Kathryn Jensen - The Earl's Secret

Sending The Staff Home To Leave Himself Alone In The Castle With A Female Guest Had The Makings Of A Classic Seduction.

Jennifer wasn’t sure if she was nervous or excited as Christopher led her upstairs. But she was out of breath by the time they reached the top.

“Is something wrong, Jennifer?” The earl’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “If I’d wanted to attack you, don’t you think I would have done it before now?”

“Oh no, I wasn’t thinking—”

“Yes, you were. You’ve read too many gothic novels, luv. Here—”

Before she could pull away, his lips settled tenderly over hers. It was over as quickly as it had begun. “What was that for?” she gasped.

“To prove I could kiss you without being driven mad by passion.”

“I see.” As to her own passion or sanity, Jennifer couldn’t presently vouch for either. Because with his arms enclosing her, she felt as near to heaven as she’d ever been.

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year from Silhouette Desire, where we offer you six passionate, powerful and provocative romances every month of the year! Here’s what you can indulge yourself with this January….

Begin the new year with a seductive MAN OF THE MONTH, Tall, Dark & Western by Anne Marie Winston. A rancher seeking a marriage of convenience places a personals ad for a wife, only to fall—hard—for the single mom who responds!

Silhouette Desire proudly presents a sequel to the wildly successful in-line continuity series THE TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB. This exciting new series about alpha men on a mission is called TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: LONE STAR JEWELS. Jennifer Greene’s launch book, Millionaire M.D., features a wealthy surgeon who helps out his childhood crush when she finds a baby on her doorstep—by marrying her!

Alexandra Sellers continues her exotic miniseries SONS OF THE DESERT with one more irresistible sheikh in Sheikh’s Woman. THE BARONS OF TEXAS miniseries by Fayrene Preston returns with another feisty Baron heroine in The Barons of Texas: Kit. In Kathryn Jensen’s The Earl’s Secret, a British aristocrat romances a U.S. commoner while wrestling with a secret. And Shirley Rogers offers A Cowboy, a Bride & a Wedding Vow, in which a cowboy discovers his secret child.

So ring in the new year with lots of cheer and plenty of red-hot romance, by reading all six of these enticing love stories.

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

has written many novels for young readers as well as for adults. She speed walks, works out with weights and enjoys ballroom dancing for exercise, stress reduction and pleasure. Her children are now grown. She lives in Maryland with her writing companion—Sunny, a lovable terrier mix adopted from a shelter.

Having worked as a hospital switchboard operator, department store sales associate, bank clerk and elementary school teacher, she now splits her days between writing her own books and teaching fiction writing at two local colleges and through a correspondence course. She enjoys helping new writers get a start, and speaks “at the drop of a hat” at writers’ conferences, libraries and schools across the country.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Life had taken a wrong turn somewhere. And no matter how hard the young earl of Winchester tried, he couldn’t seem to put it right.

At the top of the castle’s north turret was his favorite room, his refuge and place to be alone with his most private thoughts. As a small child he and his brothers had played here. All through adolescent summers, this was where he came to read of valiant knights, courageous battles and beautiful yet desperate princesses. He was always victorious in his daydreams, and he had been comforted when his young spirit was troubled.

But these adult days, when he spent time within the thick granite walls, the thoughts that curled round him like the mists off Loch Kerr only blackened his already dark mood. His frustration and anger grew day by day, gathering power like a storm rolling across the Scottish moor, until he came perilously close to lashing out at anything or anyone who crossed him.

Stepping out onto the stone balcony, Christopher Smythe glowered across the fragrant purple heather. Three hundred miles to the south lay London, where most of his elite circle of friends would spend a few days before drifting en masse for the month of August to the Côte d’Azur. His houseguests were frequent and usually an effective distraction, but eventually they left for a new foxhunt, the next polo match or house party. Then he had no choice but to face his helpless fury, because he was unable to act on man’s deepest instinct.

Christopher’s strong hands gripped the stone balustrade as he lifted his face to the morning sky and loudly cursed it and fate, too. Instead of feeling better for unleashing his rage, he experienced something else. An almost overwhelming sense that his life was about to become still more complicated before he could hope for peace of mind.

It was then that he thought he saw something move at the distant end of the narrow gravel drive leading up the hill from the main road. It appeared to be a van of sorts: red, squat and dusty. His housekeeper didn’t drive, and his caretaker was off for the day. The stable master and his lads were busy tending to his horses. He wasn’t expecting the stone mason’s crew to return for another few days. In fact, no one he knew drove a boxy little vehicle like that.

As the crimson monstrosity rumbled closer, kicking up dust and pebbles like a skittish mare, he squinted at a brightly colored magnetic sign attached to one side: Murphy’s Worldwide Escapes. A lost party of tourists, he thought grimly. There was nothing to do now but go down and give them directions back to the highway.

Irritated that his brooding had been interrupted—or because the interruption promised to be so brief and unexciting—he hurried down the turret’s tight coil of steps to the landing. In long, purposeful strides he took another flight, two ivory marble steps at a time to the great hall on the ground level. Christopher flung open the weighty, iron-nubbed oak door and stepped outside to see a young woman climb down from the driver’s seat of the van and cheerfully wave her passengers out onto his property.

This was too much.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” He rushed at her, feeling heat rise up from his collar and settle like a steaming blanket over his face.

She spun around, staring at him, lips parted in surprise. Her eyes were the color of new leaves. Fresh, green, virginal. They darkened the instant they settled upon his scowl. “Excuse me?”

“Didn’t you see the sign?”

“What sign?” There was a note of challenge in her voice, which surprised him. Usually he was able to send intruders scurrying with a simple glare.

“The one that says this is private property,” he growled. “‘No Trespassing.”’

She blinked at him twice, nibbled at her lower lip and sighed. “Well, I guess I just assumed we weren’t…” Peering into her purse, she rummaged around inside. “Here it is.” She shook a piece of paper in his face. “We have reservations for 11:00 a.m.”