Enchanted by his captive!
The Lady of Striguil is fleeing from the tyrant who stole her birthright and threatens her still. Disguised as a nursemaid, Eva is horrified when her enemy’s handsome brother rides into her life, unveils her...and takes her captive!
The Count of Valkenborg is on a mission to fulfill his dying brother’s wish and return the runaway. But the warrior hasn’t counted on the battle Eva will spark between his duty and his growing desire for her...
Beneath the solid weight of Bruin’s hand Eva shifted, sensing his distraction.
Did he realise how close he was standing? His knees bumped against hers, rustling her velvet skirts. She could see the individual stitches on his surcoat…satin stitch, chain stitch making up one of the embroidered lions, the gold thread interspersed with blue. A labour of love.
A bolt of longing shot through her, earthy and visceral. Her mouth parted in a silent gasp, air pleating her chest. His nearness acted like a balm, soothing her frayed nerves, easing the tension in her back. But in truth it did far more than that. A kernel of need grew at the base of her belly—slowly at first, like a newborn fire, smoking and spitting until it burst into flame…incandescent. Wild insanity ripped along her veins—a primal yearning that stretched every sinew in her body to near breaking point, vibrating and aware.
If only she could lean into him, rest her head against his chest and squeeze him tight to her. And more…
MERIEL FULLER lives in a quiet corner of rural Devon with her husband and two children. Her early career was in advertising, with a bit of creative writing on the side. Now, with a family to look after, writing has become her passion… A keen interest in literature, the arts and history—particularly the early medieval period—makes writing historical novels a pleasure.
Books by Meriel Fuller
Mills & Boon Historical Romance
Conquest Bride
The Damsel’s Defiance The Warrior’s Princess Bride Captured by the Warrior Her Battle-Scarred Knight The Knight’s Fugitive Lady Innocent’s Champion Commanded by the French Duke The Warrior’s Damsel in Distress
Visit the Author Profile page at at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.
The Warrior’s Damsel in Distress
Meriel Fuller
To J. Now we are 50! xx
Contents
The Welsh Marches—January 1322
‘The day grows chill, my lady.’ Eva eyed the tall, slim woman at her side. ‘Shall we take the children inside now?’
With the sun sinking rapidly, she had climbed with Katherine up the gentle hill from the castle, watching her friend’s three young children laugh and scamper up to the edge of the forest, their woollen cloaks bright, vivid, against the dull winter colours. The ground was iron-hard on this north-facing slope. Untouched by the sun all day, frost clung to the long grass, white-fringed, lacy.
Breath emerging in visible puffs of air, the two women had paused at the point where the rough open grassland met the shadow of the overhanging trees, turning back to look down at the castle below. Their elevated position emphasised the castle’s dramatic location above the town: perched on a stony outcrop above the river, the jagged curtain wall was built directly on to the