Blackthorne's Bride (Misadventures in Matrimony, #3) by Shana Galen

Author:Shana Galen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sexy romance, sexy hero, exciting romance, sexy heroine
Publisher: Shana Galen
Published: 2023-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

MADDIE HUNCHED IN THE carriage, her arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. Inside the blacksmith’s shop, Ashley and Lord Blackthorne were being married. Meanwhile, she was out here alone. She was a widow before she’d even said her vows.

Poor Mr. Dover. He’d only wanted a mother for his children.

He’d only wanted to arrive in Gretna Green on time.

In the end, they’d been too late. And now he lay dead in Carlisle—well, perhaps not dead, but wounded. And she’d just left him there, left him for strangers to—

The carriage door was wrenched open and Blackthorne reached in, grasped her arms, and pulled her out. “What are you doing?” Something in the stony expression of his face made her struggle to get away. “I prefer to wait in here.”

“Well, you can’t get married in the coach.” He pushed her forward, and before she could ask what he meant, she heard the clatter of hooves nearing.

“Bloody hell! It’s your father.”

Her feet seemed to move of their own accord then, and she all but ran inside the blacksmith’s shop. She skidded to a stop and stared at the drunk anvil priest.

Ashley reached out and gripped her hand, Lord Nicholas came up beside her, and Maddie, in her horror, realized what Blackthorne had been saying. She was to marry Lord Nicholas.

“And do ye come here of yer own free accord?” the priest asked.

“No!” Maddie shouted. She would not marry Lord Nicholas. She wouldn’t marry anyone.

“Maddie, don’t be a fool,” Ashley hissed at her. “Your father is almost here. Do you want him to find you unwed?”

That was a rather terrifying thought. Her father was not a violent man, but he’d already shot one fiancé. Could she allow the same fate to befall Lord Nicholas? “No, but—”

“She’s here of her own free will,” Ashley said. “Aren’t you, Maddie?” Ashley poked her in the back, and Maddie nodded.

The priest frowned at a piece of paper Maddie assumed was the marriage certificate. “So it’s tae be a dooble ceremony?”

“Right,” Jack said from beside Ashley. “Now, get on with it.”

The priest began asking for their names, but Maddie didn’t listen. She couldn’t stop staring at Jack. She was about to become wife to his brother, but she couldn’t spare a glance for her intended. All she could think was that she would soon lose Jack forever.

“No, it’s Ashley, not Ainsley,” Ashley was telling the priest, “and I’m marrying him, not him.” She pointed to Jack and then Nick, and the priest nodded and wrote something down.

Oh, Lord. Maddie swallowed her fear and horror. The priest was so drunk he could barely stand. The man began trying to sort the couples out again, and Jack growled, “Hurry up, man. Hurry up.”

Maddie turned toward the door as the priest began the ceremony, a simple one. “Do ye take this woman tae be yer lawful wedded wife?”

“I will,” Lord Nicholas said.

Maddie heard the clatter of hooves outside cease and knew her father had arrived. There was an ominous silence.

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