The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid

Author:Stacy Reid [Reid, Stacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical British Fiction, Victorian Historical Romance, British Historical Literature, Historical Regency Fiction, Women's Historical Fiction, Stacy Reid, Entangled Publishing, Amara, Mass Market Paperback romance, Single Title Romance, Enemies to Lovers romance, Opposites Attract romance, Protector romance, Secret Identity romance, London, England, Witty Romance, Spring roman, Wallflower omance, Accidentally Compromising the Duke, Songstress, Rich Hero, Moody Hero, Diverse Author, Sensual Historical Romance, Victorian, Victorian Romance, Countryside, Bait and Switch, USA Today Bestselling Author, Genre Fiction, new romance book, popular romance book, stand alone romance book, 2022 Romance book, 2022 Mass Market Romance, books with a Happy ending, HEA, The Wolf and the Wildflower, The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid, Forbidden romance, opposites attract, masquerading heroine, Duke, gender bending, emotional historical romance, family dynamics, secrets
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-02-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

James closed the book he’d been reading for the past few hours, an annoyed grunt leaving him and echoing in his bedchamber. Leaning over, he set aside his copy of Progress and Poverty by Henry George, an American author whose work had even reached England’s shore, on the desk beside his bed. It was just one more book added to the stack he read this week.

James had always been an avid reader, and he’d devoured many books upon his return, keen to understand the societal and political changes he had missed. He could not show himself to be ignorant of the laws and state of society when he entered Parliament at the next sitting. Some might challenge his stance and any motions he would support simply because of the fact he had been missing and had not received any formal education by attending Cambridge like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Concentrating was proving to be difficult, and James knew the source of his current distraction—Jules Southby. That inexplicable sensation rattled inside his chest, and he closed his eyes against the memory that had been his constant companion. The feel of the wildflower’s mouth was still imprinted upon his, the sweet taste of her still an indescribable wonder on James’s tongue. Three days had passed since he took her mouth in that carnal kiss. Three damnable days of a hunger unlike anything he had ever known. Nothing replaced that taste, not even eating or drinking several glasses of brandy each night before retiring. James drank the bitterest coffee, the harshest liquor, and even sweetened his tea deplorably. Her taste had become a part of him and would not leave.

Yet this damnable craving did not stop at her flavor. There had been a time James felt such intense need for physical contact it had petrified him, for there had been no one he could touch or receive it from in return. His survival instinct had killed the desire for that contact, and even though somewhere inside of him he wanted to be touched, there was another part that preferred the exile of the desire which he had forced upon himself from necessity. Yet now he wanted Jules to touch him…and he wanted to touch her in return.

James hissed at the needs pummeling his body and with an irritated grunt, he pushed the covers from himself and tugged on his trousers. James padded barefoot from his chambers, down the winding hallway of the west wing, and outside into the bracing cold. The chill of the night wrapped around him like a soothing blanket. The feel of the grass brushed the soles of his bare feet as he walked across the lawns toward the edge of the wood. He would sleep in his house in the forest tonight.

But first…

James plucked a few leaves from a bush and tossed them into his mouth. He would eradicate her taste so he could damn well concentrate on what was necessary.

“Good heavens. You are eating grass,” a choked voice said from behind him.

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