Althea's Awakening

Table of Contents Excerpt PRAISE FOR Maggie Sims Althea’s Awakening Copyright Dedication Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Epilogue A word about the author… Thank you for purchasing A widow with no knowledge of carnal desire, a rake bored with even the most hedonistic pleasures, and a game of truth or dare… Althea stepped back and took a page from her cousin’s book. “My lord, fingers are fingers. I have no need of those attached to you.” Evan’s brows rose. “I should love to see that. But was it as good? Did you not crave my descriptions of what I wanted to do to you? Desire the damp softness of lips against yours…either of yours? Did you not long to lie back and watch, enjoying with no need to work for it?” Oh my. She was already wet. And panting audibly. She snapped her mouth closed and gulped a swallow. Evan stepped into her space, raising his hand to cup her face. His thumb skimmed back and forth across her lower lip. He leaned in, whispering, “Remember, sweet. Your body does not lie.” A finger flicked across the hard point of her breast. “Unh.” Taking that bud between forefinger and thumb, he squeezed, holding her whole being still with that two-fingered touch. “Do you need a reminder of how much better it is with two?” PRAISE FOR Maggie Sims ALTHEA’S AWAKENING “Althea’s Awakening is an impassioned romance with a love story that is touching, smart, and wildly sexy! Althea is clever and fiercely independent but has no idea what she’s in for when she negotiates an arrangement with the notoriously skilled sensualist, the Earl of Cheltenham. The earl awakens her to the pleasures of sex and intimacy, but she inspires him to desire a happiness he never allowed himself to imagine. No two people deserve each other more!” ~Amy Sandas, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Wright Bastards series ~*~ “Althea definitely wakes up in this beautifully written and entertaining story! Maggie Sims spins a fantastic tale with the perfect amount of heat and chemistry. Love it!” ~Raisa Greywood, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Club Apocalypse series PENELOPE’S PASSION “Penelope’s Passion is…a wonderful story of forbidden romance from two people in very different life circumstances just trying to do the right thing for both themselves and their families…readers who like an extra spicy historical romance will not want to miss out!” ~Golden Angel, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bridal Discipline series Althea’s Awakening by Maggie Sims School of Enlightenment Book Three This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. Althea’s Awakening COPYRIGHT © 2022 by Maggie Sims All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Contact Information: [email protected] Cover Art by Lisa Dawn MacDonald The Wild Rose Press, Inc. PO Box 708 Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708 Publishing History First Edition, 2023 Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-5092-4952-7 Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-4953-4 Published in the United States of America Dedication To @michelle_reads_romance, one of my first champions And to Becky, founder of Upturned Petticoats & Undone Cravats and The Ton & the Tartans FB groups This series would not be where it is without you both. Acknowledgments The writing community continues to amaze me with the level of support and guidance it offers. Diana Carlile, my Senior Editor, is amazing. She continually offers kind and helpful guidance and manages to make me laugh even as she teaches me a whole new language of “MM” and “WOD.” My openings will get better soon, I promise, Diana! My cover artist, Lisa Dawn MacDonald, gets me so many compliments on my covers. Lisa, those are yours, I hope I forward them enough. Golden Angel and Amy Sandas responded to cold calls from someone they’d never heard of, begging for cover quote reviews. Raisa Greywood also agreed to write one despite multiple releases of her own, leadership responsibilities in Passionate Ink, and the holidays, because she’s awesome. Melverna McFarlane, a fellow author and critique partner, helped me strengthen Evan’s second attempt at a grand gesture in this story. My circle of author friends, Leslie Grace, Jennifer Britt, Jena Doyle, and Cecilia Rene, are always there to help with a writing sprint, plot hole, blurb review or manuscript critique. Always, my real-life romance hero, Prologue July 1816, London Lady Althea Egerton fidgeted her hands in her garnet-hued skirts as she hovered near the veranda doors of the crowded ballroom. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected of a demi-monde ball, but thus far, most of the activities had mimicked any Ton fête. Her ward and third cousin, Beth Jenkins, had been vague when she begged Althea to accept the invitation to this party. “’Tis from a sponsor of the School of Enlightenment, thus very discreet. All the attendees will be vetted, and ’tis a perfect place for me to find someone to occupy my time so I shan’t be such a burden on you.” “You are never a burden.” Althea shook her head at her younger cousin. But the girl did have a point. Beth had too much time on her hands and was prone to mischief. She’d only been with Althea a month when she began wreaking havoc without an outlet for her freethinking approach to life. They’d found the school to broaden her horizons and buy Althea some time, but Beth had been home for two