Angel in Scarlet (Bound and Determined #4)(89)

Suddenly she found herself lifted, her head against his shoulder, his strong arm beneath her bended knees. He carried her to her bed, laying her gently against the pillows and pulling the covers up to her neck. Only then did she realize how cold the room had become.

He stepped away, fastening the flap of his trousers.

She patted the bed beside her.

He shook his head. “We’ve already risked too much, but I could not resist. Knowing you are mine has, I fear, left me permanently in need. I want to mark you and scream to the world that you are mine.”

Her hand rose to the back of her neck. “I think you may have already succeeded. I will have to wear a scarf on the morrow.”

“I am sorry.”

That was blatantly not true. “I am sure you are and that it will never happen again.”

“Are you happy?”

The question took her by surprise. Looking into his eyes, she considered, giving him the best answer that she could. “Yes, I am happy. It is not perfect. I can’t deny that I want more. Oh, don’t get that look—that’s not what I—I mean more in life. Does that make any sense?”

He stepped toward her. “Yes, and I can only say I will try. I do mean to make you happy, my angel.” His hand lifted and brushed back her hair. He stared straight into her eyes. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened. A slight smile formed on his lips. “I meant it earlier, even if I was not truly ready to say it. Angela, I do love you.”

And she believed him. It was that simple. It was why she had said yes this morning and it was why she’d welcomed him tonight. He did want her to be happy. She believed that too. “If you’re not careful, you’ll make my dreams come true.”

“I am working on it. I am already thinking about a certain English spy and how to torture her to make her talk.”

That wasn’t what she’d meant either, but she could tell he knew that—and she couldn’t deny that even the thought of such torture had her body humming.

It was her turn to reach out, to brush her fingers over his lips. It was her turn to speak, to say the words. She opened her mouth—and before she could say more, a voice called through the wall. “Are you having problems sleeping, Angela? I keep thinking I hear voices in there.”

“My mother,” she whispered.

He stepped away.

She grinned and mouthed the words. “I love you.”

Colton’s eyes lit, filled with warmth and care. Then, placing a hand on his heart, he slipped from the room.

Angela stared after him for a moment, unable to hold back the smile on her lips.

“Angela?” Another call.

She slipped out of the bed, walked to the wall that joined the rooms, and called, “I am fine, Mother; just happy.”

And it was true, so very, very true.





BY LAVINIA KENT


Mastering the Marquess

Revealing Ruby (novella)

Bound by Bliss

Sarah’s Surrender (novella)

Ravishing Ruby

Angel in Scarlet





About the Author


LAVINIA KENT is a former two-term president of the Washington Romance Writers and a four-time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart nominee. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her family and an ever-changing menagerie of pets.

Want more from Lavinia Kent?

laviniakent.com

Facebook.com/LaviniaKent

@laviniakent





The Editor’s Corner


Looking for your next book boyfriend? I think I can help you out—check out these wonderful stories from Loveswept: Something brand-new from Loveswept debut author Lynda Aicher, The Harder He Falls. Author Ellie Cahill releases a sexy, witty new adult story called Just a Girl. The first in the Bayard Hockey series comes from Kelly Jamieson with Shut Out. New York Times bestselling author Missy Johnson steams it up with The Proposition. The third story in Cassie Mae’s LOL All About Love romantic comedy series holds true to its name: Crazy About Love. Readers will fall fast and hard and clamor for the next in Tina Wainscott’s Florida-set Falling Fast series with Falling Free. Sharon Cullen’s Highland Pride series continues with MacLean’s Passion, as Scotland’s most reckless smuggler meets his match in a beautiful spitfire who arouses a renewed sense of duty, camaraderie, and passion in him. New York Times bestselling author L. P. Dover sets hearts on fire in Defending Hayden, where a damaged football star teams up with the only woman who can take away the pain. More from Lavinia Kent’s Bound and Determined series comes in the form of Angel in Scarlet. And I hope you’ll agree that there are never too many men in kilts: Ladies, meet the Wild Highland Guardians, new from Violetta Rand in Her Highland Rogue.

Be in the know—friend us and like us on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next month ~Happy Romance!



Gina Wachtel

Associate Publisher





Read on for a sneak peek of the next intoxicating, erotic historical romance in Lavinia Kent’s Bound and Determined series


A Very Ruby Christmas


Available from Loveswept





Chapter 1


“When is Captain Price returning?” Angela, Lady Colton, asked, turning away from the painting she’d been admiring to stare intently at Ruby across the parlor of Madame Rouge’s, London’s most exclusive brothel. “Wasn’t he due back a week ago? I can’t imagine being left alone for so long. How ever do you manage without him?”