Until Midnight - eBook - Final

by Maya Banks

  ALSO BY MAYA BANKS

  Seducing Simon

  Brazen

  For Her Pleasure

  Stay With Me

  Reckless

  Love Me, Still

  Into the Mist

  Into the Lair

  Golden Eyes

  Amber Eyes

  Be With Me

  Songbird

  The Billionaire’s Contract Engagement

  Pillow Talk (Fourplay Duology)

  Soul Possession (Men out of Uniform Anthology)

  Long Road Home

  Exiled (Cherished Duology)

  COLTERS’ LEGACY SERIES

  Colters’ Woman

  Colters’ Wife (free short story epilogue to Colters’ Woman)

  Callie’s Meadow

  Colters’ Lady

  Colters’ Daughter

  Colters’ Promise

  Colters’ Gift

  ANETAKIS TRILOGY

  The Mistress

  The Bride

  The Affair

  THE BREATHLESS TRILOGY

  RUSH

  FEVER

  BURN

  PASSION AND PREGNANCY SERIES

  Enticed

  Wanted

  Tempted

  Undone

  SWEET SERIES

  Sweet Surrender

  Sweet Persuasion

  Sweet Seduction

  Sweet Temptation

  Sweet Possession

  Sweet Addiction

  KGI Series

  The Darkest Hour

  No Place to Run

  Hidden Away

  Whispers in the Dark

  Echoes at Dawn

  Softly at Sunrise (novella available digitally or in print in the back of Shades of Gray)

  Shades of Gray

  Forged in Steele

  After the Storm

  When Day Breaks

  Darkest Before Dawn

  Brighter than the Sun

  SCOTTISH HISTORICALS

  In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe trilogy)

  Seduction of a Highland Lass (McCabe trilogy)

  Never Love a Highlander (McCabe trilogy)

  Never Seduce a Scot (Montgomerys & Armstrongs)

  Highlander Most Wanted (Montgomerys & Armstrongs)

  Highland Ever After (Montgomerys & Armstrongs) Coming Soon

  THE TANGLED HEARTS TRILOGY

  Theirs to Keep

  Always Mine (TBA)

  Forever Ours (TBA)

  THE SURRENDER TRILOGY

  Letting Go

  Giving In

  Taking it All

  THE UNBROKEN TRILOGY

  Understood

  Overheard

  Undenied

  THE SLOW BURN SERIES

  Keep Me Safe

  In His Keeping

  Safe at Last

  With Every Breath

  Just One Touch

  THE ENFORCERS

  Mastered

  Dominated

  Kept

  THE VAULT COLLECTION

  Her Majesty, My Love

  Beyond the Night

  Duchess of My Heart

  Until Midnight

  For more information on Maya and her books, go to her website, connect with her on Facebook or follow her on twitter!

  http://www.mayabanks.com

  http://www.facebook.com/authormayabanks

  http://twitter.com/maya_banks

  UNTIL MIDNIGHT

  Maya Banks

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Until Midnight

  Copyright © 2019 Maya Banks

  ISBN: 978-1-946461-30-8

  Cover by Designs By Dana

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Published by Maya Banks

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Prologue

  London, England

  April, 1816

  “Kiss me,” she said rather breathlessly.

  Her fiancé, Stuart Eglin, backed hastily away from her, a look of abject terror on his face.

  Lady Jenna Wycliffe pursed her lips and thrust her face forward. The moment she had planned had come. After dancing her third set, she’d asked Stuart to escort her out onto the terrace to take some air. She had to know. Had to reassure herself that marriage to Stuart was not going to be the pit of despair she suspected.

  He glanced frantically around and back toward the French windows leading into the ballroom. “Someone will see us!”

  She relaxed her pose and gazed balefully at him. “What can they do, force us to marry?” she asked dryly.

  “That’s hardly amusing.”

  “No one will see us if we hurry,” she prompted. “It’s not the height of scandal for a man to kiss the woman he’s been engaged to for years. More than one couple has stolen a kiss in the gardens.”

  Glancing quickly back toward the ballroom, she stepped forward again, closing the distance between her and Stuart. She could forget the hopeless vanity he displayed. The ridiculous clothing. The exaggerated airs. If only he inspired passion in her, she could find a way to make the best of their marriage. And she would only find out if he kissed her.

  “Please,” she said softly.

  He sighed deeply, a pained look crossing his face. “Very well. But just this once.”

  She nearly laughed. Surely he didn’t plan for this to be their only kiss. Perhaps he meant before their marriage.

  Clenching her fists at her side, she waited. He pinched his lips together in a remarkable likeness to the trout her father so loved to catch. Then, squenching his eyes closed, he lowered his head to hers. Just before his lips made contact with hers, she closed her eyes and awaited the sparks and euphoria she had heard described in the ladies’ circles with such great detail.

  Clammy, wet lips brushed over hers nearly causing her to recoil. Then just as quickly they withdrew. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Stuart fidgeting in front of her like a prisoner awaiting his execution. Was that it?

  Disappointment knifed cleanly through her. Her worst fears had been realized. Trying desperately to recover her wits and hide her mounting dismay, she managed a shaky smile. “Now, was that so bad?”

  “Jenna, you should
return at once to the ballroom.” Her brother’s disapproving voice reached her ears.

  She whirled around to see Sebastian standing at the French windows. Smoothing her skirts and thankful he hadn’t witnessed the debacle of her first kiss—or had he?—she hurried back inside. Taking her brother’s arm, they walked back into the crowded interior, Stuart lagging behind.

  “What were you doing?” Sebastian demanded.

  “I was feeling a bit lightheaded so I asked Stuart to escort me out for some air.”

  The lie sounded flimsy even to her own ears since she had never had an attack of the vapors in her life, but if he discounted her explanation he didn’t let on.

  “Are you unwell? Should I call for our carriage?”

  She shook her head. “I’m quite all right. Let’s find Quinn. He promised to dance with me.”

  Sebastian chuckled. “Last time I saw Quinn he was avoiding a group of giggling debutantes.”

  “Then I’ll not likely find him anytime soon,” she said with a grin. “I suppose you’ll have to do.”

  He sighed. “The things I do for you, sister mine.”

  As he led her onto the floor where the other couples were dancing, she allowed the experience with Stuart to sink in. Humiliation had settled deep into her stomach to the point of making her nauseous.

  Not only did her fiancé instill about as much passion in her as the trout he resembled, he obviously felt nothing for her either, evident by the amount of time he spent avoiding her. Her cold, lifeless marriage stretched before her like an eternal prison sentence.

  A prickle at the nape of her neck shook her from the misery she was slowly sinking further into. A quick glance at the many ladies lining the sides of the ballroom told her he was here. Fans popped up and began waving frantically as if the temperature had suddenly risen to impossible heights. Excited glints shown in previously bored eyes. Buzzing chatter rose above the strains of the orchestra.

  She craned her neck looking for the object of so much interest. There. In the door way. Her eyes drank him in. Grayson Douglas. London’s most talked about man. At least in the ladies’ circles.

  A shiver skittered down her spine. Even from a distance he posed a most remarkable figure. Broad shouldered. Tall. Handsome. He glanced her way and their eyes briefly locked. She felt the jolt all the way to her feet. Saints preserve, and she hadn’t even kissed this man. Was this how it was supposed to feel?

  “What are you looking at?” Sebastian broke in.

  She yanked her eyes guiltily away. “Oh nothing. Just watching people. It’s a favorite entertainment of mine.”

  He looked doubtfully at her, and she rushed to add credence to her story.

  “You learn quite a bit about other people by observing them at social functions. For instance, did you know that Lady Brumley hides a small flask of brandy behind her fan and sips when no one is looking?”

  Sebastian bit back a chuckle, and she hastened on. “And Sir Harry wears a corset. Lord and Lady Sinclair sneak food from the refreshment table into her reticule. I’ve seen them make off with a few pieces of silver as well.”

  She nodded her head toward the opposite wall. “See Lady Margaret?”

  He glanced over to the older matron keeping watch over her charge like a hawk over its prey. “The paragon of virtue? Be glad she didn’t see you go off to the terrace with Stuart.”

  “I have it on good authority that she regularly sneaks off to the library or other out of the way rooms for an assignment with Lord Montesque.”

  “That is hardly fit for you to repeat,” he said with a frown. Then he glanced back at Lady Margaret. “Does she really?”

  Jenna stifled a giggle. “I’ve witnessed her with my own eyes. Well,” she added hastily. “Not in the act, but I’ve heard some rather interesting noises in passing. Then saw them both sneak out of the library separately.”

  “Remind me to keep a better watch on your comings and goings,” he murmured.

  She chanced another glimpse at Mr. Douglas, and a delicious thrill ran over her all over again. Why couldn’t Stuart incite such a reaction from her? She had never been closer than across the room from this man, and yet she could feel him in every fiber of her being. Never in her twenty years had she been so achingly aware of another person.

  He was surrounded by women, and he smiled charmingly at all of them as he dipped his head in conversation. Lady Lockhart approached him, and he kissed her hand in greeting. After a quick exchange of conversation, he led her away from his group of admirers and closer to where Jenna was dancing.

  From the corner of her eye, a flash of color directed her attention from Mr. Douglas. She turned to see Stuart gesturing excitedly as he spoke to Lord Flivel. She could well imagine the topic of conversation. Clothing or other such frivolity.

  Heavy sadness crept slowly into her chest, and she felt the strongest desire to weep. For too long she had been in stark denial of the reality of her circumstances. Not only was she doomed to a marriage with a complete fop, but she would spend the rest of her life with a man who neither desired her or inspired passion within her.

  And it shouldn’t matter. Marriages were hardly formed based on an idea of compatibility or something as silly as love. And passion was reserved for romance novels and poets. But it did. It mattered to her.

  “What’s wrong, Sprite?” Sebastian’s concerned voice filtered through the heavy blanket of fog surrounding her thoughts.

  She pasted a bright smile on her face. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Just watching the festivities.”

  As the music died, she breathed a sigh of relief. She took Sebastian’s arm and walked with him back to the perimeter of the ball room.

  Quinn was waiting for them, a glass of lemonade in hand for Jenna.

  “Escape the debutantes?” Jenna asked as she accepted the drink.

  “Escape? I dare say I have no intention of escaping such lovely company.”

  Sebastian let out a groan. “Who have you fallen in love with this time?”

  Quinn raised a brow. “Love has nothing to do with it. Her attributes, on the other hand...” He finished his statement with a devilish grin.

  “This is hardly appropriate conversation to be having in front of Jenna,” Sebastian said pointedly.

  But Jenna only half heard her brothers’ bantering. Her gaze was fixed on the mysterious Mr. Douglas. Could everything she’d heard about him really be true? She’d heard personal testimonies from at least half a dozen society women, not to mention the second-hand accounts of countless others.

  His prowess in bedroom activities was a legendary topic in the drawing rooms of London’s most esteemed women.

  She glanced back at her brothers who were still involved in their bickering. Her parents wouldn’t return from Italy for another fortnight. Surely that was enough time to discover if Mr. Douglas’s reputation was warranted.

  Her cheeks warmed. What crossed her mind was impossible. No, not impossible, foolhardy. Reckless. Simply not done.

  But her mind began a dizzying journey, as a plan slowly formed and took shape. She bit her lip in deep concentration. It would require daring. She wasn’t sure she could be so bold. But most of all, it would require the utmost discretion. For if she was found out, she would be completely and utterly ruined.

  Chapter One

  London, England

  One week later

  Her mother would absolutely die. Her father would send her away to a convent. And Sebastian and Quinn...she shuddered to think of her brothers’ reaction were they to suspect what she was doing. Yet here she stood, poised to knock on the door of London’s most renowned lover.

  Jenna licked her lips and raised her hand to knock. With a sigh, she let her hand fall for the fourth time since she’d arrived on the doorstep of Grayson Douglas’s lavish London home.

  She sternly castigated her cowardice as she smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her yellow silk dress. With a swift
motion, she yanked the gloves from her clammy hands and tucked them in her reticule. She wasn’t paying a society call, so it hardly mattered whether she wore them or not. And her errand was hardly lady-like. Let her not add hypocrisy to her growing list of sins. It was just one more thing her mother would have a fit over.

  Hardening her resolve, she lifted her hand to knock once more, sure that if she waited a moment longer, someone passing on the street would recognize her, hie themselves straight to Sebastian and tell him where she was. The ton was still solidly abed at this ungodly hour, but if she stood here like a knock-kneed ninny all day, she could hardly escape detection.

  To her utter dismay, her fingers curled around the knocker and rapped it sharply against the door. Muttering several choice phrases she’d overheard her brothers use, she quickly smoothed her coiffure and waited anxiously for an answer.

  Finally the door slid open, and she came face to face with an older gentleman she assumed was the butler. Only he stared rudely at her. She shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny then shoved forth her calling card. “I, uh, I am here to see Mr. Douglas,” she managed to get out.

  The impertinent man smirked at her! Her cheeks flamed, but she drew herself up and pinned him with her most imperious stare. “Do you have a problem with your hearing?” No doubt he knew precisely why she was here. It was probably written in every facet of her face.

  The butler eyed her with amusement. “Indeed not, my lady. Mr. Douglas is not receiving callers at this hour of the morning.” He looked pointedly at his fob.

  Her discomfort increased. “I realize the hour is early, but I insist on seeing Mr. Douglas. It is of utmost importance. If you would but tell him that Lady Jenna Wycliffe wishes to speak to him concerning a most delicate matter, I am sure he would not refuse to see me.”

  Honestly, was she standing here explaining herself to a servant? She’d been meticulous in her research and knew Mr. Douglas to be a habitual early riser. She glared at him, her irritation growing with each passing second. “My good man, are you going to keep a lady waiting on the doorstep all morning?” Did he just sigh? If ever she got to see Mr. Douglas she was going to inform him of his butler’s impertinence.

  “Very well, my lady. If you’ll come this way, I’ll inform Mr. Douglas of your arrival. But I make no guarantees of his willingness to see you.”