SUE LYNDON/ Conquering Lady Claire

Sue Lyndon’s here today sharing an excerpt of her newest release, Conquering Lady Claire. Her story is just one of the romances included in, The Conquered Brides – a collection of 5 hot medieval spanking romances!

Hi Sue! I’m so happy to have you here today. I love strong commanding Knights and this collection has 5 we can drool over. <wicked grin>

Hi Mary. I’ve always found capture fantasies incredibly hot. The hero carries the heroine off against her will, and though she struggles against him she soon finds herself surrendering to his masterful lovemaking even as she fights her growing feelings for him. Romance ensues and even though they got off on the wrong foot, they eventually get their happily-ever-after. Ah, true love!

The medieval era is the perfect setting for this trope, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to write a story to be included in a collection of medieval spanking romance stories, each of which one woman after she’s been captured and taken from Hohenzollern Castle after it falls.

Conquering Lady Claire, by Sue Lyndon
As Hohenzollern Castle falls, mayhem unfolds around Lady Claire, and her only aim is to lead as many women and children of the castle to safety as possible. In an odd turn of fortune, her courageous efforts ultimately lead to her capture by none other than Lord Galien of Minrova, the very man that her brother, a powerful duke, recently commanded to find her and claim her as his wife. Claire’s defiance is quickly overcome by means of a firm hand applied to her bare bottom, but Galien is not content merely going through the motions of a political marriage. His skilled lovemaking soon leaves his new bride begging for more, but can he conquer her heart as well?

Excerpt,

“No! I will not marry you today. Lord Galien, I implore you to reconsider.” Heart pounding a wild rhythm in her chest, Claire stopped in the center of the bailey and balked at the sight ahead.

A pale-faced Father David stood in front of the portcullis, watching as a huge knight approached with a woman flung over his shoulders. She flailed a bit and kicked up her skirts, and her long golden braid swayed with her struggles. The knight dropped her to her feet, and Claire recognized her as Lady Daisy, one of Princess Susanna’s ladies-in-waiting. Their marriage ceremony happened in a flash, with Father David only speaking to the knight.

The insufferable Lord Galien clasped Claire’s arm and urged her forward now that their turn had come. She tried to dig her heels into the ground, but his strength surpassed hers. By the time they reached Father David, he was practically carrying her. Her outraged cry drew a glance from Lady Daisy, who stared over her shoulder and gave Claire a compassionate look before her knight led her through the portcullis and outside the walls of Hohenzollern.

Lord Galien drew her up to his side and put his mouth to her ear. “Yes, my sweet Lady Claire. You will marry me today, and you will be sensible about it. We haven’t a choice. The only way I’m permitted to take you through the gates is if I take you as my bride, which I am fully prepared to do. Your brother commanded I marry you anyway, my dear. Today or a fortnight from now, the timing of our nuptials matters not.”

“It matters to me!” Panic filled her, and she looked ahead at Father David, meeting the elderly man’s sympathetic gaze. She tilted her head to Lord Galien. “If you make me do this now, on this very day, I will hate you forever.”

His dark eyes flashed with humor and he struggled to restrain a smile, his lips curving before he pressed them into a straight line. He obviously didn’t believe her, or mayhap he didn’t care whether or not she despised him. Flames of anger rose up, burning hot in the face of his indifference to her plight.

“As you just witnessed in the ceremony before ours, the ladies’ consent matters not on this day. But I wish you would be so sweet as to give it. In fact,” he said with a teasing, wistful air, “I dream of looking upon our wedding day with much fondness years from now and remembering my wife having kindly spoken her vows to me, perhaps as an endearing blush stained her cheeks.”

She released a sharp breath. “I suggest you shove your dreams up your arse, my lord, because that will never happen.”