Her words hit him, blasted through his gut.
His body staggered backward, collapsing on the opposite bench. “What…how do you know that?”
“I stared at her hands in the carriage. After they took me. I stared at them for hours and hours and hours. I could not lift my eyes. So I stared at her hands. Soft hands. She had truly soft hands, so soft.”
It was Isabella.
There was no doubting it. The girl knew her. Knew the hand, the knuckles he had traced a thousand times over in a different land, in a different life.
His head fell back on the cushions, numb.
He had been so close. So close.
The words the girl spoke made sense in his mind, but could not travel down to his body. He couldn’t feel it. Not yet. Not his love gone from this earth.
“You are…you are sure?” He could not move his head to look at her, could not smooth the roughness of his voice.
“She died. I saw her.”
Each word sliced into Caine’s chest, robbing him of his breath, of his heartbeat.
She moved, sitting upright on the bench, threatening to stand. “What—”
“Sit. Shut your mouth.” His growl sent the girl back into the corner, wrapping herself into a ball.
Caine’s head fell back, his eyes closed against the horror.
His love. Dead.
He had stayed alive for Isabella during the war. For her. And now she was dead.
Thick silence swelled in the carriage, seeping into every corner to suffocate the air.
Ten minutes. An hour. Caine had no idea how much time passed before he heard the girl’s voice slip into the silence, a whisper against the pain ravaging his chest. Against the failure pounding in his brain.
“What…what are you going to do to me?” The trembling words broke through the air.
His head dropped, his eyes finding her in the corner. She had not moved a muscle. “Do to you?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? But…”
Caine leaned forward, his voice hard. “Do you want me to do something to you?”
She snapped back, hiding her face from him.
Dammit. How many times was he going to send the pitiful creature cowering?
He shook his head, damning himself. If Isabella were sitting across from some strange man, at his mercy, how would Caine want her to be treated?
He sighed. “I am not going to hurt you, girl. What do you want? Where do you want to be delivered to?”
Her head flew up, her eyes wide as her mouth opened and closed several times before sound made it past her lips. “Truly? You are letting me go?”
He nodded.
“Home. I want…I want to go home.”
“Where is home? Somewhere here in London?”
“I am in London?” Her hand flew over her mouth, fingers dragging across her lips. “I…I did not know that…I am from Wiltshire—the village of Marport. My father is the local vicar.”
Blast it. That was at least a twelve-hour carriage ride away. His night and the next day would be gone. But that would also place him by Isabella’s home in Somerset. He could go to see her mother and father, tell them the news, even if he wanted to put it off as long as possible. He still did not fully believe it himself.
He settled his hands on his lap, tempering his voice from the pain beginning to cut through his shock. “Then I will return you to Marport. What is your name, girl?”
“Ara Detton—Arabella Detton.”
Caine shook his head.
Of course, dammit to hell.
Another Bella.
Order your copy of Vow, Lords of Action today!
~
All of my Books:
Historical Romance
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my other historical romances—each is a stand-alone story and they can be read in any order (here they are in order of publication):
Stone Devil Duke, Hold Your Breath
Unmasking the Marquess, Hold Your Breath
My Captain, My Earl, Hold Your Breath
Worth of a Duke, Lords of Fate
Earl of Destiny, Lords of Fate
Marquess of Fortune, Lords of Fate
Vow, Lords of Action
Promise, Lords of Action
Oath, Lords of Action
Of Valor & Vice, Revelry’s Tempest
Of Sin & Sanctuary, Revelry’s Tempest
Of Risk & Redemption, Revelry’s Tempest
To Capture a Rogue, Logan’s Legends, Revelry’s Tempest
To Capture a Warrior, Logan’s Legends, Revelry’s Tempest
The Devil in the Duke, Revelry’s Tempest
The Iron Earl, Valor of Vinehill
The Wolf Duke, Valor of Vinehill
Paranormal Romance
Flame Moon #1
Triple Infinity, Flame Moon #2
Flux Flame, Flame Moon #3
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My Books
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Stone Devil Duke
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The first in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Marked for death, Lady Augustine Christopherson finds herself scouring the slums of London in a desperate search to find the men who killed her father, and are determined to dispose of her. To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her. The last thing she wanted was an entanglement with a duke that threatens her very survival…
Hardened long ago, the last thing the Duke of Dunway wanted was an entanglement with a chit of the ton. But in the flash of a pistol, his fate is altered as he finds himself honor-bound to protect Lady Augustine from, of all things, herself.
Order your copy today
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Unmasking the Marquess
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The second in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Some people are born with backbone. Others have to fight for it.
List in-hand of suitable bachelors, Lady Reanna Halstead, the epitome of naivety, is thrust into London society with demands to gain a husband. To her utter amazement, she manages to capture the attentions of the Marquess of Southfork. Her love, dreams, and future are soon pinned on her marriage to this one man. One handsome, kind, fantastic man.
One man, who has a very different idea of what this marriage will be.
He will be hated, before he is loved.
Killian Hayward, Marquess of Southfork, is only one step away from completing the revenge he has fought his entire life for. All he has to do is marry Lady Halstead. The one woman that is the key to his revenge. To his peace.
The one woman that will threaten the very foundation of his entire existence.
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My Captain, My Earl
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The third in the Hold Your Breath series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
One destined to live life on the seas.
As captain of the Windrunner, Katalin Dewitt has one mission in life. Serve the ship. The ship that has been her home her entire life. The ship that is the key to keeping her father safe from certain death.
She never expected to take pity on an injured deckhand from an enemy ship and allow him onto the Windrunner. And she certainly never expected to allow him into her life.
One determined to make his way home.
Bound, gagged, and held captive on one ship after another for two long years, Jason Christopherson had long since given up hope of ever getting back to land, much less to his beloved England.
He never expected to land on a pirate ship, bound for land. And he certainly never expected to
fall in love with his new captain, threatening the one thing he needed most in life–to return home.
Neither expected to fall in love. Neither expected to be torn apart by a brutal betrayal.
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Worth of a Duke
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The first in the Lords of Fate series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
One on the wrong side of the ocean.
Lost and wandering the woods, Wynne Theaton was surviving quite nicely until Rowen Lockton appeared. He saves her from getting trampled by a thief’s horse, but then becomes insistent on showing her where she truly is…
One refusing to deny fate.
Fate tossed Miss Theaton into his path, and the Duke of Letson is not one to deny fate. But the woman comes with a host of problems, not the least of which is her belief that she is in another country.
An undeniable attraction.
He was not looking for a wife. She was only searching for home. But fate has very different plans for the two of them—if they can survive the secrets of the past, of the forgotten.
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Earl of Destiny
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The second in the Lords of Fate series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Life as a backdrop has its rewards.
Miss Brianna Silverton not only prefers life in the background—she depends on it. It is far easier to decide upon a proper husband for her younger sister that way, plus, it keeps her rooted as the spinster she is determined to be. She has secrets to hide, and she isn’t about to let another man touch her—never again.
He knew it the very moment he saw her.
A constant wanderer, the Earl of Luhaunt, Sebastian Rallager, never paused in one place for long. Not until the moment he saw Brianna across a crowded ballroom floor. Instinct had never failed Sebastian, and he knew it instantly—she was his. Now he just had to convince her of that fact.
Fate always finds a way.
Just as Sebastian begins to see that staying in one place might be exactly what he had been searching for, secrets of the past loom. Because Brianna is not only hiding herself from the world, she is hiding secrets that cannot see the light of day. Secrets that could destroy her, and the one man determined to love her.
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Marquess of Fortune
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The third in the Lords of Fate series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
A sheltered existence ripped away.
Coddled her whole life by her father and older sister, Lily Silverton finds herself the sole standing member of her family—her father dead, her sister barely holding onto life after a gruesome attack. Desperate to save her sister from death, Lily finds a beacon of hope in the rogue man that stumbles upon her in the middle of the night.
A chance meeting deep in barren woods.
Garek Harrison has things to do—responsibilities he needs to attend to. Responsibilities that include the need for a good deal of coin. Responsibilities that have nothing to do with the odd woman he meets in the middle of the night, swinging a hammer. But those responsibilities don’t stop him from approaching her. Nor from becoming entangled in the world that threatens to harm her at every turn.
Fortunes altered.
Thrust together by fate, neither Garek nor Lily can deny their mounting attraction. But when forces combine to tear them apart, fate intervenes once more and Lily and Garek must find the courage to fight their way back to each other.
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Vow
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The first in the Lords of Action series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
“I have sworn twice in my life I would no longer touch you, Ara. And I have attempted it twice. But I am not a man that can stand by that particular vow.”
She prayed for death.
Stolen from her home, sold for her innocence, all Ara Detton wanted was death. One man stood in her way, Caine Farlington. Ara is forced to survive, forced to rebuild her life. A life that is orderly, busy—with a destiny that is her own. All would be perfect, if not for having to hide her love for the man that once saved her. The man that forced her to live, to survive, to flourish.
He refuses to let her go.
In search of his missing betrothed, Caine Farlington, the Earl of Newdale, quite by accident, saves Ara from the worst possible fate. Six years later, Ara is an indispensable part of his life—even if he has to curb his need to touch her at every turn.
The one you love is not always the one you think you need.
Neither one of them is prepared to let the other go. But to remain together, both must find redemption and learn to forgive secrets of the past.
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Promise
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The second in the Lords of Action series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
A deal with a notorious rake may be her only hope.
In a desperate search for her missing sister, Lady Natalia Abbingale is out of money, out of options, and out of hope—until she spies the one man that may be the key to finding her sister—the Marquess of Lockston. He was a rake. A connoisseur of young widows. She knew that. But he was also the only man that could help her.
Fletcher Williston, the eleventh Marquess of Lockston, had been minding his own business in the brothel, never imaging he was being watched. That is, until Lady Natalia appears at his home, demanding he help her to find her sister. Refusing her should be easy. He has secrets he must live his life by. And those secrets did not need to be threatened by a downfallen lady of the ton.
Yet Lady Natalia possesses the right family, the right veneer, and most importantly, the right circumstance—desperation—and a deal made with her could possibly be just what the marquess is looking for.
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Oath
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The third in the Lords of Action series by K.J. Jackson
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
A lady out for vengeance collides with the one man that can stand in her way.
The lady bent on vengeance.
Lady Canton has a list. A list of men she is ruining, one by one. The work is satisfying—as each and every one of the despicable men deserves it—and if Livia has to bend the rules of propriety for success—so be it. What she doesn’t anticipate is a past love barging into her life, determined to stop her.
The man that will stand in her way.
Lady Canton threw him over years ago to marry a lecherous old fool for his title, so the last thing Lord Reggard wants is to entangle himself with her again. But when Livia threatens to ruin one of his best friends, Tieran is forced to take matters into his own hands to stop her.
A second chance at first love.
Livia never stopped loving him, and Tieran is determined to use that fact to his advantage. Never mind the callousness of his actions—his loyalty to Livia died years ago and he has no desire to revisit the past with her. Yet the past may be the one thing Tieran cannot escape, and he may very well discover he never stopped loving her as well.
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Of Valor & Vice
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The first in the Revelry’s Tempest series by K.J. Jackson.
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
Her life was charmed, until it was not.
Near destitute after the sudden death of her wastrel husband, Lady Pipworth must find a way to support herself and her young nieces until her brother returns home to assume his role as head of the family. Thanks to her three brothers that raised her, Adalia’s one outstanding skill in life is gambling, and with a dower house now at her disposal, plans to fill the coffers—scandal begetting or not—begin to take shape.
A mysterious man with one goal in mind .
The mysterious Duke of Dellon is interested in nothing more than fulfilling the needs of running his ducal estate. As for a wife and an heir—he will get to it, eventually—as long as it fits neatly into his orderly life. But when a long-ago vow rears, landing upon his shoulders, he obligingly sets out to do what is required of him—stop Lady Pipworth from the foolery of operating a gaming house. And, if he should need to, marry the woman.
A vow invoked from the grave leads to a secret that could destroy everything.
Her gaming house a success, the last thing Adalia wants is an arrogant duke poking into her affairs. But when a sudden death threatens the very thing she holds dearest, can she possibly trust the one man that can save her and her nieces?
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Of Sin & Sanctuary
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The second in the Revelry’s Tempest series by K.J. Jackson.
Historical romance with strong women, undeniable men, and hold your breath adventure.
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