Venetian Sunshine (Tales from the Grand Tour Book 5)

by Merry Farmer

  “And I would give my life for you,” Charlotte said, pressing herself against his side. She smiled up at Trent for a moment before turning to her father. “I will stay with Trent,” she said. Her command was as powerful as anything Lord Beverly could issue.

  For several, tense moments, Lord Beverly studied his daughter with an unreadable expression. Trent held his breath, waiting to see what the man would say. At last, Lord Beverly sighed and his shoulders dropped.

  “I only want you to be safe, my darling,” he said. “You are the dearest thing in this world to me. I would be lying if I said I felt easy about letting you out of my sight. I have every intention of traveling to Rome to help with the rescue efforts, and so I will admit that I would feel better knowing you were there as well.” He glanced to Trent. “With a stalwart protector.”

  It was the closest Trent felt he would get to approval at the moment. He nodded to Lord Beverly in a silent promise that he would move heaven and earth to keep Charlotte safe.

  “Now, I recommend you do as we have ordered the others to do,” Lord Beverly went on. “Retire for the night and keep yourselves out of harm’s way.” He studied Trent and Charlotte for a moment, then said, “I’ll have one of my agents gather everything from your flat. They’ll pack enough for you to travel with and bring it here, and the rest can be stored at my palace.”

  “Thank you, Father,” Charlotte said, her face brightening and filling with affection.

  Lord Beverly’s sternness broke into a look of paternal love that touched Trent’s heart. He leaned forward to kiss Charlotte’s cheek. “I believe that’s the first time you’ve actually called me Father,” he said, emotion making his voice hoarse.

  “I never would have dared to before.” Charlotte blinked away tears. “But for the first time, because of Trent—” She stole a quick glance at Trent. “—I feel worthy to call you that.”

  Lord Beverly’s expression continued to melt with affection. “In that case,” he said, turning to Trent, “if it’s my daughter’s hand in marriage you see, I give it to you with my whole heart.”

  Trent found himself tearing up far more than was manly, but the scene playing out around him was too wonderful not to. And it was completely at odds with the urgency of the moment. That fact was underscored as Miss Sewett cleared her throat, frowning at everyone and hinting that they should get back to work. She and Lord Beverly took their leave.

  “We should do as your father told us,” Trent said, taking Charlotte’s hand. “I’ll admit, I’ll feel much safer when we are sequestered in my bedroom alone together.”

  The warmth in Charlotte’s answering smile was enough to light a fire under Trent’s feet. He whisked her from the room, passing several exhausted and distraught cousins and the imposing force of Lord Beverly’s soldiers along the way. Everyone was heading in the same direction—away from the ballroom and up to the palace’s bedrooms—so no one impeded their progress or stopped to question what they were doing.

  By the time they made it to his bedroom, Trent’s mood had changed entirely, from anxiety and alarm to pure joy.

  “I meant what I said to your father,” he said, slipping his arms around Charlotte and leaning in for a kiss. It was a far more passionate kiss than he’d planned, but it fit perfectly with what he had to say next. “I want to marry you, Charlotte, my love. I can’t imagine a life without you now. You are my heart. You are all the pieces of me that were missing until now. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “Oh, Trent,” she sighed, her whole countenance radiating love. “Of course, I will. Yes, yes!”

  She threw herself against him, looping her arms around his shoulders and lifting to her toes so that she could kiss him with all the joy that he shared with her.

  “I love you,” he gasped as they backed toward his bed. “I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.”

  “And I love you,” she answered, giggling. She fumbled with the buttons of his costume’s jacket, laughing even more as she had trouble slipping the fancy buttons through the buttonholes.

  Trent laughed along with her, feeling half mad with joy and lust in the midst of everything that was happening around them. He couldn’t help it, though. After a lifetime of feeling like he was less than every man around him, he was filled with confidence and desire. It didn’t matter what others thought. Charlotte loved him, and she wanted him.

  Undressing was even more difficult a task than usual. They each wore so many layers of finery, complete with gilding, jewels, and a thousand fiddly details that didn’t matter. But neither of them could bring themselves to simply rip the clothes off, even if they could have.

  “Let me just work on these buttons here,” he said, painstakingly undoing the impossible row of pearl buttons down her back.

  When he was done, she shrugged out of her bodice and turned to him. “How are these cuffs even attached?” she asked, amusement in her voice as she tried to remove his cufflinks and loosen his sleeves enough for him to pull his shirt off over his head.

  “I don’t even know anymore,” he laughed. Once his shirt was off, he tugged her into his arms. “I don’t know anything except that I love you.”

  He kissed her, putting his whole heart into it. His body responded to the soft slip of her skin against his, even though they still had layers of clothes to go. His cock stiffened to the point of aching as the powerful rush of pleasure that came with making love reached beyond his body and into his soul. It was one thing to make love to a woman just to feel good, but when his whole heart and soul were involved, it felt like coming to life for the first time.

  Somehow, they managed to remove the rest of their layers without ripping or tearing anything. Once they tumbled into bed naked, skin-to-skin, all of the silliness vanished. It was replaced by a heat that drove Trent wild in the best of ways. He showered Charlotte’s body with kisses, loving every inch of her. Her skin was salty and delicious, and the way she sighed and surged into him as he suckled her breasts and stroked his hands down her sides left him hard and eager to be inside of her.

  He forced himself to take his time, though, kissing his way across her stomach and shifting so that he could pleasure her in the very best of ways. She parted her legs eagerly for him, allowing him to slip his tongue along the wet seam of her womanhood. He groaned at the taste of her, the way her breath hitched in her throat and her sounds of need increased. The very fact that she enjoyed the way he teased and pleased her pushed him on. He licked and sucked her clitoris, sliding his fingers inside of her, shivering at how wet she was for him, until her body grew taut, then burst into throbbing.

  A bone-deep sense of triumph filled him as she came with a cry. He wanted her to feel that pleasure as long as possible and worked with her body to draw it out as long as he could. His own need pushed him to find his own release, though. He shifted, sliding up her body and grabbing her knee to open her hips farther. With a deep, powerful thrust, he joined with her, sheathing himself in her heat. The pleasure of thrusting hard in her had him quickly losing his mind, but it was nothing to the amazement of knowing she was his and would always be his.

  His orgasm was so powerful it took him by surprise. It enveloped his whole body, focusing on a feeling of white-hot pleasure in his groin as he spilled his seed inside of her. She continued to throb around him, welcoming him with a sigh of deep satisfaction. He only regretted that their combined pleasure couldn’t go on and on, though as all energy left him and he collapsed atop her, he knew that as soon as he had recovered, they would go again. He would never be able to get enough of her.

  “I love you,” he panted, wrapping her in his arms as drowsiness descended on him. “I swear, I will take care of you and love you and make you the happiest woman in the world, for the rest of this lifetime and in every one afterwards.”

  “I will love you even more than that,” she giggled, snuggling against him. “You are everything I have ever wanted and more.”

 
; Trent kissed her forehead, happier than he’d ever been or ever thought he’d be.

  Epilogue

  “Lord Thomas, a moment of your time.”

  Thomas stopped short on his way out of the ballroom. He jerked around as Lord Beverly approached him. There was something terribly unnerving about the older man, a sense of power that gave Thomas the feeling he was about to be squashed like a bug.

  “My lord.” He nodded deferentially to Lord Beverly as he closed the gap between them. The more he could do to let the man know he was on his side the better.

  Lord Beverly reached him, resting a hand on his arm for a moment as he drew Thomas to a quiet corner of the room. “I assume I’ve no need to explain the full extent of the dangerous situation the McGovern family is now in,” he said.

  “I can imagine that the entire family is at risk now,” Thomas said with a grave look.

  “You’re an intelligent man.” Lord Beverly smiled. Thomas was ridiculously pleased by the gesture. It was the sort of look Asher had always gotten from their father, while he’d been the recipient of their father’s frowns, scowls, and disappointment. “You’re going to need that intelligence in the coming days,” Lord Beverly went on.

  Thomas sensed far more behind the intimidating man’s words. “Whatever I can do for you, my lord, I will do it,” he said. “If Asher’s mission was to serve queen and country, then that will be my mission as well.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Lord Beverly narrowed his eyes and studied Thomas for a long moment. “I’ve been given to understand that you are a wastrel.”

  The harsh comment, delivered so bluntly, stung. Thomas did his best not to flinch. “I suppose any man who grows up in the shadow of a brother like Asher would be relegated to the role of family black sheep,” he growled. He’d never thought the distinction was fair.

  “Would I be correct in assuming that you’ve been underestimated?” Lord Beverly went on.

  Again, the sense that he had a chance to please a man who stood in a position of authority overwhelmed him. Thomas leapt at the chance to prove himself. “Put me to the test and I’ll answer that question with actions,” he said.

  Lord Beverly smiled in a way that gave Thomas chills. “You are exactly what we need right now,” he said. “You are a man who has been underestimated. Use that.”

  Thomas blinked, shifting his weight and crossing his arms. “How?”

  Lord Beverly leaned closer. “Go to Rome. Immediately. Tonight, if possible. The Jackal and his men will know you are there to look for Asher, but if the same rumors have reached their ears that have reached mine, they won’t pay as much attention to you as they should.”

  “If The Jackal is as clever as you say he is, he’ll be on to me from the moment I set foot in Rome,” Thomas argued.

  “He will,” Lord Beverly agreed. “But he will be more concerned with the noise and fuss that I and the rest of your family will be making. Particularly if you appear to immediately take up with disreputable company.”

  Thomas was as confused as ever. “What do you mean? What company?”

  Lord Beverly inched even closer. “Our team has a contact in Rome. I want you to make her acquaintance and work with her to find Asher. The two of you will have a better chance of finding him quietly, without being noticed, than the rest of us will as we make a bigger show of searching.”

  “But won’t The Jackal see through that?”

  Lord Beverly shook his head. “Look for the English Columbine.”

  Thomas blinked. “I beg your pardon.”

  “No one will question your activities if you are seen in the company of the English Columbine.” Lord Beverly grinned. “They will assume you’re nothing but a profligate lord in search of a good time.”

  “I don’t understand.” Thomas frowned. “Who is this English Columbine? Why not just give me her name, tell me where to find her?”

  “I just did.” Lord Beverly’s grin grew, but there was a degree of scrutiny behind it that made Thomas feel as though he were being tested. “If you’ve listened to what I’ve said, you’ll know who she is and where to find her,” he said, proving Thomas right. “And if you do find her and tell her I sent you, she’ll know what to do.”

  “But I—”

  “Go to Rome,” Lord Beverly cut him off. “Find the English Columbine.”

  With a final nod, Lord Beverly walked away, joining his men as they interviewed and dismissed the last of the party guests.

  Thomas stood where he was for a moment, deeply confused. Columbine was a type of flower, wasn’t it? That was all he knew. How was he supposed to find a flower in a city like Rome?

  His confusion gave way to determination. Asher was missing, and Lord Beverly was depending on him to figure out the riddles and find him. No one had ever put that much faith in Thomas in his life, and he wasn’t about to let the man—or Asher—down. With a surge of excitement in his gut, he turned and rushed out of the room, heading upstairs to pack his bag. He was heading to Rome.

  I hope you have enjoyed Charlotte and Trent’s story! Gosh, I love writing sweet, adorable couples like them! But the situation is getting beyond dangerous for the McGovern family. Will Thomas be able to find Asher in Rome and rescue him from The Jackal? He might be able to once he gets the help of sexy and mysterious spy, Violetta Roan. But will they be able to stick to the mission they’ve been assigned, or will their undeniable attraction land them both in hot water? Find out in Roman Sunset! Keep clicking to get started reading Chapter One!

  If you enjoyed this book and would like to hear more from me, please sign up for my newsletter! When you sign up, you’ll get a free, full-length novella, A Passionate Deception. Victorian identity theft has never been so exciting in this story of hope, tricks, and starting over. Part of my West Meets East series, A Passionate Deception can be read as a stand-alone. Pick up your free copy today by signing up to receive my newsletter (which I only send out when I have a new release)!

  Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/cbaVMH

  Are you on social media? I am! Come and join the fun on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/merryfarmerreaders

  I’m also a huge fan of Instagram and post lots of original content there: https://www.instagram.com/merryfarmer/

  AND NOW, GET STARTED ON ROMAN SUNSET…

  Chapter One

  Rome, Italy – Summer, 1890

  The first thing Lord Thomas McGovern, Earl of Landry, did when he stepped out of the Roma Termini train station and into the noisy, bustling city was to get lost. The sun was already beginning to set over the mish-mash of ancient and modern buildings, casting orange and coral light over streets that had been there since antiquity. The echo of a dozen Italian dialects surrounded Thomas as he gripped his suitcase tightly in one hand, studied the slip of paper where Lord Beverly had written the address of the hotel where he would be staying at in his other hand, and pushed forward.

  “Ehi, signore! Ho un centesimo?” a ragged child with a dirty face and a bright smile shouted at Thomas as he reached the corner and glanced around for street signs.

  Self-consciousness rushed through Thomas. He’d been in Italy with his family for weeks now, and still, he barely understood a word of Italian. There was no mistaking the way the waif and half a dozen of his friends suddenly rushed toward him, their hands held out, though.

  “No,” Thomas said, inching away from the boys. “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything.”

  That wasn’t technically true. As the second son of the late Duke of Addlebury and the younger brother of the current duke, he had quite a bit. More than the simple but elegant suit he wore let on. He was an earl in his own right, with two estates in England to provide income. But money, like respect, was one of those things that had always slipped through Thomas’s fingers the moment he had any of it.

  Which was why Lord Beverly was a fool for entrusting him with a mission as important as locating his brother, Asher McGovern, and rescuing him from the criminals who had taken
him hostage just days ago in Venice. Lord Beverly had stayed behind in Venice for a few days, supposedly to organize the rest of the vast and unruly McGovern clan, but in truth, all that activity was a smokescreen to the true rescue efforts, which were Thomas’s responsibility.

  “Prego signore! Attendere prego!” the boys called after Thomas as he crossed the street and continued on his way. They kept their hands out and trailed him like he was their last chance for a meal before they would expire—which was blatantly untrue, considering how pink and healthy most of them looked.

  Thomas did his best to ignore them, but he knew how they felt. During the train ride from Venice to Rome, all he could think about was how mad Lord Beverly was to entrust him with such a vital mission. He’d never been to Rome before, and without speaking the language, he would have as much luck looking for Asher as the urchins trailing him were having begging for a few coins. The racket the boys made had Thomas wondering if he would end up going to the address the dark lady had left for them all at the masquerade ball in Venice and simply begging for his brother to be returned.

  He paused at another street corner, searching once again for street signs that would point him to his hotel. Or the address where they were supposed to meet the dark lady to give her the ransom that had been demanded for Asher’s safe return. The preset time for that hand-off was only a few days away, and while Thomas didn’t believe any more than Lord Beverly did that the dark lady and the man she was working for—a mysterious man called The Jackal—would actually hand Asher over, chances were at least some of The Jackal’s agents would be at the hand-off spot at the appointed time. Thomas’s mission was to rescue Asher before that time, though.

  He puffed out a breath and turned in a circle, still no idea where he was.

  “Mi scusi, signore, posso avere un soldo?” a particularly pathetic little boy from the pack asked Thomas, tugging at his shirtsleeve as he did. The lad’s eyes were as big as saucers, which went straight to Thomas’s heart.