First Kiss Friday with It Began With A Kiss
Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to my First Kiss Friday blog. I’m featuring my soon to be released novel It Began With A Kiss: The MacLarens, Book Four. I just know you’re going to love Aiden and Iona’s journey to finding love. Happy reading and enjoy!
Excerpt:
She turned her face upward and gave him an enchanting smile and his own face brightened that she did not protest being brought close to his side. They began to walk the battlements until they reached the part of the wall facing most of the moon lit ocean. He nodded his head toward the guards who were nearby. They took the hint and disappeared further along the walkway, leaving him and Iona in privacy.
He took Iona’s hand and brought it to his lips. “I am glad you wished to join me here this eve, Iona,” Aiden stated honestly and with an open heart. “You give me hope for a future together.”
She turned her face upward again to stare at him with those wonderous blue eyes. A man could get lost in such a look. “I am still uncertain if this will work out between us, Aiden,” she whispered.
“Do you fear me?” he asked hoping that this was not the cause of her apprehension.
“Nay, I do not, nor do I fear any man,” she replied, jutting out her chin, “even when ye tied me tae that chair.”
“’Twas a necessity, I assure you, and now highly regretted on my part. Can you forgive me?” Her bravery was to be applauded and was most likely the reason he was drawn to her. A woman who could stand up to him and share her thoughts was appealing to Aiden. He would never be able to stand a wife who cowered down to him for the rest of their lives.
“Mayhap… I suppose this is why I am here, is it not? Tae show a common accord for our people but also tae listen…” Her words faded away and she stared out into the distant horizon shining in the moonlight. Aiden could only wonder where her thoughts had wandered to.
“Listen to what, Iona?’ he finally asked. He took his hand to her chin, so she had no option but to stare back at him.
She gave a heavy sigh. “Sometimes ye need tae listen when yer heart begins tae sing elsewise ye deny a part of yerself.”
Aiden smiled as she confessed her inner most thoughts. “Your heart sings… a lovely analogy, Iona, as my heart is also singing just for you, if you care to listen hard enough.”
“Ye are not jesting with me?”
He ran his finger down her cheek. “Nay! Never.”
Her own smile crept across her face, and she placed her hand over his heart. “’Tis a bit of a predicament I am entering if I give my heart tae ye, my laird. If I trust ye with its keeping, will ye be crushing my spirits at some later point in time?”
“’Twould never be my intention to hurt you, Iona.”
“Then perchance all will work out between us,” she whispered, taking a step closer.
His arm wound itself around her waist bringing them just a breath away from being chest to chest. That she did not make any attempt to disentangle herself was another good sign, Aiden thought. He would take a leap of faith and, as he leaned forward, his lips were but inches from her own. He waited, holding his breath until Iona took that final step forward. She wound her arm around his neck and gently pushed the back of his head allowing their lips to meet in a gentle first kiss.
’Twas brief and Aiden rested his forehead upon Iona’s whilst his heart raced at this first intimate meeting between them. He wanted more but did not wish to rush her. Afraid she might bolt if given the opportunity, or come to regret their kiss, Aiden again waited to see if she, too, wished for their kiss to continue.
Iona’s breathing was as labored as his own and mayhap this was his answer. Her fingers playfully lingered in the edges of his hair until one hand came down over his shoulder to his chest to rest once more over his heart. Blue eyes met violet and, with a smile of encouragement from the lady, Aiden once more dipped his head down to kiss those waiting lips. There was nothing gentle about this encounter when Iona all but molded herself into his body. Aiden pulled the woman as close as he could whilst their kiss continued. His tongue swept over the crease of her lips and when she opened her mouth to him ’twas as though a winter rose blossomed in the spring air. A low moan escaped her, and Aiden knew she was as affected by their kiss as he was. ’Twas as though he all but claimed her… nay… they claimed each other, if he read all of Iona’s reactions correctly. His heart soared at the thought she might one day be his completely.
It Began With A Kiss: The MacLarens (Book Four)By Sherry Ewing
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Available for preorder
Sometimes you need to listen when you heart begins to sing…
In the gripping historical romance, It Began with a Kiss, author Sherry Ewing weaves a tale of passion, duty, and trust in a world torn apart by clashing loyalties.
Aiden of Clan MacLaren, a warrior seeking purpose, finds himself in the service of King Henry II. Tasked with a mission that will shape his destiny, he never expects to cross paths with Lady Iona Ferguson, a woman burdened by her duties as the wife of a powerful clan chieftain. A chieftain who died when Aiden takes over her husband’s castle.
When tragedy strikes and Iona’s castle falls into enemy hands, she must flee to the village with her young son. However, in the chaos of the turmoil, something unexpected stirs within her—a forbidden attraction to Aiden, a man torn between his loyalty to his English and Scottish heritage and his growing affection for Iona.
As Aiden takes charge of Iona’s home and seeks justice for her late husband, their lives become intertwined in ways neither could have predicted. Battling their inner demons and the opposing forces that threaten to tear them apart, they embark on a treacherous journey that forces them to question their loyalties and the true nature of their feelings.
Will their love conquer the boundaries of clan, country, and duty? Or will their differences tear them apart forever? Find out in this spellbinding tale of two souls colliding against the backdrop of war and romance. It Began with a Kiss is a mesmerizing enemies-to-lovers story that will leave readers breathless and yearning for more.
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