Noble Scoundrel - Amy Sandas Page 0,111
hard heat.
Mason clenched his teeth to hold back his groan of pleasure.
Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down to press a kiss to his firm lips. Then she looked straight into his eyes and said, “Marry me, Mason Hale.”
His arms tightened automatically around her as his breath left him on a harshly muttered curse. All of the pressure inside him pushed outward. He felt like he needed to explode. He searched her face and saw nothing but intense sincerity. And for some reason, it angered him.
“That’s impossible and you damn well know it.”
“I do not,” she argued stubbornly. “Nothing is impossible.”
“A marriage between a duke’s daughter and a villain of the East End sure as hell is.”
“Says who?”
“The whole fucking world.”
“I don’t care about the rest of the world,” she retorted. Then she arched a brow. “If you don’t want to marry me, Mason, just say so.”
He growled again and his arms tightened involuntarily.
She smiled.
“That’s what I thought.” Framing his face in her hands, she looked confidently into his eyes. “You’ve been fighting all your life. Fighting to survive. To protect. To claim your place in the world. You don’t have to fight this, Mason.” She smiled. “Just let it happen.”
Emotion churned inside him. He couldn’t respond. It didn’t seem real.
“You should know right now that I’m not going to give up on this. On you.”
Giving in to the need inside him, Mason closed his eyes and hauled her into a tighter embrace as he tucked his face into the curve of her neck and shoulder. “I fucking hope not,” he muttered thickly.
After a moment, he lifted his head to look down at her.
Damn, she was stunning. Passionate and prideful and beautifully fierce.
He shook his head slowly as he asked with his heart in his throat, “You really want to marry me?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“And you love me?”
“I do.”
“Because once I make you my wife, that’s it. You’re mine forever.”
“Yes, I know.” She smiled.
And then the words were suddenly there. Pressing insistently against his lips. Forceful. Undeniable. And true. “I love you.”
Though she’d already declared as much, the pleasure in her smile and in the depths of her eyes when he said it himself told him he’d be saying those words a lot.
Epilogue
Two months later
Mason snuck into the Mayfair mansion through the garden entrance. All was silent. As expected for the late hour. Though stealth wasn’t his strong suit, he did his best to lessen the noise of his movements by shedding his heavy, rain-soaked greatcoat and wet boots and leaving them by the door before creeping quietly down the hall.
He didn’t get far before he stopped abruptly to listen.
An unexpected sound. And not far away.
A sneaking suspicion arose and he continued carefully forward. Then he saw it—the subtle glow of candlelight flickering in the room ahead.
Emboldened, he approached the doorway to risk a peek inside.
Just as he’d thought.
“Papa!”
Claire saw him first. Warmth rushed through him as her soft cheeks widened in a smile. She lifted a sugary pastry in his direction. “Sweets.”
He chuckled and strode forward to where his daughter sat atop the tall wooden table. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he glanced over her head and met his wife’s dark gaze.
Contentment.
Such an odd word. And an even odder feeling. But he was getting used to it.
He drew back to ask softly, “Another nightmare, sweet pea?”
Claire stuck her bottom lip out in a pout as she nodded sadly.
“Spiders,” Katherine clarified.
Relief washed through him. Claire’s memories of the time she’d been abducted were slowly fading away. Nightmares about spiders were a welcome exchange. “You know I won’t let anything hurt you. Not even spiders.”
Claire shook her head. “No hurt spiders!”
Mason glanced to Katherine with a raised brow.
“Claire was trying to save the spider from a giant boot.”
“I see,” he murmured thickly as he slowly wrapped the little girl in a strong embrace. “You’re a kind, brave girl, you are.”
After a moment, Claire wriggled to be free. He released her and she immediately stuffed a huge bite of pastry in her mouth.
Katherine had come around to his side of the table and he turned to take her in his arms next. She melted against him, her arms encircling his neck as she raised her face for a kiss. It was quick and chaste, but it still stirred his blood.
“How is it going?” she whispered.
Pulling back, he looked into her eyes and felt a connection unlike anything he’d known before. It startled him sometimes.
He considered evading her question but knew it’d be futile. His jaw clenched. “It’s damned dangerous. Not for me. But Warfield...”
She frowned. “What can I do?”
He stopped her with a quick squeeze and a sharp shake of his head. “Nothing, luv.”
She nodded, but before she could reply, a newcomer in nightshirt and robe stumbled into the kitchen. Combing a hand back through sleep-tousled hair, Freddie glancing about in confusion. “What’s this?”
Mason gave a grunt. “Midnight nibbles. And you’re late.”
The boy angled his head to see past Mason and Katherine to the table. “What’ve we got, then?”
“Sweets!” Claire offered cheerily.
“Perfect.”
As Freddie stepped up to the table and began an intent discussion with Claire over which pastry he should choose, Katherine turned in Mason’s arms. But he wouldn’t let her step away. With her back pressed snug to his front, he doubled his arms around her and lowered his head to press a kiss to her temple.
Wife. Family. Home.
More words that were quickly becoming essential to his existence.
She sighed and dropped her head against his shoulder to smile up at him.
But the best one by far...was love.
Coming Soon from Amy Sandas
TENDER BLACKGUARD
Peril & Persuasion - Book Two
A childhood in the rookery taught Lark Evans two things; how to survive in a perilous world and that people deserving of loyalty are rare and precious. When her closest friend goes missing after sending a cryptic warning, Lark has only one option. She takes a position as housekeeper to the mysterious Lord Warfield, hoping to gain access to the dark and elegant world from which her friend disappeared.
Alastair Blackwell never wanted his father’s wealth and title, but upon the Marquess of Warfield’s death, he discovers a secret too malevolent to ignore. A secret that links back to Alastair’s mother and his own ignoble birth. To purge the demons of his past and prevent others from suffering a similar fate, he vows to destroy the arcane world his father once ruled.
As Lark creeps ever deeper into the shadows surrounding the gentlemen of Curzon Street, everything suggests her handsome, enigmatic employer is one of them. She fears her fascination with the man is clouding her better sense and diverting her from her purpose. Still...despite his cold, wicked gaze, her instinct urges her to trust him.
When Alastair looks into the rebellious gaze of his staid and proper housekeeper, he knows she’s hiding something. He soon discovers her quiet manner masks wounds as deep as his own and a heart far braver than any he’d ever known. He should keep her as far as possible from the evil she seeks, but she could be the key to ending it all.
TENDER BLACKGUARD
Now available for pre-order!
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Also by Amy Sandas
Peril & Persuasion
Noble Scoundrel
Reformed Rakes Novella
Wicked
Dangerous
Brazen
Regency Rogues
Rogue Countess
Reckless Viscount
Rebel Marquess
Relentless Lord
Standalone
Kiss Me, Macrae
Reformed Rakes Box Set
Watch for more at Amy Sandas’s site.
About the Author
Amy grew up in a small dairy town in northern Wisconsin and after earning a Liberal Arts degree from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, she eventually made her way back to Wisconsin (though to a slightly larger town) and lives there with her husband and three children. She spends her early mornings writing before heading off to her day job. The rest of her time is spent trying to keep up with the kids and squeeze in some stolen moments with her husband.
Read more at Amy Sandas’s site.