Running From the Storm

Lee Wilkinson

Литагент HarperCollins EUR

Playing with fire…Zander Devereux wants Caris from the moment the prim junior lawyer crosses swords with him in her office! Arrogant, powerful, and not used to hearing the word ‘no’, Zander is amused by her sparky defiance. He relishes a challenge and knows it will make the rewards all the sweeter…But in the midst of their tempestuous affair she flees! Zander’s sinful seduction is a bittersweet temptation, yet Caris knows his red-hot passion will turn to ice-cold hate when he discovers her deepest secret…

She was gazing drowsily into the fire when Zander’s hand softly stroked her cheek.

She smiled dreamily and turned her face up to his, giving a sigh of pleasure as his mouth brushed hers.

Her lips parted beneath the light pressure of his, and when he deepened the kiss her arms went around his neck. Her whole body melting, she kissed him back.

Then, suddenly scared by her own reaction to that kiss, she drew back, demanded raggedly, ‘Why did you do that? You had no right to kiss me. Don’t ever do it again. I hated it!’

As soon as the words were out she knew she’d made a bad mistake.

She sat still as any statue as his hands moved to cup her chin and tilt her head back, so that she found herself looking up into his handsome face, intriguingly inverted.

‘So tell me,’ he said silkily, ‘if my kiss is such anathema to you, why did you kiss me back?’

About the Author

LEE WILKINSON lives with her husband in a three-hundred-year-old stone cottage in a Derbyshire village, which most winters gets cut off by snow. They both enjoy travelling, and recently, joining forces with their daughter and son-in-law, spent a year going round the world ‘on a shoestring’ while their son looked after Kelly, their much loved German shepherd dog. Her hobbies are reading and gardening, and holding impromptu barbecues for her long-suffering family and friends.

Recent titles by the same author:

CLAIMING HIS WEDDING NIGHT

CAPTIVE IN THE MILLIONAIRE’S CASTLE THE BOSS’S FORBIDDEN SECRETARY MISTRESS AGAINST HER WILL

Did you know these are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

Running from the Storm

Lee Wilkinson

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Ned

CHAPTER ONE

THE twelfth-century, lichen-covered church was filled with the fragrance of roses and lilies and the strains of Mendelssohn’s traditional and well-loved Here Comes The Bride.

Bright sunshine slanted through the stained-glass windows and, as the trees in the churchyard moved in the breeze, made changing kaleidoscope patterns across the backs of the polished pews and the grey stone slabs of the floor.

Nothing seemed quite real as Caris walked slowly up the aisle on the arm of her Uncle David. Her father, still angry with her, had refused to give her away.

A man, presumably the best man, was waiting by the chancel steps. He had his back to her and she couldn’t see his face.

There was no sign of her groom.

On both sides of the aisle the congregation turned their heads to look and smile at her as she passed in a froth of white tulle that, even then, she knew was all wrong for her.

She did her best to smile back, but her face felt set and stiff, as though it was made from wax, and she couldn’t.

As she reached the chancel steps she was aware that her bridegroom had joined her and was standing by her side. She didn’t look at him.

The elderly priest stepped forward, gathered the congregation’s attention with a glance and began with the traditional words, ‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together …’

While the wedding service solemnly progressed, Caris stared straight ahead and asked herself what she was doing here.

When they reached the point where she and her bridegroom needed to make their vows and she still refused to look at him, he took her upper arms and turned her to face him.

His green eyes were cool, commanding; his blond, well-sh