Sinful Seduction

by Jun, Kristi

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Sinful Seduction

  Copyright © 2020 Jinhee Jun

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the purchaser.

  Cover Art & Interior Formatting: © Qamber Designs and Media

  Developmental Editor: Bev Katz Rosenbaum

  Copy Editor: Deborah Dove

  Proofreader: Jennifer Jakes

  ISBN: 9798637601424

  BY KRISTI JUN

  (Available in ebook and print)

  REGNECY

  Enemy’s Kiss (Available on Amazon)

  THE SINFUL LADIES OF LONDON NOVELS

  Sinful Pleasures, Book 1 (Available on Amazon)

  Sinful Kiss, Book 2 (Available on Amazon)

  Sinful Seduction, Book 3 (Available Now)

  Sinful Thoughts, Book 4 (Fall 2020)

  ROMANTIC THRILLER

  BAYROCK CHRONICLES

  Jodi’s Shadow Book 1 (Summer 2020)

  www.kristijun.com

  For my mom: Young Hee Jun

  (December 16, 1950 ~ August 16, 2019)

  Thank you for this life, Mommy!

  Chapter 1

  April 1815

  Southampton, England

  “I need a fucking doctor,” Johnathan Hawk, the U.S. marshal, called out to the cluster of people gathered around him on the clipper ship headed back to America.

  Daniel—the one key witness who could help him apprehend Harris, the man who murdered his brother, Ethan—was lying on his back on the deck.

  He can’t die. It can’t end like this.

  Daniel had unwittingly witnessed the murder and offered to come forth with his testimony that his father’s men had indeed murdered Ethan.

  Johnathan frantically looked for signs of blood on Daniel’s chest. When he saw none, he sighed in relief. However, his breeches were soaked in blood, with more gathering on his left leg. Johnathan held Daniel’s left leg still with one hand, pulled out a bone knife, and tore the soaked breeches apart, yanking them free. It took several attempts, but when the leg was free, Johnathan was able to get a better look at the damage. His bone was intact for the most part, but there was damage to his skin and tissues and a lot of blood. What he needed was a damn doctor.

  “Am I going to die?” Daniel stammered, tears in his eyes.

  “No,” Johnathan said. “You will be fine, but you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  What he needed to do was stop the bleeding. He quickly untied his cravat and wrapped Daniel’s bleeding leg with the white cloth. Johnathan knew Harris meant to shoot at him, but Daniel got in the way. Harris’s own son, who was trying to do the right thing. How the hell could he run after shooting his own son?

  “I’m a doctor,” came a voice from the crowd. The older man wedged himself through the crowd of people and knelt next to Daniel. “I need my bag,” he said to the younger fellow right behind him. Quickly, the young man went to retrieve it.

  “Give the doctor some space,” Johnathan said, standing. He let the doctor care for Daniel. He looked at the young man and, trying his best to give him a reassuring smile, said, “You will be fine.”

  He walked over to the plank and saw the group of passengers standing by the carriage. “We have a bloody problem.”

  Several hours later, Lord Blackthorn escorted Lady Wentworth, his wife, and Kate back to London. Johnathan had discovered that Blackthorn and Roberts had both spied for the Home Office and served in the military and could be very helpful in finding the killer.

  In the colorful tavern where sailors took refuge, Johnathan and Roberts sat down in the back for some privacy. The killer was still on the loose, and Johnathan needed help to find him before he hurt someone else.

  “Do you know where Harris could be?” Roberts asked.

  “No, but maybe Kate has an idea,” Johnathan revealed. If given the chance, he would gladly shoot the son of a bitch. Harris had gone after his brother to save his own ass and his damn reputation.

  “He can’t go far on foot at his age,” Johnathan observed. “I need men on the port, maybe even at Dover, in case he tries to get to the Continent to hide out.”

  “Good idea,” Roberts said. “I know a few men who can use an extra assignment. They are reliable, good men. I’ll assign one in Dover and one here.”

  “I will need a sketch of that bastard too.”

  Roberts nodded. “I can get you one.”

  Johnathan took a big gulp of his beer. If it was the last thing he did, he was going to catch that killer.

  Chapter 2

  Johnathan Hawk . . .

  That bloody name.

  The thought of the U.S. marshal made her feel restless and irritated.

  Why? Because no matter what she tried, he seemed to occupy her mind night and day. Indeed, this would not do.

  Annoyed, Emily fell deeper into the seat of her carriage, quite unladylike. Why was she so fascinated with a stranger, a U.S. marshal of all people? According to her brother, Adam, the Duke of Kemp, he was a savage, an uneducated sort that had no breeding or ancestry. To her, he was irritatingly captivating. It seemed the more she had the opportunity to get to know the gentleman, the more mixed emotions she had for his never-ending quest for justice. She sighed heavily, wondering what that kind of life would be like.

  Looking at the hills and the sky above, she felt her world close in on her, not quite understanding why. She told herself this was not her concern and turned her thoughts to a more oppressing matter.

  Her brother was behaving rather oddly and had been preoccupied in the last month. She made a mental note to speak to him regarding this. Surely if there were any concerns, he would have brought them up to her. After all, they only had each other since the passing of their parents years ago. If something happened to him, she would be devastated. He was her guardian and, truth be told, someone she relied on.

  She gazed out the carriage window at the familiar landscape on the outskirts of London. The rolling hills and the soft tapping of the rain on the carriage soothed her. She savored the quiet while the carriage drove toward Blackthorn Estate.

  It was not a secret she suffered from loneliness. Her brother often went away on appointments and business that sometimes took weeks. He had left London yesterday and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, and the vast estate felt quite lonely. Although there were plenty of servants and staff on the estate, there was no one she could truly call a friend—until now.

  Kate, Amelia, and the darling children Amelia had adopted brought her so much joy in so many ways. She desired to have a family of her own too. For now, her friends were more than enough, and she was thankful for their friendship.

  Pulling her gaze away, her thoughts returned to the one man she willed herself to forget, but failed horribly. Was she so desperate that one sight of a handsome man would cause her to behave this way? Had she failed to recall the first time she was utterly humiliated? It was more like the sobering reality that a man she thought she had loved nearly ruined her life.

  She told herself she would not allow her heart to dictate her future again. No matter the circumstance. But it wasn’t that her heart was broken, because a br
oken heart can mend. It was that she couldn’t trust her own emotions anymore, and she had disappointed her brother, her only family, who had done all he could do to be a parent to her. She had honestly believed Mr. Mason White had loved her, and he had thoroughly convinced her of that. What a fool you were, she thought.

  The carriage turned a corner, and as Blackthorn Hall came into view in the distance, she smiled. As soon as the carriage had parked in the driveway, the butler opened the door to greet her just as the rain started to pour and the cold winds blew across the rolling hills. Thank goodness. She was glad to have arrived now as she did not want to be stuck out in the storm.

  She was instructed by the butler to wait for Lady Blackthorn in the parlor on the ground floor. She’d been in this room before, and there was a sense of formality stamped everywhere; it always felt as if she were standing in a wintery snowstorm. Lady Blackthorn had changed a few things in this room once she wed Lord Blackthorn not too long ago. Emily rather liked the new décor.

  In the corner of the room, a window overlooked the driveway and a perfectly manicured lawn. The large window was flanked by an oversized Chinese vase on a column. The rococo influence was clearly evident in the ornate moldings and the gilded decorations. Slowly walking deeper into the room, she observed the scene above her. The ceiling was ornately decorated in white and pale blue. The opulent circles bordered by pale blue worked outward like a blooming flower, as if expanding. In the center was a hanging crystal chandelier in the shape of a teardrop.

  The rug beneath her feet was a deep mix of blues with a Chinese influence. Emily chose a pale blue Chippendale chair that faced the matching settee and sat down. Gathering her gloved hands on her lap, she sat quietly and waited. Then, quite unladylike, her tummy rumbled, demanding food.

  The house seemed unusually quiet. Not even the barking of the three-legged dog today. What was his name, or rather her name? Poppy? No, Puppy. Emily smiled, recalling how Frances chased the fur ball around the hallway, her giggles ringing throughout the house. She’d finally caught up to the animal and given it a fat kiss on its head before carrying it up the stairs.

  When Amelia appeared at the door, she quickly walked up to Emily and embraced her tightly. The warm welcome comforted Emily.

  “What a delightful surprise.” Amelia gestured for her to sit closer to the fire. “You must be freezing. This dreadful weather isn’t helping any of us.”

  “It is getting a bit cold outside, but I am fine.”

  “Come,” Amelia said, placing the matching Chippendale chair closer to the warm fire in the hearth and gesturing again for Emily to join her. “Sit closer.”

  “Thank you,” Emily said, joining her.

  “You came alone?” Amelia asked, her tone curious.

  Emily lowered her gaze, unable to look at Lady Blackthorn. This was not the behavior of a proper lady. If her brother discovered she had traveled without her maid, he would be very displeased to say the least.

  Sometimes when her brother was away on business, she indulged. After all, Kemp Manor sometimes felt too . . . well . . . detached, if that made sense at all. The need to connect with her new friends was felt deeply in her heart.

  She would never think to travel alone, but being watched like a pet at times was suffocating. She’d only done this a few times when she was sure her brother would not discover it. Besides, in doing so, her maid was given some freedom to visit her family. After all, she deserved some time off, too, from waiting on her night and day.

  Lady Blackthorn reached out and held her friend’s hand. “You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

  Emily’s eyes lowered and she saw her friend’s new wedding ring, with a large, soft-pink diamond perfectly mounted in the center, on her slender finger. Love matches were so rare in her circle, and she wasn’t naïve about her circumstances. Yet, if she had to wed, she preferred to have a choice.

  Her brother had informed her not too long ago that she must choose a husband. The attempt to secure a husband was challenging since she neither had the talent for conversing with the opposite sex nor the desire to be in the company of people she hardly knew.

  Was there a way to have a family without acquiring a husband? There must be children who needed a home. She couldn’t see how that would be possible without getting married, at least for her. But Amelia was brave enough to adopt the six girls and give them a loving home.

  Once again, Emily’s tummy rumbled embarrassingly, and both women subdued grins. “How are the children?” Emily said, trying to change the subject.

  “Frances is not well,” Lady Blackthorn informed her.

  “How terrible.” Frances was a spirited girl and the youngest of the six girls. She seemed to adapt well to the change in their life after losing their mother last month. “Will she be all right?”

  “The doctor was here last night, and he thinks she will recover. Her fever broke about an hour ago, so you can imagine how relieved we all were.”

  “That is good to hear,” Emily said with a smile. Both of her parents had died of fever when she was barely old enough to remember their faces. She supposed it was better not knowing what she’d lost, but it didn’t lessen the pain of not having parents.

  At the sound of Kate’s voice, both women looked in the direction of the door.

  “Frances demands your presence,” Kate said, entering the parlor. “Hello, dear friend,” she said, walking up to Emily and giving her a kiss on her cheek.

  “Demand, does she?” Amelia stood to attend to the girl. “She must be feeling better,” she said as she lifted her skirt and started toward the door.

  Kate gave her a reassuring smile. “Yes. Their nurse made sure she had some soup the cook made for her just now. That monstrous dog won’t leave her side.”

  “They are kindred spirits, aren’t they?” Emily said with a sigh.

  “Fever is a dreadful thing and I would never wish it on anyone. We were very thankful to have Miss Quinn here with us. She has been more than helpful with the girls during this trying time.”

  Emily knew Miss Juliana Quinn was the girls’ governess, and she was very much loved by the girls. Kate walked to the decorative wooden chair near the neoclassical fireplace with marble inserts and sat down where Lady Blackthorn had been sitting.

  “So . . .?” Kate’s brow quirked upward as she spoke. She was never one to be discreet, and at times Emily wished she had the same courage to speak out and say what was in her mind. “How are you faring?”

  “Why do you ask?” Kate had that mischievous smile, and Emily wondered what she was contriving in her head.

  Kate’s smile faded. “Please don’t misunderstand, and know that what I am about to say comes from a good place.”

  “Go on . . .” Emily said.

  “It’s about Johnathan,” Kate started.

  Emily had spent more time than she ought either thinking about Mr. Hawk or trying not to think about him. She knew her fascination had to remain just that. Even her brother, Adam, made it very clear that while the marshal had a great many abilities to survive, he wasn’t her kind. In fact, he had used the word “savage” more than once in regard to him, including his lack of breeding and civility. Was it possible that her brother knew of her attraction for the American? Either way, she needed to tread carefully.

  “Oh?” She felt exposed for the entire world to judge her, and she feared Kate understood her too well.

  “Forgive my bluntness,” Kate said, “but what are your feelings about him?”

  The room was starting to close in on her. Her feelings? Dare she say it? Her face was getting hot all of a sudden. “My feelings?” Kate looked at her very curiously. Tread carefully. “I have no feelings,” she said. “Other than my fondness for his duty and honor.”

  “Really?” Kate said in a tone that indicated she clearly saw right through her.

 
Emily didn’t know what else to say. Honestly, what else could she say? Kate had been a true friend, and she deserved the truth, didn’t she? “I am hopeless, aren’t I?”

  “You are not hopeless,” Kate said with a faint smile. “Living in the streets for so many years as a child forced me to pay attention.”

  Her brother would surely have her married off this instant if he knew the thoughts running through her mind about Mr. Hawk. To her, he was wild and untouchable. Exciting. His savage blond hair had streaks of gold that reminded her of the golden sun. His eyes were like fire, full of life and energy. Every essence of him, every streak of his visible skin and his movements, played out in her mind like a wild drama, and she the audience whose heart had been claimed by the arrow of the cupid.

  Shameless.

  Stop, stop, stop. What is the matter with you?

  While she might admit it to herself, she was not about to reveal to anyone that the tall, handsome marshal made her heart leap every time he entered the room. At times, she discovered she’d been staring at the man like a fool, reminding herself how idiotic she was behaving. But she could imagine, couldn’t she? No one could take that away from her. But it seemed even that was becoming too obvious.

  Before Emily could make her reply, Kate continued. “There is nothing I want more than to see you happy. I believe every woman deserves to follow her heart, whatever form that comes in. I would have never believed it if you told me I would be marrying Kane Roberts.”

  “I am so very happy for you,” Emily said.

  “So, in turn, my dear friend, I want to help you.”

  “I don’t understand,” Emily said. What could Kate possibly do to help her? She’d already done enough by inviting her into her life and introducing her to the girls.

  “I think with a little nudge, you and Johnathan—”