The Return of Her Lost Knight

by Melissa Oliver

  Effortlessly, he gathered her into his arms, and bestowed upon her a kiss so gentle, yet so thorough and so decadent, she had no choice but to melt against him. And melt she certainly did, as it turned out that despite his tipsy state, Lucius Duff was irritatingly good at it. So good, to her horror, she sighed and looped her arms around his neck, completely powerless to do anything else.

  ‘Miss Hope! How could you?’ At Harlington’s outraged squeak, Lucius Duff paused only long enough to glare at him and hold out his hand, palm out.

  ‘Disappear, fool. Can’t you see that we’re busy here...?’ Then his dark eyes stared deeply into hers. That palm came back to rest intimately on the curve of her hip as his lips shamelessly whispered over hers again, playing havoc with her nerve endings a bit more and doing very peculiar things to her usually level head.

  When they heard the other man’s outraged footsteps stomp back over the gravel from whence he’d come, he laughed again, the deep rumble vibrating seductively through his chest to hers and reminding her that she was still shamelessly plastered against him.

  ‘He’s gone.’ He whispered the words against her mouth, his lips still barely millimetres from hers and his warm palm still splayed possessively across her hip.

  Panicked at her own shocking behaviour as well as outraged at his, Hope immediately pushed him away and scurried to her feet, breathless, stunned and mortifyingly off-kilter.

  ‘How dare you!’

  Lucius Duff blinked at her, bemused. ‘You asked me to do something drastic to get rid of him, so I did.’

  ‘I meant by using your height...’ She flapped her hands at his face. ‘Or your menacing looks to intimidate him!’

  ‘Then you might have been a bit more specific in your instructions as neither of those things sounds particularly drastic to me.’ He stood too, revealing the full extent of that impressive height as he towered over her, and had the nerve to look drunkenly offended by her anger. ‘Although I think my method was arguably just as effective and probably quicker.’ Then offended turned to smug as he folded his arms, looking every inch the conquering hero after a bloody ancient battle. ‘It worked a treat though, didn’t it? Your drooling hound is gone.’

  ‘But I got ravished in the process!’

  ‘If you consider that a ravishing, Hope, then clearly you are more nun-like and pious than I first thought.’ It was the pitying expression that fired her temper but it was his next ungentlemanly comment which unleashed the full force of it. ‘But I couldn’t help but notice you’re not quite pious enough not to have thoroughly kissed me back.’ The wolfish smile dared her to deny it.

  She saw red.

  Then white.

  Lunged, and with one well-aimed and furious push to the centre of his annoyingly solid, broad chest, sent him tumbling on his smug behind backwards into the pond with a hugely satisfying splash.

  Copyright © 2021 by Susan Merritt

  Love Harlequin romance?

  DISCOVER.

  Be the first to find out about promotions, news and exclusive content!

  Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks

  Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks

  Instagram.com/HarlequinBooks

  Pinterest.com/HarlequinBooks

  ReaderService.com

  EXPLORE.

  Sign up for the Harlequin e-newsletter and download a free book from any series at

  TryHarlequin.com

  CONNECT.

  Join our Harlequin community to share your thoughts and connect with other romance readers!

  Facebook.com/groups/HarlequinConnection

  ISBN-13: 9780369711021

  The Return of Her Lost Knight

  Copyright © 2021 by Maryam Oliver

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at CustomerService@Harlequin.com.

  Harlequin Enterprises ULC

  22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor

  Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada

  www.Harlequin.com