Forbidden Jewel of India
TO OBEY HIS DUTY IS TO DENY HIS HEART Anusha Laurens is in danger. The daughter of an Indian princess and an English peer, she’s the perfect pawn in the opulent courts of Rajasthan. Even so, she will not return to the father who rejected her. Arrogant angrezi Major Nicholas Herriard is charged with bringing the alluring Princess safely to her new life in Calcutta.Nick’s mission is to protect, to serve – but under the searing Indian sun an initial attraction unfurls into a forbidden temptation. This beautiful, impossible Princess tests the very limits of his honour – especially when Nick is left with only one option to keep Anusha safe: marriage.But the fastflowing waters of the Ganges determine a different fate, and duty may separate them for ever…
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Praise for Louise Allen:
MARRIED TO A STRANGER
‘Allen delivers a lovely, sweet story demonstrating how strangers can build a relationship based on lost love. The gentle, yet powerful emotions of a grieving brother are sure to touch readers, as will the budding romance between him and a shy but emotionally strong woman. Allen reaches into readers’ hearts.’
—RT Book Reviews
SEDUCED BY THE SCOUNDREL
‘Allen takes a shipwreck spying adventure with lots of sensuality and spins it into a page-turner. The strong characters and sexy relationship will definitely satisfy readers.’
—RT Book Reviews
RAVISHED BY THE RAKE
‘Allen illuminates a unique side of the Regency by setting her latest adventure in India …’
—RT Book Reviews
PRACTICAL WIDOW TO PASSIONATE MISTRESS
‘With the first in her new trilogy, Allen hooks readers with her charming and well-portrayed characters, especially the secondary cast. You’ll cheer on the hero and the strong-willed heroine to the very end of this highly enjoyable and addictive read.’
—RT Book Reviews
‘You …’ Anusha began, her face against the horse’s shoulder. Then she pushed herself upright and turned to face Nick. ‘You saved my life and I thank you for it.’
The raw emotion was gone, and as her chin came up and she looked at him she was every inch a princess for all the dust and her travel-stained clothing.
Her courage doused the fierceness of his anger and the heat in his blood, but Nick could not find it in himself to be gracious. ‘That is my job,’ he said, his voice cool. ‘To deliver you back alive and in one piece to your father.’
‘You will not let me thank you?’ She took a step that brought her toe to toe with him. ‘They kiss to say thank you, the English, do they not?’
With Pavan solid at his back he could not retreat. Anusha put her hands on his shoulders and stood on tiptoe, her body pressed against his. For an endless moment her mouth touched his, warm and soft.
Her lips parted slightly—an invitation he knew she did not understand. Time stood still while he fought the temptation to snatch her to him, plunder that beautiful mouth, lose himself in an innocence that wanted him. Him.
About the Author
LOUISE ALLEN has been immersing herself in history, real and fictional, for as long as she can remember, and finds landscapes and places evoke powerful images of the past. Louise lives in Bedfordshire, and works as a property manager, but spends as much time as possible with her husband at the cottage they are renovating on the north Norfolk coast, or travelling abroad. Venice, Burgundy and the Greek islands are favourite atmospheric destinations. Please visit Louise’s website—www.louiseallenregency.co.uk—for the latest news!
Previous novels by the same author:
THE DANGEROUS MR RYDER*
THE OUTRAGEOUS LADY FELSHAM*
THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON*
THE DISGRACEFUL MR RAVENHURST*
THE NOTORIOUS MR HURST*
THE PIRATICAL MISS RAVENHURST*
PRACTICAL WIDOW TO PASSIONATE MISTRESS**
VICAR’S DAUGHTER TO VISCOUNT’S LADY**
INNOCENT COURTESAN TO ADVENTURER’S BRIDE**
RAVISHED BY THE RAKE†
SEDUCED BY THE SCOUNDREL†
MARRIED TO A STRANGER†
*Those Scandalous Ravenhursts
**The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters
†Danger & Desire
and in theSilk & Scandalmini-series:
THE LORD AND THE WAYWARD LADY
THE OFFICER AND THE PROPER LADY
and in Mills & Boon>® HistoricalUndone!eBooks:
DISROBED AND DISHONOURED
AUCTIONED VIRGIN TO SEDUCED BRIDE**
Did you know that some of these novels
are also available as eBooks?
Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
Chapter One
The palace of Kalatwah, Rajasthan, India—March 1788
Patterns of sunlight and shade fell through the pierced stone panels on to the white marble floor, soothing to the eye after miles of dusty roads. Major Nicholas Herriard rolled his shoulders to loosen them as he walked. The physical stresses of the long journey began to fade. A bath, a massage, a change of clothes and he would feel human again.
Running feet, the faint, sharp scratch of claws on marble. The hilt of the knife in his boot came to hand with the familiarity of long practice as he twisted to face the side passage, crouched to meet an attack.
A mongoose shot out of the opening, skidded to a halt and chittered at him, every hair on its body fluffed up with aggravation, its tail stuck out behind like a bottle-brush.
‘Idiot animal,’ Nick said in Hindi as the patter of running feet became louder and a girl followed the mongoose, her wide crimson skirts swirling around her as she caught her balance and stopped. Not a girl, a woman, unveiled and unescorted. The part of his brain that was still dealing with an attack analysed the sound of her footsteps: she had changed direction twice just before she emerged, which meant this was one of the off-set entrances to the zanana.
She should not be here, outside the women’s quarters. He should not be here, staring at her with all the blood in his brain heading south, his body poised for violence and a weapon in his hand.
‘You may put away your dagger,’ she said and it took him a moment to adjust and realise she was speaking in lightly accented English. ‘Tavi and I are unarmed. Except for teeth,’ she added, showing hers, white and regular between lips that curved into a smile of faint mockery. It masked, he was certain, shock. The mongoose twined between her bare, hennaed feet, still grumbling to itself. It wore a gem-studded collar.
