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.”