The Ultimate Romance Box (6 Bestselling Romance Novels)
Page 72
“I do,” Greg answered firmly.
As they exchanged their vows, Dante slipped on her finger the three-carat diamond ring that his father had given his mother years ago, and they bowed their heads for the marriage blessing. “I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Cantari. Dante, you may kiss your bride.”
While the guests burst out in applause, Dante gathered her into his arms for a long tender kiss. “I love you, Mrs. Cantari,” he said against her lips.
“I love you too,” she whispered back.
Greg clapped his hands to attract everyone’s attention. “The reception will start now. Please, proceed to the terrace to get your drinks and appetizers. Dante, Alexa, my sincere congratulations.” He kissed Alexa’s cheek.
“Thank you for throwing us a wedding party,” Dante said as he shook hands with his former rival.
“I’m the one who should thank you for allowing me to do it. And Alexa, I’m so glad you accepted for a wedding gift the earrings I gave you for your college graduation.”
“I’m wearing them.” Alexa tossed her hair backward, revealing the impressive diamonds. She’d returned all the other pieces to Greg.
“A toast for the bride and the groom,” Juan called. In his position as best man, he raised his glass and wished the newlyweds many happy years together.
The musicians played a slow tune, and Dante pulled his bride in his arms for their first dance as a married couple.
Two hours later, the roaring of an engine interrupted the festivities. “My friends, keep enjoying the party. My wife and I are leaving for our honeymoon. My love, here’s our transportation,” Dante declared, pointing to the ocean.
Alexa spun, her skirt fluttering around her legs. “Oh my God, a Jet Ski?”
Dante took her hand and tugged her toward the beach. “Once, you told me you wanted to ride a Jet Ski, right?”
“Right.” Her eyes shining, she laughed and threw her shoes aside. Her hair rippled in the breeze as she ran to the shore.
A young man waited for them beside the Jet Ski, “It’s ready to go, sir.”
Alexa whirled to face him. “Dante, where are we heading?” Color suffused her face.
“Surprise.” He waggled his eyebrows, but didn’t have the heart to keep her in suspense when she frowned. “To the small yacht I chartered to take us on our honeymoon. It’s waiting at the marina with our luggage. I hope you remembered to wear a bikini under your dress as I asked you?”
“I thought we were having a swim after the reception. Oh my God, you’re amazing.” She giggled as she slipped down her straps and slid her dress to reveal a white and silver bikini that sent an arrow of lust to his groin and had every man around ogle her perfect figure.
The crowd cheered and clapped hands. “Happy honeymoon.”
“Tonight the yacht will anchor in a cove where we’ll spend our wedding night, and tomorrow we’ll head to Puerto-Rico and visit a cabana near a rainforest,” Dante added with a wink, as he yanked off his shirt, lowered his pants, and uncovered black swim trunks.
“A rainforest?”
“Just like in your fantasy.” He winked at her, delighted by the happiness shimmering in her beautiful green eyes. He scooped her into his arms and settled her on the Jet Ski, then climbed to sit behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he grabbed the handles, and nuzzled her nape. “Ready to start our married life, amore mio?”
As the musicians played their favorite tune, Alexa turned her head to receive a passionate kiss before Dante revved the engine and they sped on the calm water toward a happy life together.
The END
A Note from the Author
I hope you enjoyed NEIGHBORS AND MORE, and will recommend it to your friends.
A review would be greatly appreciated on the Author’s Amazon Page. Thank you.
http://tinyurl.com/7y4waxg
Recommend the book. Please help other readers find this book by recommending it to friends, readers' groups, and discussion boards.
If you write a review for Neighbors and More on the Amazon book page, please notify me at mona@monarisk.com I will send you a copy of one of my other contemporary romances as a gift. Thank you!
Other Books by Mona Risk
HOLIDAY BABIES SERIES: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com
http://tinyurl.com/ndvgf9d
CHRISTMAS BABIES: It takes a health crisis and two adorable orphaned babies to bring Dr. Madelyn Ramsay to her senses and force her to look life and love in the face. A sweet and powerful Christmas Story.
VALENTINE BABIES: Can he love a woman expecting another man’s baby? Life isn't always easy, but if you have people who love & support you, you may get through just about anything.
MOTHER’S DAY BABIES: Can a woman from Kentucky teach an ‘old dog’ new tricks, even if he's a CEO? Never too late to find love and happiness.
DOCTOR’S ORDERS BOX SET: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com
http://tinyurl.com/oaly3fu
BABIES in the BARGAIN: Problems separated them seven years ago. Can an orphan baby bring them back together? "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy" in the NICU.
RIGHT NAME, WRONG MAN: What's a girl to do when she whispers another man's name in her fiancé's arms? A comedy novel set in France.
NO MORE LIES: A lie that brings a smile or a truth drawing tears? Secrets and second chances with humor.
A Word about the Author...
Shifting to Amazon.com in 2011 and self-publishing my novels were the best things I have ever done for my writing career. In 2012, my three medical romances, Babies in the Bargain, Right Name, Wrong Man and No More Lies landed on the Amazon bestseller list for contemporary romance and medical romance. I was walking on cloud nine when my name was posted in the 100 most Popular Authors in Romance list for several months.
Filled with energy and enthusiasm, I hid in my writing cave and wrote for days and nights. A few more books were born out of this intensive agenda, a romantic suspense novel set in my sunny Florida, Neighbors and More, a sizzling international romance set in Greece, Her Greek Romance, and another set in Russia, To Love A Hero. Since readers seemed to love series, I offered them a series of three books called Holiday Babies, with Christmas Babies, Valentine Babies, and Mother’s Day Babies.
My books have garnered: Top Picks; Outstanding Read; Sweetheart of the Week; Best Book of the Week at various reviewers, and received two mentions in Publisher’s Weekly, and won several awards, from Best Contemporary Romance of the Year at READERS FAVORITE with two Gold Medals, to EPPIE award finalist and Best Romance Novel of the Year at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll.
I will continue to write and read while traveling and discovering unchartered territories and fresh inspiration for interesting stories and new settings.
Contact Information
Mona Risk can be found at:
www.monarisk.com
www.monarisk.blogspot.com
On Twitter: @MonaRiskS
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MonaRisk?ref=tn_tnmn
Nothing would please me more than to hear from my readers. You can write to me at mona@monarisk.com I ALWAYS answer.
HEARTS AND CROWNS
BY
ANNA MARKLAND
©COPYRIGHT ANNA MARKLAND 2013
Cover Art by Steven Novak
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2013 by Anna Markland
ISBN 978-1-927619-20-9
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any elect
ronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.
All fictional characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all incidents are pure invention.
Dear Reader,
If only my heroes and heroines had revealed their stories to me in chronological order, it would have made life much easier for you! If you prefer to read sagas in chronological order, here’s a handy list.
Conquering Passion—Ram and Mabelle, Rhodri and Rhonwen
If Love Dares Enough—Hugh and Devona, Antoine and Sybilla
Defiant Passion-Rhodri and Rhonwen
A Man of Value—Caedmon and Agneta
Dark Irish Knight—Ronan and Rhoni
Haunted Knights—Adam and Rosamunda, Denis and Paulina
Passion in the Blood—Robert and Dorianne, Baudoin and Carys
Dark and Bright—Rhys and Annalise
The Winds of the Heavens—Rhun and Glain, Rhydderch and Isolda
Dance of Love—Izzy and Farah
Carried Away—Blythe and Dieter
Sweet Taste of Love—Aidan and Nolana
Wild Viking Princess—Ragna and Reider
Hearts and Crowns—Gallien and Peridotte
MINI MENU
Start Reading
Dedication
Glossary
Lexicon
About the Author
Copyright
Family Tree
More Books by Anna
Medieval Recipe for Dwale
DEDICATION
For my beautiful granddaughter,
Peri Lenore.
“Once bitten,
twice shy.”
PROLOGUE
Ellesmere Castle, Salop, England, 1125 AD
“Surely you did not think me a virgin?”
Struck dumb, Gallien stared in uncomprehending disbelief at the rumpled but unsoiled linens of his marriage bed, shivering as gooseflesh marched over his naked body. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
He had made his way in the dark to the ewer, intending to lovingly cleanse his new bride after their joining. The light of the candle, lit with a spill from the dying embers of the fire, illuminated the truth of Felicité’s mockery on the pristine sheets. His gut clenched.
It came to him that in the throes of passion he had not felt the resistance men boasted of breaching, but he had never bedded a virgin and truly did not know what to expect.
His mind whirled. Was he trapped in a hideous nightmare? His eyes wandered to his sneering wife’s pouting breasts. She made no effort to cover her body, still sheened with his sweat. She twirled a finger in her hair, lying seductively on her side, head propped on one hand.
Since their betrothal he had itched to put his mouth to those dark nipples. The silky hair at her mons was exactly the color and texture he had dreamed it would be. But she had constantly rebuffed his advances as if he were a naughty child. “You must wait until our wedding night, milord Montbryce.”
An insidious dread wormed its way into his befuddled wits. His gaze fell to her belly. The drumming in his ears grew louder. His lungs refused to fill with air. He was drowning. Had his infatuation rendered him blind? He recalled too late her insistence the candles be snuffed before she disrobed.
“You are with child,” he rasped, though the voice seemed faraway, not his own.
Smoothing a hand over the slight swell of her belly, she said nothing, but the proud glint in her seductive eyes pierced his already shattered heart.
With a trembling hand, he set down the candle. A giant shadow loomed on the wall, disappearing as he bent to search for his wedding finery, scattered earlier with reckless abandon. Desperate to cover his nakedness, he resisted the urge to put his hands over his shaft. She must deem him a fool.
Someone had to answer for this travesty. “Is your father aware of your condition?” he asked, pulling a shirt over his head. He had insisted the tailor not make it too long. Now he wished it fell to his feet.
Felicité grinned, a wicked gleam in her eye. “Of course not. He would have sent me to a nunnery.”
His guts in knots, Gallien cast about for his leggings. “Then why marry me? Why not wed your lover?”
She looked at him as if he had lost his wits. “He is already married, silly.”
He pulled on his leggings, cursing under his breath when he lost his balance. He hopped on one foot, collapsing onto the edge of the bed. Tying the laces, he got to his feet quickly, lest the serpent in his bed bite him.
If he could only put his hand on a dagger he would plunge it into her treacherous heart. But he had not expected to need a weapon in his bridal chamber. He clenched his fists, itching to beat her. No one would censure him for it.
But Felicité had been clever. She knew he was not a man to raise his hand to a woman, no matter the provocation.
Trembling with rage, trapped by his own nobility, Gallien sprawled into his favorite chair by the hearth, chewing his knuckles. He pressed his palm against the knee of one leg that seemed to have fallen victim to the dancing plague. He wanted to howl like a wounded beast and tear the room apart. The glowing embers of the once hearty fire did nothing to warm his chilled heart.
His faithless wife had turned the comfortable chamber he loved into a place of torment. He had to flee, but wedding guests still made merry in the Great Hall. The lavender perfume that had enthralled him hung in the air, making his belly roil.
Married less than a day, he had already been cuckolded.
CHAPTER ONE
Two years later.
“A woman on the throne of England? King Henry has lost his wits!” Gallien declared loudly.
Baudoin de Montbryce, Second Earl of Ellesmere, cringed at his son’s treasonous outburst. He peered into the lengthening shadows of the Great Hall built by his late father almost three score years before.
Had anyone else heard?
To his relief, the liveried servants had finished clearing away the remains of the evening meal. Once the kitchen was scrubbed to Cook’s satisfaction, they would return to move the wooden trestle tables to the side wall and lay fresh rushes on the stone floor for those who slept in the Hall. For now all was quiet, except for the reluctant hiss of the last of the logs in the grate. Only he and Gallien remained at the head table. “It is fortunate there are none to hear, mon fils.”
Gallien came to his feet wearily, raking his fingers through his white hair. “But you agree with me. Henry has never been the same since his son, Crown Prince William, drowned seven years ago when La Blanche Nef sank. Now—”
Baudoin’s throat tightened. Mention of the disaster was a bitter reminder of their own profound loss. Like many noble families throughout England and Normandie, the Montbryces had lost loved ones that fateful night when hundreds had drowned.
The bodies of Baudoin’s half brother and his wife had never been recovered. Caedmon’s wish to be interred alongside their father in the crypt of Montbryce Castle would not be fulfilled. “I’d rather not speak of that,” Baudoin growled.
Gallien’s scowl softened. “I’m sorry, Papa. I know the memory is still difficult, but our loss pales in comparison to what others lost that night—especially King Henry.”
Baudoin grimaced. “It was England’s loss, and Normandie’s, as much as Henry’s—no son, no heir to the throne.”
Gallien snorted. “It’s ironic Henry has spawned illegitimate children aplenty, yet his only other legitimate child is Matilda, the brat. Excuse me, I mean Empress Matilda, or Maud as she styles herself now. I suppose Matilda is too common for her.”
Baudoin fisted his hands. It was a pity that at five and twenty, Gallien was too big to pummel. “Again you fail to c
urb your tongue in the Hall, where anyone might hear you.”
Gallien shrugged. “I speak only what is common knowledge. You resented Henry’s summoning you to Westminster last Christmas and demanding you pledge to his daughter as your future queen—as did every other earl and baron in the realm. Queen Maud indeed!”
Baudoin put his elbow on the table and rested his forehead on his palm. Gallien was right. He had forced down the bile rising in his throat as he’d made the pledge. “If only Maud’s first husband, the Emperor, had not died. Caedmon’s son-by-marriage, Dieter Von Wolfenberg, would curse me for saying this now that his patron, Lothar, is Holy Roman Emperor. However, if Heinrich were still alive, we would not be dealing with Henry’s latest ploy to secure the throne for his daughter.”
Gallien shook his head. “It’s hard to swallow that Henry has betrothed her to the son of Comte Fulk of Anjou. The Conqueror must be twisting in his tomb—his granddaughter married to a hated Angevin. What is it they call him? Geoffrey the Handsome? Saints help us!”
Baudoin shared his son’s outrage, but experience, and his late father, Ram de Montbryce, had taught him to guard his tongue, especially in the volatile morass of English and Norman politics. He hoped his impetuous and outspoken son would learn to be more circumspect before he assumed the mantle of Third Earl of Ellesmere. It was plain Gallien had inherited much of his Welsh grandfather’s Celtic blood.
“Marriage!” Gallien exclaimed, jolting him from his reflections. “It’s the only thing anyone ever talks about. I’ll never wed again.”
Baudoin took a deep breath. This was a familiar argument. “We have been over this ground before. You must marry and provide heirs. The succession of Ellesmere rests on your shoulders. I know—”