by Laura Parker
Japonica felt wicked and scandalized and very, very happy. Who knew that one could make love in the out-of-doors in the full light of day within shouting distance of a wedding party that, thankfully, would never think to look here for them.
Above their heads vines laced the vaulted canopy of the folly and kept all but a few filtered sunrays from entering the chamber. Devlyn had spread his jacket and her spencer upon the wooden floorboards to make a makeshift bed that seemed to her as pleasant as a down tick.
Lying by his side, her fingers interlaced with his, she reveled in the passion so quickly spent between them. Other less volatile feelings lingered between them. The intense feelings of tenderness and protectiveness and this overwhelming vulnerability to another were a part of love, and of loving this man. That realization no longer frightened her. All the words had been said and, in the end, it was loving and being loved that led up to this moment of contentment.
She did not protest when he lifted her skirts a second time. She simply closed her eyes and gave in to the feelings that had first beckoned her into his embrace. This time there was only trust and honesty and the understanding of a future to be shared.
Later, Devlyn ran a loving finger over the telltale marks of motherhood he had not been able to see in the dark the other time they made love. He bent and kissed the faint striations. When her hand came up to hold his head to her belly, he smiled. She had no false modesty to interfere with their happiness. They would be very happy together, that they would.
“Why did you stay away so long?”
His voice came to her softly through the green shadows. “To give you time to be certain.”
“I am certain. I always was. I did not enjoy a single moment of your absence.”
“Good.” He lifted his head, his golden cat’s eyes shining in the umbra. “Then you will not mind if we are not seen for some time beyond the grounds of this estate?” He bent to kiss her mouth softly. “It may be some weeks before I am willing even to leave your bed.”
Japonica chuckled as his crisp hair tickled her belly. “Do you not fear you will grow very tired of the same fare, my lord?”
“I should first grow tired of my own breath and body. So when will you marry me?”
Japonica smiled. “I suppose it should be soon.”
“Very! I will renounce my supposed useful existence and lie about with my lady wife until I grow fat and weak and thoroughly useless for any activity beyond pleasing you.” He smiled against her mouth. “You will soon grow, too, I should wager. If Jamie is any indication, it will take very little effort on my part to start you breeding again.”
“Oh, then I shall grow round and slow and become quite out of fashion.”
“Never with me, my love. Never!”
Glossary
Abeyya — Robe that completely covers a woman’s body
Alhamdolillah valmenah — Thanks to God’s Grace
Ayah — Lowly servant
Bahia — Beautiful one
Bismallah — In the name of God
Burra sahib — My lord/master
Farang/Farangi — Europeans/European
Hind Div — Indian Devil, demon
Houri — Beautiful girl
Huqqah — water pipe
Inshallah — God willing!
Isteqbal — An official welcome by high officials for a foreign dignitary
Marhaba — Well done!
Mashrabiyah — Wooden screen
Mehmander — Host, a nobleman of high rank named to be official host
Memsahib — Lady, my lady
Mirza Abul Hassan Shirazi — Persian Ambassador
Peri — Pixie, fairy
Sahib — Lord, my lord
Sobhanallah — Good God!
Suq — Old market
Takhi-I-ravan — Persian coach
Uzza — Beauty
More from Laura Parker
Caprice (The Masqueraders Series - Book One)
Hadrian Blackburne returns to London from the war. Thought to have been killed at Waterloo, he soon wishes he were, instead bored to tears by his unruly family and his role as Lord. He misses the spy games of Persia, where he was a master of intrigue. His attention is snared by a ravishing, veiled beauty who has swept into London’s Regency society on a cloud of exotic mystery.
Who is this Princess Sultana el Djemal? Hadrian must know, even if playing the game of love could cost him body and soul.
Clarissa Willoughby’s harmless deception was designed to open doors for a widow ready to shed her weeds. Once Hadrian begins his pursuit of “Sultana,” his passionate seduction makes Clarissa jealous of the exotic temptress she herself created. The game of love becomes more perilous than way when Clarissa sets out to win Hadrian’s heart, battling again his suspicions and her alter ego.
Beguiled (The Masqueraders Series - Book Three)
Everything has a price — except for love, and revenge…
In the darkest hours of her life, disgraced heiress Philadelphia Hunt is approached by a handsome stranger, a Brazilian jewel-miner named Eduardo Tavares. He makes an outrageous proposition—disguise herself and join him in a devious con to swindle America’s upper crust out of their riches. Philadelphia is desperate, and intrigued, by both this enchanting stranger and his promises of her return to high society.
But a deeper masquerade is afoot. Little does Philadelphia know that the man responsible for her father’s disgrace and suicide is Eduardo himself, the very man in whose arms she is discovering the scorching heat of desire. And little does Eduardo know that Philadelphia’s thirst for vengeance cannot be quenched. Nor can their passion, as secrets and betrayals set this pair of lovers on a path that will lead to a new life—or to their destruction…
Emerald and Sapphire (The Masqueraders Series - Book Four)
He’s known as Merlyn Ross, an actor and petty thief. He’s a handsome commoner who wears a leather eyepatch, his other eye a piercing emerald green. He’s also known as the Comte de Valure, a dashing French nobleman who wears a grey wig and a silk eye patch, his other eye an chanting sapphire blue. Admired by men, adored by women, no one suspects that Merlyn and the Comte are one and the same, or that both men steal more than kisses when setting out to seduce London’s wealthiest women.
But one night changes everything.
Cassandra, a highborn lady, is the target of a robbery, and the victim of amnesia. Locked away as a vagrant, she is sold for one night’s pleasures to a prisoner who has been condemned to death, a man with an emerald eye. One year later, as Cassandra’s memory has been partially restored, her child, conceived on that fateful night, is being held hostage by her father-in-law. It is only here that she meets the Comte and realizes who he really is. Determined to keep the woman he fell in love with on their night together in that dark prison, Merlyn must pull off the heist of his lifetime against a formidable foe, and he must become the one singular man worthy of his one true love.
The Gamble (The Masqueraders Series - Book Five)
She’s ready to risk everything for a man with nothing left to lose — except his heart.
Jack Laughton was a viscount who one night traded his life of leisure in order to masquerade as a notorious highwayman: “Black Jack” Law. Nothing could touch this conniving rogue’s soul…until his eye fell upon the beauty whose stagecoach he attempted to rob. Now he is willing to do anything to make this alluring woman his — even abandon his wicked ways.
Sabrina Lindsay has a knack for defying social conventions. Her endless escapades in London society have enraged her guardian who wants nothing more than to marry her off to a prominent nobleman. But it will take much more than threats to bend Sabrina’s stubborn will. Sabrina vows to do whatever it takes to save her brother Kit, imprisoned by their guardian to insure her obedience…even if that means making a pact with the devil himself, “Black Jack” Law.
It’s a gamble when the dazzling and daring
Sabrina and the handsome rogue Jack join together, but the true risk comes when it’s her heart he’s trying to steal.
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