First Kiss Friday with C.H. Admirand
Welcome to another week on my First Kiss Friday blog. It’s always a pleasure when I can highlight the work of my friend C.H. Admirand. Today, she has an excerpt from Liberating the Lady of Loughmoe . We hope you enjoy this first kiss scene. Happy reading and enjoy, my lovelies!
Excerpt:
With a nod, Garrick took hold of Jillian’s small hand. Dunstan strode forward and cleared his throat to speak.
“My brother brings to this marriage, Merewood Keep and the lands immediately surrounding it as far north as the stream, west to the edge of the third fallow field, thence east to the edge of the forest, and south to the rock wall.”
When he paused, Jillian looked nervously about. Garrick could sense her unease. He brushed a wavy lock off her brow and smiled down at her. Jillian’s response warmed him tenfold. Her smile was so brilliant he missed half of what his brother continued to list.
“…eighty knights, fifty men-at-arms. Three mares, one stallion, three cows, one bull…”
He lost his train of thought again as his lady tightened her grip on his hand. Whatever else Dunstan had said went right over his head. He glanced over his shoulder to where the cleric’s hand practically flew across the piece of parchment in his haste to record what little he had to offer.
MacInness stepped forward and cleared his throat. “The lass, my Lady Jillian, brings her beauty, strength, spirit, and seeds of the next generation to grace this mon’s home. May he come to ken the true gift he is gettin’ this day.”
His voice seemed to catch before he could continue. “With it a bolt of finely woven blue cloth, a set of twelve carved wooden trenchers, three ewes, and one ram.” Throughout his recitation, his eyes never left Owen’s face.
Jillian’s gasp of surprise was audible. She looked first to Winslow, who was smiling broadly, then to Garrick, whose gaze was fixed on his vassal with a look that silently questioned. But MacInness had turned to stare at Owen, who looked as if he had swallowed salted fish that had not been properly soaked to remove all of the preservative.
She started to speak, but Garrick silenced her with the pressure of his hand, as if not quite understanding how or why it happened, she had come to the marriage with a dowry. Her expression brightened and her eyes filled up. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at MacInness.
But MacInness was not finished.
“I canna tell ye exactly, but when the king reinstates Loughmoe Keep to its rightful inheritor, Lady Jillian will be bringin’ with her that fertile holding and all lands there and aboot it.” His hand to his heart, he spoke reverently. “Lastly, I give my word of honor to protect the lass with my life.”
Turning to look behind him, he nodded to his men who, one after another, repeated their pledge to honor and protect the new lady of the keep.
Bewildered, Lady Jillian dared a furtive glance at her former guardians who stood red-faced, but silent. Garrick wondered if her reaction was due to the pronouncement that Winslow and his Irish Contingent were pledged to Merewood Keep, or was it the part about her family home?
He was nudged. With the exchange of lands and goods having been duly recorded, it was time for him to pledge himself to Jillian.
“I vow to protect that which is mine from this day until I breathe my last, and so say it before these witnesses in the eyes of God.” His gaze held hers while he silently asked, Can you love me, lass?
Jillian’s lips slightly parted, her gaze transfixed on his face. Was she thinking of the repercussions just now? Did she realize what he was offering her? Then she blinked, twice.
“I, too, vow to protect that which is mine.” She smiled at him, sealing her promise. “I willingly agree to bring forth any babes the Lord blesses us with and to love them with all my heart.” He searched her eyes. Deep in her soul, her silent plea surfaced: Please, let me love you.
Garrick breathed a sigh of relief, “’Tis done.” He touched the tip of his forefinger to her chin lifting her sweet lips. He touched them gently at first.
She was here. She was real.
The kiss became more demanding as his passion flared high, burning brightly. His bride melted against him, her curves filling the hollows of his body.
Breaking away before his will left him completely, Garrick smiled down at Jillian. Her eyes were glazed over, and she seemed incapable of speech. It was a boost to his male pride that his kisses had such an effect on her. Aye, she’d warm his bed and bear his children. His seed would take hold this night, that he vowed. Mayhap she is the one.
“Lord Owen,” a voice shouted above the cheers of the guests.
“Aye,” he answered.
His manservant rushed over to him, explaining, “A messenger has arrived from the king.”
The room fell silent. Expectancy filled Garrick’s chest. That the king would reinstate Jillian’s land on this day was great luck. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be more than willing in his bed once he held Loughmoe within his grasp.
He turned, his lips broadening into a smile and saw Owen’s pale face flush crimson. The man visibly struggled for composure; his anger was a living, breathing omen.
“The king did what?” Owen thundered. “’Tis not possible, I specifically requested that I be named—” Owen stopped, whipping around to meet Garrick’s gaze, “I must speak with you privately.”
He placed a swift kiss to his bride’s brow and said, “Follow me.”
The silence that followed the men out of the hall was broken by muffled crashes of wood splintering. “Nay, Merewood, you do not understand!” Another crash, this time it sounded like metal smashing against stone. “I have no control over our king’s mind.”
MacInness and his men ran to avert further destruction, pushing the heavy door wide open.
Garrick had one hand wrapped around Owen’s throat, pinning him to the wall. “You said ’twould be mine. I say you lied.”
“I never actually said that it would be.”
His fingers tightened, “I should kill you for that.”
Garrick’s plans for a well-mapped future evaporated. A shaft of pain lanced straight through the middle of him. He had been joined in wedlock to a woman who could bring him nothing—his people would starve!
She knew. Jillian must have known of the king’s decision. ’Twould explain her eagerness to wed him. It had nothing to do with regaining her home. She knew it was not possible. God’s blood, had she used him as her escape from an intolerable life of servitude? His head began to pound; there would be no coin, no livestock, no land. His heart whispered to him that he had not been betrayed, it whispered of love, passion, and healing.
His vision blurred until he saw only deception. Denying the voice, he squeezed harder. His fingers ached with the effort. A sudden sharp pain at the back of his skull released his grip on the neck he sought to break.
The haze cleared. “Dear God, will I ever be forgiven?” Garrick was surprised to find himself surrounded with his arms restrained behind his back.
“Forgiven for what?” MacInness asked, giving a nod signaling his men to release Garrick.
His head throbbed like it had been cleaved in twain, while his heart ached for all that it had hoped to possess. The promised love lying just within reach, dangling in front of his face, had been snatched away. God forgive him, he had no choice but to honor his first vow, for the good of his family and his people.
He had to set aside his bride.
Bone deep sorrow was followed by intense pain as the emotions crashed through to his breastbone. He had no choice. Denying his thoughts, refusing to acknowledge the unfamiliar feeling that grew insidiously there, he steeled himself to speak.
“King William has just granted Loughmoe Keep to Henri du Guerre.”
Not waiting for the news to take hold, he went in search of his bride. Jillian stood waiting beside his mother, the wringing of his bride’s hands her only outward sign of emotion.
Bile rushed up his throat as Garrick faced her. Never before had he broken his word. His honor was all to him. That he had to do so now nearly drove the breath from his chest and life from his heart. But his vow to love and honor her came second only to the vow he had pledged three years past; when his own life’s blood mingled with that of those that had fallen protecting his keep.
Clenching his jaw, he bitterly blamed the woman standing before him for her part in his betrayal. He swallowed the bitter taste of it and lashed out at her, “You knew of the king’s decision to award your land to du Guerre. I never would have had the chance to fight for that which was already lost. Would I? You lured me to Sedgeworth with the promise of aiding my brother. That’s when you sank your hooks in deep, speaking of legacies lost, a story so like my own that I could not refuse.”
Her eyes grew round with what, fear? He steeled himself not to care. Unmercifully he continued, “You deceived me and you cared not that you secured my help with false promises. Deny if you are able that you knew nothing of this,” he challenged.
He waited for Jillian to answer the charges he angrily hurled at her, knowing in his heart, he was not yet capable of listening.
She stood silent; chin held high, back straight.
A marriage arranged for freedom…
Saxon beauty Lady Jillian and her mother lost everything when her father fell at Hastings beneath a Norman blade. Forced into a life of servitude, she accepts her life until her mother dies. Without the worry of protecting her mother, she looks for a way to change her circumstances and no longer live as a slave to the lady of the keep. When renowned warrior Garrick of Merewood’s brother is imprisoned at the keep, Jillian hatches a bold plan to offer marriage in exchange for helping to free his brother. Marriage to him will set her free while his strength and prowess will help her reclaim her birthright—Loughmoe Keep. She never expects to fall in love.
A dowry not of gold, but honor…
Garrick needs no help freeing his brother, and he refuses the bold beauty’s plan. But treachery abounds, and to save his brother’s life, he must swallow his pride and seek Jillian’s assistance. After they wed he learns that Loughmoe Keep is no longer hers. Rumors of her duplicity threaten to tear them apart, while sinister forces are at work threatening to destroy them. Jillian and Garrick’s mother are captured, and a ransom is demanded.
Garrick of Merewood’s people need the coin to survive another winter; he cannot pay the ransom. He must devise a plan to rout the baron responsible for the kidnapping and ransom. He needs to rescue them to free his mother and the woman he fell in love with, before the greedy baron steals Loughmoe and Merewood Keep.
In this novel enjoy Medieval Romance, Hardheaded Heroes, Feisty Heroines, Marriage of Convenience, Second Chances, and Norman vs Saxon.
Read in Kindle Unlimited!
The Ladies of the Keep
Book 1 – Liberating the Lady of Loughmoe
Book 2 – Bargaining with the Lady of Merewood
Book 3 – Rescuing the Lady of Sedgeworth
NOTE: This story was previously published under the title The Lord of Merewood Keep. It now has newly added content for you to enjoy.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Liberating-Lady-Loughmoe-Medieval-Historical-ebook/dp/B0D71S9KC1
About the Author:
In case we have not met yet, here is a little bit about me:
I write Historical & Contemporary Romance featuring: Hardheaded Heroes & Feisty Heroines.
I fell in love at first sight at seventeen, with the man who will hold my heart forever. DJ and I were married for 41 wonderful years until my darling lost his battle with cancer. We have three grown children—one son-in-law, two grandsons, two rescue dogs, and two rescue grand-cats and one grand-dog.
My Hardheaded Heroes and Feisty Heroines rarely listen to me. In fact, I think they enjoy messing with my plans for them. BUT if there is one thing I’ve learned in dealing with my characters for the past 29 years, it is to listen to them! My heroes always have a few of DJ’s best qualities: his honesty, his integrity, his compassion for those in need, and his killer broad shoulders.
I have always used family names in my books and love adding bits and pieces of my ancestors and ancestry in them, too. I write about the things I love most: My Family, my Irish and English Ancestry, Baking and Gardening.
[image error]C.H.’s Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.chadmirand.com
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/C.-H.-Admirand/author/B001JPBUMC
BookBub:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/c-h-admirand
Facebook Author Page:
https://www.facebook.com/CHAdmirandAuthor
GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/212657.C_H_Admirand
Dragonblade Publishing:
https://www.dragonbladepublishing.com/team/c-h-admirand/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/c.h.admirand/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AdmirandH
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSXBeqEY52VV3mHdtg5fXw
