Gilded Agony
Page 29
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K.A. Merikan are a team of writers who try not to suck at adulting, with some success. Always eager to explore the murky waters of the weird and wonderful, K.A. Merikan don’t follow fixed formulas and want each of their books to be a surprise for those who choose to hop on for the ride.
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The Black Sheep and the Rotten Apple
K.A. Merikan
“How does one start a relationship with another man when it is forbidden?”
“One needs to decide that the other man is worth dying for.”
Cornwall, 1785
Sir Evan Penhart. Baronet. Highwayman. Scoundrel.
Julian Reece. Writer. Wastrel. Penniless.
No one forces Julian Reece to marry. Not his father, not his brother. No one.
When he is thrust into a carriage heading for London to meet his future bride, his way out comes in the form of an imposing highwayman, riding a horse as black as night. Julian makes a deal with the criminal, but what he doesn’t expect is that despite the title of baronet, the robber turns out to be no gentleman.
Sir Evan Penhart is pushed into crime out of desperation, but the pact with a pretty, young merchant’s son turns out to have disastrous consequences. Not only is Evan left broke, but worse yet, Julian opens up a Pandora’s box of passions that are dark, needy, and too wild to tame. With no way to lock them back in, rash decisions and greedy desire lead to a tide that wrecks everything in its way.
But Julian might actually like all the sinful, carnal passion unleashed on him. How can he admit this though, even to himself, when a taste of the forbidden fruit could have him end up with a noose around his neck? And with highway robbery being a hanging offense and the local constable on their back, Julian could lose Evan before he can decide anything about the nature of his desires.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: highwayman, abduction, ransom, forbidden love, self-discovery, danger, crime, Cornwall, Georgian
Genre: Dark romance, historical
Erotic content: Explicit scenes
Length: ~140,000 words (standalone novel)
Post-Credits Scene (Charlotte)
Charlotte enjoyed the warm wind blowing into her face. It carried scents of the undergrowth, wild plants, the ground that still smelled damp after the morning rain. Almost four years had passed since her abduction. Therapy had done its job, as did being around people she trusted, so she was okay on most days. But whenever she felt down, whenever nightmares creeped their way into her dreams, Snowflake was there to chase them away. On horseback, moving with the animal as if they were one, her mind never failed to clear.
Too bad her little brother’s temperament wouldn’t allow him to stay peaceful for long. He’d left her behind over ten minutes ago, galloping through the glade as if he were a fox chased by bloodhounds.
They’d end up meeting at the stables anyway, so she wasn’t in a rush, because getting there meant the end of her time on Snowflake’s back. Her parents had purchased the horses for her and Griffith after the ‘South American incident’ as they liked to call it, and Charlotte was pretty sure it was their attempt to keep her close. They didn’t know there was no need for any leashes. In the months after her ordeal, she’d barely left the house, let alone the town.
But Snowflake had been there. An understanding listener, and the only living being she could confide in, because even her family could never know the full story of what had happened during those few weeks in Colombia.
She waved at two of her friends who were practicing their dressage routines for an upcoming competition in a paddock west of the stables, and made her way along an alley that would bring her to the main building. She eventually dismounted Snow and led her to the grooming station.
Griffith was nowhere to be seen which was odd, since his own horse, Percival, was already there, yet with all the kit still on.
“Brat,” she mumbled and left Snow, promising her she’d be back in no time.
She walked between the rows of stalls in the massive stables so unlike the ones back home. She could only hope that their horses would get the care they needed here, but there was no other way if she wanted to regularly ride while at university.
Charlotte finally spotted her brother outside, petting the head of a gorgeous stallion. The beast was imposing in its muscular build and height, and black as night. Yet it was no surprise Griff was there, because he’d never miss checking out a beautiful horse. If Charlotte didn’t intervene fast enough, Griffith would be spending the next hour chatting to the owner and leave her to wait for him, since he didn’t drive.
Still, they needed friends in this new place, so she took two deep breaths to steady herself and approached the two talking men. Griffith’s skin was still flushed a deep pink from the exercise, and the color of the blotches on his cheeks was a sharp contrast to porcelain skin and sun-bleached hair. Smiling widely, he was so engaged in the conversation that he remained ignorant of Charlotte’s presence even when she was only a few paces away.
Animated, he took his hand off the horse and tapped the stranger’s shoulder, as if this weren’t the first time they’d met. The owner of the horse gave a deep laugh that made Charlotte smile as well, but once she took a few more steps, the world around her came to a halt.
Something twisted inside her stomach before she even truly understood who she was looking at, but even the dark curls on top of the man’s head were familiar. A black eyepatch obscured his features on one side, but when the remaining eye settled on her over Griffith’s shoulder, she knew it was Mark standing in front of her, no matter how much he’d changed since he’d put her on a plane in a town deep in the Colombian jungle.
He’d grown tall, and his bare wide shoulders reminded her of driftwood emerging out of the stormy ocean, thousands of miles away from the dangerous forests where they belonged. There was a cocky smile on the handsome face that remained engraved at the back of Charlotte’s mind along with all the other fears she thought she’d left behind, but under the pleasant facade was a venomous snake about to strike her again.
She pulled on her brother’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Griffith’s blue eyes went wide. He glanced at her hand on his shoulder, then back at Mark. “I- uh… I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“No, we’re going now.” Her heart raced, and all she could think of was the predator in front of them, camouflaged a
s a human being to walk among normal people.
Griffith pulled his arm back ever-so-slightly, but she could see it in his eyes that he’d rather leave the conversation he enjoyed than make a scene in front of a stranger. Thank God for his polite nature.
“Uh, I’ll see you around. We’re here almost every day,” Griffith said, physically putting up enough resistance to flash Mark one more smile before Charlotte managed to drag him toward the stables.
She looked over her shoulder as they rushed away, fearing that Mark would follow them, but he just watched them leave as if the targets on their back were already in place. What had he come for? Some kind of payback? What had happened between them was buried in the past and that was where it was supposed to stay, and yet here he was, clawing his way back up with those blood-stained hands.