The Undoing of a Libertine (MF)

Professional Reviews

4 STARS: "THE UNDOING OF A LIBERTINE is a sexy and emotional historical romance that fans of the genre will adore as I did. The couple's relationship is the focus and the evil bad guys provide just enough plot tension to balance this novel perfectly. Jeremy has tried filling his desires with women and whiskey for years. The endless bouts of empty sex and drunken stupors have led his grandparents to pressure him to marry and start begetting the family heir. Jeremy's friend Tom encourages him to marry his sister, Georgina, who is now grown up from the gangly teenager Jeremy remembers. Georgina doesn't want anything to do with marriage or Jeremy but knows she must marry or face marriage to a lecherous neighbor. Can the libertine convince Gina they're made for marriage? This author's first book was a perfect blend of emotional and sexual intimacy so I went into this book with high expectations and I'm happy to say they were met. The romance between Gina and Jeremy is satisfying because it's the primary focus of the novel. It's an exploration in how these two very damaged people find joy and love in each other and share emotional and sexual intimacy. I think historical romance fans will adore this book because it has all the elements of a traditional romance but with the eroticism expected from this publisher. Jeremy and Gina are developed as characters with pasts that influence who they are but don't limit them and I liked that. I greatly enjoyed Jeremy's growing emotional connection to Gina as he learns to see the importance of sharing with her. Gina's brutal past could hold her prisoner if she allows it but as a reader it was so emotionally satisfying to see her efforts to move past it to have a fulfilling relationship with Jeremy. Traditional romance lovers will adore this heartfelt and erotic romance as I did. The plot involving who hurt Gina and how they threaten her relationship with Jeremy provides enough tension to move the plot but never overshadows the romance. The villains were two-dimensional but given how bad they were, that worked. My bloodthirsty nature was very satisfied with how they both got their comeuppance and I know other readers will like the ending, even though it was no big surprise. THE UNDOING OF A LIBERTINE cements Raine Miller as an outstanding erotic romance writer who fans will have on their auto-buy list, as I now do." -- J9, The Romance Reviews

Excerpt

Story excerpt

The creek ran full before her, its fresh current bubbling smoothly over pebbles rolled flat by innumerable surges of water and much time. Georgina realized she would have to wade across.

The heavy air seemed to swirl with the anticipation of impending rain as she sat down to remove her slippers and stockings. She wondered if she’d make it back before the drops actually started to fall. From the feel of things, she doubted it.

There was nothing for it though. She could see no other option. Moving quickly, she hitched up her skirts and forded across the bubbling stream. Reaching the other side without mishap, she climbed the bank and sat down again so as to don her stockings and boots once more.

* * * *

Stunned silent, Jeremy peered through the trees. He would have made his presence known had she not lifted her skirts and exposed her shapely legs at that very moment. He didn’t consider himself much of an intellectual but certainly possessed intelligence enough to know that if Georgina knew he was there, she wouldn’t be revealing her flesh to him, and he most certainly wanted to see her lovely display right now. In fact, he couldn’t have torn his eyes away from the picture of her if he’d tried.

He found her very pleasing. Long, dark blonde hair paired with a well-filled figure any man would appreciate. The color of her eyes was indiscernible to him though. Jeremy found that suddenly he wanted very much to know the color of her eyes. Georgina had indeed grown up, and the years had been very good to her. She bore curves in all the right places. Curves he could make very good use of. Curves he could worship. Those were generous breasts for all her willowy height, tall for a woman, but built gracefully.

Jeremy held his breath as she lifted a pale limb and pulled on a stocking. He kept holding it when she secured the stocking with a pink garter, wrapped around the tapering flesh above her knee. He finally succumbed to the need for air, but breathed quietly so as not to miss the show when she repeated the exquisite act with the other leg.

God, yes! Georgina Russell had grown into quite a morsel. It would be a pleasant task to get an heir with her, indeed. Hopefully he’d need to work at it, or on her, for a long, long time!

She appealed to him, all right. He shifted his weight to relieve the uncomfortable tightening holding sway over his body.

Cool autumn rain began to plop down in slow, fat drops as he made his way silently back to his horse. He would move on and wait for her to emerge from the wood where she would sight him on the road.

The squall which had sprung up escalated as the minutes ticked by. Jeremy could tell the moment she spotted him though. She slowed noticeably as if unsure whether to continue in his direction.

Pulling his horse to a stop, he dismounted. “Miss Georgina Russell, I believe.” He inclined his head in greeting. “Do you remember me? I am—”

“I remember you, sir,” she cut him off, eyeing him stonily.

An attempt at lightheartedness compelled him to ask, “What’s my name then?”

“You are Mr. Greymont, my brother’s friend.” Her eyes fluttered down and away from him, but he got a good look. They were golden eyes, glowing amber and liquid, like the smooth Scotch whiskey he favored, swirling in a cut glass.

“Well done, Miss Georgina. I am just on my way to your house now. I’ve been invited for the—”

“Shooting party,” she interrupted, her eyes returning back to him, but still so very solemn. That was twice now she had stopped him mid-speech. This girl before him was wary, on edge. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she seemed almost afraid of him. She was a wholly different person than he recalled, greatly changed. Georgina had grown up most fair for truth, but in her manner she had definitely altered.

“Please allow me to take you home on my horse. Samson here is so strong he won’t even notice he’s carrying the both of us.” Jeremy reached up a hand to give the great horse an affectionate pat on the neck. “He’s gentle as a lamb around ladies.”

“No, sir.” She shook her head gently, making the cool rain dripping off her nose look absurd.

“I must insist. This rain is piss—” He cleared his throat and tried again, cursing himself for speaking so coarsely. “Um, the rain shower, it’s quite fierce at the moment. You realize you shouldn’t subject yourself to the wet chill longer than need be. Think of your health.”

She looked hesitant, unsure, shifting her weight as she stood there sizing his offer. Probably sizing him up as well.

 He knew the uncontrollable urge to convince her. “I intend to get out of this rain myself, Miss Georgina, and I cannot do that if you won’t come with me. I’ll not leave you here alone on the road in a downpour,” he told her determinedly. “Come with me.” Jeremy reached out his hand to her. “You know who I am. It’s all right.”

She stared at him, her eyes darting, as if making a decision to trust him or bolt back into the woods. Just like a nervous filly. She bit the corner of her bottom lip, probably having no idea how charming she looked in her indecision. Her lips were dark pink and full, puckered at the corner of her mouth where her teeth came together with flesh in between. How do those lips taste, I wonder? Will I ever know? I want to know.

Jeremy smiled gently, bobbing his arm that extended the hand. “You are safe with me.”

Those were the magic words apparently.

She stepped forward.

Adult excerpt

Ducking behind a wardrobe, she wedged herself between it and the wall. Her heart beat so heavy beneath her breast, she figured the sound couldn’t possibly be silent. It was probably rather like a beacon, calling him straight to her location.

She waited. No more loud boots thumping on the floor. He was taking quiet steps now.

“Gina,” he called, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m going to catch you…soon. And you know what I’m going to do when I find you? I’m thinking about it right now, what I’m going to do to you.”

She heard a few more soft steps. “You are so clever to open those doors, trying to throw me off like that. But I know you’re in this room, Gina.”

How do you know I’m in this room?

“I can scent you. I love your scent—fragrant eglantine with a hint of orange. So delicate, yet powerful enough to make me hard for you just from smelling it.” More soft steps sounded just to her right. “I’m hard right now, Gina, so damn hard my cock aches. It wants in you.”

Oh dear Lord.

He walked past the wardrobe and toward the left corner of the room. “Where are you hiding, my dear, naughty sweetheart?” he crooned. “It won’t be long now, Gina, before I catch you, and you know what’s going to happen then…”

If she crept out from her place, she thought she could just slip out the door by running behind him with his back turned. Georgina heard the rustling of boxes being slid about and took her window of opportunity. She bolted for the door.

Georgina didn’t make it far. Powerful hands latched onto her shoulders and dragged her against him. She screamed and a hand clamped over her mouth, cutting the sound off. His lips came to her ear. “No screaming, sweetheart. The servants…”

She nodded against his hand.

“Good girl,” he whispered, removing his hand from her mouth and dragging it down over her neck and throat to cup her breast. His mouth stayed at her neck, and his tongue flicked out to swirl just below her ear. His other hand moved to her hip and pulled her back as he ground his erection into the cleft of her bottom.

She panted against him, grateful he could hold her up. It was wonderful to be captured. She pressed herself into him, arching her back and her neck, giving in to the coiled anticipation.

“Do you like being chased?” He teased her breast.

“Yes.”

“Do you like being caught?” He swirled his tongue in her ear before biting the lobe.

“Yes!”

“Do you feel how hard I am for you?” He ground into her again.

“Yesss!”

“Well then, I know just what you need!” He turned her, hefted her over his shoulder, clamped onto her legs, and started walking. Fast. “And you’re going to like it,” he promised.

Oh yes, she was going to like it and could hardly wait, she was so aroused by his questions, his touches, all of him. Jeremy carried her down to the end of the hall and turned left, descended some stairs, purposeful in his steps until he met his destination. He stopped, opened the door with one hand, and brought them into a bedroom.

“Put me down, now,” she told him, wriggling against his grip.

“I’m going to put you down,” he declared, “right where I want you, on this bed, so I can get all over you—and up in you.”

The moan that escaped her throat seemed to spur him. He never moved so fast, dropping her on the bed and securing the door latch. Turning to face her, he leaned against the door and pulled off his boots. The massive ridge in his trousers told her all she needed to know about his intentions. He pounced.

The weight of him covering her was heaven. He had his hand up her skirt and his tongue in her mouth before she could suck in a breath. Two long fingers sank into her core as his thumb stroked her, rubbing in a sweet, slick, wet circle.

She thrust against his hand, rotating her hips, lost to the building, raw tension. Higher and higher he drew her along until she was barely clinging to the edge, ready to plunge into the abyss of shearing pleasure. As she writhed against his hand, she was vaguely aware that he watched her. His head drew back, and he stared at her, into her.

“Look at me. I want to see you coming. Don’t close your eyes, Gina.”

She kept her eyes on him, but her hand shot out to rub down the iron length of his cock, something she had never done. He had touched her plenty, but she had never been bold enough to touch him there. He jerked when her hand made contact, and his eyes rolled back.

“Yes! Touch me! I want your hand on my cock!” he ground out.

Emboldened by his command, she grappled with the buttons on the flap of his kecks, springing him free. Her fingers closed around the stiff length by feel. She couldn’t see what she was doing, but he seemed to be very pleased by her efforts.

“Ah, like that. Stroke up and down. Feels so damn good!”

She kept her eyes on his, working her fist around his cock, learning the feel of the skin sliding over hard muscle underneath its satin sheath. The circling of his thumb and the penetration of his fingers had her about ready to fly. “Jeremy! I can’t wait—I want you insi—”

He angled himself, thrust powerfully, and gave her what she wanted. Long, sliding, intense pulls, back and forth, bumping the wall of her womb with each deep pulse.

“Like this?” he asked, his breathing going into the predictable wheeze she knew well.

“Just like that!”