Welcome to the 81st week of My Sexy Saturday! 

This week’s theme is My Sexy Addiction. We are going to say just one thing and that’s about the song Addicted to Love. You remember it…don’t you? How about the line ‘You might as well face it you’re addicted to love’? And doesn’t that just say it all about the bloggers and authors who take part in My Sexy Saturday?

We are addicted to love and all its many facets. Sexiness can happen anywhere, anytime, day or night. People fall in love in many different ways. It could be on a date, at a school dance, on a hike, with the boy or girl next door, just anywhere two or sometimes more people or beings are drawn together because of that feeling called love.

We all want to read about those special moments where our characters realize there is an emotional bond between them. It can happen on an average day, during the night, in the middle of a zombie invasion or maybe a place where it’s hard to tell the day from the night like in a submarine or deep in space. The one thing we do know it’s going to sizzle!

The rules of My Sexy Saturday are simple. The post must be 7 paragraphs or 7 sentences or 7 words only. My own Sexy Saturday contribution this week is a 7 paragraph excerpt from, Legacy of Darkness, the first book in The Jago Legacy Series. 

Excerpt
It was as if nothing had happened between us. Uther was cool and aloof toward me, and I began to wonder if I had imagined our intimacy. Or perhaps he was regretting his actions? I was, after all, a young female relative—however distant—and dependent on him, the head of the household, for protection. His conduct toward me had not exactly been protective…or gentlemanly! I hoped it was reasons of propriety, and not the alternative—that he had no wish to repeat the experience—that prompted this new circumspection. 

My answer came a few days after our visit to Port Isaac.    

“Take your clothes off.” Uther marched into my bedchamber, slamming the door closed and turning the key in the lock. I looked up from my book in surprise. It was early evening, and he had clearly just returned from riding. Mud splattered his boots and breeches and his dark hair was in disarray. “Now,” he said coldly, his eyes narrowing with impatience. 

A discordant and highly inappropriate thought flitted through my mind. My stern governess had not bethought herself to inform me of the etiquette of an occasion such as this. How should a young lady respond when an unmarried gentleman bursts into her room and orders her to undress? This was a part of my education that had been sadly neglected. A secret smile touched my lips. I would have to improvise. I rose from my chair and began to undo the buttons at the back of my dress. Although I struggled a little, Uther did not come to my aid. He strode about the room, a slight frown marring his brow. I indicated my tightly laced corsets helplessly, and he clicked his tongue in exasperation. I held onto the bedpost, glad of its support as he roughly jerked the laces free and threw the offending corset across the room. With a swift, unexpected action, he caught hold of the fine cotton of my bloomers in both hands and ripped the delicate material apart so that the ruined garment fell about my ankles. I stepped out of it. 

“Sit here.” He indicated the small chaise that occupied a corner of the room. In thrall to that mesmerising power he had over me, I continued to do as he asked without question. He prowled the room, fetching a branch of candles and placing it close by so that I was bathed in golden, flickering light. He stepped back, studying the scene. By this time I was quivering with desire.

“Lean back,” he ordered, and I allowed my head to fall back so that my neck was exposed and my breasts tilted skyward. I already knew how much he liked my breasts. In the cottage, he had spent an inordinate amount of time admiring them from all angles, stroking, squeezing and tasting. He was fascinated at how their rose-pale tips darkened at a touch of his hand, a flick of his tongue or sometimes even a glance from those gold-flecked eyes. Pausing now, he leaned over me, placing his lips over my nipple and suckling it with infinite tenderness. I tangled my hands in his hair to hold him there, but he laughed and moved away again.

“Raise your legs.” He demonstrated what he meant by grasping one ankle and lifting my foot onto the velvet surface of the chaise. He repeated the action with the other leg and then spent long, thoughtful minutes studying me. I blushed to be so exposed to his gaze, but, at the same time, exulted at the look of pleasure in his eyes. Turning away, he brought the small hand mirror from the dressing table over to me.

“See how beautiful you are, Lucia?” He placed the mirror in my hand and angled it so that I could view my own vulva. “See how pretty and pink, like flower petals unfolding?” He used his fingers to hold my outer lips apart while I watched in fascination. “You are wet already. Can you see that, Lucia?” One long finger pressed into the slick depths and he withdrew it, holding it up to show me the moisture that glistened there. “There is nothing more beautiful. It tells me how much you want me here.” His fingers returned to delve and stroke some more. “And here.” As I watched my reflection, he circled the tiny pink bud that throbbed so insistently for his touch. I arched my back, closing my eyes in rapture. “Not yet,” he whispered. “Keep looking.” He knelt before me. “Watch as my tongue tastes this precious nectar….” 

Legacy of Darkness is available from Amazon: 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TG2HV0U

If you want to find out more about My Sexy Saturday, please follow this link: http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-sexy-addiction-mysexysaturday.html 

Don't forget to check out this week's other My Sexy Saturday Bloggers!
http://lilyharlem.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-sexy-addiction-mysexysaturday.html
http://bronwynheeley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/mysexysaturday-week-81.html
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.co.uk/
http://sjmaylee.com/
http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/
http://colettesaucier.blogspot.co.uk/
http://tiffanyleeauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-sexy-addiction.html
http://reilygarrett.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-sexy-saturday.html
https://authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com/
http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/my-sexy-saturday/my-sexy-saturday-60-my-sexy-addiction-mysexysaturday/
http://www.carlycarson.com/?p=1263
http://alexisduranblog.com/
http://twentysixkeys.blogspot.co.uk/
http://angelvoisen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/an-addictive-sexy-saturday-mms-81.html
http://louisabacio.blogspot.co.uk/
http://ashebarker.com/2015/02/28/mysexysaturday%E2%80%A6dicted-to-love
http://lynn-crandall.com/
http://www.lynncrain.blogspot.co.uk/
http://forromanceloversonly.blogspot.ca/
https://breeguildforderotica.wordpress.com/
http://www.darahlace.blogspot.co.uk/
http://demelzacarlton.com/
http://dlindunauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
http://tmoniquestephens.com/
http://wwwdiverseviews.blogspot.co.uk/
http://janarichards.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-sexy-saturday-one-more-second-chance.html
http://shylawolff.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=1lgkz0sBAAA.MJyKp7hd-RDiEt8uPcQMdg.5MqlE8_RC1FgckhpCExyVA&postId=8212835404050998990&
http://saradanielromance.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/addicted-to-love-once-upon-marriage.html
http://reilygarrett.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=Vxkvz0sBAAA.8K8dqhNAsR_QaQ5o5TSTRQ.gs2ltCoUMFqru_wCwVgnww&postId=546400671595445998&
http://machurch00.blogspot.co.uk/
http://christianefrance.blogspot.ca/
https://fingerstothekeys.wordpress.com/
http://deeannpalmer.blogspot.co.uk/
http://margobondcollins.com/2015/02/28/my-sexy-saturday-hop-taming/
https://scarlethawthorne.wordpress.com/
http://pickagenrealready.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/Gard.html
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.shelleymunro.com/blog/
http://sexyforreview.blogspot.co.uk/
http://arlenehittle.com/mysexysaturday-my-sexy-addiction
http://www.kristaames.com/
http://titlemagic.blogspot.co.uk/
https://snippetsandsneaks.wordpress.com/
https://dravenstjames.wordpress.com/
https://authoramandabretz.wordpress.com/
http://arielstorm.blogspot.co.uk/
http://amberleaeaston.blogspot.co.uk/
http://authordakotaskye.blogspot.co.uk/

One of the real-life characters who makes a brief guest appearance in two of my books is none other than Giacomo Girolamo Casanova. I'm going to write several blog posts over the next few weeks, telling the story of Casanova's fascinating and scandalous life. This post is an introduction to one of history's most enduring and interesting characters.

Born on 2 April 1725 in Venice, Casanova was an Italian adventurer and author who is remembered best for his libertine propensities. Indeed, he has become so famous for his convoluted liaisons that his very name is used to signify a womaniser. 

Casanova used several pseudonyms, the most frequent being Chevalier de Seingalt. He also published in French under the name Jacques Casanova de Seingalt. Casanova befriended European royals, popes and cardinals, along with the celebrities of his day including Voltaire, Goethe and Mozart. 

What interests me most about Casanova, as I've been researching his life, is his easy writing style. He really is very readable. And he was able to laugh at himself. Quite a feat. He comes across as a likable man and I didn't expect to find myself warming to history's most infamous womaniser. 

He spent his last years in Bohemia, where he wrote his autobiography, 'Histoire de ma vie', which is widely acknowledged as one of the most authentic descriptions of European social life during the 18th century. He died on 4th June 1798.

'The Best Mind and the Worst Character'
I love to include real life historical characters in my books. One of these, who features in 'A Hostage for the Corsair' (a current work in progress in my Georgian Rebel Series), is the famous French salonnière, Madame du Deffand. 
Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond was born at the Château de Chamrond, in Ligny-en-Brionnais, daughter of a noble French family. During her schooling at a convent in Paris, she showed great intelligence and a caustic, witty turn of mind which alarmed the abbess. Her parents arranged her marriage at the age of twenty one to her kinsman, Jean Baptiste de la Lande, Marquis du Deffand, without consulting her. The marriage was an unhappy one, and the couple separated in 1722. 
Madame du Deffand is said by Horace Walpole to have been for a short time the mistress of the regent, the Duc de Orléans. She appeared to be quite incapable of forming strong attachments, but her intelligence, her cynicism and her wit made her the centre of a brilliant circle. In 1721 she began a friendship with Voltaire, with whom she later regularly corresponded. She spent much time at Sceaux, at the court of the Duchesse du Maine, where she struck up a close friendship with President Henault. In Paris the members of her salon included Voltaire, Montesquieu, Fontelle and Madame de Staal-Delaunay. Madame du Deffand is described as having the best mind and the worst character among the salonnières. She was proud, cynical, openly selfish, and one historian even referred to her as a ‘she-cat’. 
In 1752 she retired from Paris, intending to remain in the country, but she was persuaded by her friends to return. She took up residence in 1747 in apartments in the convent of Saint-Joseph in the rue Saint-Dominique. When Madame du Deffand lost her sight in 1754, she engaged a young relative, Mademoiselle de Lespinasse, to help her in entertaining. Some of the guests, including D'Alembert, preferred the society of Mademoiselle de Lespinasse leading to an arrangement where she received visitors for an hour before her patron appeared. When this was discovered in 1764, Madame du Deffand dismissed Mademoiselle de Lespinasse and the salon broke up. 
The principal friendship of Madame du Deffand’s later years was with Horace Walpole, who became the strongest and longest-lasting of all her attachments. Walpole refused at first to acknowledge their closeness due to a fear of being ridiculed because of his friend’s age. He did, however, pay several visits to Paris expressly for the purpose of enjoying her society, and maintained a close correspondence with her for fifteen years. On her death in 1780, Madame du Deffand left her dog Tonton to the care of Walpole, who was also entrusted with her papers. 
Some of the Famous Sayings of Madame du Deffand: 
1. In a letter to Horace Walpole in 1767 she says that Cardinal de Polignac, who was a great talker, had given her an account of the martyrdom of St. Denis at Montmartre, who, after his decapitation, had walked two leagues with his head in his hands. Her reply was, “The distance is nothing: it is only the first step that costs” (La distance n’y fait rien: il n’y a que le premier pas qui coûte). 
2. “The things that cannot be known to us are not necessary to us.” 
3. “Vanity ruins more women than love.” 
4. “Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weakness.” 
5. She said she preferred “an old acquaintance to a new friend.” 
6. When discussing Helvétius' book On the Mind and his point that all human motives are egoistic, she remarked, "Bah, he has only revealed everyone's secret." 
7. “How happy one would be if one could throw off one’s self as one throws off others!” This was illustrated when she went out to supper on the day of the death of M. Pont-de-Veyle, an close friend for forty years. The conversation turned upon her loss: “Alas!” she said, “He died at six this evening: otherwise you would not see me here” (sans cela vous ne me verriez pas ici). 
8. When a remark was made that Voltaire, as an historian, did not have much imagination, Madame du Deffand exclaimed, “What more can you ask? He has invented history!” (Que voulez-vous de plus? Il a inventé l’histoire!). Voltaire himself, when accused of changing the circumstances of an event in the life of Charles XII for effect, appeared to support her statement. “Confess,” he was challenged, “That it did not occur as you have told it.” “Confess,” replied Voltaire, “That it is better as I have told it.”