Table of Contents
Contents
Rakes and Rogues
Copyright
Engaging the Enemy by Heather Boyd
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
About Heather Boyd
The Reluctant Seductress by Barbara Monajem
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
About Barbara Monajem
To Love a Hellion by Nicola Davidson
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
Epilogue
About Nicola Davidson
Lord Gallant by Wendy Vella
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About Wendy Vella
Rake’s Honour by Beverley Oakley
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About Beverley Oakley
Lord Wastrel by Donna Cummings
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
Epilogue
About Donna Cummings
Thank you and Lets Connect
A Very Wicked Christmas Anthology
RAKES AND ROGUES
Rakes and Rogues abound in this six-book collection of secrets, spies, vengeance, and lust. From London’s glittering ballrooms to the intimate mischief of a pre-season country house party, be captivated by these sexy first in series Regency romances.
A duchess and her son’s heir join forces to solve a family mystery in ENGAGING THE ENEMY by Heather Boyd.
Barbara Monajem’s lady spy is a rogue in distress in THE RELUCTANT SEDUCTRESS.
An earl’s sensible plans go awry as he becomes embattled with a sworn enemy, and his best friend’s sister, in TO LOVE A HELLION by Nicola Davidson.
In Wendy Vella’s LORD GALLANT, newlyweds hide secrets and confront dangers of the heart as well as a deadly foe.
When a sizzling encounter with a handsome stranger at a masquerade ball leads to love, Fanny's dreams have nearly come true in RAKE’S HONOUR by Beverley Oakley.
In LORD WASTREL by Donna Cummings, a former rake needs a scandal-free wife to help him raise his child, but he's falling for London's most notorious woman instead.
Publisher’s Note: With the exception of The Reluctant Seductress, these stories are all previously published works.
Published, June 2016
ISBN: 978-1-925239-18-8
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced nor used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for use of brief quotations in a book review.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
The stories in this boxed set are a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used facetiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover and Formatting by LLD Press
ENGAGING THE ENEMY
The Wild Randalls - Book 1
by
Heather Boyd
Every great family has a few secrets best left unspoken. The wild Randalls of Hampshire excel at them. Leopold Randall has come home to England to find his family and face the demons of his past. The question is, however, if he’s fully prepared to engage the enemy, the Duchess of Romsey, when she’s intimately tangled in his past.
Copyright © 2012 by Heather Boyd
CHAPTER ONE
No matter how much time had passed since his last visit to Hampshire, Leopold Randall, heir to the young Duke of Romsey’s title, would rather return to exile in India than beg help from Romsey Abbey. If not for his quest to locate his family, Leopold would never have set foot on Romsey soil again.
He stared across the mist shrouded valley to where Romsey Abbey, a sprawling mish mash of architectural foolishness, glowed boldly in the early morning light with a growing sense of foreboding. All his life he had gazed at the place that had been the home of his ancestors and wished he might have been born into another family.
The stench of betrayal lay thick upon Romsey Abbey. Even when the duke in question was too young to understand the power he would wield one day, his existence was far from innocent, steeped in lies. Born and bound in deceit. The Romsey duke’s crushed those that stood in their way without a passing thought for the pain they would inflict. Leopold’s side of the family had suffered such a fate, scattered to the four corners.
Leopold had been denied an
y return to England in the past five years. His existence considered both a threat and a commodity for the old duke’s schemes. The last time he had been summoned into His Grace’s presence, Leopold had made a bargain with the old devil to keep his sister safe. Even if he’d not had any choice in the matter, the memory of that night still haunted his dreams and robbed him of any peace.
Behind him, in humble whitewashed cottages, the sleepy village came to life. They were happy, secure in their lives, confident in the benevolence of the Duke of Romsey, and the continuation of years of endless tradition, pomp and ceremony. Going about their days with no idea of the ugly, calculating power of the family he was sadly a part of.
Leopold slipped a pistol into his hand, finding reassurance in the familiar weight, and then let it go in disgust. Three months ago he’d been sweltering in Surat on the banks of the Tapti River, unaware of the changes at Romsey, going about the old duke’s business with no idea he was free. The news he had died a year and a half ago had pleased him. But it was only by chance that he’d heard the duke’s only son, his cousin Edwin Randall, had died six months after acceding to the title. To say he was shocked was an understatement. Now only a child stood between him and gaining the title of the Duke of Romsey.
Somewhere in the depths of hell, the old Duke of Romsey must be writhing in agony.
Many men might covet such a situation, but Leopold was free and, if he lived a quiet life now he’d returned to England, he might never have to bow to the current duke’s demands again. The idea had been gratifying—intensely so. He could go wherever he chose without having to account for his actions. Freedom after a decade of servitude was sweet. It had taken him a very short amount of time to wrap up his affairs, set aside his mistress, and return home on the first available ship. Not even a run-in with a marauding American privateer had dimmed his enthusiasm.
His heady sense of excitement had lasted until his feet touched English cobblestones in Portsmouth. Hearing so many English voices at once had overwhelmed him momentarily, but a single voice—clear and insistent—had turned him about in his tracks. A girl called out to a young lad named Toby. His missing brother’s name was Tobias.
But it hadn’t been his brother, just a street scamp dodging his pursuers. But at that moment he’d reaffirmed his purpose in coming home. Come hell or high water, he would put his missing family back together. He would search the globe if necessary to find out what the old Duke of Romsey had done with Oliver, Rosemary, and Tobias. His younger brothers and sister had been taken from him by force. Only Leopold had been granted a limited liberty, forced to dance to the old duke’s tune in order to keep them safe.
Unfortunately, information was hard to uncover. He had spent weeks in London, engaging a private investigator to discreetly question staff at the ducal mansion and the man of business with the hopes of hearing of their fate. He was informed the London mansion had been closed since the old duke’s death a year and a half ago. The current duchess, his cousin’s wife, widowed a year ago, was mired in the country with her son and had no plans to come to town that anyone knew of. The man of business was new and clueless about the past, or his side of the Randall family. Aside from striking up a careful friendship with Viscount Carrington in London, a man an old friend had vouched for but with too many problems of his own to be of help, he’d had no choice but to grudgingly return home to Hampshire and beg for information himself.
Now, he had no idea what future lay before him, but his audience today would set the wheels in motion for the rest of his life. He would get his answers and be done with Romsey once and for all.
“Your breakfast is ready, Mr. Randall,” the innkeeper called. “Same room as last night.”
“Thank you, Brown.” Leopold turned from the view and graced the innkeeper with a smile reminiscent of his former life before his exile. The man need not have any reason to question his motives for returning. He need not see how bitter Leopold had become. “How is your daughter faring these days?”
“Very well, sir. She’s got three young ones now and another on the way. Her husband comes home irregular from sea and refills her belly at each visit.”
Leopold smiled but made no further comment. He’d only asked to be polite. The former Fanny Brown had been the local tart. Tender hearted, but a tart just the same.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, sir, it sure is good to see another Randall in the district. The place has been far too quiet since your family left.” Brown touched his cap and hurried away. “The Duchess of Romsey will be pleased to see you, he called.”
But anger swirled through Leopold like a rising tide and he hesitated to follow. He had to work hard to force his bitterness away. Left? His family had not left of their own volition. His parents had likely been killed on the duke’s order, his siblings abducted certainly. But until he had proof of their whereabouts, he’d keep his eyes open. Until he’d met the current Duchess of Romsey and determined how big a threat she was to his family’s survival, he’d do well to distrust anything she said or did.
With one last glance at the distant abbey, he turned toward the inn and the warmth of his breakfast. The private dining chamber was so familiar, so unchanged during his absence that he expected to hear his family laughing around the battered table over a meal. He shook off the memory—it did no good to dwell on happier times—and wearily sank into a chair.
Leopold spooned food into his mouth mechanically, offering a smile to the shy innkeeper’s wife as she added fresh rolls to the table. But his mind was on the frustrating question of where his family had been taken and, more importantly, what kind of life they were living now that the old duke was dead. Despite his promises, there was always the danger that Romsey had lied from the start and disposed of them ten years ago. He shook his head. He could not think too much about that possibility. That way led to the same panic he’d experienced a decade ago when he’d discovered Oliver had disappeared overnight.
Would Oliver still be calculating the odds of every conceivable circumstance? Would Rosemary still be ordering everyone about as if she was a duchess and driving young men to distraction? No doubt Tobias would still be knee deep in trouble, hopefully nothing that Leopold couldn’t get him out of. Despite the old duke’s tight noose around his life, Leopold had made his fortune in India and had the satisfaction of being able to buy almost anything he wanted now. But all he required was his family back where he could see them every day, where he could return to a life where he’d been a happy and content man.
Sadly, he could barely remember those days.
Wishing for a miracle hadn’t helped him so far. Only time and determination would get him where he wanted to go. And that was as far away as possible from Romsey.
Leopold threw some coins onto the table and strode out to the stables. His valet, Miles Colby, awaited him, their two mounts saddled and ready in the yard.
The cheeky fellow bowed deferentially, as if he did so every day. “Are we still to look about this morning, sir?”
“Yes, it cannot hurt to refresh my memory of the land.” Leopold ignored Colby’s behavior, it really was better than asking him to stop yet again, and swung up into the saddle. His valet had taken the news of him being connected with the Duke of Romsey, of being next in line for the title, far better than Leopold had done. Colby had tried, unsuccessfully, to have Leopold turned out in a style befitting a duke’s heir while they had been in London. But Leopold had resisted. He was content enough as he was and had no need to gild the lily since he very much doubted he would live to inherit anything. The current duke was young, but he might manage to live longer than his father and spare Leopold of the unwanted responsibility.
He urged his horse out into the lane at a trot. He’d not told Colby outright that he was refreshing his memory in case he was pursued. Colby would be all right should the duchess prove to be dangerous. In Leopold’s experience, the Duke’s and Duchess’ of Romsey considered outsiders, someone without Randall blood, useful i
ndulgences—not potential threats. At least, not at first glance.
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