Heart's Desire (Lords of Chance) by Wendy LaCapra

Author:Wendy LaCapra [LaCapra, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Entangled, Scandalous, Historical Fiction Short Stories; Regency Historical Romance; British Historical Literature; Historical British Fiction; Historical European Fiction; Women's Historical Fiction; Romantic Heroes Royalty & Aristocrats; Regency; Sensual; Season; Ruined reputations; on-the-shelf; the ton; Earl; rake reformed; Wages; Fake relationship; Hearts; Diamonds; Spades; Clubs; Historical romance; British literature; Historical fiction; Intense; sensual; Regency; Historical; Best friend's Little Sister
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Scandalous)
Published: 2019-04-21T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Markham joined the men lining the tri-sided courtyard of Tattersalls, waiting for the auctioneer to lead the next horse to the block. He had been corresponding with the breeder about this particular beast for months. An Arabian mare.

Spirited.

Haughty.

But, he’d been assured, a tamable beast who loved nothing more than speed.

He slapped his gloves against his open hand, stinging the center of his open palm.

Surely, the long-awaited purchase would be enough to correct his state.

For the past two days, he hadn’t been able to concentrate. Instead, depraved images crowded his mind. Images made real by newfound knowledge of the tantalizing features hidden beneath Clarissa’s clothes and the more astonishing inclinations hidden beneath her prim exterior.

He slapped a second time—harder.

He’d spent half his waking hours in a carnal bliss-filled haze and the other half battling an encroaching sense of dread he had no idea how to remedy.

He wouldn’t have minded the bliss-filled haze alone. He’d never been quite right for the first few days following an encounter with a new lover. Once carnal exploration began, his daydreams and night pleasures had always become about the woman and the experience.

The dread, however, was new.

Heat beneath his collar. Tightness in his chest—the dread of the condemned.

What had happened between himself and Clarissa hadn’t happened in the way of his other lovers.

Their encounter, of course, had physical pleasure aplenty—even now, the impression of her fingers lingered on his balls—but the night hadn’t been only about her ignorance, his experience, or even the consensual exchange of power.

The culmination had been fusion itself—two separate metal pieces melted and then melded together. And that little part of him—the one he constantly needed to beat down—had gone silent in the tender aftermath of her embrace.

Why?

He slapped again.

Because he’d been bloody claimed.

The answer lay at the very center of the sharp-toothed, long clawed badger of fear, ready to pounce at any moment.

He’d suspected his rules and his limits—the partitions he’d carefully constructed to keep other people out—had been aimed at preventing such an experience, as if deep inside, he’d been craving it all along.

But the idea was as absurd as it was sweat-inducing.

Clarissa hadn’t claimed him. She did not even want anything beyond her quest for knowledge. That much, she’d made clear— Did I propose? Even now, he heard her question clearly, including the note of fundamental disdain.

No one knew better than he the slow, internal rot one-sided devotion caused.

Mama, will you come downstairs today?

On days she’d bothered to answer at all, she’d answered perhaps with a mild lifting of her lips.

Come and give me a kiss for courage?

You ask, but then you never come down.

Mama is sad, that is all.

Because of me?

No, dearest…now go find your sister and play.

“I say,” Farring interrupted Markham’s thoughts. He strode across the courtyard, his high, polished boots crunching against the gravel. “Aren’t they leading away the horse you’ve been waiting for all day?”

They were.

Mercy.

He clenched his teeth. The auction had started and finished, and he hadn’t even noticed. He’d practically stalked that magnificent beast.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.