Sinful (Risque Regency Novella)

Sinful (Risque Regency Novella)

Some sins are impossible to forgiveâ€¦

Ruthless and devilishly handsome, former Bow Street Runner Trevelyan Foxton has been hired to find a missing debutante. But the woman who holds the key to the girlâ€™s disappearance is the one woman Lyan vowed he would never see again. After all, when a young man proposes marriage and gives his virginity to his beloved, heâ€™s going to be furious when she steals his money and runs away.

Some men are impossible to resistâ€¦

Haunted by dark secrets, Estelle Desjardins was forced to desert Lyan ten years before, take half his money, and disappear. She has built an independent life as a dressmaker and secretly helps young ladies escape loveless arranged marriages. When Lyan comes back into her life, she must lie to him all over again. But he suspects the truth and wages a campaign of seduction and pleasure that melts all her defensesâ€¦

A shorter version of this story was published as â€œGretna Greenâ€ in the Mammoth Book of Regency Romance, 2010. This novella is greatly expanded and hotter.

Length: 20,500 words/84 pages

*****
A pin jabbed her tongue. Estelle spat them all into her hand. The attention of every woman in her salon was riveted on Lyan, but he had eyes only for her as he slowly stepped into her shop. He took off his beaver hat as he ducked under the doorway, revealing his striking coal-black hair and the one streak of white that began at his temple and followed the sweep of his unfashionably long tresses to his shoulder.

â€œMadame Desjardins,â€ he said, with a perfunctory bow. He straightened, then ensured he closed the door behind him. A sardonic smile lifted his lips as the bell tinkled. â€œIs it intended to mean â€˜Star of the Gardensâ€™? I like that very much.â€
Her stomach almost dropped away. What did Lyan want? â€œMay I help you, Mr. Foxton?â€

The buzz began.

â€œGoodness, Mr. Foxton is a Bow Street Runner,â€ whispered Lady Amelia to her bosom-bow, Lady Caroline Trent.

Lady Caroline put her gloved hand to her mouth and her blue eyes glittered with thrilled delight. â€œWhat is he doing here? Do you think thereâ€™s been a crime here?â€

â€œOther than the prices?â€ muttered Lady Carolineâ€™s mother.

â€œHave you heard?â€ one young lady whispered. â€œIt is said that Mr. Foxton is the heir to the Earl of Delamore.â€

Estelle froze. She took care to know the gossip of the ton. How could she not have known this? Yet if there was any ordinary man who possessed the autocratic beauty of a gentleman of the ton, it was Lyan.

â€œThat cannot be true,â€ declared the voluptuous Countess of Bournemouth. â€œI heard that he grew up in the East End stews. It is rumored he has a very sordid past.â€ She said it in a breathy purr, as though â€œsordidâ€ was a commendable thing.

â€œI think he is trying to look down Lady Armitageâ€™s bodice!â€

That would not surprise her. Lyan had always enjoyed playing the rogue. At this very moment, he appeared to be enjoying shocking her clients. â€œMadame Desjardins,â€ he began, in a voice that had deepened and roughened and grown even more magnetic in ten years. â€œI hate to trouble you, but I would like a private word.â€

The ladies gasped, for that meant he must walk through her shop, past the curtained rooms in which women stood in various states of undress. Estelle squared her shoulders and banished her quivers. She had learned to be strong to survive in Londonâ€™s stews. She would not let Lyanâ€™s presence make her feel like an uncertain girl again.

â€œMiss Sims, advise the ladies to keep their curtains closed,â€ she instructed her best seamstress. With brow raised and what she hoped was a cool, placid expression firmly fixed in place, she turned to Lyan. â€œMr. Foxton, you may come to my office. I assume a respectable representative of Bow Street will keep his eyes averted.â€
Country USA
Author Sharon Page
Binding Kindle Edition
EISBN 9780987864109
Format Kindle eBook
NumberOfPages 66
PublicationDate 2011-11-16
ReleaseDate 2011-11-16

Country	USA
Author	Sharon Page
Binding	Kindle Edition
EISBN	9780987864109
Format	Kindle eBook
NumberOfPages	66
PublicationDate	2011-11-16
ReleaseDate	2011-11-16

Sinful (Risque Regency Novella)

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