Excerpt of Rose Red and Black Bear by Gwen Williams

With the moment upon her, with her back on a soft quilt, and with the bright blue April sky gleaming down at her, a wave of ease washed over her. In another hour or two it would be dusk, and then night would fall.

If I am fortunate, I will return to my mother’s house this evening with Tarquin’s seed inside me. I may bear his child. I may become his wife, a soldier’s wife.

Tarquin’s fingers traced down the length of her bodice. She fetched a heavy sigh as the whalebone stays released her and the first welcome full breath of air filled her lungs. She knew, from her own practice of dressing herself in the morning, that her breasts perked through the thin cotton muslin. She watched as Tarquin’s eyes grew large at the sight of her taut nipples, her ruby pink areoles, her erect breasts. His wonder at the sight of her body filled her with a strange kind of dread. Would he be disappointed in her? She certainly hoped not.

Tarquin eased himself between her legs, spreading her thighs apart with his hands. He raked her skirt and her petticoats up to her waist, draping her petticoats on her hips, her sex exposed to him.

“Oh, my,” he breathed.

“It pleases you?”

“Yes, most certainly.”