Black Silk. Sharon Page

      

      Praise for SIN

       (prequel to BLACK SILK)

      2006 National Readers’ Choice Award Winner for Erotic Romance/Romantica

      “How do you have an orgasm without sex? Read Sin by Sharon Page!…Thoroughly wicked, totally wild, utterly wanton and very witty in its execution, Sin is the ultimate indulgence.”

      —Just Erotic Romance Reviews (Gold Star Award)

      “Strong, character-driven romance…extremely sensual and erotic.”

      —Romantic Times

      “Sinfully delicious. Sharon Page is a pure pleasure to read.”

      —Sunny, New York Times best-selling author of Over the Moon (anthology) and Mona Lisa Awakening

      “Sharon Page blends history, emotion, and hot, hot, hot sex within an amazing love story. Blazing erotica!”

      —Kathryn Smith, USA Today best-selling author

      “Sin is a perfect example of exquisitely rendered erotic romance…this book caught my attention with the opening lines and never let go…definitely a book for the ‘keeper’ shelf.”

      —Kate Douglas, best-selling author of the Wolf Tales series

      BLOOD ROSE

      “Page’s Blood Rose has scorching love scenes to make you sweat and an intriguing plot to hold it all together.”

      —New York Times best-selling author Hannah Howell

      “The female protagonist is completely believable, and the two vampire-slaying heroes…are simply hot! This is a thoroughly entertaining read.”

      —Romantic Times

      “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Regency England! Two sexy, to-die-for heroes, a courageous heroine, and a luscious ménage make Blood Rose a sinful treat.”

      —Jennifer Ashley, USA Today best-selling author

      BLOOD RED

      “A blazing path into forbidden dreams…”

      —Romantic Times

      “Ms. Page weaves an erotic and suspenseful tale that…puts you on a sexual roller coaster and doesn’t let you off…If you’re a lover of vampire romance, curl up on a cold winter night with Blood Red to warm your heart!”

      —Just Erotic Romance Reviews (Gold Star Award)

      WILD NIGHTS

      “Wild Nights delivers…I highly recommend this anthology to anyone that likes wickedly hot sex, action, dominant males, and feisty heroines.”

      —Coffee Time Romance

      “Page’s story is sensual and sensitive.”

      —Romantic Times on Wild Nights anthology

      A GENTLEMAN SEDUCED

      “Sharon Page is a lady to watch out for…Sharp, sexy…will seduce you from the first page.”

      —Just Erotic Romance Reviews

      “Witty, wicked and wonderful…”

      —Romantic Times

      Black Silk

      Sharon Page

      KENSINGTON BOOKS

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      For Gertrude

      Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Epilogue

      Prologue

      The Scavenger Hunt, Vauxhall, London, September 1819

      At any moment, five men would emerge from the bushes and make her submit to the most scandalous erotic pleasures.

      Juliette’s slippers danced lightly along the path that wound between masses of dark trees. She had left the famed illicit Dark Walk for this narrow, unlit path—and her heart tripped in terror and arousal in her chest. Footsteps crunched behind her, and the heavy breaths reminded her that Lord Hadrian was following.

      She was not entirely alone, yet the hairs at her nape prickled, and her spine felt as if buckshot rolled down it.

      This had been Hadrian’s idea. He wanted to watch her be ravished by five strapping bucks. Yet she trembled at the thought of actually doing it. Of having him act as voyeur….

      And beneath that ladylike tremble coursed a fierce flame of excitement. She’d always fancied being on the stage—she certainly could outperform the doe-eyed, large-breasted actresses her late husband had been addicted to. Tonight she would prove it. Tonight she would play the most provocative part….

      Her thighs were beginning to ache. Really, she must have tramped a mile by now. How far was she expected to walk? Where were these men?

      Or were there no men to be found here?

      Had they interpreted the clue correctly?

      Where risk and scandal frolic beneath man’s brilliant sky,

      Five rogues await to make a fair lady cry

      Her pleasure to the stars as she explodes with heaven’s light

      And lets her love witness an orgiastic delight

      Hadrian had grasped the meaning very quickly for a gentleman who had drunk an entire bottle of port. The liquor seemed to sharpen his wit rather than dull it and gave a bewitching boyishness to his devastating smile. Her heart had tumbled foolishly as she saw once again that he was more than a handsome (though lined) face, a superb seat in the saddle, and an admirable, though often wilting, cock.

      His logic had made sense. Where else did risk and scandal frolic but on Vauxhall’s famed Dark Walk? And finally Juliette was walking in that notorious area, experiencing the thrill of erotic anticipation. All those years of being a dutiful lady, first a blushing, charming debutante, and then that decade—her youth!—wasted on Farthingale.

      Now was her chance to snatch with both hands the sexual pleasure she’d dreamed of.

      Five rogues…

      Man’s brilliant sky must be fireworks. She had guessed that, and it seemed to bear out Hadrian’s deduction that they must go to Vauxhall.

      Strange that there were no other couples here. Had no one else deciphered it? Juliette frowned. It was not that difficult a clue, really.

      She had nothing. Not a penny! She must capture Hadrian’s imagination;