The Warrior (61 page)

“How did you know to expect me? I suppose Mrs. Peeke told you I usually enjoy a daily ride in the park?”

Deverill shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult to determine your routine.” He glanced at her solitary groom. “Your betrothed isn’t accompanying you, I see.”

“He doesn’t care to rise so early,” Antonia answered truthfully. “Nor is he as fond of riding as I am.”

“Good. I prefer to enjoy your company uninterrupted.”

Antonia arched an eyebrow. “I don’t recall inviting you, Mr. Deverill.”

His smile was innocent and devilish at the same time. “You didn’t. But I have a business matter to discuss with you that wasn’t appropriate to introduce at the ball last night.”

Antonia didn’t know whether to believe him, but she made no further protest. A morning ride in Hyde Park with Deverill, chaperoned by her groom, was unexceptional, and since he wasn’t the kind of man to give up, she suspected she would do better to give in gracefully now and get any conversation over with.

She hadn’t counted on Deverill touching her, though. When she went to mount, he ignored her groom and took hold of her waist. Antonia drew a sharp breath, her spine tensing as her body eagerly responded to the memory his touch evoked. For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt certain Deverill understood exactly how he affected her. Then, with an ease that betrayed immense physical strength, he lifted her onto her sidesaddle.

The Warrior
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1995, 2005 by Anne Bushyhead

Excerpt from
Wicked Fantasy
by Nicole Jordan copyright © 2005 by Anne Bushyhead

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ivy Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in a slightly different form by Avon Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, in 1995.

Ivy Books and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming edition of
Wicked Fantasy
by Nicole Jordan. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

eISBN 0-345-48469-X

Ballantine Books website address:
www.ballantinebooks.com

v1.0