ANCIENT TIES
An Erotic Time Travel Romance
by Jane Leopold Quinn
A Roman Soldier Spoke to Me
Thanks so much, Sabrina, for hosting Ancient Ties on the day of its re-release.
Finally, after reading many British authors and especially Jane Austin, I made my first trip to England. It'd always been fascinated by the ancient world - Rome, Greece, Egypt. The British Museum in London was a treasure trove, and the Rosetta Stone was one of the many highlights.
But what turned out to be the best for me was the Roman Museum at Bath, touring the baths, and seeing the surviving artifacts. I was totally in love with everything there and had no idea the real impact Bath would have on my life.
I took photos of everything I could see - statues, pediments, mosaics, and a row of tombstones. Roman soldiers' tombstones. I took a photo then moved on. The actual bath itself was much smaller than I'd thought but more impressive and beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
When I got home, I had my photos developed - yes, this was years before digital cameras. All the pictures turned out very well except for the one of the tombstone. The edges of the stone were sharp, but the center where it was carved was hazy. Darn! I told my friends that the Roman soldier's spirit was coming out to meet me. Haha.
About a month after that trip, I met the man who became my husband [there's another blog post about that]. After we'd been married a couple of years, we went back to England (he'd never been) and our tour visited some of the places I'd already seen. Bath and the Roman Museum was a repeat. I wanted to retake the tombstone photo and hoped it would come out clear this time. I wouldn't know until we got home, because I still didn't have a digital camera.
The photo was clear! This time I claimed the carving was clear because the soldier approved of my new husband.
After another many years, I began writing romance. One of my first inspirations was to write a story about an third-grade Iowan school teacher (I'd been a third-grade teacher in Dubuque, Iowa) who visits England and goes back in time to the Second Century Roman Britain. Oh, yeah, and she meets a Roman soldier.
After much research about Roman life in the Second Century, villas, clothing, gods and goddesses, the baths, and ancient culture, I ended up with Ancient Ties. Easy peasy. Not. But it was a labor of great love and satisfaction.
I have several more blog posts scheduled to celebrate the re-release of Ancient Ties and to continue the conversation. Please feel free to go to any posts. There are several different topics:
May 28, Sabrina York - http://thedecadentdivas.blogspot.com
May 28, my blog -
June 3, Anna Markland - http://www.annamarkland.com/
June 4, Kryssie Fortune - https://kryssiefortune.wordpress.com
June 5, Tina Donahue - http://www.tinadonahue.com/
June 8, Alicia Dean - http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/
June 10, Romance Lives Forever - http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.com
June 12, Delilah Devlin - http://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/
June 19, Jessie Clever - http://jessieclever.com/blog/
Nursing a broken heart, Janney Forrester flies to England for a much needed vacation. She gets one—and much more. A drive through the countryside and the sight of a mysterious heavy gold bracelet found nestled against ruined walls draw her across the crumbling stone threshold of an ancient villa where she beholds a Roman room in perfect historical detail. To add to the unreality, there's the most gorgeous, masculine man she's ever seen, her every sensual fantasy personified. Confusion by what's happening to her vies with attraction when Janney is thrust two thousand years into the past.
Roman soldier Marek Benin Verus considers the woman suddenly appearing before him as a gift from the gods. Zeus knows he needs one! Battle fatigued and emotionally scarred after fifteen years in the army, he's on a leave of absence and has all the time in the world to devote to seducing this beautiful woman into his bed. He doesn't plan on the powerful and dangerous emotions she inspires in him.
Marek's hard, muscular body is too luscious to resist. Janney decides to risk the comfort of her safe life and carpe diem—seize the day. Marek seizes her body and takes her to the edge—and over—to an ecstasy she never knew existed. Can a new world for her, timeless desire, and a loving exploration of each other's bodies forge a passion that survives centuries of separation?
Setting the scene: One late night in the baths…
Very late one night, after making sure all the servants were asleep in their beds, Marek swept Janney into his arms and headed for the baths. He settled her waist deep into the warm water, her back snuggled up against his chest and between his knees as he sat behind her on a step.
It was a dreamscape, the air above them steamy. Soft candlelight threw flickering shadows. She'd had just enough wine to feel relaxed, loose. She never questioned Marek when it came to these sensual amusements. He always knew exactly what he was doing, and she always received the maximum pleasure from them. Sighing and purring like a cat, she stretched back, arching her neck. His fingers caressed her, teasing and rolling her nipples as he brushed his lips over her shoulder. With the combination of his hot breath bathing her skin and the water gently lapping around her body, she felt as if she was going further and further under in a trance. A wonderful trance that made her feel safe and cared for—and loved.
From her position lying back against his chest in a hypnotized state, eyes narrowed, breathing shallow, she watched his hands slipping over and around her breasts. Her tongue scraped her upper teeth. She hadn't known before how much pleasure there could be in watching him squeeze and play with her. She arched up into his hands. Even well acquainted with his lovemaking, she still marveled at what he could do to her body. Uncontrollably, she stretched again, offering even more of herself. "Ah God." She clutched the nape of his neck.
"Janney," he ground out, his hot tongue flicking into her ear.
The torture was delicious.
He slid his hand down her body. She cried out at the loss of pressure to her nipple, her head rolled from side to side in protest, then stopped when his fingers pressed between her legs. "Ah, yes." She rocked her hips up and agreeably parted her thighs, snuggling even further, if it was possible, into his embrace.
Under the water he fondled her, stroked her, sliding his fingers along both sides of her throbbing clit and circling around the entrance to her body. A low strangled growl escaped her. He knew so absolutely what pleased her. She had to bite her lower lip to keep her cries low, her throat aching with the frustration of holding them in. She didn't want any of the servants hearing them.
"Let it go, Janney. I want to hear you," he rumbled in her ear, his warm tongue spearing inside.
"Someone…" she gasped, her scalp prickling in ecstasy.
"No one will come," he assured her. "Except you." He gently thrust his finger inside her.
AUTHOR BIO
Sensual fantasies were locked in my mind for years until a friend said, "Why don't you write them down?" Why not, indeed? One spiral notebook, a pen and the unleashing of my imagination later, and here I am with more than a dozen books published. The craft of writing erotic romance has become my passion and my niche in life. I love every part of the creative process—developing characters, designing the plot, even drawing the layout of physical spaces from my stories. My careers have been varied—third grade school teacher, bookkeeper, secretary—none of which gave me a bit of inspiration. But now I'm lucky enough to write romance full time—the best job in the universe! And I'm fortunate enough to have found my own happily ever after husband.
Jane Leopold Quinn
My Romance: Love With a Scorching Sensuality
Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/1DfiXkP
My Books
Indie
Scorching Mini Tales—Educating Eris and My Parisian Sabbatical (coming soon)
Siren
Ellora's Cave
Thank you to the Decadent Divas! I am so happy and excited that Ancient Ties is out again. Who wouldn't want to meet a Roman soldier?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Ancient Ties is being re-released. I found it on a friend's e-reader four years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can get my own copy now! Best luck, Jane.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rose, for your constant support.
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