A Brazen Bargain: Spies and Lovers, Book 2

by Laura Trentham

  Rafe reviewed their conversation and rolled his eyes. “Your brother is going to make a brilliant politician. He allowed me to blunder down the wrong path knowing it would spur me into action.”

  Her brow furrowed, she pushed away from him and pulled the sheet over her breasts. “You only came because you thought I carried your child?”

  “No. I came because, although no man deserves you, not even me, I wasn’t going to allow some clodpoll like Stonewell share your bed and give you children. If I didn’t fight for you, I would regret it all my days. I’ve lived with enough regrets. I want you. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” They kissed, and he tried to roll her onto her back. He’d woken with a raging erection.

  She slapped his shoulder and bolted upright. “You said we were to be married today. Today. As in, a few hours. I can’t, it’s too soon. I’d like to have Lily here. And Jenny. And what about your father? And a dress. Rafe, I must have a dress.” She ticked off items on her fingers heedless of her nakedness.

  He stared at her swaying breasts, the nipples pert and begging for his mouth. Perhaps, he could drag her downstairs in a night rail, make it legal, and drag her back to bed. It sounded a fine plan to him, but Minerva would most likely want something a tad more traditional.

  “Now, I hope you don’t think I was presumptuous, but why don’t you check the wardrobe.” He lay back on the pillows and laced his hands behind his head.

  Her brows drawing together, she scrambled out of bed and peeked inside the wardrobe as if she expected a red squirrel to come bolting out. She gasped and threw it fully open to reveal his surprise—an ice-blue dress with an exquisitely beaded bodice. The small crystals caught the faint dawn light and reflected it back ten-fold. Pleased with himself, he laughed at her hanging mouth.

  “How…where…who…”

  “Let’s see, your usual modiste made it. She directed me to your typical style, and I chose the color. I paid her an obscene amount of money to get it done in a week and keep her mouth shut about it. Do you like it?” He hoped her amazement doubled as approval.

  She carefully hung the dress over the door and then bounced back on the bed, peppering kisses over his chest. “I don’t like it…I love it. That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

  Her hot mouth obliterated his good intentions.

  It was a good hour later before they emerged from the bedroom. “The servants should be back by now if you’d like to bathe. Jenny, Tom, Mrs. Devlin and Bertie are here. Father and Lionel and Aunt Edie are still in Scotland, and I don’t want to wait. I sent a letter, but I know they’ll understand.”

  The two of them entered the morning room hand in hand. Lily flew over to give both of them hugs, tearing up as she patted his cheek. “If you’d asked me six months ago, I would have bet money the two of you hated each other. I’m so happy, Rafe. I honestly never thought you’d find a woman to put up with your sorry ar—”

  “Lily, don’t frighten Lady Minerva away. Nothing is official yet.” Gray was sprawled on the settee, laughing.

  “I’m the lucky one, Lily.” Minerva looked up at him with undisguised adoration.

  “Gawd, you really are in love with the lout. In truth, you know I could never ask for a better brother, and the fact he’s marrying my best friend is even better. We’ll truly be sisters now.” Lily squeezed his hand and extricated Minerva, dragging her down the hall to the drawing room, where the small ceremony would take place.

  Her muffled exclamation made him smile. He’d paid a bloody fortune and bought every hothouse flower in London for her.

  Gray clapped him on the back. “Well, done. I’m proud of you.”

  “For what?”

  “For reaching for happiness. It takes a different sort of courage to open yourself to someone else. It’s downright terrifying to give someone power over you and realize the power you wield over them in return.”

  “Yes. But it’s worth it, isn’t it, Gray?” Rafe looked to his best friend.

  “Most definitely,” Gray replied with a grin.

  Epilogue

  Sitting in his huge armchair in the study, Rafe was ostensibly reading, but in reality, he glanced up every few seconds to watch his wife working at the desk. They had discussed turning the morning room into a second study for her, but he’d balked. He enjoyed sharing this part of his life with her. Not all husbands were as fortunate.

  He had girded himself to spend the season in London, so she wouldn’t miss the round of social balls and entertainments. However, three days after their wedding, she’d demanded to come home. To Wintermarsh. Rafe had been easily convinced. He’d sent ahead instructions to move another wardrobe into his bedroom, not giving her the option of settling into the adjoining chamber. She hadn’t protested in the least.

  The month since their union had been the happiest, most fulfilling time in his life. The joy of having her in his bed and waking up with her every morning had exceeded his expectations. Cool and collected while dealing with ledgers and her widows’ investments, she was a playful firebrand in bed, as much the aggressor as he was.

  But it was during the aftermath of their love making, holding her close, breathing her in and baring his soul that had banished the darkness lurking inside of him. The fitful nights both of them had suffered from were now restful and spent tangled together.

  He noticed her re-reading a letter a second time with a wrinkled brow of worry. “You look disturbed, love. What’s the matter?”

  “It’s a letter from Drake. He’s met with some trouble in Scotland. I’m not sure how to help him though.”

  Rafe laid his book face down on his belly and stretched his long legs out, giving her his full attention. “What sort of trouble? A woman is usually involved when trouble comes to call.” He needled her, biting back a smile.

  She shot him an irked look. “There does seem to be a young lady involved, but he’s not very forthcoming on the nature of their relationship. I hope the chit isn’t taking advantage of poor Drake.”

  Rafe laughed. “Poor Drake? He’s a grown man and a very self-assured, competent one at that. I’m sure he can manage one woman. What’s his trouble then?”

  “It involves a possible inheritance. Which is interesting because, although he never really talked about it, I got the impression he had no family. I didn’t realize he might have some connections to Scot gentry.” Minerva worried a nail.

  “The earl and Lionel are traipsing around up there. Sounds like he could use a solicitor and, even in Scotland, I’d say the earl can open some doors for your Mr. Drake.”

  “That’s a fine idea, Rafe.” She sounded thoroughly surprised.

  “It happens occasionally,” he replied dryly.

  “I’d say more than occasionally. That was a fine idea you had last night as well, by the by.” Her seductive look seared him even from across the room

  “Yes, that was one of my more naughty fantasies, I must say.” Clouds gathered in the distance promising an afternoon downpour. “It looks like rain,” he said conversationally.

  Minerva looked behind her at the gathering storm. “So it does.”

  “I’m having another fine idea.” He stood and held out his hand.

  Minerva walked toward him, swaying her hips and pulling the pins out of her hair along the way. The thrumming anticipation that always lingered beneath the surface hurtled to an outright primal need for his touch.

  She loved this man. Loved his strength and sensitivity. Loved that he shared every part of his life with her. Most men would abhor sharing a desk with their wife, but he claimed he loved to see her at work here. She had no doubt that he meant it based on the number of times he’d taken advantage of her on top of it.

  She took his hand and whispered, “It’s my turn, you know.”

  His eyes were hazy with desire, but he understood her
meaning well enough. “Luckily, I know you have fine ideas too, wife.”

  She drifted her hand to the very obvious display of his affection at the front of his breeches. “I do, I really do. I hope you don’t mind if we wrinkle some of your cravats this afternoon.”

  His eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and excitement. “Not a bit. Let’s go.” He pulled her out of the study at a run, both of them laughing all the way up the stairs.

  About the Author

  Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Tennessee. Although she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation, so chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel-toed boots for several years. Now she lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children. In between school and homework and soccer practices, she loves to get lost in another world, whether it’s Regency England or small-town Alabama. She was a 2014 Golden Heart® Finalist for both An Indecent Invitation and A Brazen Bargain.

  She loves to hear from readers! Find her at www.LauraTrentham.com, on Twitter at @LauraTrentham, or on Facebook at AuthorLauraTrentham.

  Look for these titles by Laura Trentham

  Now Available:

  Spies and Lovers

  An Indecent Invitation

  Don’t miss the other titles in Laura Trentham’s Spies and Lovers Series!

  Keeping her safe is difficult, keeping a proper distance from her is downright impossible.

  Lady Lily Drummond understands only too well the danger of spy work. Her father, a preeminent master spy, has been missing for months, and her brother barely survived his final mission for the Crown. Lily is still determined to help find her father, no matter how hard her brother and his best friend try to keep her in the dark.

  Busy trying to untangle the web of deceit surrounding the Earl of Windor’s disappearance, Crown spy Gray Masterson also has to ensure Lily Drummond, the gangly, awkward child who was his constant shadow growing up, doesn’t get herself ruined at her London debut. But the girl with scraped knees and elbows has evolved into a lush, sensual beauty surrounded by a bevy of suitors.

  Realizing Lily is going to investigate on her own if he doesn’t let her join the hunt for her missing father, Gray assumes he can give Lily a few minor tasks to pacify her, but he quickly learns she is a valuable asset. Moreover, she fairly crackles with life and warmth—things he craves after his dark years in service.

  Warning: This book contains spies, scandals, naughty liaisons in houses of ill repute, men who think they know everything and women who know they do not.

  If you loved this book, then you’re sure to love these Samhain favorites as well!

  Their desire is deep as the ocean…but treachery is rising like a deadly tide.

  Rogue, Book 5

  The first time Shauna MacLeod met American ship captain Robert Henderson, instant attraction brightened up an otherwise dreary Edinburgh winter. But his life was at sea.

  Now Robert’s back, a welcome distraction from her daily duties at the MacLeod dock office.

  Tricked into a betrothal before he left New Orleans by a woman who then mysteriously disappeared, Robert knows he needs to keep his distance from Shauna, no matter how tempting the rising sexual tension between them.

  Between Robert’s past and Shauna’s overprotective family, there’s little opportunity to touch, let alone act on their desires. But when an old enemy of the McLeods in disguise worms his way into Shauna’s good graces, she is abducted and thrown aboard a ship bound for the Barbary slave trade.

  Robert, along with Shauna’s brothers, race the four winds to find Shauna before she disappears into some sultan’s harem and is lost to him forever.

  Warning: Contains a bold American sea captain, and a spirited Scottish lass who’d like to swash his buckle—if only her suspicious brothers would leave her be. Best enjoyed with a tankard of ale and a sea chanty or two.

  Fate will have her way…

  Eliza Terribury is determined to be the first of her sisters to evade her mother’s attempts to shoo her down the aisle. Her novel-writing dreams will wither under the demands placed on a gentleman’s wife.

  Saddled with his title at a young age, Michael Gerard, the elusive Marquess of Rutherford, has always done his duty, but he will not be pressured into choosing a wife. He just never expected the rush of attraction every time the impertinent young Eliza crosses his path.

  When a completely innocent incident leaves Rutherford’s hands in a compromising position on Eliza’s bare skin, they have no choice but to announce an engagement. Privately, they agree seek a way out of the unwanted nuptials.

  Yet Eliza’s free spirit and understated sensuality stirs Michael’s desire. And Eliza discovers there is more to the arrogant lord than meets the eye, especially when she wonders if it is purely her writer’s imagination that puts his face behind a mysterious highwayman’s mask.

  Warning: Contains one haughty lord with the body of a medieval warrior, a seventh daughter with attitude to spare, and one tricky spider with eight legs guided by Fate.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  A Brazen Bargain

  Copyright © 2016 by Laura Trentham

  ISBN: 978-1-61922-581-7

  Edited by Heidi Moore

  Cover by Angela Waters

  All Rights Are 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.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2016

  www.samhainpublishing.com