Redemption for a Rogue (The Regimental Heroes) (4 page)

“Why is mama crying?” Charlie asked.

Vivienne sniffed and brushed back her tears. “I’m happy.”

John turned to face the Charlie. “I asked your mama to marry me. Can I have your approval, boys?”

Charlie grinned revealing a missing front tooth. “Does this mean that Graeme will be my
real
brother?”

“Yes. Graeme will be your brother… that is if your mother says yes.” He looked at her and kissed her hand. “Say yes, please, say yes.”

“Yes, John. I’ll marry you.”

The little boys jumped up and down, hugging each other.

It was a good day.

Chapter 6

The wedding and then the giddy anticipation of being alone with John made Vivienne’s skin tingle. John closed the door, flipped the key in the lock and dimmed the lamp. Desire was evident on his face when he turned to face her.

“Come out with me. The moon is full and shining for us.” Dressed in black with a white shirt and cravat, John was heart-stopping handsome. He took her hand and led her out the door of the master bedroom and on to the balcony. They faced the horizon. “Lady Mitchell, I happily share all this with you.”

She smiled. “I must insist that you call me Vivienne.”

He slid his hands up her bare arms and grinned. “Vivienne seems too simple for daily use. I will call you my wife or…better yet, my love.” He stroked his fingers against her cheek.

He let her tug his head lower and draw him in for a kiss. Vivienne nudged higher on her toes to increase the pressure on their mouths. She swayed as he ran a hand around her waist and tugged her tight. His gentle mouth coaxed hers until she parted her lips in surrender. He tasted sweet and salty with a hint of the wine from dinner.

Now as his wife, she knew this kiss was different. It didn’t need to end, it could go on until neither of them could breathe. John traced the fullness of her bottom lip with his tongue. John released her arm and slowly slid a hand up the bodice of her gown to cup her breast. Vivienne wasn’t sure if that small moan she heard was hers or his. He toyed with the fine berry of her nipple until she mindlessly wished for more. He kissed a path down her throat. It involved lips, tongue and teeth. The intimate bulge of his ferocious erection was rigid against the fabric of her belly.

“Inside…” she said, breathless. Wanting him. Needing him.

“No.” He shook his head and smiled. “Out here in the moonlight, I want to see you like the angel you are.” John plucked at the ribbons until the neckline gave way and her breast popped free. He slipped a hand inside her gown. The heat of him seemed to be everywhere as his hands warmed her skin in the cool night air.

The minty sent his hair trailed to her nose as he kissed a path down her throat and then took a nipple between his lips. She made a sound between a whimper and a gasp as he applied his tongue with skill. As he continued to kiss her senseless, his fingers deftly undid the buttons, ties, and laces, leaving her to stand in nothing but a transparent chemise and drawers.

John stepped away to take her in and swallowed audibly. “You are so… beautiful.”

Vivienne was no innocent, but with John’s eyes boring into hers, this felt like the first time. His gaze left her shy, but emblazoned. “Would you like me to remove my remaining under things?” she asked, toying with the ribbons.

He nodded and seemed to be at a loss for words.

She edged the chemise over her head and dropped the drawers to the balcony floor. With him watching her, the staggering rush of heat she felt was almost too much.

He grabbed her, whisked her off her feet, and strode into the bedroom. “I have changed my mind,” John said in a husky growl. “I will make love to you in many places, but the first place is in my bed.”

He tugged off his clothing piece by piece, until he stood naked in the glow of the lamplight. His magnificent golden body was masculine, muscled, beautiful and hers.

John came to her. She explored the dark hair that covered his chest scoring her nails lightly over his skin as she dropped her hand. A low moan in his throat vibrated through her. She took him in her hand.

He rocked into her fingers and she could feel the tremble in his body. His fists were motionless at his thighs, but his breathing was rough and ragged. He grew thicker in her fist as she tested her power over him, taking him to what she hoped was a breaking point.

“Holly mother of God,” he said in a rush. “I want to be inside you. With a touch as sweet as yours, this will be over too soon.” He tumbled her onto the bed making both of them laugh.

John kissed what seemed to be every inch of her. Lust roared as he explored all the places that made her writhe. How could the insides of her elbows be sensitive?

He pushed up, holding himself on strong arms and touched her hair. “Never in my life could I believe I would ever be this happy.”

Vivienne cupped his face. “I have thought of this night so many times.”

“I have thought of little else. I want you so much I burn.” He traced his finger on her lips and then slid the same kiss-dampened finger inside the slick heat between her legs. Through her damp curls, his finger moved over her again. “Is this how you like to be touched, Lady Mitchell?”

She pressed against his hand. He continued harder, and then softer, until lighting arched her body. She cried out.

“Yes. That is how we should start,” he said with a hint of satisfaction. Vivienne was distantly aware of his words and saw a faint smile on his lips when she opened her eyes.

John moved his hips rubbing in slow and erotic circles against her. Light headed from emotion, he kissed her until their breathing grew ragged. Taking hold of his sex, he eased into her inch by delicious inch. Her body clenched tight around his member and she sighed, savoring the moment, before she began to move with him slow at first but then quickened the pace. Shifting, Vivienne angled her hips to deepen his thrusts. A bead of perspiration traveled along his forehead and down his jaw line.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“Say it again. Please. Say it again.” John began to move, filling her completely with each stroke. Deeper. Longer. Faster.

“I love you.” She gasped as her own release took her again. Never had it been like this. Amazing. Complete.

“
Vivienne
.” His body bucked forward and stiffened, as he filled her. He closed his eyes and stilled, touching his forehead to hers. “Tell me this is not a dream and it will all disappear if I open my eyes.”

“It is not a dream, husband. This is the life you deserve, one filled with happiness. I will make sure of that.”

Life can change in a moment, but sometime happiness is worth waiting for.

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The Wounded Nobleman

Ellis Garrison, the son of an Earl, once had much more to offer the beautiful, Callie Dunning. Now he’s returned from the war. The war that left him near death and forced to walk with a cane. When Callie nearly sacrifices her safety to save one of Ellis’s new carriage horses from being shot by a stable hand, Ellis sees a change in Callie. She is not the spoiled, rich girl he knew.

Damage is not always external. Some is inside the soul.

Will Callie and Ellis rekindle the mutual attraction they once shared and be able to work through their wounds to give love another chance?

Review: Ms. Conner strikes home with her Wounded Nobleman. Her battle scarred, Victorian hero connects with the modern reader’s empathy for fighting men of all eras and what it takes to help heal them – Chris Karlsen

Excerpt:

Ellis Garrison breathed in the scent of fresh cut
hay as he refolded the heavy wool horse blanket and threw it over the stable gate. He loved the smell. It reminded him of spring and everything new.  He began to straighten when his ears filled with a horse’s panicked cry. The hair on his arms rose.

  The cry came again.
Good God!
He knew the sounds of all his beasts with his back turned. He did not recognize it. It had to be the new horse he had taken on yesterday against his better judgment.

  He looked around for his cane. It had been over eight months and he still wasn’t used to using it, or keeping track of where he’d propped it. Why could he never find the bloody thing when he needed it?

  The horse cried again, this time the protest mixed with the curses from his stable hand.

  He dragged his wounded leg and limped out of the barn towards the shouts. Ellis raised his hand against the bright light and squinted at the sun over head. The Friesian, Liber, reared up on his hind legs over the stable hand sprawled on his back in the dirt. The man fumbled under his dirty coat and pulled out a pistol.

  “No!” a female voice cried. “He’s only scared. Don’t shoot him!”

 
Callie Dunning?
What the bloody hell was she doing here? The feather-brained chit was going to get herself stamped to death or shot if she carried on like this.
Should I care?
She’d crushed his heart before he’d left for the war.

The Reluctant Heir

Clarke, the Earl of Garrison, has returned from war with a dark secret. He holds himself responsible for the death of the younger brother of the woman he loves.

Will Adeline be able to unearth the truth as romance and intrigue deepens? Is she strong enough to help Clarke come to grips with the emotional damage and nightmares which plague him?

The second installment in the Regimental Heroes series, The Reluctant Heir brings a bold heroine and scarred hero together in a well-crafted historical romance.

Excerpt:

Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyso

Chapter 1

England, 1855

Clarke Garrison watched Adeline walk across the vast lawn of the estate. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was compelled to watch her every move. They’d known each other since childhood. 

Adeline wasn’t a child any longer.

Her dark hair hung to her waist in curls that only accentuated her deep blue eyes and porcelain skin. Womanly curves filled her white and blue flowered cotton dress nicely making his mouth dry. She was hands down one of the most beautiful women in this part of the shire, but there was something about her that set her apart from all others. She’d proved to him she was strong and resilient, not a shy maiden like many he’d met. He hated those giggling, silly girls his mother kept introducing him to. Even after the tragedy she’d endured, she’d held her head high and looked others in the eye when they spoke to her. 

He didn’t know why he chose to put himself through this torture day after day. He’d avoided Adeline at every turn possible since his return from the Crimea war.  If she knew the truth, he was the last person she would ever want to talk to.

He was responsible for her brother’s death.

The Duke and the Lost Night

Amelia arrives on the doorstep of her childhood friend, the Duke, in the middle of the night with an outrageous plan. If he agrees to ruin her, then she won’t be required to marry the cad she doesn’t love.

Will Spencer do what she desires and go along with her idea, or does he have a very unexpected plan of his own?

Excerpt:

Amelia raised and lowered her hand three times before she finally rapped her knuckles on the heavy wood door. She’d known Spencer since they were children, but tonight was different. She hadn’t seen him in almost a year, but she was going to have to take advantage of their friendship. There was nothing he could do about it.

There was one thing he could do, he could say no.

She knew he was inside, she saw him walk by the window. Why was he taking so interminably long to answer the door? She raised her hand to knock again, irritation replacing nerves.

He liked to spend time in his smaller guest house, by himself. Spencer grew up in a life of luxury, but that didn’t mean he particularly liked servants. Unlike most dukes, she knew he preferred to live without people constantly under foot.

She almost stumbled forward as the door swung open.

“Amelia?” Surprise washed over Spencer’s face. He looked back in the room at the clock above the fireplace. “It’s half-past one. What in God’s name are you doing out at this hour?” He drew the suspenders over his shoulder, but he was still partially undressed.

“I need to talk to you.” Her nerves were frayed. She fought to keep the tremor from her voice.