“Oh…” she whispered. Her heart was jumping about once more. She didn’t understand why he was telling her this, but hope soared in her heart.
“Actually, that is not entirely true,” Danyal said. “Queen Victoria has a will of iron, so I am still Marquis of Blackawton…which is ironic, for now the title I most wanted to rid my family of has become the cornerstone of a most unexpected future.”
“You plan to live in England…” she breathed.
“Where you are,” Danyal added.
Elise drew in a sharp, shaky breath.
He took a step toward her and halted, as if he fought not to take another. “When I saw you again, I knew then what I had been denying for weeks. Slaten, just a few moments later, handed me the key to unravelling this seemingly unsolvable dilemma we have struggled with, you and I.”
Elise jumped a little. “Danyal, I…”
“I love you,” Danyal said, his voice low and harsh with control. “I know you do not want a husband, that you like your life of freedom and independence, and in part, that is what I love about you. I have never met a woman like you, with your sharp mind and your creative ways, and your fierce determination to take care of yourself. When I was told you were in Pandev, it felt inevitable that you should make your way there, that you would come to find me. Even though I thought my letter was safely locked in my desk, it was as if you had answered it, anyway.”
“I did answer it,” Elise said softly.
“Yes, you did…and not in the way I thought someone like you would.” His gaze was steady, his black eyes heated. “When I realized you’d received the letter after all, I was stunned. I had presumed you would ignore my abject pleading, that you would burn the letter or write and chide me to abide by our agreement, but you did neither of those things. Because you did neither is the reason I stand here now. You give me hope, Elise, that if I make amends for my foolishness these past few months, you might put aside the future you say you want and consider a future with me, instead.”
Elise drew in another trembling breath. “In Blackawton…” she breathed.
“Yes. That is, if you can bring yourself to it,” Danyal said. He pushed a hand through his hair. “Would you marry me, Elise? Would you consent to be my wife, and helping me bring Blackawton back to rights?
Her throat ached. So did her eyes. Elise struggled to speak.
Danyal held up his hand. “If marriage is so abhorrent to you, then I will take you on whatever terms you name, my sweet, lovely Elise, as long as you agree to be mine, and a part of my life, for I cannot think of a life without you in it. The last few weeks without you have been an agony. Please don’t ask me to live like that again.”
A tear dropped. She blinked hard, her throat working. “Yes,” she whispered.
Danyal froze. “Yes?” he breathed.
“Yes, I will marry you,” Elise amended. She dashed her hand across her eyes, so she could see him properly. “If you are a fool, then so am I, Danyal. I love you with such…such power, that all I can think about is how I might keep you by me. If you asked, I would have consented be your mistress and beggared my soul for love. I have never wanted a husband, but I suspect life as your wife would be unconventional, at the very least.”
“With you, it could be nothing else,” Danyal said. He drew closer, his smile growing warmer and took her face in his hands.
She looked up at him. “Please kiss me,” she breathed. “I have so missed your kisses.”
He gave a deep groan and kissed her. Elise clung to him, adjusting to the astonishing fact that she was back in his arms…and would always be.
The kiss deepened and grew languid and heady, and when Danyal let her go, she held herself up by clinging to his lapels. His arms stayed around her, a highly satisfactory arrangement.
Then he plucked her hand from his jacket. “Come and meet the newest members of your family,” he said, holding her hand in his and walking beside her.
Innesford Manor, Innesford, Cornwall. September, 1889.
“It is interesting you should arrive here this week,” Cian told Elise and Danyal, as they stepped out upon the broad steps at the back of the house, to gaze upon the grounds. “The old family gathers were always held in late September or early October and see…it is as if everyone has obeyed some mysterious summons.”
“Like geese in autumn?” Elise murmured.
For there were a great many people moving about on the lawn—playing croquet or kicking around a football. Some were sitting on a row of loungers off to one side of the croquet court, watching the activities as Elise and Danyal were.
“I believe we stood here just like this, nearly a year ago,” Danyal said, raising her hand that he held, and kissing the back of her fingers, including the wedding band on the third. “Ah, my thoughts on that day were a turmoil.”
Cian glanced at him. “I’m familiar with that particular turmoil. If you will excuse me, the object of my turmoil is waiting for me to take my turn on the croquet court.” He nodded and moved off to where Eleanore, wearing a bright and gay yellow striped gown, held out a mallet for him, a patient expression on her face.
Elise turned to Danyal. “You were a prince, the last time you stood here. No regrets, my love?”
Danyal did not brush off the question. He considered her frankly. “Gavril…Gavril’s death was a blow, but it was what told me I had made the right decision, that night. I stood in the foyer and consoled Galena and Mother and Raina, and all I could think was that Gavril had the right of it—family is more important than country. Your family knows that, too, Elise.” He nodded toward the people moving about the garden. “They’ve always known it. Now I do, too. No, I have no regrets, my dearest love.”
Elise rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m pleased to hear you say that, husband, for your family is about to increase by one.”
Danyal pulled her against him tightly. “Out of such terrible changes comes happiness,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “I am the luckiest man alive.”
___________________________________
The next book in the
Scandalous Families – The Victorians series.
Their Foreign Affair.
Release date: May 2020.
At the altar, facing marriage to a foreign Duke, Ann flees…
Anne Thomsett, a daughter of royalty but a commoner herself, has worked to find a high-ranking husband to help the family restore its badly tarnished reputation. However, on the verge of her marriage to a Norwegian noble, she flees the cathedral with the help of a most unexpected ally; Adam Martell Davies.
Adam is technically a member of the great family, but dislikes his English cousins and their ways, and much prefers to spend his time alone with his thoughts. During a rainy afternoon at Innesford, he is forced to endure Anne’s company and finds it not completely intolerable, after all.
So when Anne throws herself at him, begging him to help her escape her Duke, Adam does. The pair dash across Europe, chased by the Duke’s men and rabid journalists who report the romantic couple’s affair to the newspapers of Europe. No one seems to care that they are nothing but friends…
The characters are full of emotion and suck you right into the story. I love how Tracy pulls the reader into the story and we feel we have a front row seat to the action, and feel all the ups and downs of the characters.
___
Sign up to receive notification when Their Foreign Affair becomes available for pre-order: https://tracycooperposey.com/free-starter-library/
About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intrigu
ing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/
Scandalous Scions
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
Rose of Ebony
Soul of Sin
Valor of Love
Marriage of Lies
Scandalous Scions One (Boxed Set)
Mask of Nobility
Law of Attraction
Veil of Honor
Scandalous Scions Two (Boxed Set)
Season of Denial
Rules of Engagement
Degree of Solitude
Ashes of Pride
Risk of Ruin
Year of Folly
Queen of Hearts
Scandalous Families – The Victorians
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
His Parisian Mistress
Her Rebellious Prince
Their Foreign Affair
Once and Future Hearts
(Ancient Historical Romance—Arthurian)
Born of No Man
Dragon Kin
Pendragon Rises
War Duke of Britain
High King of Britain
Battle of Mount Badon
Abduction of Guenivere
Downfall of Cornwall
Vengeance of Arthur
Grace of Lancelot
The Grail and Glory
Camlann
Kiss Across Time Series
(Paranormal Time Travel)
Kiss Across Time
Kiss Across Swords
Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Time Box One (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Deserts
Kiss Across Kingdoms
Time and Tyra Again
Kiss Across Seas
Kiss Across Time Box Two (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Worlds
Time and Remembrance
Kiss Across Tomorrow
More Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Blades
Project Kobra
(Romantic Spy Thrillers)
Hunting The Kobra
Inside Man
Heart Strike
Blood Knot Series
(Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)
Blood Knot
Southampton Swindle
Broken Promise
Vale
Amor Meus
Blood Stone
Blood Unleashed
Blood Drive
Blood Revealed
Blood Ascendant
Flesh + Blood (Boxed Set)
Vistaria Has Fallen
Vistaria Has Fallen
Prisoner of War
Hostage Crisis
Freedom Fighters
Casualties of War
V-Day
The Vistaria Affair (Boxed Set)
Romantic Thrillers Series
Fatal Wild Child
Dead Again
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)
Beloved Bloody Time Series
(Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)
Bannockburn Binding
Wait
Byzantine Heartbreak
Viennese Agreement
Romani Armada
Spartan Resistance
Celtic Crossing
Beloved Bloody Time Series Boxed Set
Scandalous Sirens
(Historical Romance Series)
Forbidden
Dangerous Beauty
Perilous Princess
Go-get-‘em Women
(Short Romantic Suspense Series)
The Royal Talisman
Delly’s Last Night
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
The Sherlock Holmes Series
(Romantic Suspense/Mystery)
Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
Sherlock Boxed In
The Kine Prophecies
(Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)
The Branded Rose Prophecy
The Stonebrood Saga
(Gargoyle Paranormal Series)
Carson’s Night
Beauty’s Beasts
Harvest of Holidays
Unbearable
Sabrina’s Clan
Pay The Ferryman
Hearts of Stone (Boxed Set)
Destiny’s Trinities
(Urban Fantasy Romance Series)
Beth’s Acceptance
Mia’s Return
Sera’s Gift
The First Trinity
Cora’s Secret
Zoe’s Blockade
Octavia’s War
The Second Trinity
Terra’s Victory
Destiny’s Trinities (Boxed Set)
Interspace Origins
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
Faring Soul
Varkan Rise
Cat and Company
Interspace Origins (Boxed Set)
Short Paranormals
Solstice Surrender
Eva’s Last Dance
Three Taps, Then….
The Well of Rnomath
Jewells of Tomorrow
(Historical Romantic Suspense)
Diana By The Moon
Heart of Vengeance
The Endurance
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
5,001
Greyson’s Doom
Yesterday’s Legacy
Promissory Note
Quiver and Crave
Xenogenesis
Junkyard Heroes
Evangeliya
Skinwalker’s Bane
Contemporary Romances
Lucifer’s Lover
An Inconvenient Lover
Contemporary Romances Boxed Set
Non-Fiction Titles
Reading Order
(Non-Fiction, Reference)
Reading Order Perpetual
Copyright Information
This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2020 by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Cover design by Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs
http://wickedsmartdesigns.com
Edited by Mr. Intensity, Mark Posey
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
FIRST EDITION: March 2020
Cooper-Posey, Tracy
Her Rebellious Prince/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.
Romance—Fiction
Historical—Fiction
Her Rebellious Prince (Scandalous Family--The Victorians Book 2) Page 17