A Strange Sort of Bargain #MFRWHooks #Regency #Romance #Suspense

Viscount Stonehurst looked younger than she’d expected, but he’d judged her a servant by her clothes. “You’re the wicked viscount? You don’t look debauched.”

Dark-haired and tall, he dressed as well as Deanswood, but he was more Mars—the dark God of War—to her husband’s blond Apollo. He pinned her with a cold glare, lounged in the wingback chair, his right ankle over his left knee. “I don’t interview servants, neither do I buy from hawkers. State your business and leave.”

Hard as she tried to look away, her gaze felt glued to his wooden leg. Now she’d seen his articulated ankle joint it both fascinated and horrified her.

Stonehurst followed her gaze. “A legacy of Waterloo. Pay it no heed. I don’t.”

She stood tall and met his gaze, but she felt surprised her voice didn’t shake. “First, my lord, can I trust your discretion?”

He laughed, showing his perfect white teeth. “If you couldn’t, I wouldn’t have any… visitors. You can take my discretion as a given.”

Alethea took a deep breath. “Yesterday was my wedding day. It doesn’t matter who my husband is, but I need to know about the…”

The gentleman’s smile turned mocking. “Not keen on the wedding bed, sweetheart?”

She blushed and tried to gather her thoughts. “I don’t know. I mean, I think I might be, but my husband didn’t… I mean… This is embarrassing. He never came to my bedchamber. I don’t know how to make him want me. I need an experienced man to tutor me and I am willing to pay you five guineas per lesson.”

He rose to his feet and limped to the window, but she thought he struggled to keep his face straight. “I rent out my rooms, not my body. However, I know someone who could both tutor you and cover the costs. I’ll send a note around to Deanswood House with the details. A word of advice, sweetheart. If the answer’s no, don’t ask anyone else. They won’t be as understanding as my friend.”

With her mask firmly in place, she’d thought to keep her identity secret. If the ton got wind of her scheme, her reputation would be in tatters. Deanswood would never want her then. “How did you know?”

He opened the door for her to leave. “You’re obviously a lady and the only member of the ton to marry yesterday was Deanswood. But, like I said, I know how to be discreet.”

Alethea’s feet felt glued to the floor as her plans disintegrated around her. Despite her dry mouth, she again met his gaze. “I have to trust you, but this will only work if I stay masked. Tell my tutor anonymity is key. If he tries to remove my mask, I will leave.”

There. She’d done it. She’d made an assignation with a man who wasn’t her husband. She needed information, but driving this bargain made her feel like a slut.

This post is part of the MFRWHooks blog hop. Please check out my fellow writers hooks using the links at the foot of the post

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Publisher’s Blurb

Going about her mundane life in a small fishing village, Alethea never dreamed she would end up with a man like the Earl of Deanswood, yet when she caught the handsome gentleman's eye he wasted no time in making her his wife. Unbeknownst to Alethea, however, her conniving mother has convinced Deanswood that she has no interest in the marital bed. Devastated by his seeming disinterest, Alethea searches for someone to instruct her in the ways of enticing a man.

When a friend informs Deanswood of Alethea's plans, he decides to train his new bride himself. Soon enough, Alethea finds herself naked, blindfolded, and helplessly bound as she is thoroughly spanked and then brought to one blushing, quivering climax after another. But when Alethea's life is threatened by her mother's vicious scheming, can Deanswood protect his innocent bride?

Publisher's Note: His Innocent Bride is a stand-alone novel which shares the Regency-era setting of Wickedly Used. It includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.

More about Kryssie Fortune.

Kryssie reads everything and anything, from literary fiction to sizzling romance. Her earliest memory is going to the library with her mother. She can’t have been more than two at the time. Reading, especially when a book’s hot and explicit, is more than a guilty pleasure. It’s an obsession.

Kryssie loves to visit historic sites, from Hadrian’s wall to Regency Bath. The first book she fell in love with was Georgette Heyer’s The Unknown Ajax. After that, she devoured every regency book she could. After a while, they went out of fashion, but part of Kryssie’s psyche lives in in in Regency London. She longs to dance quadrilles and flirt behind fans. Of course, Kryssie’s heroines do far more than flirt.

Kryssie lives in Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast –about thirty miles from Whitby, where Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. She enjoys gardening, travel, and socializing with her author friends. You’d be surprised how many erotic romance authors live in the North of England.