One Night of Sin by Gaelen Foley Book 6 of the Knight Miscellany Series

“Go away, you fiend!”“No,” he panted cheerfully, gaining on her. Still dressed for the ballroom, he splashed through puddles as he gave chase, determined at least to learn her name.With a small yowl of pure feminine frustration, she rushed over to the nearest storefront, a haberdasher’s, and picked up the only weapon she could find. Snatching the long-handled candle-snuffer off the wall, she whipped around and swung it at him. “Stay back!”

“Oh-ho!” he laughed as he approached slowly. I like this girl. “What are you going to do with that thing? Put my lights out?”

“Keep your distance or I’ll brain you! I’ll do it, I will!”

He disobeyed, of course. “Easy, kitten–”

“Don’t you ‘kitten’ me!” Whoosh! The metal bar sang through the air in her grasp. Her dark tresses flew; the dirt-streaked skirts swirled around her trim figure as she swung her weapon with admirable ferocity straight at Alec’s head.

He ducked, his fencer’s reflexes yanking him under the arc, but the nearness of her miss left him astonished. Women had been threatening to kill him for years, but none had actually tried it before. “Jesus!” he exclaimed, then started laughing. He couldn’t help it.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me, you coxcomb! A hero’s blood flows through these veins, I’ll have you know!” she cried in wrath, trying—rather adorably, Alec thought—to scare him away. “My father fought beside Nelson at Trafalgar!”

He held up his hands. “I surrender, don’t hurt me!”
“Ugh, you–” Another massive crash of thunder cut off her words and sent her darting under a nearby awning of one of the shops that lined the darkened street.Alec followed eagerly, but when he joined her, she was already in position to defend the small rectangle of dry territory she had claimed. With her weapon at the ready, she begrudgingly allowed him to step under the cover of the striped tin awning.

The shadows were deeper in their shelter. He smiled wickedly at her as he approached.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?”

The warm rain drummed upon the awning’s painted tin, dampening the sound and casting an air of intimacy over their taut standoff. The girl backed up a step uneasily, adjusting her grip, more than willing, it seemed, to try again to break his head if he made one false move.

Alec was on his guard and half smitten—but that meant nothing. He was known to fall in love six or seven times a day. Beautiful eyes, he thought as he studied her by the distant streetlamp’s glow through a haze of rain. Big stormy eyes full of fight and spirit, their violet hue a rare and fascinating color. Her thick, dark hair was slicked back with the rain, accenting the delicate sculpture of her face. Raindrops starred her lashes and turned her plump lips to dewy roses. Dirty little stray, he thought. Ravishing.

And he wanted her.