he began to pound into her. He drove so hard into her that her breasts
bounced.
Trembling, she reached up and, with a shaky hand, touched
his strong, smooth jawline.
“Y-you’re real!”
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