Welcome back to Medieval Monday! If you've been visiting my blog for awhile and seen many of my posts, you know that I'm a big Jenna Jaxon fan and Betrayal is one of my favorites. These characters will grab you...and not in a bad way. Enjoy ;)
“Then let us proceed.”
The male courtiers surged forward, grabbed him, and tossed him onto the petal-strewn sheets. The women also seized Alyse and pushed her toward the far side of the bed. They lifted her onto the mattress, pressed her back against the array of pillows, and carefully arranged her hair to drape around her breasts. At long last, they drew the sheet up over the couple.
When they had finished, Thomas had to bite back a laugh. His shaft had tented the sheet, and judging by Alyse’s wide, staring eyes, and a subtle movement toward the edge of the mattress, the sight thoroughly appalled her.
Father Andrew, one of the chapel priests, stepped forward, swinging a censer, and intoned, “Lord, bless this bed that the union of this man and this woman may be fruitful under Your blessed sight—In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen.”
As the priest stepped back, Lady Maurya and Lady Anne came forward to pull the curtains around the bed. The heavy material cocooned them in darkness with the heavy smell of incense, providing a modicum of privacy at last.
The worst betrayals come from within.
After a night of passion with her betrothed, Sir Geoffrey Longford, Lady Alyse de Courcy is eagerly looking forward to her wedding. But when Geoffrey is forced to marry another, a heartbroken and possibly pregnant Alyse finds herself in her own private hell. She must either gamble with her reputation or marry someone she does not love.
A reputed connoisseur of women, Thomas, Lord Braeton, has dallied with many ladies of King Edward’s court, although he has favored none. However, as Geoffrey’s best friend, Thomas has sworn to serve and protect Alyse, an oath now sorely tested when he agrees to marry her—in name only—to guard her reputation. Yet, as they grow closer, and Thomas discovers Alyse’s sweet but spirited nature, he comes to desire a marriage in truth.
Can he overcome her memory of Geoffrey, or is Thomas doomed to burn with passion for a woman he can never possess?
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