Once Upon a Rake Read online

  “I know,” she said as she lifted her head to his. “You can be my happily ever after.”

  A laugh escaped him at the romantic notion, but he had to admit, he was feeling one or two distinctly fluffy notions and he nodded. “And you can be mine,” he murmured as he lowered his lips to hers.

  Epilogue

  What’s Wrong with Gretna Green?

  “Thank the Lord that’s over,” Lucian said as he slid into the carriage next to Eleanor.

  “I do not think you’re meant to be glad your wedding is over.”

  He grinned, looking as handsome as ever in his perfectly fitted suit and elegant dark green waistcoat. Lucian took her gloved hand, peeled off the fabric and slid his fingers between hers before bringing her hand to his lips.

  “Do not tell me you are not grateful it is all over.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “Very well, yes I am. I didn’t trip and I did not say the wrong words, or sneeze into my flowers, but I feared greatly I would.”

  “You were perfect, wife.” He emphasised the words.

  “As were you, husband.”

  “But I still would have preferred to go to Gretna Green and avoided all this fuss.” He waved a hand to the array of people waiting outside their carriage to see them off.

  “Mama would have killed me for certain.”

  “Come wave to your adoring crowd and then we can make for the hotel. It’s been a busy few months and I am desperate to remove that rather fine gown from you and make you my wife properly.”

  “We have already made love,” she whispered, as though one of the cheering crowd might hear her. “I’m not sure we need to do it again to make it formal.”

  “Nonsense. I need to make you my wife in every way possible and that means keeping you up all night.”

  His voice rose with the last few words and, though she doubted anyone heard, she knew he was teasing her and heat spilled into her cheeks. She slapped his arm. It had been a long few months trying to get the mill repaired and everything up and running again. Not to mention tracking down the culprit.

  Leaning across him, she saw her mama and papa waving and she waved back. Even Papa seemed to have tears in his eyes. As the carriage began to move, she settled back against the plush interior. She glanced at their joined hands and let herself relax. With Lucian at her side, she never had a need to be nervous again. If she proved to be the clumsiest, most ungainly wife of all time, he would still love her.

  “It’s a shame we can only be gone a few days,” she said.

  They had to return soon for Mr Newcombe’s trial. He had been billing them with inflated figures and had hired men to sabotage the mill. All because he wished to set up his own mills and was looking to buy up the local mills at cheap prices. What they had not known was that he had already done the same to two other mills in Lancashire, forcing them to close and be sold off at a discounted price.

  Also Lucian wanted to oversee the final stages of the build. With a little help from his main investor—namely her—they had managed to save the mill and the jobs of the people in it. She could not wait for them to see their modernised mill with better working conditions and safer machines. She could not object too much at his eagerness to return. She had come to love the mill as much as he.

  “Pardon?” She found him staring avidly at her. “Forgive me, I was admiring my beautiful wife.”

  “I said it is a shame we only have a few days.”

  “A few days is all I need.”

  She glanced at his wicked smile. “You are a rogue and a rake, Lord Rushbourne.”

  “Ah, yes, but I am your rake.”

  Eleanor laughed and took his face in both her hands so she could slide onto his lap and straddle him. “You are indeed,” she confirmed and proceeded to kiss him in a manner that only a very wicked woman would. He groaned and cupped her rear to press her against him.

  “Even the worst of rakes do not bed women in their carriages,” he informed her between kisses.

  “Yes, but you are not the worst, you are the best.”

  “How very true that is,” he agreed.

  And he proceeded to show her just how good a rake he really was.

  THE END

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  Other titles by Samantha Holt

  Victorian

  Tempting His Mistress

  Medieval

  To Steal a Highlander’s Heart (Book 1 of the Highland Fae Chronicles)

  To Dream of a Highlander (Book 2 of the Highland Fae Chronicles)

  To Avenge Her Highland Warrior (Book 3 of the Highland Fae Chronicles)

  Alrek (Viking Romance)

  Contemporary

  Too Much to Lose

  Not Another Soldier

  Once Upon a Rake

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue