Phantasmagoria US release

PHANTASMAGORIA - Madelynne Ellis

The long awaited sequel to A GENTLEMAN'S WAGER.

I adore this cover. I suppose I got lucky with it. The colours and composition of the image actually seem to hint at what you'll find inside - a rather dark story, actually. Phantasmagoria was not an easy book to write, and for an erotic romance, perhaps it's not an easy book to read. Hopefully, it is a story that will leave a lasting impression.

Hey, we writers all have to aspire to something.

Hope you enjoy the teaser, and please do stop by the comments for a chance to win a book from my backlist.

For a chance to win signed copies of A Gentleman's Wager and Phantasmagoria, head over to the Good, the Bad, & the Unread and leave a comment on the recent interview I did with them. Don't forget to check out their reviewed Phantasmagoria while you're there.



Vaughan folded his arms. ‘Please. Do I give ecstasy so freely?’ His smile sweetened, instantly lightening the mood. ‘Perhaps I do. Perhaps that’s why you’re here.’ He artlessly stretched behind him and clasped a chair back. The movement thrust his chest into prominence, making her smile in turn. ‘Why have you come, Annabella, my nightingale?’

He touched her face, trailed a finger down to her throat. ‘What’s the draw, the promise of a gothic nightmare or the bitter-sweet terror of my lips?’ His kiss fluttered over her pulse point. Bella closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, rosemary laced with musk. How she’d missed him. How she longed to return his caress. One simple touch and her body was weeping for him, but too often he’d teased her like this and then pushed her away. ‘And why no Lucerne? Were you so sure of a welcome without him?’ He stepped back suddenly, his tone abruptly cold.

Bella’s eyes flickered open. ‘Am I not welcome—’ she began, and then she caught his smile. He was playing with her, always playing with her.

‘But of course. You are most welcome.’ He took her hand and traced a slow circle around the palm. Bella watched his long fingers, imagining their trace against a more intimate area of her anatomy. ‘Let me give you a proper welcome to Pennerley.’ He pulled her, not into his arms for the kiss she longed for, but towards the stairs and down onto all fours.

Bella squealed as her nose pressed to the ancient grain of the wood. It was knotted and splintered in places, worn smooth in the centre where she knelt. Her nose prickled at the smell of dust and linseed. Vaughan threw her skirts over her back. For a moment she felt nothing, then his hand, warm and firm pressed between her legs and found her wet and eager.

‘Why Annabella,’ he drawled, ‘I do believe you’ve missed me.’

‘Damn you,’ she cursed as the familiar dribble of oil slithered between her cheeks. Nothing had changed. He still didn’t care a jot for her feelings or the truth of Lucerne’s absence. He cared only for the instant gratification of his own desires.

She shifted indignantly against the intrusive press of his fingers, but couldn’t stop the anticipatory heat from flaring inside her womb. She’d been waiting for this, longing for him. She knew what was coming, hated it, needed it, this sin. She should have known what to expect.

His fingers stretched her. His cock pushed in, making her empty cunt clench tight. She meant to push back against him, knock him off balance, but instead her bottom rubbed eagerly against his loins. It was so good to feel him inside her again, such welcome relief for the nineteen days of torture she’d spent without him.

‘Easy,’ he whispered, when she twisted her head to look at him. ‘You’ll come too fast.’ Bella didn’t care. She’d been wound too tight and all the emotion and rage she’d felt was spilling out of her. This carnal invasion, this thrusting heat – it was exactly what she wanted. ‘Bella,’ he hissed between his teeth. A sound broke in her throat in response, a hopeless expression of her longing. He was right. She had missed him, and more than he would ever truly understand. She loved him, but she had no idea how to tell him that or whether he wanted to hear it.

Her head was spinning. Her knees ached. His scent surrounded her, musky and animal beneath the hint of cologne. And at the point of their connection, a pulse was raging, driving her movements, dictating everything in simple, so very simple, animalistic terms.

She came hard, with a long rolling shudder, while Vaughan held himself still within her rear. Once the pulses had faded, he began to move again.

‘Again,’ he demanded, forcing her hips down with his palm, while the fingers of his other hand teased her still sensitive bud.

‘No.’ Bella gasped. ‘Vaughan, I can’t.’ She pressed herself to the ancient wood while colour burned her cheeks, feeling both elated and shamed. ‘I’ve been stuck in a coach for days. You could at least offer me a drink before you demand four orgasms in a row.’

‘I’ve only demanded two, and a chance to finish off.’ Chuckling, he patted her bottom. ‘But very well. Foster!’ he bellowed.

Bella’s eyes snapped open. ‘Your servant!’ She scrambled forward, but Vaughan held her tight about her hips. ‘Easy now, what’s the problem? Your drink’s coming.’

Bella hid her head in embarrassment. She’d been here just five minutes and within another five every servant in the place would know their master had swived her in the arse. She heard the screech of a door hinge, and Foster appeared by Vaughan’s side.

‘Bring me the port. My guest’s thirsty.'

Madelynne Ellis

A Gentleman's Wager's US re-release

by Madelynne Ellis

Tomorrow marks the US re-release of my Georgian set historical ménage-a-trois, A Gentleman's Wager. It's been out of print for years, so naturally I hope you're all going to rush out and buy a copy, read it, leave me lots of Amazon stars and tell all your friends how wonderful it is too. All in time for the release of the next part of the story, Phantasmagoria, at the end of the month.

Failing that, I hope you'll stick around to read the teaser excerpt posted below. And maybe stop by the comments and tell me which two men you'd most like to see making out. If you already have pics and video clips, so much the better. Gimme links.

Personally, I'm rather fond of this pair.



EXCERPT:

Lucerne closed his eyes and offered no resistance to Vaughan’s intimate caress. So it had all come down to this. He could sometimes deny his attraction to the other man, but he didn’t have the willpower to force him away. The muscles of his stomach tightened and his mouth opened, but he didn’t make a sound. Vaughan’s thrilling attention was worth the risk of weathering discovery here or gossip at Court. He reached out to Vaughan and met his friend’s desire with an urgency of his own. Outside, the muted hubbub of the inn went on. He hoped the latch was firm.

They clawed at each other’s clothing and ground their pricks together, rubbing and kissing, while Lucerne tried not to think too hard about what he was doing. He slipped his hand inside the waistband of Vaughan’s figure-hugging pantaloons, touched his sensitive glans and heard him gasp. The sound gave him a surprising sense of satisfaction, and he allowed Vaughan to pull away long enough for the marquis to pull his black cambric shirt over his head.

Vaughan’s body was lean but muscular and tapered neatly at the waist. His arms and shoulders were strong from his love of fencing, the same sport that gave him his oft-admired thighs. However, the most striking feature of his near-nakedness was the pale silvery line across his left side that marred the surface of his skin. Lucerne traced its length curiously with his fingertips, and then with his tongue. It appeared to be a duelling scar.

‘An unpleasant scrape,’ elucidated Vaughan, as he tilted his head forward to watch Lucerne. A fiery gleam showed through the shadow of his dark lashes, while his lips curled into an aggressive smile. ‘Deuced Italians. I swear they’ve fire for blood.’

Lucerne smiled and pressed himself against Vaughan’s warm body, glad that whatever implement had caused the wound hadn’t done more damage. He felt Vaughan’s arms snake around him and pluck at his coat. Lucerne shrugged it off, for once letting it fall to the floor. Then he unknotted his cravat, while Vaughan drew the curtain across the small, grimy window.

They fell upon each other again, as if mere closeness was not enough. Lucerne sank to his knees, then felt Vaughan about to follow suit and stopped him. He eyed the erect penis before him uncertainly. This would be a first. He cautiously closed his mouth over the head. It tasted salty against his tongue.

Vaughan inhaled sharply and sagged against the panelled wall for support, holding Lucerne’s head to his cock as he moved. He didn’t speak, but Lucerne didn’t need him to. He knew how this felt, knew exactly how incredible such focused attention was. What surprised him was the pleasure he was deriving from the friction against his lips, and the addictiveness of having his mouth repeatedly filled.

Vaughan’s fingers tangled in his hair. His hips rocked slowly. Lucerne knew he was resisting the urge to thrust deeper. He tried to take a little more, but felt the tip brush the back of his throat and had to fight back the instinctive cough that threatened to explode. He circled his fingers over Vaughan’s cheeks, and then moved one hand to cup his friend’s balls. Vaughan stiffened. He gave an emotive sigh and his whole body flexed as he came, shooting his seed into Lucerne’s waiting mouth.

Lucerne released his hold and kissed him once, intimately. He watched Vaughan’s prick continue to twitch as the afterglow of his orgasm washed over his body, and saw a contented smile spread over his face. Vaughan’s eyes flicked open as Lucerne stood; they were dilated and unnaturally bright. They fastened on the trickle of come at the corner of Lucerne’s mouth.

‘Come to me,’ he beckoned.

‘No.’ Lucerne wiped away the evidence of their encounter. ‘Later,’ he soothed, when he saw anxiety cloud the joy in Vaughan’s eyes. ‘Somewhere more private.’ The risk of discovery suddenly felt very real.

Vaughan smiled and nodded. He rose to his feet and dressed quickly. There was a fresh glow to his skin now, and he positively radiated sexuality. Once he’d buttoned himself, he turned to Lucerne and caught his wrist, then forced a kiss on him. This time Lucerne accepted it without question, then they went out to collect Charles.


More excerpts available at my website.

Madelynne Ellis

Addendum: Read Bev's new review of A Gentleman's Wager at The Good, the Bad & The Unread.

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Credits: Film clip: Velvet Goldmine. Photo: Anthony Gayton.

Phantasmagoria

by Madelynne Ellis


Following the publication of A Gentleman’s Wager, the phrase I heard most often was: “So when are you writing the sequel?”

Sequel, thought I. I don’t think so. You see as much as I loved the characters (and Vaughan is still my favourite out of all the characters I’ve created), I’d reached the close of their story. I knew roughly what happened to them in future, but I didn’t feel any desire to flesh out the details for an audience. None whatsoever. And that’s how it remained for the best part of five years.

So, what changed?

Coincidence mostly… It went something like this.

1. Ms Mathilde Madden informs me over lunch that I really do want to write about Vaughan again. She also mutters something about gothic and vampires.

2. While researching a location for a story (for Love on the Dark Side), we happen to drive through the village of Pennerley... the same village from which Vaughan’s title is derived. I’ve never been to this place before. I originally chose it at random by browsing a map of the UK. (NB: I never did finish the story I was researching.)

3. At the end of the same day, we decide to take a minor detour on the way home to visit a castle. As we approach the castle, I’m struck by the realisation that this is where Vaughan lives. In each room, I see him laughing, prowling, brooding.

4. I start dreaming about Vaughan, nothing concrete mind, just impressions and vagaries.

5. I get on with writing other stories (see #2).


Some weeks later…

6. I go in search of a dictionary and instead sit down and write the outline of Phantasmagoria. It comes out of nowhere and leaves me feeling shocked and excited. I contact Black Lace and ask them if they’re interested in a sequel to A Gentleman’s Wager. They are.

7. OMG! They want it by when?

Sequels, it turns out are damned hard to write, especially when the world decides to go to hell in a hand basket around you.

Phantasmagoria is released in the UK on the 6th March, and US on 29th April. A Gentleman’s Wager is reprinted on 1st April. I hope you’ll consider reading both…

Here's the blurb and a teaser.

1800 – Three years after escaping to London with her bisexual lovers, Bella Rushdale wakes one morning to find their delicate ménage a trois about to shatter. Vaughan, Marquis of Pennerley, has left without any explanation. Determined to reclaim him and preserve their relationship, Bella pursues him to his family seat on the Welsh Borders, where she finds herself embroiled in his preparations for a diabolical gothic celebration on All Hallows Eve – a phantasmagoria. Among the shadows and phantoms, Bella and her lovers will discover shocking truths about each other.


EXCERPT

‘Let go!’ Bella fought against Vaughan’s hold, but remained trapped between the flexing steel of his warm body and the wall. Vaughan quashed her cries, forcing his tongue into her mouth and kissing her hard.

She melted.

Nobody else ever kissed her with the same knee-buckling intensity, with a taste that washed straight to her quaint. She’d never been able to resist his kiss. Never.

‘Get off me,’ she snarled, when he finally pulled back for air.

‘Not yet.’ He locked an arm across his chest, while his body still pressed against her as unyielding as pig iron, and with his free hand he lifted her hem.

Her arousal exposed, Bella turned her head away from his scalding breath. ‘I’m not your plaything. Not even your mistress.’

‘You’re my lover.’ His breath troubled the pulse point in her throat. ‘If not my mistress, what are you, some slattern that needed a bed for a night?

She snapped her teeth at him, but he merely laughed and pushed his fingers into her heat. His thumb worked bitter circles around her clitoris, driving her onto her toes, gasping for breath. Arousal so thick it felt like bellyache knotted her lower half. Slickly, his fingers worked their magic, driving her to the brink of joy, and transforming sharp words into sharper breaths.

She couldn’t speak. She felt his cock lying unbearably hard against her hip, so full of promise.

‘Sing for me, my nightingale. Come.’ He dragged his lips down the side of her neck and sucked. She couldn’t fight it. Shards of frosty hatred cracked into sparklers of delight. The swirl of his thumb, the twist of his fingers brought such sweet, swift pleasure, her limbs trembled.

Bella’s pulse raced with need and expectation. She managed to win one arm free, and immediately dug her fingers into his bottom. The muscles clenched and unclenched as he rocked against her thigh, taking his pleasure from the friction. The dance of their bodies slowed, as her breaths became shallow and ragged. Everything was concentrated in her clit and the tingle of her nipples. The whole world seemed to contract into one point as she gasped into his chest and her orgasm rendered her soft and pliant.

Bella snuggled against his shoulder, her eyes wet with tears, content for a moment to simply exist in his embrace.

‘Now you’re even.’ Vaughan disentangled their bodies, and stepped back. ‘Don’t ever presume to tell me whom I can bed in my own house.’

She felt the blood return to her face. Her eyes narrowed, but so did Vaughan’s. Was this battle of wills really what she wanted? She longed for Lucerne’s easy smile, the safety of his embrace.

Vaughan was the most exciting, sexually aggressive man she’d ever met. The most perverse, the most infuriating, and it hurt to love him.

God, how it hurt!

***
Fancy more? You can read the Prologue here. You might also like to check out Indiscretions, a short story which bridges the gap between A Gentleman’s Wager and Phantasmagoria.

Madelynne Ellis

PS: Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Phantasmagoria.

Mood Music

Madelynne Ellis

Music depresses me (James, Whiplash)...

Least ways some times it does.

Way back in February, Alison Tyler served up a sexual soundtrack of songs that hiked her libido off the Richter scale, and well, eight months later I'm still trying to think of one track that has the same effect on me. Okay, maybe there is one, but we'll get to that later...

Anyway, this lack of a sexy soundtrack is weird, because I use music all the time when I'm writing as inspiration and to conjure moods.

For me, writing is not simply about putting words onto paper. I have to make myself part of story, become the characters, fall in love with them, feel their triumphs and loses. In short, I have to feel the same emotional highs and lows. To do that I use music, and I have a list of tracks I know are guaranteed to evoke strong emotions.

Lets start with a heart breaker! Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks. I am actually incapable of listening to this song without crying, because I associate it very strongly with loss and grief. Obviously, I don't like upsetting myself, but it is a useful tool if I want to remind myself how that feels while I'm writing.

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Whereas if I want melancholy, I might choose this one, Stranger on the Shore - Acker Bilk.

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Pensive, waiting for something to happen, or not yet ready to move on, and I'll probably be listening to Nine While Nine, by the Sisters of Mercy. The beat pulls me forward, while the lyrics throw up all sorts of wonderful images. In case you haven't noticed I'm also quite a visually orientated person.

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Darker, angry, accusatory, with maybe a hint of theatre? My story Lust for Blood, in Love on the Dark Side, a nasty tale of a vampire threesome, was written while listening to (and watching) Nymphetamine Fix on endless repeat.



With some songs it's not a specific emotion I'm trying to conjure but a whole range of them, and then I'll look for something that musically mimics the tone of the story as a whole rather than at one point. The best example of this type of music is Redemption, by Gackt, which I listened to while writing Blood Angel, (in Possession), and with this piece of music it's definitely all about feelings and diffuse concepts, because really my Japanese isn't that hot!



Sometimes it's not even about a specific mood, but more of a sense of a whole person and how a certain character interacts with the world. Vaughan, Marquis of Pennerley, from A Gentleman's Wager (Feb '08) & Phantasmagoria (Mar '08) has changed over time, but if I ever want to remind myself what he's about, I listen to these two songs, which sum him up nicely for me.

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

So, my question for you, is am I the only one who uses music in this way while writing, or do you all just put on your favourite song of the moment and type away? Maybe you prefer to write in silence! What tracks evoke strong emotions for you? Let me know in the comments.

Oh, and one last thing... That track I mentioned at the beginning, you know, the one that does something for my libido, well here it is... (okay, may the images help ;-))

Madelynne Ellis xx