Taming Her Gypsy Lover by Christine Merrill Read Free Book Online Page B

from him, pushing into the crowd after Chal. When she found him, she slipped her arm into his.
    He looked down at her and smiled absently, squeezing her hand before turning back to the grim sight before him. “They took survivors to a church. But no one knew of Stephano.”
    “We will look for him there,” she said.
    “And if we do not find him?” Chal’s face darkened. “And I fear we will not. No one can tell me what has become of him.”
    Looking at the ruins before her, Emma tried not to think about how the end had been for the boy. “Then what will you do next?”
    “Continue to look, I suppose. If there is some proof of his fate, I must bring it back to his family. They will want to know.” Chal gazed at the ruins, as though there was a way to see the fate of the inhabitants, and then back at her. “Do you wish me to return you to your people with the news?” But as he said it, he held her hand tighter.
    Emma shook her head. “They will discover it soon enough, I fear. I will write to Amanda, though I hate to pass on bad news, given her fragile state. Still, it is better that she hears it from me and not Geoffrey. He has come up from London to investigate for Lord Callandar.”
    “Burton.” Chal spat the word like a curse, and then added a string of Romany that Emma was glad she could not translate. “Do you wish to speak to him?”
    “I have already done so.” She smiled. “He did not know me.”
    “Even when you were right in front of him, he did not know you?” Chal was holding both her hands now, so tight that her fingers hurt. “But I do.”
    “And I know you.” She squeezed back until their grip was an unbreakable bond. “I am free of Geoffrey now, if I was not already. My life is my own. What do you wish me to do with it?” She caught Chal’s eyes at last, and held them, looking in daylight for the love that he had shown her in darkness.
    “Come with me.” He said it suddenly. Shyly. As though he feared rejection as much as she did. “Please, Emma.” He raised her hands to his lips, and although he was still somber, there was a trace of the roguish smile she had seen before.
    “And if I do, what will become of me?”
    “I will keep you, of course. I will take you as my own.” He grinned at her now. “Burton was rich. But he didn’t know the value of what he had. I have little. But I take care with what is my own.” Chal pulled her close and kissed her, and she noticed yet again how wonderful his kisses were. Rough, yet tender. And each kiss was different, as though the man who gave them treasured each moment and wished to celebrate it. For when the time passed it would never come again. And then he said, in a voice hoarse with emotion, “Be mine. Travel with me. Share my tent. Share my bed. Join my family. Let me love you till my dying breath.”
    “Yes. Take me with you. Again.” And she knew that she had answered him truly, and right. For in that moment, her future became certain, and she was flooded with profound relief. She let her body fall into his, in an embrace so close that people near them tutted in disapproval at the wild Gypsy lovers.

Regency Silk & Scandal Miniseries
    London, 1814
    A season of secrets, scandal and seduction!
     
    A darkly dangerous stranger is out for revenge, delivering a silken rope as his calling card. Through him, a long-forgotten scandal is reawakened. The notorious events of 1794, which saw one man murdered and another hanged for the crime, is ripe gossip in the ton . Was the right culprit brought to justice or is there a treacherous murderer still at large?
     
    As the murky waters of the past are disturbed, so servants find love with roguish lords, and proper ladies fall for rebellious outcasts until, finally, the true murderer and spy is revealed.
     
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