Arabian Nights with a Rake Read online

  “Well, thank you. Susannah and I will be moving to the consulate in Cairo in a few weeks. It will be good to be home and among my family.” Alex confessed.

  Crispin elbowed him good-naturedly. “I told you you’d come out of this like a hero.”

  “What about you? How will you come out of this?” Alex asked.

  “I’m headed home, by way of Greece. But headed home, nonetheless. It’s time.”

  Alex nodded. Crispin had received news of an inheritance a while back and had dawdled over claiming it. There were issues to settle with his brother, Peyton, and issues to settle within himself that had delayed his going home. Cris didn’t talk much about it, but Alex knew he struggled with his own sense of identity. A man couldn’t wander alone forever.

  He knew that better than anyone now that he had Susannah. The sun sank low over the harbor and Crispin turned from the railing. “I’ll go now and leave you to your lovely wife.”

  They embraced as brothers and Alex saw him downstairs, laughing when Crispin mounted up on the ‘stolen’ black stallion. “Did you ever name the beast?”

  “I named him Sheikh. Seemed fitting.” Crispin winked and set off down the street.

  It would be the last time in years that Alex would see Crispin. But his future lay upstairs in Susannah’s arms and he took the steps two at a time.

  Susannah waited for him, listening for his footsteps on the stairs. He would be lonely when he returned. But she would see to it that he would not be lonely for long. In his absence, she’d lit candles in the bedroom and unbound her hair. She slipped on a dressing gown of thinnest linen, knowing full well the effect of the material in the candlelight and the effect on him.

  She heard him enter the apartments and call her name.

  “I’m in here, my love.” Susannah moved to the doorway, her hands outstretched, reaching for him. He was handsome in the flickering light, the candles illumining the leonine hues of his hair. She felt her need for him rise. In the months since their marriage, the hungry edge of their passion had not ebbed as she had thought it would, nor had it mellowed with the ordinary pace of days.

  She took his hands and drew him to her and through the door to their bedchamber. She was fast learning there was nothing ordinary about life with Alex Grayfield. In bed or out, he was an extraordinary man with whom she’d found a passionate and intellectual partnership.

  “Come, I have wine and cheese.” She pushed him gently down to the big bed and shrugged provocatively out of the dressing gown, letting it slide down the length of her body, reveling in the naked desire that sprang to life in her husband’s eyes.

  She came to him, straddling him, stripping away his garments until his body was bare before her. Susannah reached for the decanter of wine. Alex raised his eyebrow in sensual query. She smiled in answer. “Wine is good for other things than drinking.” She poured out a bit onto his body and bent her head to him, loving him the way he loved her – the way everyone wants to be loved in their life.

  If you liked this story by Bronwyn Scott, try her other sensual historical romances always available in eBook format from Harlequin Historical!

  Harlequin Historical Undone

  Libertine Lord, Pickpocket Miss

  Pleasured by the English Spy

  Harlequin Historical

  Pickpocket Countess

  Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

  The Viscount Claims His Bride

  The Earl’s Forbidden Ward

  Untamed Rogue, Scandalous Mistress

  Harlequin eBook Bundles

  Bronwyn Scott’s Sexy Regency Bundle

  (contains Pickpocket Countess; Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady; Libertine Lord, Pickpocket Miss; The Viscount Claims His Bride, and a free bonus novella, Grayson Prentiss’s Seduction)

  Enjoy more passion through the ages with the sensual Harlequin Historical UNDONE titles on sale now:

  Bitten by Desire by Marguerite Kaye

  The Virgin’s Pursuit by Joanne Rock

  Innocent in the Harem by Michelle Willingham

  Taming Her Gypsy Lover by Christine Merrill

  The Laird and the Wanton Widow by Ann Lethbridge

  The Highlander and the Sea Siren by Marguerite Kaye

  Convenient Wife, Pleasured Lady by Carole Mortimer

  To Bed a Libertine by Amanda McCabe

  Taken by the Highwayman by Amelia Casey

  Craving something a little longer? Find more historical romantic adventure from Harlequin Historical at www.eHarlequin.com or your local bookstore.

  Interested in writing for Harlequin Historical UNDONE? Send your submission to [email protected].

  Bronwyn Scott is a communications instructor in the Puget Sound area, and is the proud mother of three wonderful children (one boy and two girls). When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys playing the piano, traveling—especially to Florence, Italy—and studying history and foreign languages. You can learn more about Bronwyn at www.nikkipoppen.com

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5289-3

  Arabian Nights with a Rake

  Copyright © 2010 by Nikki Poppen

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  www.eHarlequin.com