Adele Ashworth
Page 33
“What about the letters?” she asked in a rush.
“Do you remember a footman employed in your household called John Russell?”
She tried to force her head to clear, to concentrate on what he said exactly. “I think so.”
But Jonathan made it so extraordinarily difficult for her to focus. He pushed his hand through the silk until it fell open completely and draped down the sides of her body. Then he slid his palm lower and lower on her belly until he cupped her between her thighs.
“Jonathan—”
“Russell was dismissed about three years ago by your mother for stealing silver,” he continued, watching her, his voice now labored with his own need.
Deliberately he began to stroke her as she tried so very hard to pay attention to what he was saying.
“He overheard the arguments between your parents, and when he was forced to leave without reference he began blackmailing your mother with rumors of the love affair. There were never any letters—at least not in England.”
Through the fog and his ever more intimate coaxing of her body, Natalie was beginning to understand his words. She grabbed his wrist to still his hand.
“What are you saying, Jonathan?”
He grinned almost bashfully. “In about an hour, Sir Guy Phillips and one or two others are going to call on Russell at his home to discover the duke of Newark’s priceless emeralds in a flour tin. They will then inform the man that in exchange for his silence about your mother, he will not be arrested and prosecuted for stealing a necklace he, of course, didn’t steal at all. The emeralds will then be returned to their rightful owners, and your mother should finally be free of her scandalous secret.”
Natalie’s heart thundered from pure emotion—from physical passion he built in her so tenderly, from exhilaration at the Black Knight’s conquest in her honor, but mostly from joy in discovering a love in Jonathan Drake.
“You did this for me,” she said in awe she couldn’t mask.
His expression melted, and he resumed the sensuous stroking of his fingers. “Last night, before I came home.” He put his lips to hers once more to whisper, “I’d do anything for you, Natalie.”
And she believed him. “Love me. . . .”
“I do.”
“Take me to bed,” she pleaded.
He grasped the back of her head and planted his mouth firmly on hers to kiss her deeply, his tongue invading her, sweeping across her lips in slow form, making her body turn to liquid fire, making her wait, making her insane with want as he glided his fingers in steady rhythm over the slick heat between her legs.
With effort she pulled her face away from his. “Jonathan, now.”
He stood, lifting her easily in his arms. “I’m going to Amsterdam in five weeks,” he mentioned as an afterthought, brushing her cheek with his as he carried her to the stairs. “To steal an already stolen Rembrandt at auction.”
“Wonderful. . . .”
“Join me?”
“That’s a ridiculous question, Jonathan,” she replied breathlessly, tightening her hold about his neck and pushing her breasts into his chest. She traced a line along his ear with her lips, then admitted in a whisper, “I’m already mentally planning my wardrobe.”
He tripped, nearly dropping her before they reached the bedroom.
Author’s Note
While I was writing this story, I knew having Natalie hide an emerald necklace in the heel of her boot might seem far-fetched to some readers. This plot device was not merely a product of my imagination.
According to family legend, ancestors of mine—two brothers—left Germany bound for America in the late 1790s. Before they sailed for New York, they were warned that there was a good chance their ship might be stopped by pirates, who were roaming the seas quite frequently at the time, and that their possessions would likely be stolen. Shoemakers by trade, they heeded this warning, and before leaving to begin their new lives in America, they sewed all their money into the soles of their shoes. Who would look there?
In the end, their ship was indeed raided by pirates, and while others lost family fortunes, these brothers made it safely to New York with their hidden money intact.
About the Author
I've always loved to write, but after my first attempt at a novel (nine chapters of Plastic City, the story of underwater-dwelling orphans in the twenty-third century that I wrote in the sixth grade), I took some time to get my bachelor's degree and to try my hand at other careers before I returned to my first passion: creative writing. After lots and lots of perseverance, hard work, and a bit of very good luck, My Darling Caroline went on to win the Romance Writers of America's RITA® Award for Best First Book of 1998.
I live in Texas with my family, exploring history as I delve into the hearts of my characters. I love to hear from readers through my website at www.adeleashworth.com.
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Romances by Adele Ashworth
THE DUKE’S CAPTIVE
MY DARLING CAROLINE
A NOTORIOUS PROPOSITION
THE DUKE’S INDISCRETION
DUKE OF SCANDAL
DUKE OF SIN
WHEN IT’S PERFECT
SOMETHING IRRESISTIBLE
WINTER GARDEN
STOLEN CHARMS
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A previous edition of Stolen Charms was published by Jove Books in 1999.
STOLEN CHARMS. Copyright © 1999 by Adele Budnick. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition APRIL 2013 ISBN: 9780062198068
Print Edition ISBN: 9780061905889
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