The Damsel's Defiance
Emmeline de Lonnieres swore she would never belong to a man again, so she is plunged into confusion by her feelings for Lord Talvas of Boulogne.His powerful charisma is irresistible, but she cannot give what she knows he will eventually demand–marriage. A demand she knows he will make when he discovers their passion has created the tiny new life growing inside her. . . .
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A thrill ripped through her stomach and chest, forcing all conscious thought to a liquid bolt that shot through her veins
Talvas! He stood with his back to her, dragging his soggy tunic over his head, followed swiftly by his undershirt. He began to dry himself with the rough linen square that Geoffrey held out to him. Emmeline watched, transfixed by the beautiful physique before her. Fully clothed, Talvas made an imposing figure, but stripped to the waist in her friend’s kitchen he was devastating! She traced the strong, indented column of his spine, banded on either side by well-honed plates of muscle: evidence of hard, physical labor. There was nothing soft about him, no inch of spare flesh. Emmeline’s eyes ran down his spine until she reached the point where his damp skin, gleaming in the firelight, indented and met the top of his braies.
She pushed her face into her hands, as if by trying to obscure the vision before her she could stamp out her reaction, scrub out these unwanted feelings!
The Damsel’s Defiance
Harlequin>®Historical
Author Note
The inspiration for my story of Talvas and Emmeline originated from reading about a period in English history known as The Anarchy: a grueling civil war in the middle of the twelfth century between the empress Maud, daughter of King Henry I, and Stephen, her cousin.
Promised the English throne by her father, Maud was beaten to it by Stephen. History cites that Maud, who lived with her second husband in France, traveled to England some four years after Stephen became king. However, having researched her character, I like to think that she would have been more impatient to seize the throne as soon as her father died, and this gave me the background for my story.
In medieval times it was not unusual for widows to continue their husbands’ businesses, and here my character Emmeline fits in perfectly. Strong-willed and fiercely independent, she is determined to claw back her dead father’s business, effectively ruined by her husband.
Talvas also does not choose the conventional path. Despite being raised by noble parents, and trained in the chivalric ways of a knight, he prefers the wildness and unpredictability of the sea to a more sedate life as lord of the manor. Reckless and a risk-taker, he finds a life onboard a ship suits him perfectly.
MERIEL FULLER
The Damsel’s Defiance
Available from Harlequin>®Historical and MERIEL FULLER
Conquest Bride #782
The Damsel’s Defiance #264
MERIEL FULLER
lives in a quiet corner of rural Devon, England, with her husband and two children. Her early career was in advertising, with a bit of creative writing on the side. Now, with a family to look after, writing has become her passion. A keen interest in literature, the arts and history, particularly the early medieval period, makes writing historical novels a pleasure for Meriel. The Devon countryside, a landscape rich in medieval sites, holds many clues to the past and has made her research a special treat.
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Contents
Chapter One
