New Release! STEAMY NIGHTS by MARIE TREANOR

STEAMY NIGHTS

By MARIE TREANOR

Available now from Changeling Press

Love, lust, and revenge, woven through the twisted chaos of time…

Fighting for her life in Edinburgh's dark, dangerous streets, Miri stabs the wrong man -- and ends up in his arms, sparking a sequence of events that alters history, with catastrophic consequences.

Wrongfully exiled from his own dimension, Caratacus is determined to find a way home. But that's going to be difficult using only nineteenth century steam technology -- even more difficult when distracted by the sort of steam he creates with Miri!

Before he can go home, he has to set things right. That means hunting down a Jack the Ripper copycat, prevent Robert Louis Stevenson from becoming an engineer, and help a brutal, game-playing civilization protect itself from cannibals -- all without destroying the intense but fragile love he's found with Miri.

After that, reversing time should be easy.

*

“You’re a funny bastard,” Campbell observed. “What will you do now? Will they let you back in to the university?”

Caratacus shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve learned all I need.”

They stared at him.

“Trust me,” Dixon stated. “You need your degree.”

Caratacus only shrugged again, and glanced in his jug. “I’ve run out of beer.”

“Thirsty work down here,” Campbell agreed with a grin. “We’re going to Dixon’s. He’s got beer.”

“Come with us,” Dixon offered, poking Caratacus in the ribs.

Campbell threw his arm around Miri’s waist, hugging her to his side as he added, “But you might have to bring your own girl. Unless my miniature joy here --”

“I can’t,” Caratacus interrupted. “I’m busy.”

Something surged through Miri. She couldn’t work out if it was disappointment or relief. She rather liked being treated not like a whore. Except for some reason, it made her wonder how he would treat her body. If he had any interest in it. She was damaged goods, of course, but even respectable men didn’t find that so unattractive. After all, she knew how to please them.

With her head on Campbell’s shoulder, she regarded her host with more than a touch of regret. The beauty of his face, the strength of his body, all appealed to her. And his strangeness didn’t frighten her. It intrigued her.

But as they all made their way up the stone steps in front of him, his eyes neither sought her out nor avoided her with embarrassment. Which left her with the oddly lowering conclusion that he was polite but completely disinterested.

Unless he had no money? He probably spent it all on his ridiculous machine. And she had already sold herself to the other three students for a few coppers and a plate of soup.

Lost in thought, she started when her shawl landed on her shoulders. Glancing up, she saw Caratacus close behind her.

“You forgot it,” he said mildly. “And it’s cold outside.”

Her mind tricked her. It imagined his face without glasses, suffused with physical pleasure. It saw him naked behind her like this, but holding her, his clever, oil-stained hands on her breasts, while he pushed his cock inside her. And it felt good, better than…

She blinked the vision away. He still gazed at her, a faint, quizzical smile in his dark green eyes. She’d never seen eyes that precise color before. Perhaps it was a trick of the spectacles. Embarrassed, almost panicked by the heat coursing through her, she dropped her gaze.

He didn’t want her; he’d be disgusted. She couldn’t bear either reaction. Besides, he probably had a nice young lady waiting for him. She scurried after the others, forgetting to thank him for the shawl, and the bread and beer.

Only as Campbell dragged her out the front door did she recover enough to give Caratacus a smile and a wink over her shoulder. Though the door closed on him very quickly, she could almost have sworn he winked back.

Thanks for reading :)

Marie

Marie Treanor
Haunting Romance
www.marietreanor.com
Out now: Steamy Nights from Changeling Press
Queen's Gambit from Samhain Publishing