KNIGHT OF MY DREAMS:
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lynsay
Sands comes a classic short story of a knight in need of a bride …
Lady Alice knows she is not the type to entice a man. She's
too voluptuous, too intelligent, too strong minded. Why, she even reads! But
then Jonathan, Earl of Fairley, arrives at court. Tall, dark and handsome, the
knight is any woman's dream. And he has just been ordered by the king to find a
bride … and Alice is to help him!
Jonathan has been evading his mother's
matchmaking schemes for years, so why does she insist that Lady Alice isn't for
him? Alice is only to aid in his search for a bride, yet Jonathan can't help
but be distracted by her glorious hair—the color of a sunset—and a figure that
is like a lush berry about to burst to full ripeness … Has Jonathan fallen prey
to love?
Teaser:
Alice
glanced up in surprise at the concern in Lord Jonathan's voice. He wasn't
looking at her; his gaze was traveling down her body in the wake of his hands
as he checked her over to be sure she wasn't injured. She flushed at the
familiar way his fingers skimmed over her, and took a quick step back, nearly
tumbling again.
"I
am fi-fine," she got out a little breathlessly as he caught her arms to
steady her. "Really," Alice added when he continued to look
concerned. After a brief pause, he swallowed and nodded, then turned to grab at
the reins of his mount.
Her
gaze moved distractedly back to the small swatch of blue cloth on the ground by
her feet. She was about to draw Jonathan's attention to it, when she was
suddenly caught by the waist and lifted onto his horse.
Alice
promptly began to protest. "Oh, really, my lord. There is no need for us
to ride. I can walk back to the clearing. I—"
At
last she gave up her protests, mostly because he was ignoring her. He mounted
in front of her and drew her hands around his waist.
"Hold
on," he instructed.
Alice
nodded against his back, breathing in deeply to try to steady her nerves. It
was rather novel to be in such close proximity to a man. She had never done so
before. Unmarried women were simply not allowed such familiarity. Of course,
this was an unusual circumstance, and…
Her
thoughts died as she breathed in the scent of him. He smelled of the woods and
the river and…male. It was a surprisingly pleasant mix, she decided, breathing
it in again as her fingers interlocked at his middle. Feeling the muscles of
his stomach bunch and ripple, she flattened her fingers over them to get the
full sensation, then, realizing what she was doing, stopped breathing in
embarrassment. Her fingers stilled.
Of
course, Alice couldn't go long holding her breath. She managed to do so for the
short ride back to the clearing, but there the breath left her in a slow hiss.
The place was empty. Lady Fairley and her uncle had not waited for them; they
had apparently ridden on ahead. Alice recalled the small swatch of cloth she
had spotted near the horses and pondered silently, wondering why Lady Fairley
had been by the horses. Surely she hadn't untied Alice's mount and let it go?
Had she really been so annoyed with Alice as to wish to have her walk back to
the castle?
"Well,
we shall have to ride quickly to catch up," Lord Jonathan said.
Alice
glanced at the back of his head, then pressed close and held on tightly as he
spurred his mount into a trot. She didn't hold her breath this time. Instead
she sat, her breasts pressed against his back, her hands clutched at his front,
breathing in deeply of his scent. She was enjoying it so much, it took her most
of the ride to realize that despite his words, Jonathan wasn't trying very hard
to catch up to her uncle and his mother. He had the horse going at a trot, but
a rather slow one, really. They had ridden here faster. She was so startled by
the realization that she loosened her hold and started to pull away, but he
stopped her by catching her hands with one of his own.
"You
had best hold on," he said. "I would not wish to see you fall."
Alice
wondered at the husky note to his voice, but decided to merely enjoy the ride.
She relaxed against him.
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