Last Rake Standing by Jayne Fresina

Author:Jayne Fresina
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: romance, erotic, england, historical, victorian, evernight, jayne fresina
Publisher: Evernight Publishing

* * * *

Was it wise to marry a woman who had already raised a gun at him? At least he knew what she was capable of. One might say he’d been pre-warned in her case.

As the carriage rolled into motion, he caught his reflection in the window and saw the frown on his face transform into a slow, contented smile. She was splendidly brave, unflinching. He’d gone to a lot of trouble for her, not that she’d know it.

He tried to assess how many years it had been since he first saw her face staring up at him through the mist of a crisp autumn morning. Encounters with angry women were common in his life, but they were not usually dressed as a man, wielding a pistol, masquerading as their brother in order to face him in a foolish duel.

It had started over a woman, as most problems do. He’d been seeing a fair young thing for a week or less when he’d discovered she was already the property of another. Her lover, discovering the infidelity, had insisted on a duel with Marcus, who, despite his reputation, had no desire to shoot anybody and no inclination to steal a woman belonging to another man. But, there had to be a villain, he supposed. Thus, he had gone to the appointed place, on the scheduled morning, for pistols at dawn, and had found his accuser in a state of unconsciousness, brought about by the overindulgence of liquor and self-pity. In the young fool’s place had been his sister, trying to disguise herself in his clothes, full of indignation on her inebriated brother’s behalf. Naturally, Marcus had refused further participation in the comical mishap, but the girl had taken offence when he walked away from her.

Many corners of the memory were bundled in fluffy swaddling, but he certainly remembered the stinging shock of that bullet whizzing by his left shoulder, striking a tree several feet away. He’d spun around to see her face, pale and startled, her eyes huge, before she had dropped the pistol and ran off. He later heard that she and her brother had fled to France, avoiding any recriminations.

Now, what was her name back then? Damn it all, he couldn’t remember. Perhaps he’d never known it. Didn’t particularly matter, did it?

He’d read his future in her eyes.

As long as she didn’t shoot at him again, they’d get along fine.

Out of nowhere, another pink feather floated to his knee. Grinning, he brushed it away. As for the delightfully elusive Miss Holly O’Neil, she needn’t think she was getting away from him either.

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