Wild Texas Rose (14 page)
Authors: Christina Dodd
THE END
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I hope you enjoyed WILD TEXAS ROSE! I was first catapulted to fame by my bold, funny historical romances, and they remain eternal favorites. I love to tell the story of the prim, oppressed heroine who, when given the chance, blossoms and becomes a lioness.
Miss Laura Haver is just such a woman, a spinster and a seamstress … and a woman bent on revenge. For her brother was killed while seeking the identity of a notorious French smuggler, and she suspects Jean’s true identity is none other than the wealthy and commanding Keefe Leighton, Earl of Hamilton.
How to capture such a rogue?
By arriving at his estate and claiming to be his bride, of course. But her plans go awry when Hamilton arrives and discovers her ruse … and does everything in his considerable power to make her bride in the truth!
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Excerpt
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Kent, England, 1813
Over and over, through the long, lonely nights since her brother’s death, Laura had dreamed about Hamilton chasing her. She’d seen his face on every dark-haired man who walked the London streets, in the men who had traveled with her in the coach as she made her way to Kent — and justice.
She didn’t like this obsession she had formed about the man, but something about Hamilton convinced her she should flee and never stop, because if she didn’t…
Well. She couldn’t flee. She had her duty to her brother.
And it wasn’t as if she didn’t know why she dreamed about Hamilton, or why when he watched her, she worried for her virtue. Not because she feared he would force himself on her. No, indeed. It was not that easy.
She feared she would fling herself at him.
And when she did, he would take her on a erotic journey from which she would return changed, no longer levelheaded Laura Haver, but a creature drowning in sensuality … no, not even sensuality. Call this emotion by its true name — lust.
It hadn’t always been thus.
When Ronald was alive, he had spoken of Hamilton in dazzling terms. As Hamilton’s personal secretary, Ronald proclaimed often that he had had learned much from his lordship about wealth, responsibility and personal honor.
Yet Laura had never had occasion to meet Hamilton … until Ronald was killed.
The grief. The anguish. The desperate days of mourning her only sibling and last living relative.
At last she’d put those emotions aside and made an appointment to meet Hamilton, confident he would help her discover Ronald’s killer and give her a measure of consolation. Only to discover Ronald had failed to report, or possibly even to notice, that Hamilton was … physically spectacular.
Gray blue eyes, the color of the sea on a calm day. A wide, firm, placid mouth. A deep voice, tranquil, thoughtful, measured.
Yet when his eyes rested on her, they grew intensely, vibrantly blue, almost angry in their ferocity, and his mouth was no longer placid, but carnal, beckoning. When his voice spoke her name, his voice grew low, warm, seductive.
As for his body … he was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed always in absolutely the proper clothing for a gentleman and lord of his station.
Yet he seemed intent on using his body to bully her. When she sat, he stood over her. When she stood, he loomed. He seemed to have a propensity for looming, and she found it irritating in that the tactic seemed to work so well. While he was standing and looming and being imposing, she found herself wanting to do as he told her, and go home and remain like a genteel lady, and when the proper time arrived the smugglers would be brought to justice.
Hamilton was patronizing her.
And she might nothing but a poor, plain gentlewoman who earned her living as a seamstress, but she couldn’t bear to be patronized, especially not by Hamilton.
So she clenched her teeth and faced up to him, ignoring the breadth of his shoulders, the sculptured perfection of his features, and her own untutored desire to hurl herself into his arms and let him care for her.
From the very beginning some instinct told her that his placid exterior hid something deep, potent and deceptive. That was the key word about Hamilton … deceptive. She would do well to remember it in all future dealings with him.
Christina Dodd here: WILD TEXAS ROSE first came out in 1993 to a very limited audience, and hasn’t been in print since. When I re-read it with an eye to presenting it to my modern readers, I found myself laughing out loud at the relationship between Rose and Thorn, and cheering for their chance at happiness. I hope you, too, enjoyed WILD TEXAS ROSE, and that you take this opportunity to explore all my worlds and join my FREE mailing list for news, contests and exclusive excerpts!
http://christinadodd.com
Now take a moment to browse a few of my twenty-seven full length historicals!
Enjoy the Best of Christina Dodd’s Historicals
RUNAWAY PRINCESS
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LOST IN YOUR ARMS
A husband returns from the dead, scarred and with no memory of past. A jewel of the Governess Brides series.
http://amzn.to/LCErh5
IN BED WITH THE DUKE
Poor, prim lady’s companion swept away by a masked man who rides the night seeking justice.
http://tinyurl.com/8j9oy44
A WELL PLEASURED LADY
Hot and politically incorrect—if you like sexy, this is the historical for you.
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TAKEN BY THE PRINCE
Governess believes England is the only civilized place in the world. She soon discovers she’s right.
http://tinyurl.com/8bk6cxc
Read a bonus excerpt of another personal favorite, my historical novella,
THE SMUGGLER’S CAPTIVE BRIDE.
http://tinyurl.com/6mp7vsv
England 1813
Miss Laura Haver listened as the two men spoke in the taproom below. It was probably nothing, probably the first of the villagers arriving for an ale, but the events of the night had made her wary, and she slipped over to the door and laid her head against the boards while straining to hear.
The knock made her jump backward, stumbling on the thin carpet that covered part of the floor.
“M’lady?”
Only the inn-keeper, called her by that title. Because … well, because she had told him she was married to his lord, Keefe Leighton, the earl of Hamilton. That was not quite true … or even slightly true. But he didn’t know that.
“What?” she called, and her voice quavered.
“‘Tis Ernest, m’lady, with a surprise for ye.”
“What kind of surprise?” She feared suspicion colored her tone, but Ernest sounded as cheerful as ever.
“Something to warm yer bones.” Metal rattled against metal. “Shall I unlock the door and pass it through to ye?”
She stared in horror at the metal lock. She’d thought herself inviolate in the inn’s bedchamber, and now Ernest announced he had another key. Should she fling her weight against the door and block it? She looked down at herself and at another time, she would have laughed. “Bird-bones,” Ronald had called her, and “Shorty.”
And why was she worried, really? As far as she could tell, Ernest had been trustworthy, keeping the secret she’d entrusted to him with perfect consideration. Only her recent trip to the cliffs, where she had seen smugglers — and they had seen her — had frightened her and made her suspicious of everyone in this small village.
“I’ll open the door,” she called. She wanted to retain control of access to her room, and not have Ernest thinking he could enter any time. She produced the key and turned it in the lock, then opened the door a crack. Nothing more. Just a crack. She was smart enough to peek before she swung the door wide.
Ernest stood beaming, a dusty bottle in one hand and a candle in the other.
The earl of Hamilton loomed beside him.
Shock held her frozen for the briefest of moments.
Had her thoughts summoned him here?
She rammed the door closed.
Before the latch clicked, he gave a shove.
She stumbled back, caught her heel on her hem, and fell backward.
Before she hit the floor, he swept her into his arms. Lifting her, he smiled ferociously, looked into her eyes, and in a voice meant to carry, he boomed, “Darling!”
And he pressed his lips against hers.
Order
THE SMUGGLER’S CAPTIVE BRIDE
!
Want to know more about my historical romances? All the information you want is here!
http://christinadodd.com/genre/02_historical/
Enjoy the Best of Christina Dodd’s Romantic Suspense
CLOSE TO YOU
Reporter finds herself in danger and under the care of a tough bodyguard. Romance and justice for a wrong done long ago.
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TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS
Romantic suspense about a crazy family, a wild affair…and the jewel heist of the century.
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SECRETS OF BELLA TERRA
Three tormented brothers, a priceless bottle of wine, and a fortune in diamonds lost for generations collide in this suspenseful series. RITA award finalist.
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REVENGE AT BELLA TERRA
A modern marriage of convenience arranged without the bride’s knowledge. Um…when she finds out, she gets cranky.
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BETRAYAL
A passionate teenage affair reignites when the former lovers are thrown together once more…and into danger.
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Want to know more about my romantic suspenses? All the information you want is here!
http://christinadodd.com/genre/romantic-suspense/
Enjoy the Best of Christina Dodd’s Paranormal Romance
SCENT OF DARKNESS
Classic romance between a secretary who hopelessly loves her boss…only to discover he’s a shapeshifter. Oops.
http://tinyurl.com/cnxqasn
INTO THE SHADOW
Bad boy shapeshifter brought to his knees by the woman he should never love.
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STORM OF SHADOWS
Clueless librarian turned reluctant adventurer by a mysterious man with…talents.
CHAINS OF ICE
A wild man must be tamed and returned to do his duty to the Chosen Ones, and only one woman has the strength — and love — to succeed.
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WILDER
Classic beauty and the beast: Aleksandr Wilder’s story, the grand finale of the Chosen Ones, and the story that unites Darkness Chosen with the Chosen Ones.
Want to know more about my paranormals? All the information you want is here!
http://christinadodd.com/genre/paranormal/
And now, enjoy a bonus excerpt of the Chosen Ones novella,
STONE ANGEL
!
New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd brings you the pulse-pounding excitement and sweeping romance of STONE ANGEL, an original e-novella set in the world of the Chosen Ones!
Amanda Reed has been given an ultimatum: risk her life as a madman's spy or her young sister will live out her life frozen in stone, a statue in a wizard's mansion. To free her, Amanda needs help, help only one man can provide…the man who betrayed her and broke her heart.
Liam Gallagher is an orphan and a scoundrel. He learned to survive by any means, but while under orders to seduce Amanda, he fell in love. Now to win back her trust, he will risk everything, do anything, be anything for the woman he loves.
Amanda and Liam face a terrifying nightmare. But time is running short, and only if these two wounded souls learn to trust can they succeed…
Order
STONE ANGEL
:
the Chosen Ones
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Today in New York City
“Don’t you want Sophia back?” Liam asked.
Amanda felt the color creeping up her neck. “Don’t you ever mention my sister to me again, unless you’re bringing her home to me. It’s your fault she’s frozen. It’s your fault she’s trapped in stone, a statue in a magician’s mansion!”
Liam’s blue eyes hardened. Flinging off the green oven mitts and dumping them unceremoniously in a display of casserole dishes, he grabbed the glasses from his face, using them to punctuate each word. “I. Didn’t. Betray. You.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Amanda picked up a wire whisk.
But how much damage could she do to him with that?
Liam had been claiming his innocence since the first time she had met him to turn over her information on the Chosen Ones. But now she knew what he was. One of the Others. An enemy, nothing more.
Certainly not someone worth all the sleepless nights, full of yearning. Not worth all the tears she had cried for lost love.
Amanda decided now was the time to plunge forward with the plan. If he didn’t accept it, he’d probably deliver her to the Sculptor. Life as a sculpture or death at the hands of the Others sucked rocks. But she had to take the chance for Sophia. “Look, I have a proposal for you. Are you interested or not?”
