“Oh,” I say. Stupidly. “Are you finished?”
“I’ve done all I can do here on site,” he explains, settling a lid over one box and reaching for another. “I’ve examined the paintings themselves and examined the documentation. I’ll do the rest of the work at my office.”
For four years, I’ve held my ground in front of generals and kings, and yet, right now, I want twist my hands in my sweater and plead.
Of course Sidney notices this, because those cold, perceptive eyes miss nothing, and he lets go of the box to walk over to me and take my face in his hands.
“You didn’t know earlier, but I’m asking if you know now. Will you come to London with me? Will you allow me to try to win you?”
“Mr. Blount,” I say, trying to duck my face. He doesn’t let me. “I think you’ve already done that. Won me, I mean.”
Sidney Blount, ice god and art expert, lets out a long, relieved sigh. “Thank fucking God.”
I decide right then and there, when he’s at his most vulnerable and his most human. Had I felt like I was drifting before I came to Thornchapel? That nothing would ever matter again?
How could I have been so wrong? When all this time I’d been drifting right towards him?
And then I have to wonder, really wonder, why Merlin had to send me to get this book. Why not come himself, if he’s already in Wales? Why not have Cremer arrange for someone?
Could Merlin have known that I needed to meet Sidney Blount? Could he have constructed this entire scenario just to see me happy?
Maybe I am lucky to know a real wizard. Maybe I’m the luckiest man alive.
“I’m going to come with you,” I declare.
Sidney’s forehead drops to mine and his eyes sweep closed. “Oh, Ryan,” is all he says.
“But what next?” I ask. “When I come with you, what will we do?”
What I mean is where will I live? How will I find a job? How much right will I have to your time? But what he says is, “Well, next, I think that I’d like to fall in love with you.”
I melt. I die. I want.
“Is that going to be a problem?” he whispers, lowering his mouth to mine.
Which means, can I?
Yes, dammit. He can.
“Yes,” I whisper into his kiss. “Yes and yes and yes. And yes.”
If You Loved the World of Thornchapel . . .
Auden Guest’s story is just getting started…
When librarian Poe Markham takes the job at Thornchapel, she only wants two things: to stay away from Thornchapel’s tortured owner, Auden Guest, and to find out what happened to her mother twelve years ago. It should be easy enough—keep her head down while she works in the house’s crumbling private library and while she hunts down any information as to why this remote manor tucked into the fog-shrouded moors would be the last place her mother was seen alive. But Thornchapel has other plans for her...
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As Poe begins uncovering the house’s secrets, both new and old, she’s also pulled into the seductive, elegant world of Auden and his friends—and drawn to Auden’s worst enemy, the beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian. And as Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, Poe, Auden and St. Sebastian start unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together, they awaken a fate that will either anoint them or leave them in ashes…
***
From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes an original fairy tale full of ancient mysteries, lantern-lit rituals, jealousy, money, murder, sacred torment, and obsessions that last for lifetimes...
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Learn More About A Lesson in Thorns and the Wild, Wicked Secrets of Thornchapel Here!
Want to know more about Ryan and the king he loved so dearly? Meet Maxen Ash Colchester in American Queen, the first in the New Camelot trilogy!
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He wants me to be his queen...
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Warned as a girl to keep her kisses to herself, Greer Galloway wants nothing to do with kisses--or love. Twice she's ignored the childhood warning and kissed a man, and both times ended in gutting, miserable heartbreak. Now she's sworn off all romance forever, determined to teach her classes and do her research, and live out the rest of her days alone.
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I want to be his everything.
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But Ash Colchester hasn't sworn off Greer--not at all. Still in love with the girl he once kissed in a circle of broken glass, this soldier-turned-President has never forgotten the taste of her kiss or the sound of her whispered, yes, please against his mouth. He's never forgotten the promises he wanted to make her and couldn't because she was too young for him then, and far too innocent for the things he needs. But he can't wait any longer . . .
But can a fairy tale have a happily ever after for three people?
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Desperate to have her, Ash sends his best friend Embry to bring Greer to him, not knowing they have their own secrets, their own tragedies together. Their own cravings . . .
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Soon, Greer finds herself caught between past and present, pleasure and pain--and the two men who long for each other as much as they long for her. And as war and betrayal press ever closer, they tumble headlong into a passionate love affair that will change the world.
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My name is Greer Galloway and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.
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From the USA Today bestselling author of Priest and Misadventures of a Curvy Girl comes a contemporary reimagining of the legend of King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot--elegant, carnal, and unforgettable.
Click here to enter the world of New Camelot!
About the Author
Sierra Simone is a USA Today bestselling former librarian who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk. She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.
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Sign up for her newsletter to be notified of releases, books going on sale, events, and other news!
www.thesierrasimone.com
[email protected]
Also by Sierra Simone
Thornchapel:
A Lesson in Thorns
Feast of Sparks
Harvest of Sighs
Door of Bruises
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Misadventures:
Misadventures with a Professor
Misadventures of a Curvy Girl
Misadventures in Blue (Coming September 2019)
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The New Camelot Trilogy:
American Queen
American Prince
American King
The Moon (Merlin’s Novella)
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The Priest Series:
Priest
Midnight Mass: A Priest Novella
Sinner
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Co-Written with Laurelin Paige
Porn Star
Hot Cop
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The Markham Hall Series:
The Awakening of Ivy Leavold
The Education of Ivy Leavold
The Punishment of Ivy Leavold
The Reclaiming of Ivy Leavold
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The London Lovers:
The Seduction of Molly O’Flaherty
The Persuasion of Molly O’Flaherty
The Wedding of Molly O’Flaherty
American Squire Page 5