O Night Divine A Holiday Collection of Spirited Christmas Tales - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,226

that were not our choice – and I think it will be much more agreeable this way.”

“It sounds too good to be true. Pinch me so I will wake up if it is a dream.”

He obliged with a naughty pinch to her side, causing her to laugh as she had not laughed in years.

“Still ticklish, I see.”

“Unfair, Your Grace. I have no such weapon to use against you. In fact, I can think of nothing wrong with you.”

“That is not quite true,” he declared, “but if you have forgotten, I will not remind you.”

Anna wrinkled her brow in deep thought. “You cannot carry a tune!” She remembered. “How could I have forgotten?”

“I will never forget how you teased me that night when I tried to hum while we danced.”

She smiled at the recollection of that magical dance on the terrace.

“Shall we dance again?”

“Yes.” She held out her hand to him, feeling unbelievably happy, and then withdrew it again. “You are not going to sing to me, are you?”

“It is Christmas. I did have a carol in mind.” He looked down at her, eyes twinkling.

She shook her head as he swirled her into his arms.

“I learned this new dance in Canada,” he said with a devilish smile. Anna was not certain moving in such an embrace could be considered proper in public, but she relished being held closely in his arms while they moved about in circles. She did not want to think, only feel.

He began to hum off-key and it was a beautiful sound to her ears. If truth be told, the sound was not as bad as he thought, but she would never tell him so. She hummed along and placed her cheek against his chest.

“Are you not going to tell me to hush?”

She shook her head. “No sound you make could sound ill to me at this moment, Alex.”

“I am sorry for the pain I caused you, Anna, but I do think this… reconciliation… is sweeter for our having lost and now found each other again.”

“You are absolutely certain, Alex?” She raised her face to look into his eyes.

“I have not felt such a sense of peace since the last Christmas I held you in my arms like this.”

Anna felt the same, even though it seemed disloyal to her husband to say so.

“And you are certain about Lucy, too?”

“I would hardly take a child from her mother.”

“That is not what I meant,” she chided.

“She has already given us her blessing, you know. We get on quite well and I am already indebted to her.”

“You are?” Anna asked in confusion. “Have you been teaching her to wager behind my back?”

He laughed, a deep, hearty rumble that ran through his chest. She could feel it in her own.

“I meant that she brought us back together. I consider her our Christmas miracle.”

Anna smiled. “Yes. I suppose she is.”

“Now, will you allow us take advantage of this moment they have so graciously conspired to give us? Lord willing, it will not be long before we have an heir to keep Lucy company.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she managed to say before he silenced her with some toe-curling kisses. Anna could not believe her good fortune—’twas a Christmas miracle indeed.

Additional Dragonblade books by Author Elizabeth Johns

Gentlemen of Knights Series

Duke of Knight (Book 1)

Black Knight (Book 2)

Knight and Day (Book 3)

About the Author

Like many writers, Elizabeth Johns was first an avid reader, though she was a reluctant convert. It was Jane Austen’s clever wit and unique turn of phrase that hooked Johns when she was “forced” to read Pride and Prejudice for a school assignment. She began writing when she ran out of her favorite author’s books and decided to try her hand at crafting a Regency romance novel. Her journey into publishing began with the release of Surrender the Past, book one of the Loring-Abbott Series. Johns makes no pretensions to Austen’s wit but hopes readers will perhaps laugh and find some enjoyment in her writing.

Johns attributes much of her inspiration to her mother, a former English teacher. During their last summer together, Johns would sit on the porch swing and read her stories to her mother, who encouraged her to continue writing. Busy with multiple careers, including a professional job in the medical field, author and mother of two children, Johns squeezes in time for reading whenever possible.

Her Christmas White Knight

Elizabeth Keysian

Chapter One

21st December 1585, London

A biting north wind whipped around the corner, chilling Mistress Julia Wentworth to the bone. If ever a subject