Flaming June Page 23

  Thinking it would be a good moment to steal a cuddle with her godson, Isabella hurried off to the wicker basket in a quieter corner of the orchard, in the shade of an apple tree. Too late. She gave a little huff of disappointment, looking around to find who had gotten there first. Her eyes discovered Henry, sitting in the shade, his little namesake in his arms. That Henry and Gabriel’s friendship had grown over the years was something that had become a strength for both men. They each had their demons, things that set them apart from the world and made them feel different, outsiders. Together, however, they had found a bond, a friendship that was deep and respectful, and made them both stronger.

  Isabella sighed, her heart turning to mush as she looked at Henry cradling the baby, the child so tiny against his massive frame. Their own son, Gabe, leaned over his shoulder and Isabella could not keep the smile from her lips. There could be no one more contented in the whole of England than she. Isabella returned to retrieve the plate of cakes and hurried across the orchard to join the idyllic scene.

  “When will he be old enough to play with me, papa?” Gabe demanded, the frustration in his voice clear.

  “Soon enough,” Henry replied, his voice amused. “Don’t be impatient. You have lots of other friends to play with.”

  Gabe folded his arms, looking a little mutinous. “I don’t like Hope.” He kicked one boot in the dirt, scuffing the already worn toe further and glowering across the orchard. “She’s so bossy.”

  Henry looked up, meeting Isabella’s eyes as she joined them. “I’m sure that’s not true, Gabe.”

  “Is too,” the boy insisted.

  “Well, you like Leo,” Henry said, trying to mediate.

  Gabe shrugged. “He’s all right, but Eli is too loud, and he thinks Marine is pretty.” An eye roll that illustrated his feelings on this point followed the statement.

  Isabella bit her lip as Henry scowled. “Does he, indeed?”

  “Cakes!” Isabella sat herself down beside her men as Gabe snaffled two and ran away before anyone could protest.

  Isabella held out her arms to Henry. “I’ll take the baby while you eat yours.”

  Henry shook his head and popped the cake in his mouth in one go. “I can manage,” he mumbled, earning himself an impatient look.

  “It’s my turn!”

  Her stubborn husband just shook his head, grinning down at baby Henry, who gurgled and kicked. Isabella sighed and leaned into the larger version, who put his arm around her.

  An aching sort of sensation tugged at her womb and she sighed again, dewy-eyed. “Isn’t he lovely?”

  Henry nodded, giving the baby his finger to hold. He turned his head, kissing Isabella’s cheek. “Shall we have another, do you think?”

  Isabella hid a smile, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I might be persuaded,” she said, a doubtful tone to her voice she didn’t think would fool him for a moment. “But you must be very persuasive.”

  He snorted, a rather smug look in his eyes that told her just how much resistance he expected to encounter. They looked up as Jack called to them and Isabella waved.

  “Hello mama! Look papa, look at me!”

  They both laughed as their youngest daughter grinned at them, perched as she was upon Jack’s shoulders. To Isabella’s delight, their little girl, unlike Gabe, favoured Henry. Thick dark curls fell to her shoulders and she had extraordinarily coloured eyes that were always full of laughter. They were almost a golden brown, the colour of autumn leaves. Henry was convinced she’d inherited his talent. Isabella though it was too early to tell yet, but the girl loved to draw. She would spend hours in Henry’s studio either watching him paint or trying to herself.

  Jack sat down with a groan as Sienna slid from his shoulders, kissed his cheek, and ran off again, stealing a cake as she went.

  “Oi, you little minx, where’s my cake?” Jack protested as the child disappeared to find her playmates, moving like quicksilver.

  “Here you go.” Isabella offered Jack the plate and he helped himself with a grin.

  “Henry!” They looked around as Gabriel approached. He was carrying a parcel under his arm. Isabella watched, hiding her amusement as Gabriel regarded the picnic blanket with misgiving. Picnics were not his favourite events, but he hid it far better now than he used to. He sat down, cross-legged, and looked a little ill at ease before his gaze fell on his son.

  “Swap.” He held out the parcel to Henry, who obliged him by handing his son over.

  “But it was my turn!” Isabella said, glaring at Henry, who shrugged, tugging the string that held the brown paper closed.

  “It’s his son.”

  She folded her arms, huffing, until he drew back the paper to reveal a painting.

  “Oh,” she said, intrigued. “That’s lovely.”

  Gabriel nodded, watching Henry’s face as he studied the picture. “I thought so. I have two more by the same artist at home.”

  “Who is it by?” Isabella asked, admiring the rather unusual portrait. A young girl stared from the painting, perhaps eight years old. She was a pretty girl, but unlike most portraits of young ladies, it was not of a sweet, fresh-faced girl in a pink dress and bonnet, charming and innocent. This girl was defiant, her arms folded, glaring from the canvas with an uncompromising look that spoke of her displeasure.

  “It’s remarkable,” Henry said, staring at it with delight in his eyes. “Honest.”

  Gabriel nodded, approving Henry’s words. “Exactly what I thought myself. Uncommercial, however. No one would commission a painting of their child looking like that.”

  Henry snorted, and Gabriel grinned at him. “Yes, well, no one outside of our circle,” he said, amending the statement correctly. Isabella thought it would be wonderful to capture little Gabe’s furious pout when he was in a miff. “The painting itself shows skill, but I would say this is a young artist. Someone learning their craft, untutored, if I’m not mistaken. A talented amateur.”

  “You have more like it?” Henry looked up at him and Gabriel nodded.

  “I got them for a song,” he said, his eyes flicking to the plate on which one lonely cake remained. “I’ve been trying to track down the artist, but as you will see, they are unsigned, and so far, I’ve been unsuccessful.”

  “You’re thinking of the gallery?” Henry asked, excitement in his eyes now.

  Gabriel nodded, swiping the cake. “It’s untidy,” he said, his tone amused as he caught Isabella’s eye.

  Isabella smiled, pride swelling her heart for everything they had achieved and would do in the future. Henry, with his business partners, Gabriel and Edward, had opened an art gallery in Bath. It had been Henry’s idea, but he’d known it would be impossible for him to undertake many aspects of the business himself. Like finding a venue.

  Gabriel, however, was a tough businessman and had taken the more practical aspects of the endeavour in hand. The gallery had opened just over a year ago. Under Gabriel’s eagle eye and with Edward’s patronage, it was fast becoming a fashionable and respected venue. Especially as it displayed Henry’s most recent works. That his name had grown and grown in the art world did not surprise Isabella. The pride she took in him and his work was unmistakable.

  Not that he’d changed. He was still reclusive, though he now found pleasure in their close-knit circle of friends and children. It was more likely that you would find him sat on the periphery of their gatherings, watching rather than joining in, but he seemed content. Everyone understood and knew him by now, and he was happy to talk to people individually. The children were different. He loved them all, and didn’t care how many ran up to him, chattering and making noise and demanding his attention. That didn’t bother him in the least. Isabella thought it was perhaps because children had no side to them, no hidden agenda or care for propriety and manners and rules. They were honest and had not yet learned to wear the masks that troubled him so.

  He rarely visited the art gallery himself, but he vetted all the works exhibited there,
and his opinion was final. His passion, however, and one that Gabriel shared, was discovering new talent, young artists. They had even spoken about sponsoring someone who would not have the opportunity to develop their skills in normal circumstances. This mystery artist was intriguing to them for just such a reason. Isabella smiled at their enthusiasm, thinking whoever it was had no idea of the luck awaiting ‘round the corner for them.

  She wondered who they were and what their life was like. Were they rich or poor, young or old, happily married with family, or alone and friendless and in dire straits? That Henry and his friends could change a life that was unhappy and wretched and bring a new artist to the attention of the world was one that caught at her heart.

  She was becoming a romantic at last. Though, what else could she be, with Henry in her life?

  He’d been her saviour, as she’d been his. There was nothing more romantic than that.

  Life was like that, if you were lucky, she realised as her eyes met Henry’s. He smiled at her, his eyes full of warmth and love and the adoration he’d never hidden from her. Not so long ago, she had been standing alone, on the edge of disaster, the world around her bleak and dark and frightening, and there he’d been. He’d saved her from the river, from the dark, from a life where she’d not known what it was to be loved, to be happy, to belong, and she’d saved him right back.

  Coming September 14, 2018 the next book in the Rogues & Gentlemen series….

  Charity and the Devil

  Rogues and Gentlemen Book 11

  Charity Kendell needs a miracle. She’s already hanging on to her family and their farm by her fingertips when her despised landlord, Viscount Devlin, sells her home from under her.

  Though she’s never met him, Charity knows Lord Devlin to be a gambler, a rogue, and a wastrel. Unprepared to allow such a man to throw her family from the only home they’ve ever known, she prepares to fight back.

  Baxter Linton, Viscount Devlin is in trouble. He owes a gambling debt to a dangerous man who doesn’t appreciate waiting for his payment. To raise the money, Dev tries to sell off land, but an unfortunate riding accident leaves him injured before the deal can complete, and with no memory of who or where he is.

  When Dev’s amnesia disappears, he discovers himself at the tender mercy of Miss Kendell, the bossy virago whose furious letters still litter his desk. In the circumstances, Dev keeps his mouth shut.

  But when the handsome Viscount falls under spirited Charity’s spell, revealing the man he truly is becomes a daunting prospect.

  Pre-Order your copy now

  Charity and the Devil

  Want more Emma?

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  About Me!

  I started this incredible journey way back in 2010 with The Key to Erebus but didn’t summon the courage to hit publish until October 2012. For anyone who’s done it, you’ll know publishing your first title is a terribly scary thing! I still get butterflies on the morning a new title releases but the terror has subsided at least. Now I just live in dread of the day my daughters are old enough to read them.

  The horror! (On both sides I suspect.)

  2017 marked the year that I made my first foray into Historical Romance and the world of the Regency Romance, and my word what a year! I was delighted by the response to this series and can’t wait to add more titles. Paranormal Romance readers need not despair however as there is much more to come there too. Writing has become an addiction and as soon as one book is over I’m hugely excited to start the next so you can expect plenty more in the future.

  As many of my works reflect I am greatly influenced by the beautiful French countryside in which I live. I’ve been here in the South West for the past twenty years though I was born and raised in England. My three gorgeous girls are all bilingual and the youngest who is only six, is showing signs of following in my footsteps after producing The Lonely Princess all by herself.

  I’m told book two is coming soon ...

  She’s keeping me on my toes, so I’d better get cracking!

  KEEP READING TO DISCOVER MY OTHER BOOKS!

  Other Works by Emma V. Leech

  (For those of you who have read The French Fae Legend series, please remember that chronologically The Heart of Arima precedes The Dark Prince)

  Rogues & Gentlemen

  The Rogue

  The Earl’s Temptation

  Scandal’s Daughter

  The Devil May Care

  Nearly Ruining Mr. Russell

  One Wicked Winter

  To Tame a Savage Heart

  Persuading Patience

  The Last Man in London

  Flaming June

  Charity and the Devil (September 14, 2018)

  The Regency Romance Mysteries

  Dying for a Duke

  A Dog in a Doublet

  The Rum and the Fox

  The French Vampire Legend

  The Key to Erebus

  The Heart of Arima

  The Fires of Tartarus

  The Boxset (The Key to Erebus, The Heart of Arima, The Fires of Tartarus)

  The Son of Darkness (2018)

  The French Fae Legend

  The Dark Prince

  The Dark Heart

  The Dark Deceit

  The Darkest Night

  Short Stories: A Dark Collection.

  Stand Alone

  The Book Lover (a paranormal novella)

  Interested in a Regency Romance with a twist ?

  Dying for a Duke

  The Regency Romance Mysteries Book 1

  Straight-laced, imperious and morally rigid, Benedict Rutland - the darkly handsome Earl of Rothay - gained his title too young. Responsible for a large family of younger siblings that his frivolous parents have brought to bankruptcy, his youth was spent clawing back the family fortunes.

  Now a man in his prime and financially secure he is betrothed to a strict, sensible and cool-headed woman who will never upset the balance of his life or disturb his emotions ...

  But then Miss Skeffington-Fox arrives.

  Brought up solely by her rake of a step-father, Benedict is scandalised by everything about the dashing Miss.

  But as family members in line for the dukedom begin to die at an alarming rate, all fingers point at Benedict, and Miss Skeffington-Fox may be the only one who can save him.

  FREE to read on Amazon Kindle Unlimited..Dying for a Duke

  Lose yourself in Emma’s paranormal world with The French Vampire Legend series….. Book 1 is a FREE download on Amazon….

  The Key to Erebus

  The French Vampire Legend Book 1

  The truth can kill you.

  Taken away as a small child, from a life where vampires, the Fae, and other mythical creatures are real and treacherous, the beautiful young witch, Jéhenne Corbeaux is totally unprepared when she returns to rural France to live with her eccentric Grandmother.

  Thrown headlong into a world she knows nothing about she seeks to learn the truth about herself, uncovering secrets more shocking than anything she could ever have imagined and finding that she is by no means powerless to protect the ones she loves.

  Despite her Gran’s dire warnings, she is inexorably drawn to the dark and terrifying figure of Corvus, an ancient vampire and master of the vast Albinus family.
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  Jéhenne is about to find her answers and discover that, not only is Corvus far more dangerous than she could ever imagine, but that he holds much more than the key to her heart …

  FREE download

  The Key to Erebus

  Check out Emma’s exciting fantasy series with hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “An enchanting fantasy with a likable heroine, romantic intrigue, and clever narrative flourishes.”

  The Dark Prince

  The French Fae Legend Book 1

  Two Fae Princes

  One Human Woman

  And a world ready to tear them all apart

  Laen Braed is Prince of the Dark fae, with a temper and reputation to match his black eyes, and a heart that despises the human race. When he is sent back through the forbidden gates between realms to retrieve an ancient fae artifact, he returns home with far more than he bargained for.

  Corin Albrecht, the most powerful Elven Prince ever born. His golden eyes are rumoured to be a gift from the gods, and destiny is calling him. With a love for the human world that runs deep, his friendship with Laen is being torn apart by his prejudices.

  Océane DeBeauvoir is an artist and bookbinder who has always relied on her lively imagination to get her through an unhappy and uneventful life. A jewelled dagger put on display at a nearby museum hits the headlines with speculation of another race, the Fae. But the discovery also inspires Océane to create an extraordinary piece of art that cannot be confined to the pages of a book.

  With two powerful men vying for her attention and their friendship stretched to the breaking point, the only question that remains...who is truly The Dark Prince.