Elizabeth Lane - Shawnee Bride

Cover Page

Excerpt She was free But she could not thank him. She could not even say goodbye. “Clarissa.” At the sound of her name, she spun back toward him. Her heart leapt, then dropped like a stone as she saw that he was holding the parfleche, extending it toward her with both hands. Fighting tears of anguish, she walked slowly back toward him. His face was in full sunlight now, the jaw set, the blue eyes narrowed against the glare. What colossal, stubborn pride he had! If only he would speak, or even look at her… As she reached out to take the rawhide case, their fingers brushed. The light contact of skin to skin blazed like a flash of gunpowder through her body. Struck by the sudden, searing heat in his eyes, Clarissa let the case fall. In the next instant he had caught her in his arms…

Dear Reader Dear Reader, What a perfect time to celebrate history-the eve of a new century. This month we’re featuring four terrific romances with awe-inspiring heroes and heroines from days gone by that you’ll want to take with you into the next century! Wolf Heart is the fascinating, timeless hero from Shawnee Bride by Elizabeth Lane. Fans of Native American stories will absolutely love this authentic, emotion-filled love story about a boy who was orphaned at eleven and adopted by the Shawnee Now a fierce Shawnee warrior, both in his heart and mind, Wolf Heart falls in love with a beautiful white woman whom he rescues from river pirates. Will their love transcend the cultural barriers? Will she live as his Shawnee bride, or will she return to the white man’s world? Don’t miss this wonderful story! In By Queen’s Grace by Shari Anton, Saxon knight Corwin of Lenvil heroically wins the hand-and heart-of his longtime secret love, a royal maiden. Antoinette Huntington is the unforgettable heroine in The Lady and the Outlaw by DeLoras Scott. Here, the English Antoinette has a romantic run-in with an outlaw on a train headed for the Arizona Territory. Simon of Blackstone will steal your heart in The Champion by Suzanne Barclay, the launch book in the KNIGHTS OF THE BLACK ROSE miniseries. Simon returns from war to confront the father he never knew…and finds himself and his lady love the prume suspects in his father’s murder. Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance. Happy holidays, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor

Title Page Shawnee Bride Elizabeth Lane www.millsandboon.co.uk

Author Note by Elizabeth Lane Author Note by Elizabeth Lane Before writing Shawnee Bride, I did extensive research on Shawnee history and customs. Even with the best of intentions, however, it is difficult to know everything about a culture that is not one’s own. If anything I have written here is found to be erroneous or offensive, I offer my apologies to the reader and to a people for whom I have nothing but the deepest respect. I owe a special debt of gratitude to James Alexander Thom, whose fine biographical novel Panther in the Sky inspired the setting and background for Clarissa and Wolf Heart’s story. Elizabeth Lane

Prologue

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

Epilogue

ELIZABETH LANE

Copyright

But she could not thank him. She could not even say goodbye.

“Clarissa.”

At the sound of her name, she spun back toward him. Her heart leapt, then dropped like a stone as she saw that he was holding the parfleche, extending it toward her with both hands.

Fighting tears of anguish, she walked slowly back toward him. His face was in full sunlight now, the jaw set, the blue eyes narrowed against the glare. What colossal, stubborn pride he had! If only he would speak, or even look at her…

As she reached out to take the rawhide case, their fingers brushed. The light contact of skin to skin blazed like a flash of gunpowder through her body. Struck by the sudden, searing heat in his eyes, Clarissa let the case fall.

In the next instant he had caught her in his arms…

Dear Reader,

What a perfect time to celebrate history-the eve of a new century. This month we’re featuring four terrific romances with awe-inspiring heroes and heroines from days gone by that you’ll want to take with you into the next century! Wolf Heart is the fascinating, timeless hero from Shawnee Bride by Elizabeth Lane. Fans of Native American stories will absolutely love this authentic, emotion-filled love story about a boy who was orphaned at eleven and adopted by the Shawnee Now a fierce Shawnee warrior, both in his heart and mind, Wolf Heart falls in love with a beautiful white woman whom he rescues from river pirates. Will their love transcend the cultural barriers? Will she live as his Shawnee bride, or will she return to the white man’s world? Don’t miss this wonderful story!

In By Queen’s Grace by Shari Anton, Saxon knight Corwin of Lenvil heroically wins the hand-and heart-of his longtime secret love, a royal maiden. Antoinette Huntington is the unforgettable heroine in The Lady and the Outlaw by DeLoras Scott. Here, the English Antoinette has a romantic run-in with an outlaw on a train headed for the Arizona Territory.

Simon of Blackstone will steal your heart in The Champion by Suzanne Barclay, the launch book in the KNIGHTS OF THE BLACK ROSE miniseries. Simon returns from war to confront the father he never knew…and finds himself and his lady love the prume suspects in his father’s murder.

Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance.

Happy holidays,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Before writing Shawnee Bride, I did extensive research on Shawnee history and customs. Even with the best of intentions, however, it is difficult to know everything about a culture that is not one’s own. If anything I have written here is found to be erroneous or offensive, I offer my apologies to the reader and to a people for whom I have nothing but the deepest respect.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to James Alexander Thom, whose fine biographical novel Panther in the Sky inspired the setting and background for Clarissa and Wolf Heart’s story.

Elizabeth Lane

The Valley of the Ohio, 1747

Seth Johnson bolted through the underbrush, terror fueling the strength of his eleven-year-old legs. Brambles clawed at his threadbare clothes. Roots and vines clutched at his ankles. His heart hammered in anguished fire bursts as he ran.

Behind him, the silence of the forest was even more terrible than his father’s screams had been. Pa would be dead by now, God willing, and even if he wasn’t, there was nothing that could be done for him.

The marauding black bear had come out of nowhere, jumping Benjamin Johnson as he crouched to reset one of his beaver traps. Seth had flung sticks and rocks and screamed himself hoarse in a frantic effort to distract the monster, but none of his boyish racket had been of any use. In the end, he had been left with no choice except to run for his life.