Collide & Burn (15 page)
“Ay then, she had a journal?” he said curiously.
Why did I get the feeling this worried him? I smiled and said, “Yes, she kept a journal, though I doubt anyone other than I would be able to read it. We had a language of our own.”
He grinned. “Did ye, lass? How curious. Why is that?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but Granny thought it would be fun … right after I came to live with her. It was hard for me without my parents, and I think she set me to learn this special language as a distraction.” I closed my eyes for a moment, fought back tears, and finally said, “She always knew how to help me.”
He squeezed my hand, and I gave him a polite smile, but the truth was, I felt anything but polite. His touch, his sincere show of sympathy, everything about him, did things to my central nervous system—things that made me think of what it might be like to be in his arms.
What the hell?
Where did that come from?
The waitress brought our plates of food, and he said before he dug right in, “Ay then, if ye have a mind to come up to yer home, I can save ye the drive. Ye can fly back with me tomorrow.”
I arched a brow at him and shook my head, “Uh, no thanks. That is very kind, but I would like to have my own wheels when I get up there, and I honestly don’t mind the drive. It will let me unwind. I love Kennebunkport and think I’ll stop overnight.”
He frowned and looked like he was going to object but thought better of it. He bit into a slice of toast instead.
Okay. So it just like that, I made up my mind. I would take the rest of August off and head on up to Maine.
~
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Journey
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Claudy Conn also writes risqué Regency romances.
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Courting Kit
THE EARL OF HALLOWAY stood, his hands clasped at his broad back, as he stared out the large panoramic window of his grandmother’s drawing room.
Its central location afforded a lovely view of the Grange’s extensive gardens. Halloway Grange was only one of four Halloway establishments, but it was the only estate that did not belong to the present, young earl.
This was because his late grandfather had purchased the estate and deeded it to his bride as a wedding gift all those years ago. It reposed in elegant state only forty minutes out of London, and it was where the dowager had come to stay permanently when her beloved husband died.
The earl smiled ruefully to himself, as it was most certainly, every square foot, all hers and yet also the earl’s very special, very favorite haven.
He adored his grandmother, and her personality was entrenched in the Grange. He brushed this sentiment aside, however, as it had no place at that moment in his active, frenzied mind. He was frustrated and irritated with his grandmother and not quite certain just what he could do about it all.
A good ten months had passed since Shawna and Roland had been married. He had thought that, by now, his grandmother would be at ease with it and gotten over what she could not change. However, something untoward must have ruffled her feathers. She was tighter than ever about his monthly spending and walked about as though she was on the warpath about something.
He had received a brief and somewhat curt note from her at his bachelor’s lodgings that had made it quite clear she required him at the Grange to attend her at once.
The earl was never one to take orders, even if it meant spiting himself, so he put the note aside, much inclined to ignore her command. His heart, though, that was another thing altogether. He loved her and told himself she was getting on in years. In the end, he allowed guilt and conscience to dictate his plans.
A string of mumbled curses escaped his lips. Frenzied pacing took over his steps, and he found himself requesting his man to put together an overnight portmanteau. No more than a few hours later, feeling reduced to schoolboy status, he stood in his grandmother’s drawing room, facing her.
One bloody look at her and a sure wariness tickled warning signals in his brain.
Damn
, but he was in for it, really in for it, and there was no escape
. Hell and Brimstone
! She had the power to reduce him to a child with one look.
Absurd.
He fancied he saw a whirlwind in her eyes and a storm about to erupt from her lips. She dashed well meant to throw everything she had at him fast and hard, and he took a step back and warily considered her.
Diving right in, she wagged her bony finger at him and got right to the point. “I’ll not have your errant spending, do you hear me, young man?
You
are on the road to
hell,
and I won’t stand by and allow it to happen
.
No … this will not go on
.”
Her voice became a buzz in his ears and a pounding hammer in his head.
She continued to rant at him for several minutes during which he found his mind wandering elsewhere. He had heard all this before.
Sadly, he was in a difficult position. His pockets were to let, and there was another three weeks before his trust fund would release his next quarterly payment. He was heartily bored with everything and everyone and damned sure he was, as she pointed out
, on the road to hell.
When she paused for breath, he put up his hand and gave her a wry smile. “When you are done berating me, perhaps you will tell me
what it is you want
.”
“
Marriage
. You will get married, and soon!” His grandmother’s voice told him she meant to be implacable on this. “I will not have you diddling about gaming parlors with harlots and paramours. I will not have our name dragged through the mud as it is being done here and now and because of
you!
”
“A bit too—” he started to object before she cut him off. Why did she always over exaggerate? He gritted his teeth, and suffered in silence.
“Because of YOU!” she reiterated and made a clucking sound before she continued. “You will marry, because you don’t have a choice about that. However, I will allow you this: find someone who you could be comfortable with … for I have given up hope that you will fall in love. You don’t seem to have it in you,” she ended on a wistful note.
“Marriage is not for me. I can’t see myself doing the polite to the same woman day in and day out for the rest of my life. It wouldn’t be fair to some poor girl to marry me, expecting me to attend her. No, she would be bound in a loveless marriage, and I don’t think I could live with a woman who would be calculating enough to want to marry for my wealth or name.”
“Your wealth is
something I can
keep from you. Your name won’t be worth much if you continue on your present road,” she snapped back at him.
He studied her from the top of her gray hair piled high with its silver lacey scarf draped handsomely over her head, over her gray and mauve simple gown, down further to her feet. He didn’t want to meet her faded blue eyes. She was right, on both counts,
but … marriage
? Ah no, she expected too much, and he was too young to saddle himself with a missish bride.
However,
his pockets were to let
. It was damned annoying to be so wealthy and yet not be able to draw on his inheritance. He sighed heavily and looked out the window. He was in a bind, yes, but he would not marry unless his heart was in it.
On the other hand, a respectable life was what he owed his name.
Still, he would not foist himself onto some young maid. How could he hurt some young thing who would expect him to escort her about, do the polite, and end by falling madly in love with her? Indeed, he wasn’t about to shatter some young maid’s dreams, and if he entered into such an alliance, that was precisely what would happen, for he was sure he had no heart to give.
He tried to explain his situation to his grandmother, but she waved him off and would not listen. “You will marry,” she told him, and her eyes didn’t give him an inch.
“Not going to make such a despicable
arrangement
—a marriage of convenience? No, my dear heart, no.” He tore through his black hair with a frenzied movement of his hand. Such an arrangement did not suit his sense of self. Somewhere in the recesses of his brain—the part that belonged to his youth—he wished he was other than who he was. He wished he did not have such a jaded opinion about love.
Thus, it was, after a long and hard conversation, he and his grandmother bade one another a very cool good night before he managed to escape to his room.
He was definitely in trouble
. She had the legal right to withhold his funds. The blasted will did not give him control until he either married or turned thirty.
Of all the bloody damn things to do to a man …
~
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Courting Kit
from Amazon at
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Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.
She loves horses and riding and raised her ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!
To get her monthly news, reviews and excerpts for all her new paranormal and regency romances, visit her at her website:
http://www.claudyconn.com
To see pictures of Cherokee—and her shepherd-wolf son!—have a look at her Facebook page:
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Read more about Claudy Conn’s books
Legend Series
Spellbound—Legend
Maxie is a reluctant heroine who travels to Scotland to find and save herself. Julian is a Druid priest in a modern age, and he is full of guilt. Can Maxie turn to him? Or will she turn to Prince Breslyn, a Royal Fae hunk offering her everything?
Shee Willow—Legend
Half-human, half-Fae Willow Lang has never felt she truly fit in either world, but she’s doing her best to ignore her Fae nature. But when she finds herself in the middle of a conflict between the Seelie Fae and the evil Dark Fae, she must embrace her Fae powers in order to protect the Human Realm.
Prince in the Mist (Novella)
Fact one: By tradition and treaty,
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Prince Prelude—Legend
In this stand-alone tale and the backstory for the Legend series, we find ourselves in 1814. Gais and the prince come head to head over a woman. We will see Lamia DuLaine when she first sees Julian Talbot, and we will meet the first Maxie Reigate. Come along and see their world unfold …
Aaibhe—Shee Queen (Novelette)
This is a love story but it is fringed with envy, jealousy, and bitterness—oh and more. It is laced with the havoc those devastating emotions can bring. It is about the seeds of hate born of love, and what chaos that hate can wantonly roar over even immortals. This is a story of Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, because she deserves that it be told.
Trapped—Legend
Magical powers, a castle, and a charming prince sound like the ingredients for a fairy-tale life, but for BJ Mulroy reality turns out to be a whole lot more complicated. The war between the Seelie and the Unseelie is heating up, BJ has been drawn into the fray … and there’s the matter of the seventeenth-century hunk in the painting.
Free Falling—Legend
They call her Z, and she is a handful ready to explode. She has entered the war against Gais and the Dark Fae and means to take him on all by herself. She is driven. Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, has other plans, and she sends in Prince Danté to execute and preserve her wishes. When Z and the prince meet, hackles go up on both sides.
Catch & Hold—Legend
Half-human/half-Daoine Fae Radzia MacDaun—Z to her friends—finds herself in the Dark Realm, where she’ll have to fight Gaiscioch on his own turf. Danté, Prince of the Tuatha Dé and Z’s lover, is not about to let her face this danger alone, however, and the two of them are thrust on a ride that takes them to the edge of life as we know it …
Through Time Series
Through Time—Pursuit
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Through Time—Whiplash
Prince Trevor has one goal: bring the Dark Princes to justice—preferably at the end of his Death Sword—before they can march out of the Dark Realm with an army of monsters at their backs. But complication arise when Trevor is thrown two centuries into the past along with Jazmine Decker, a Fios (a human unaffected by Fae concealment spells) who has more power than either realizes.
Through Time—Slamming
In book 3 of the Through Time series, Jazmine and Trevor’s relationship develops while danger to both human and Fae worlds grows. As the Dark Princes use all the powers at their disposal to create an unstoppable army to destroy the human realm, Queen Aaibhe faces treachery from a traitor in the Council, Frankie discovers who her Fae father is, and Prince Breslyn is hit with news that will change his life forever.
Through Time—Frankie
Frankie is all grown up and ready to spread her wings, and she knows the man she wants by her side. But first she needs to convince her Dark Prince—and her family—that he is the one for her. And it will take all of them working together to deal with the Dark Prince’s brothers, who are once again plotting to take over the world.
Through Time—Compulsion
Through Time—Compulsion
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Awakening Series
Harley—Awakening (Novella)
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A war between the vampires and the werewolves is on the horizon. Its outcome will affect all the world as it plays out in the wilds of the Rockies in Canada. Wendy has been in love with Bray all her life. Now that she is a woman, will he look her way? She is mortal; he is an immortal Royal Fae. Can he love her?
Shadow Series
ShadowLove—Stalkers
Shawna Rawley has no choice but to run when Pentim Rawley, one of the most evil vampires who have ever lived, discovers she is his daughter. Chad MacFare has an offer for Shawna he thinks she can’t afford to refuse: he’ll protect her from Pentim and his minions. But Shawna doesn’t trust the sexy immortal. She knows he has his own agenda—he wants to kill her father, and he wants to set her up as bait …
ShadowHeart—Slayer
Damon Drummond and Nikki Walker are on opposite sides. He is a potent vampire—she is a skilled and powerful vampire slayer. Problem right there … but when they look at each other, sparks of all kinds fly. Too much stands between them: He will live forever. She will not. And yet …
ShadowLife—Hybrid
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Hungry Moon Series
Hungry Moon: Quicksilver
Ravena is running from who and what she is, but the more she runs away, the further she falls.
Hungry Moon: Destiny
Luke says Kelsey isn’t his type, and Kelsey is sure Luke is a heart-breaker, but the hybrid and the wolf shifter must find a way to work together to fight a threat of unthinkable proportions.
Hungry Moon: Jodi
Jodi is a witch with formidable powers fighting a battle against an insidious dark force. She meets Shane MacGrath and needs him in so many ways, but she doesn’t know if she can trust him. Can she trust him, and will she survive this battle?
Witches, Warlocks, and Dark Magic
Dark Love
One goal consumes Chazma Donnelly: find the dark sorcerer who murdered her parents. The trail takes her Ireland and Jethro McBain, but will it take her soul?
Netherby Halls
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Lady X
Exerilla has to run from her Dark Warlock father. Her mother sends her into the past to escape him and the marriage he plans for her. What is a modern American miss to do in nineteenth-century England?
Journey
What would you do if the man of your dreams walked into your life and you knew, absolutely knew, that one day he would leave because he was from another realm with secrets you couldn’t discern? Would you seize the moment? Riley Doogan decided to seize the moment, and it cost her all the normalcy she had ever hoped to have in her life—a life that was now fraught with terror.
Journey—The Reckoning
Secrets from their past threaten the future Riley and Finn hope for. Dark Magic will explode as they fight to stay in the light. How can their relationship survive the onslaught of what is to come?
Risqué Regencies
Myriah Fire
Myriah meets Kit under the worst circumstances and their meeting was an explosion of wills, and actions, and it was what finally set Myriah on fire …
Oh, Cherry Ripe
Cheryl Elton has been in London for three seasons and refuses to be courted. When her mother takes matters into her own hands, Cherry runs!
Rogues, Rakes & Jewels
What happens when an eligible marquis pretends to be a rake and a gambler, and the woman he is supposed to be courting disguises herself as a masked French card dealer? Find out in this spicy, risqué Regency romance.
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Hotspur wants Taffeta—how far will he go to make her his? Taffeta has a secret—will it land her in trouble?
Wildfire Kiss
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After the Storm
Jenny insisted she would never fall in love again, but she found herself drawn to the handsome Earl of Danfield. She also knew about his wild reputation, but it didn’t matter. His proposal would give her what she wanted. Peace.
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Lady Bess has fallen hard for the Earl of Dunkirk, but she has also fallen into a bevy of secrets. Evil hovers. Although Bess doesn’t look for it, she finds it—and Bess is not your average, simpering female. She takes on danger and mayhem like she does everything else: full throttle. Adventure ensues as we travel with Bess through romance and the battle of her life.
Lady Star
Sir Edward meets his match when he meets Star, but is there too much keeping them apart?
Serena
Lord Daniel Pendleton has met his match in Serena. A game of twists and misunderstandings ensues, and a lively romance begins.
Mandy
Mandy’s brother, Ned, is in trouble, accused of murdering the woman who had been clearly trying to seduce him. Their guardian, the Duke of Margate, is summoned to help. Mandy had always assumed he was an old man, but the duke is far from old. But first things first—they have to prove Ned innocent.
Disorderly Lady
A chance encounter with the Earl of Magdalen, a confirmed bachelor whose female acquaintances run to women of dubious reputation, results in Arabella Cullingham appearing to be a light-skirts. Bella, for her own reasons, decides to play along, never thinking that the game might cost her the man she truly loves.
Madcap Miss