He inhaled and looked up.
She was twisting her hands together. “For a writer, I’m awfully ineloquent. I don’t know—”
He dropped the notebook and pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately. He held her sweet face between his palms and caressed her temples with his thumbs as he opened his mouth over hers, inhaling her gasp.
When at last he drew back, he whispered against her lips, “Do you know where we are?”
“Yes,” she murmured, her eyes closed. “At the heart of the maze.” And when she opened her lichen-green eyes he saw all the love he’d ever hoped for shining in her eyes just for him. “At your heart—and mine.”
OTHER TITLES BY ELIZABETH HOYT
The Raven Prince
The Leopard Prince
The Serpent Prince
The Ice Princess
To Taste Temptation
To Beguile a Beast
To Seduce a Sinner
To Desire a Devil
Wicked Intentions
Notorious Pleasures
Scandalous Desires
Thief of Shadows
Lord of Darkness
Duke of Midnight
PRAISE FOR
ELIZABETH HOYT’S
MAIDEN LANE SERIES
Duke of Midnight
“Top Pick! A sensual tale of forbidden love… Plenty of action and intriguing mystery make this a page-turner.”
—BookPage
“Richly drawn characters fill the pages of this emotionally charged mix of mystery and romance.”
—Publishers Weekly
“4½ stars! Top Pick! There is enchantment in the Maiden Lane series, not just the fairy tales Hoyt infuses into the memorable romances, but the wonder of love combined with passion, unique plotlines, and unforgettable characters.”
—RT Book Reviews
“I loved it. I loved Artemis. I loved Max, and I loved their story. I have enjoyed every Elizabeth Hoyt book I have read (and I have read most of them).”
—All About Romance (LikesBooks.com)
Lord of Darkness
“Lord of Darkness illuminates Hoyt’s boundless imagination… Readers will adore this story.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Hoyt’s writing is imbued with great depth of emotion… heartbreaking… an edgy tension-filled plot.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Lord of Darkness is classic Elizabeth Hoyt, meaning it’s unique, engaging, and leaves readers on the edge of their seats… an incredible addition to the fantastic Maiden Lane series. I Joyfully Recommend Godric and Megs’s tale, for it’s an amazing, well-crafted story with an intriguing plot and a lovely, touching romance… simply enchanting!”
—JoyfullyReviewed.com
“I adore the Maiden Lane series, and this fifth book is a very welcome addition to the series… [It’s] sexy and sweet all at the same time… This can be read as a stand-alone, but I adore each book in this series and encourage you to start from the beginning.”
—USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog
“Beautifully written… a truly fine piece of storytelling and a novel that deserves to be read and enjoyed.”
—TheBookBinge.com
Thief of Shadows
“An expert blend of scintillating romance and mystery… The romance between the beautiful and quick-witted Isabel and the masked champion of the downtrodden propels this novel to the top of its genre.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Amazing sex scenes… a very intriguing hero… This one did not disappoint.”
—USA Today
“Innovative, emotional, sensual… Hoyt’s beautiful blending of the essential elements of a fairy tale into a stunning love story enhances this delicious ‘keeper.’ ”
—RT Book Reviews
“All of Hoyt’s signature literary ingredients—wickedly clever dialogue, superbly nuanced characters, danger, and scorching sexual chemistry—click neatly into place to create a breathtakingly romantic love story.”
—Booklist
“When [they] finally come together, desire and long-denied sensuality explode upon the page.”
—Library Journal
“With heart and heat rolled into one, Thief of Shadows is a definite must-read for historical romance fans! Hoyt really has outdone herself… yet again.”
—UndertheCoversBookblog.blogspot.com
“A balanced mixture of action, adventure, and mystery and a beautifully crafted romance… The perfect historical romance.”
—HeroesandHeartbreakers.com
Scandalous Desires
“Historical romance at its best… Series fans will be enthralled, while new readers will find this emotionally charged installment stands very well alone.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“4½ stars! This is the Maiden Lane story readers have been waiting for. Hoyt delivers her hallmark fairy tale within a romance and takes readers into the depths of the heart and soul of her characters. Pure magic flows from her pen, lifting readers’ spirits with joy.”
—RT Book Reviews
“With its lush sensuality, lusciously wrought prose, and luxuriously dark plot, Scandalous Desires, the latest exquisitely crafted addition to Hoyt’s Georgian-set Maiden Lane series, is a romance to treasure.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Ms. Hoyt writes some of the best love scenes out there. They are passionate, sexy, and blazing hot… I simply adore Ms. Hoyt’s books for her sensuous prose, multifaceted characters, and intense, well-developed story lines. And she delivers every single time. It’s no wonder all of her books are on my keeper shelves. Do yourself a favor and pick up Scandalous Desires.”
—TheRomanceDish.com
“Scandalous Desires is the best book Elizabeth Hoyt has written so far, with endearing characters and an all-encompassing romance you’ll want to hold close and never let go. If there’s one must-read book, especially for historical romance fans, it’s Scandalous Desires.”
—FallenAngelReviews.com
Notorious Pleasures
“Emotionally stunning… The sinfully sensual chemistry Hoyt creates between her shrewd, acid-tongued heroine and her scandalous, sexy hero is pure romance.”
—Booklist
Wicked Intentions
“4½ stars! Top Pick! A magnificently rendered story that not only enchants but enthralls.”
—RT Book Reviews
SEE THE FOLLOWING PAGE
FOR A PREVIEW OF
THE NEXT STUNNING
MAIDEN LANE NOVEL,
Dearest Rogue!
Chapter One
JULY 1741
LONDON, ENGLAND
Captain James Trevillion, formerly of the 4th Dragoons, had been in many dangerous places, but until now he wouldn’t’ve thought Bond Street in the middle of a sunny Wednesday afternoon was one of them.
“Do you have the package from Furtleby’s?” inquired his charge, Lady Phoebe Batten.
The sister of the Duke of Wakefield, Lady Phoebe was plump, pretty, and quite pleasant to nearly everyone excepting himself. She was also blind, which was both why she had her hand on Trevillion’s left forearm and why Trevillion was here at all: he was her bodyguard.
“No,” he answered absently as he watched one—no, three—big brutes coming toward them, moving against the brightly dressed, fashionable crowd. They looked ominously out of place. He leaned heavily on the cane in his right hand and pivoted to look behind them. Lovely. A fourth man.
“Because the lace was especially fine,” she said, “and also at a special price which I’m quite sure I won’t be able to find again for quite some time.”
“Was it?”
The nearest brute had a nasty scar on his cheek and was holding something down by his side—a knife? A pistol? Trevillion transferred the cane to his left hand and gripped his own pistol, one of two holstered in black leather belts crisscrossed over his chest. His rig
ht leg protested the sudden loss of support.
Two shots, four men. The odds were not particularly good.
“Yes,” Lady Phoebe replied. “And Furtleby made sure to tell me that the lace was made by grasshoppers weaving butterfly wings on the Isle of Man. Very exclusive.”
“I am listening to you,” Trevillion said as the first brute shoved aside an elderly dandy wearing a full-bottomed white wig.
“Are you?” she asked sweetly, “because—”
The brute’s hand came up with a pistol and Trevillion shot him in the chest.
Lady Phoebe gripped his arm tighter. “What—?”
The other three men started running. Toward them.
“Don’t let go of me,” Trevillion barked, glancing quickly around. He couldn’t fight three men with only one shot remaining. “Left. Now.”
He shoved her in that direction, his right leg giving him hell. The bloody thing better not collapse on him—not now. He holstered the first pistol and drew the second.
“Did you just shoot someone?” Lady Phoebe panted as a screaming matron brushed roughly against her. The panicked crowd was surging around them, making their progress harder.
“Yes.”
There. A couple of paces away a small boy was holding the reins of a bay gelding in the street. The horse’s eyes showed white, its nostrils flared, but it hadn’t bolted at the shot, which was a good sign.
“Why?”
“It seemed a good idea,” Trevillion said grimly. He looked behind them. Two of their attackers had been detained behind a gaggle of screeching society ladies. The other, though, was determinedly elbowing through the crowd in their direction.
“Did you kill him?” Lady Phoebe asked with interest.
“Maybe.” They made the horse and boy. “Up now.”
“Up where?”
“Horse,” Trevillion grunted, slapping her hand on the horse’s saddle.
“Oi!” shouted the boy.
Lady Phoebe was a clever girl. She felt down to the stirrup and placed her foot in it. Trevillion put his hand frankly on her bottom and pushed her up hard onto the beast.
She gave a little squeak.
“Thanks,” Trevillion muttered at the boy, now wide-eyed at the sight of the pistol.
He dropped his cane, grabbed the reins, and scrambled inelegantly into the saddle behind Lady Phoebe, still holding the pistol in one hand.
The third brute made the horse and grabbed for the bridle, his lips twisted in an ugly grimace.
Trevillion shot him full in the face.
The horse half-reared, but Trevillion sternly kneed it into a canter even as he holstered the spent pistol.
He might be a cripple on land, but by God, in the saddle he was a demon.
“Did you kill that one?” Lady Phoebe shouted as they swerved around a cart.
“Yes.”
“Oh, good.” She threw back her head and laughed breathlessly as he grasped her around the waist.
He leaned forward, inhaling the scent of roses in her hair, and kicked the horse into a full gallop.
Right through the heart of London.
Fall in Love with Forever Romance
UNLEASHED
by Rachel Lacey
Cara has one rule: Don’t get attached. It’s served her well with the dogs she’s fostered and the children she’s nannied. But one smile from her sexy neighbor has her thinking some rules are made to be broken. Fans of Jill Shalvis will fall in love with this sassy, sexy debut!
MADE FOR YOU
by Lauren Layne
She’s met her match… she just doesn’t know it yet. Fans of Jennifer Probst and Rachel Van Dyken will fall head over heels for the second book in the Best Mistake series.
SCANDALOUS SUMMER NIGHTS
by Anne Barton
Fans of Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, and Sarah MacLean will love this charming and wickedly witty new book in the Honeycote series about the passion—and peril—of falling in love with your brother’s best friend.
HE’S NO PRINCE CHARMING
by Elle Daniels
A delightful retelling of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast with a wonderful, sensual, and playful twist that fans of Elizabeth Hoyt won’t want to miss!
THE BURIED
by Shelley Coriell
“It’s cold. And dark. I can’t breathe.”
Grace and “Hatch” thought they’d buried the past, but a killer on a grisly crime spree is about to unearth their deepest fears. Don’t miss the next gripping thriller in the Apostles series.
SHOOTING SCARS
by Karina Halle
Ellie Watt has been kidnapped by her thuggish ex-boyfriend, leaving her current lover, Camden McQueen, to save the day. And there’s nothing he won’t do to rescue Ellie from this criminal and his entourage of killers in this fast-paced, sexy USA Today bestseller!
THE WICKED WAYS OF ALEXANDER KIDD
by Paula Quinn
The newest sinfully sexy Scottish romance in New York Times bestselling author Paula Quinn’s Highland Heirs series, about the niece of a Highland chief who stows away on a pirate ship, desperate for adventure, and the pirate captain whose wicked ways inflame an irresistible desire…
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
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
Epilogue
Other Titles by Elizabeth Hoyt
Praise For Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane Series
A Preview of Dearest Rogue
Fall in Love with Forever Romance
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Nancy M. Finney
Excerpt from Dearest Rogue © 2014 by Nancy M. Finney
Cover design by Diane Luger
Cover art by Alan Ayers
Hand lettering by Ron Zinn
Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at
[email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
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First ebook edition: October 2014
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ISBN 978-1-4555-8631-8
E3
Elizabeth Hoyt, Darling Beast
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