by Kelly Boyce
The muzzle pressed against her skin moved and pointed outward, aimed at Hawk’s head. “Another step and I will finish the job Pengrin failed at and I assure you, I am a much better marksman than he.”
A low chuckle rumbled across the distance separating them. “Really? Again? All of these threats to put a bullet in my head are becoming quite tedious.”
The window near the stove exploded in a shatter and Major Gibbons swung his arm wide, firing a shot toward the unexpected disturbance. Madalene recognized the voice on the other side pouring forth a series of curse words—the inventive phrasing clearly belonging to her father. Hawk used the distraction to lunge forward, tackling both she and Major Gibbons to the floor. Madalene quickly rolled away as the two men struggled, the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed behind her as she scurried toward the poker resting near the stove.
Father and another man—Lord Blackbourne?—rushed in as Madalene swung the poker in a wide arc and brought it down upon Major Gibbons back. For a brief second, everyone froze, then Hawk punched him and her captor staggered once before falling forward, unconscious.
Madalene dropped the poker and jumped over Major Gibbons, launching herself into Hawk’s waiting arms.
“You came! Oh, thank God, you came for me!”
He cupped her face and kissed her, his lips landing on every curve and crevice before pulling her tightly against his chest, enveloping her with his strong arms. “Of course, I did. I promised, did I not? Never doubt the resolve of a man deeply in love, my dear.”
His words rushed through her, straight to her heart, chasing away the fear and filling it with everything she had ever dreamed of, all she had ever wanted since the first moment she’d set eyes upon the handsome lord.
Her father interrupted their sweet reunion. “Lord Hawksmoor, if you would please release my daughter. I’ll not have you taking such liberties. Lord Blackbourne, your knife please.” As Lord Blackbourne complied with Father’s request, the expression on Hawk’s face turned from relief to trepidation.
“Sir, there is no need to resort to violence,” Hawk said as Father approached. “As I stated, I have every intention of marrying your daughter.” Hawk’s voice rose in emphasis the closer Father came, the knife brandished in his hand, but Madalene could only laugh, understanding her father’s purpose and holding out her hands to allow him to cut her free.
“See that you do,” Father told him, the sternness in his voice not enough to disguise the irrefutable fact that he was behind the union wholeheartedly. The time he had spent with Hawk while at Northill had allowed him to see the side of him Madalene had fallen in love with.
Father winked at her before placing a kiss upon her forehead then returning the knife to Lord Blackbourne, taking hold of the earl’s pistol as he slipped it into the sheath at his side.
“No! She belongs to me!”
Madalene whipped her head around in time to see Major Gibbons launch to his feet and run toward her. Hawk grabbed her and spun her out of the way as a shot reverberated throughout the small cabin, ringing in her ears.
Gibbons dropped to the ground like a stone.
Father lowered his arm, disrupting the wisp of smoke escaping the muzzle of the pistol he held in his hand. He stared in silence at the unmoving body on the floor. Years of wartime had taught him to act from instinct. How grateful Madalene was that he had not lost such a skill.
“You killed him,” Hawk said, but Madalene heard no regret in the statement, only relief.
“That is what we do when animals go mad,” Father said, his voice steady and sure. “It is the humane thing.”
A look passed between him and Hawk, a knowing that went beyond the moment and reached into the past, through the understanding of what it meant to take a life, to do the unthinkable when no other option existed. To do what needed to be done to protect the ones they loved.
“Yes,” Hawk answered. “I suppose it is.”
“If I might have my pistol back, Mr. Cosgrove,” Lord Blackbourne said, reaching his hand out. “I believe it will be best if the authorities do not feel the need to question who fired it.”
Hawk pulled Madalene more tightly against him and kissed the top of her head. For the first time in forever she felt his body relax as if his demons had finally been put to rest. She wrapped her arms around his waist, safe and secure and exactly where she belonged.
“I love you,” she whispered, not caring who heard.
“And I you.” Then he dipped his head and whispered in her ear, “And I plan on showing you the depth and breadth of just how much, once I make you my wife.”
Her heart swelled and as his lips teased the curve of her ear, she smiled. “We should hasten that along as quickly as possible, my lord.”
A warm chuckle rumbled in his chest and seeped into her heart. “Indeed we should, my love. Indeed we should.”
Epilogue
“I have to say, I was surprised it was not Lord Tunsten,” Madalene said, stretching her arms above her head, relishing the feel of her bare skin moving against Hawk’s. Was there anything more glorious? She did not think so.
“Were you,” her husband said, the words murmuring from him. She had quite exhausted him this evening, or so he claimed. She, on the other hand, felt quite invigorated.
“Yes, I had been certain if Lord T did exist, that he would be the one, to be honest. He was a rather vile man.”
They had spoken little about the events of the past month, immersing themselves in planning a quick wedding, helped along by Mr. Bowen and Lord Blackbourne who assisted in their getting a special license. Lady Rebecca along with Lady Blackbourne and Lady Huntsleigh went about the actual planning of the event, joined by Lady Glenmor once she and her husband returned from Maple Glen. Madalene had been left with little to do but to shake her head as these titled ladies busied themselves with the wedding of a servant to a viscount as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
And indeed it had been. For being Hawk’s wife could not have been more natural. She was meant for him, and he for her. It no longer mattered where she came from or where he had been. They loved each other with such completeness, all the rest simply faded away. Miss Marianne Caldwell was thrilled to relay how the members of the ton were shocked and scandalized by the union, though she suspected their reaction was more about jealousy that she had tamed the infamous Hawk and he had claimed her as his own.
Marianne Caldwell, Madalene learned, was a complete and utter romantic.
“Well,” Hawk said, rolling over in bed and bringing her back to the present. “The sot still owes me a large sum of money which I intend to collect, if that is any consolation.”
Madalene reached out a hand and traced her new husband’s collarbone, stopping when she reached the hollow at the base of his throat before moving downward. “Not particularly. Do you truly plan on selling The Devil’s Lair?”
“Yes.” He lifted one eyebrow as her hand trailed down his chest and continued on, but he made no move to stop her. She had married a very smart man. “It has served its purpose. And I tire of living in those dark little apartments like some troll under a bridge.” She would take his word for it, for he had not allowed her to enter the premises, instead making use of the dower house on Lord Blackbourne’s estate for the time being.
Madalene laughed lightly, amazed at the light and love he had brought to her life, filling it until all of the darkness that lurked in its edges had been burned away. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his. “You are hardly a troll. You are far too handsome.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“How handsome?”
She lifted herself up on her elbow. “Oh, handsome enough.”
He kissed the edge of her jaw and her need for him, satiated less than an hour before, built again. “Careful, pet. You might inflate my ego to such a degree there will be no living with me.”
“It is a little too late for that, now that I have committed myself to you f
or the duration of my life.”
“Or mine. And given the way people seem to like pointing firearms at me, mine may end up being the shorter one.”
She scowled down at him, her blond hair brushing against his chest. “What a horrible thought.”
Hawk reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. It slid through his fingers like silk. “Isn’t it, though? Perhaps I should try to erase it from your mind.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” She gifted him with one of her special smiles. The one that pierced his heart and filled it with wonder. Farther down, other parts of his anatomy stirred to life once again, demanding their due as her bare skin brushed against his. He nuzzled the sweet curve of her neck and breathed her in. He would never get enough of her.
“Oh, I have my ways, pet. I have my ways.”
Hawk nipped at her ear lobe, then pulled her into a deep kiss that solidified his need to have her once again. He shifted, turning and pulling her delectable little body beneath him in one swift movement. She let out a squeal, then a laugh and he was quite certain he had never heard anything quite so enchanting. Nor had he ever experienced such jubilation as he did the moment she wrapped her legs around him and he found her as ready for him as he was for her.
Still, prolonging the pleasure did have its virtues. He kissed her once more, losing himself in the softness of her lips, the hunger of her mouth, the way she pushed her hips against his hardness until he promptly forgot whatever virtues there were to be found in delaying such pleasure.
She sighed, deep and lovely, as he pressed inside of her. He remained still, holding her body against his as he breathed her in. “It is completely impossible for me to love you more than I do in this moment,” he whispered.
“Is it?” The words came in gasps, one at a time. And then it was his turn as she pressed her hips against him, taking him more fully into her. “What about now?”
“Forgive me,” he said. “It seems I underestimated my capacity for loving you.”
She wiggled and somewhere stars exploded in his brain. “And now?”
“Sweet heaven. If you keep this up, woman, there will be nothing left of me.”
“You said that the last time,” his minx of a wife said, whispering the words against his mouth. “And yet it appears all of your parts remain in perfect working order.”
She traced his lip with the tip of her tongue and every last bit of restraint he had gave itself over to the need burning inside of him.
“Kiss me,” she commanded and he obeyed, willfully, completely until everything else ceased to exist but this room and this bed and this woman and this love that had grown and flourished over the years into everything he had ever dreamed of.
And then he moved inside of her and she moved with him and the sense of never belonging anywhere became a distant memory, because he did belong somewhere. He belonged here, with her, and it was the best place in the world to be for there was nothing—and no one—left to separate them.
She was his wife. His forever.
And he was hers.
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for reading A SINNER NO MORE, Book 6 in The Sins & Scandals Series. I have been waiting to tell Hawksmoor’s story since he was first introduced and I was thrilled to finally get that chance. I hope you enjoyed it!
If A SINNER NO MORE is the first book in The Sins & Scandals Series that you have read, I hope you will check out the other books in the series. As of this printing, there are currently six books available in the series with the 7th, THE SWEETEST SIN, coming out in August 2016.
For the most updated booklist, check out my website book page or sign up for my Newsletter at www.kellyboyce.com. I send out notifications to all subscribers to let them know when a new release is on its way, as well as provide the opportunity to win a prize with each new edition. Be sure not to miss it!
I love to hear and connect with my readers through social media and email and you can find all of my social media links on my website!
Lastly, in addition to my Regency series, I have also written several western historical romances published by Carina Press (The Outlaw Bride) and Harlequin Historical (The Salvation Falls Series). These are listed on my website book page as well. A SINNER NO MORE and I hope you will consider leaving a review at your favorite online retailer to help others discover The Sins & Scandals Series!
Wishing you all the best,
–Kelly
Acknowledgements
While writing this book, I also made the foolish decision to also write my next novella for Harlequin Historical at the same time. Needless to say, it made for a bit of a crazy schedule and rocky ride. I will definitely not do that again! So thanks to all my friends and family, especially to my awesome husband, John, who had the misfortune of having to live with me during that time, for sticking it out and reminding me that everything would turn out just fine. Sorry babe, still no car chase.
A special thanks to those readers who generously took some time out to email me and inquire about Lord Hawksmoor welfare. I hope A SINNER NO MORE was worth the wait! He was one of my favorite characters from the minute I introduced him several books back and I couldn’t wait to tell his story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Thanks to the crew of professionals that help me put this book together: My editor, Nancy Cassidy, Kim Killion (cover designer) and Amy Atwell (formatter) – As always, you ladies rock!
A big shout out to my sister for her ongoing encouragement in the way of threatening texts to hurry up and finish the next book because she can’t wait much longer, and to my dad, Garry, who reads my books while sitting in the garage waiting for his car to be fixed and talks up this new author he’s discovered.
Anne MacFarlane and Annette Gallant – you ladies are the best. Thanks for keeping me on track with our regular coffee catch ups/goals meetings! And of course, Pam Callow, Cathryn Fox and Julianne MacLean for sharing all your wisdom on the biz!
About the Author
Kelly Boyce started writing in Grade 2 when her favorite teacher, Mrs. Phyllis Matheson, showed up with a box filled with plot ideas and she was hooked, but it wasn’t until she read Lisa Gregory’s Bitterleaf years later that she fell in love with historical romance.
It took several years after that however, before she discovered Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada and realized how to take those stories, turn them into books and send them out into the big bad world. After that, it was full steam ahead.
A life-long Nova Scotian, she lives near the Atlantic Ocean with her awesome husband, and a clownish golden retriever with a stubborn streak a mile wide.
She love writing stories about relationships and creating a sense of community around the hero and heroine filled with secondary characters who take on a life of their own.
Her first release, a western historical, The Outlaw Bride, was released in 2011 by Carina Press and since then, she has released three more western historical romances with Harlequin Enterprises: Salvation in the Rancher’s Kiss and Salvation in the Sheriff’s Arms, and a Christmas novella titled The Cowboy of Christmas Past.
The Sins & Scandals Series is her first foray into Regency England and she is loving every minute of it!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Dear Reader
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Acknowledgements
About the Author