Lara Temple - Unlaced By The Highland Duke

A plain Regency governess

In bed with the duke!

Part of The Lochmore Legacy: a Scottish castle through the ages! Unceremoniously packed off to Scotland to care for the Duke of Lochmore’s young son, practical widow Joane Langdale fears she will be ignored as always. But the deep connection and heated passion that develops between her and Benneit is far more dangerous! When Benneit is expected to propose to another, how dare Jo dream of becoming his duchess?

LARA TEMPLEwas three years old when she begged her mother to take the dictation of her first adventure story. Since then she has led a double life—by day she is a high-tech investment professional, who has lived and worked on three continents, but when darkness falls she loses herself in history and romance…at least on the page. Luckily her husband and two beautiful and very energetic children help her weave it all together.

Also by Lara Temple

Lord Crayle’s Secret World

The Reluctant Viscount

The Duke’s Unexpected Bride

Wild Lords and Innocent Ladies miniseries

Lord Hunter’s Cinderella Heiress

Lord Ravenscar’s Inconvenient Betrothal

Lord Stanton’s Last Mistress

The Sinful Sinclairs miniseries

The Earl’s Irresistible Challenge

The Lochmore Legacy collection

His Convenient Highland Wedding

by Janice Preston

Unlaced by the Highland Duke

by Lara Temple

Available now

A Runaway Bride for the Highlander

by Elisabeth Hobbes

Available June 2019

Secrets of a Highland Warrior

by Nicole Locke

Available July 2019

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Unlaced by the Highland Duke

Lara Temple

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08896-1

UNLACED BY THE HIGHLAND DUKE

© 2019 Harlequin Books S.A.

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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To my Highland co-conspirators—

Janice, Elisabeth and Nicole.

I always wanted to be one of the Four Musketeers—

thanks for making that a joyful reality.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Extract

About the Publisher

‘Lady Theale is here, Your Grace.’

Benneit didn’t know what was worse—those words or the explosion of light that struck him as Angus hauled back the curtains. He groaned on both counts.

‘Aye,’ Angus replied and positioned himself at the bottom of the bed. With his scarred face he looked like one of the gargoyles carved on to the embattlements at Lochmore Castle come to perch by Benneit’s bed to remind him of his duty. Benneit shoved his head into his pillow.

‘What the devil does she want?’

‘Jamie.’

Benneit tossed the covers aside and scraped himself off the bed.

‘Over my dead, drawn, quartered and pickled body.’

Angus grunted. ‘Aye, lad. Shall I shave you?’

It was more a suggestion than a question and, instinctively, Benneit dragged his hand over his jaw, wincing at the rasp.

‘No. She shall have to accept me in all my glory. What time is it?’

‘It is gone nine in the morning.’

‘Nine? Nine? I’ve barely slept three hours. What the devil is wrong with that woman?’

Angus’s scarred face twisted into a momentary and awful grin.

‘You can sleep when you’re dead, Your Grace.’

It was Benneit’s turn to grunt as he dragged off his nightshirt and went to the basin. There was a brutality to Angus sometimes and whether he meant to allude to Bella or not, it struck up her image, interred in the Lochmore family crypt. Eventually Benneit would be there, too. A fate worse than death... He breathed in to calm the reflexive queasiness at the thought, reminding himself that when that day came he would at least know nothing of it.

‘Send Jamie to her until I’m ready—if he’s awake. After half an hour of his undiluted company she might think twice about this campaign to take him to Uxmore.’

‘He’s down there now, lad.’

Benneit wiped the water from his face and glanced at Angus, meeting the twinkle in the giant’s blue eyes.

‘Great minds thing alike, eh, Angus?’

‘When they think at all, Your Grace.’

Benneit sighed and returned to the freezing water.