Can true love be born from scandal?
She is young and beautiful and fashionable, Edinburghâs most flirtatious hostess. But within the merry widow beats a grieving heart. Lady Mairi mourns the husband she lost two years beforeâand no matter how accomplished a lover Jack Rutherford may be, their wanton night together was an encounter of the body only, and Lady Mairi would prefer to forget it.
But when Mairi is threatened by a blackmailer, Jack is the only man who can protect her. As they work together to uncover where the danger lies, their passion reignites. Little by little, the masks they wear burn away, and their most private secrets come to lightâ¦.
Nicola Cornickâs novels have received acclaim the world over
âHer books are fabulous.â
âNew York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn
âCornick is first-class, queen of her game.â
âRomance Junkies
âA rising star of the Regency arenaâ
âPublishers Weekly
Praise for theSCANDALOUS WOMEN OF THE TON series
âA riveting readâ
âNew York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney on Whisper of Scandal
âOne of the finest voices in historical romanceâ
âSingleTitles.com
âEthan Ryder (is) a bad boy to die for! A memorable story of intense emotions, scandals, trust, betrayal and all-encompassing love. A fresh and engrossing tale.â
âRomantic Times on One Wicked Sin
âHistorical romance at its very best is written by Nicola Cornick.â
âMary Gramlich, The Reading Reviewer
Acclaim for Nicolaâs previous books
âWitty banter, lively action and sizzling passionâ
âLibrary Journal on Undoing of a Lady
âRITA>® Award-nominated Cornick deftly steeps her latest intriguingly complex Regency historical in a beguiling blend of danger and desire.â âBooklist on Unmasked
Donât miss theScandalous Women of the Tonseries, available now!
WHISPER OF SCANDAL
ONE WICKED SIN MISTRESS BY MIDNIGHT NOTORIOUS DESIRED FORBIDDEN
Also available fromNicola Cornick
THE LADY AND THE LAIRD
DECEIVED LORD OF SCANDAL UNMASKED THE CONFESSIONS OF A DUCHESS THE SCANDALS OF AN INNOCENT THE UNDOING OF A LADY DAUNTSEY PARK: THE LAST RAKE IN LONDON
Browse www.mirabooks.co.uk or www.nicolacornick.co.uk forNicolaâs full backlist
CHAPTER ONE
Edinburgh, Scotland, April 1815
IT TOOK TEN minutes to cross from Edinburgh New Town to Edinburgh Old Town in a carriage, and for all of those ten minutes Jack had an almost uncontrollable erection the like of which he had never experienced before in his life. He had learned over the previous ten years that anticipation was one of the greatest aphrodisiacs of all; the anticipation he felt tonight was acute and almost impossible to bear.
Opposite him sat the woman who was the cause of his discomfort. He could not see her clearly in the drifting lamplight, but his awareness of her was sharp. Jack could smell the jasmine perfume that lingered on her hair and on her skin. He could see the shadow of a smile that curved her lips beneath the mask and he could still taste her from the kiss he had snatched a few minutes earlier. She had pushed him away then, but playfully, in a way that promised more, much more.
He had a rakeâs reputation, but it was a long time since he had bedded a woman. He wondered if that accounted for this reckless urge to throw caution to the wind and take this woman he had met a mere four hours before. Jack did not know her name. He had not seen her face. He knew only that his sexual awareness of her was so keen that if he did not have her, and soon, he would be in danger of exploding with the frustration.
She knew it too. He could tell that she could feel the tension in the carriage, the expectation wound as tight as a spring. He wanted to wipe that satisfied little smile from her face with a kiss. He wanted to take her here in the carriage with each lurch of the wheels over the cobbles driving him harder into her body. He had no notion why she affected him so and he did not like it because it pushed him close to losing control; he only knew that from the moment he had first seen her he had wanted her.
The coach drew up with a sudden jerk. A groom, black-clad and inscrutable, opened the carriage door and let down the steps. Jack sat back to allow his companion to descend first. She gathered up the filmy silver skirts of her gown in one hand and stepped lightly down. Jack followed, glancing about him curiously. The carriage had stopped on Edinburghâs Royal Mile. He could see the dark bulk of St. Gilesâs Cathedral. The streetlamps glimmered in the soft falling rain.
She took his hand and drew him along one of the narrow alleyways that plunged downhill away from the main thoroughfare. The darkness was absolute here. He could hear the tap of her slippers on the cobbles and feel the rain cold against his face, soaking his hair and his jacket. The walls of the tenement buildings pressed close on each side.