Harlequin Historical June 2016, Box Set 1 of 2 by Lauri Robinson

Author:Lauri Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460398388
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Saturday June 21st

Brockmore Manor House Party

Programme of Events

Annual Brockmore Midsummer Games

The Midsummer Ball

‘You’re awake.’

Katerina sat up, pulling the rumpled sheet over her naked body. ‘You didn’t leave.’

‘I couldn’t.’

‘We’ll create a scandal if you are discovered.’

‘I’ve been thinking that I’d rather like to create a scandal,’ Fergus said, joining her on the bed.

‘What kind of scandal?’ Katerina asked, though her attention was only half on his words. Fergus was already aroused. Looking at him, she felt the answering tingle in her blood, the awakening pulse inside her. He pulled the sheet away and rolled her on top of him. ‘What scandal?’ she asked again, with considerably less interest.

‘It can wait,’ he said, kissing her.

They made love again, slowly and patiently at first, before building to a frenzied climax, hearts pounding, chest on chest, their skin sticking with sweat, their fingers entwined.

‘What scandal?’ Katerina prompted him, when their hearts had slowed and the sweat had dried.

‘A great big scandal that no one can ignore, that will have everyone in the world talking about us, not just the Duke of Brockmore’s guests.’

She laughed, but eyed him nervously. ‘That sounds dangerous.’

‘It is. That’s one of the attractions.’ Fergus kissed her lingeringly, before rolling out of bed. ‘Horses and guns,’ he said, beginning to dress. ‘Horses and guns, and planning, and manoeuvres. The tools of my trade. It never occurred to me that they had more than one use.’

Laughing at her confusion, he kissed her again. ‘I am tired of my world. I am tired of being hidebound by convention, and I’m tired of being predictable. I want something new—something completely new. I want something dangerous and exciting. I want us to make our own world, Katerina.’

The gleam in his eyes was infectious. ‘How would we do that?’

‘A circus,’ he said with a dramatic flourish. ‘A spectacle so dazzling that it will make Astley’s Circus seem like a mere sideshow. We will become the toast of America.’

‘America!’

Fergus grinned. ‘Our new world. Our land of opportunity. You said you wanted to go there.’

‘I did. I do.’ Katerina clapped her hands. ‘Alexei has always wanted to go too. You do wish Alexei to be part of this, don’t you Fergus?’

‘That is up to Alexandr. I don’t want to have to watch my back every day for the rest of my life.’

Katerina chuckled. ‘He does pride himself on his knife-throwing skills. A friend of our father’s taught him. But seriously, Fergus, you need not worry about my brother. He wants only for me to be happy. No, that is not wholly true. If you give him the opportunity to dazzle new, bigger audiences—no, Alexei will not be the problem.’

‘I am pleased to hear it.’

‘Yes, but, Fergus, such an enterprise as you are imagining will cost a great deal of money to establish.’

‘And it will earn a great deal of money once it becomes successful. That is where Sir Timothy comes in, my love.’

‘Sir Timothy Farthingale?’

‘Don’t let that gentleman’s foppish dress mislead you. He would be an excellent backer.

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