Taken by the Rakish Marquess:

Taken by the Rakish Marquess A STEAMY HISTORICAL REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL MAYBEL BARDOT Contents Before You Start Reading… Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Epilogue Extended Epilogue Preview: A Bluestocking for the Duke Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Also by Maybel Bardot About the Author Before You Start Reading… Did you know that there’s a special place where you can chat with me and with thousands of like-minded bookworms all over the globe?! Join Cobalt Fairy’s facebook group of voracious readers and I guarantee you, you’d wish you had joined us sooner! Let’s connect, right NOW! Just click on the image above! ⇧ About the Book “This is only a small taste of all the ways I want to love you.” Living with her relatives for the past year, Lady Katherine is haunted by her family’s dark past. Target to the ton’s malicious gossip and men who think of her as a challenging conquest, she never expects to have a secret admirer… Spending each day like it’s his last, there is nothing stopping Marquess Jacob from getting what he wants. Knowing his way around women quite well, everything changes when an alluring lady with a complicated past rejects him. Kissing at a masquerade ball, Kitty knows better than to fall for a rake. But as their attraction keeps pulling them closer, Jacob vows to make her his. Until their desires prove to have deadly consequences… Chapter One Lady Katherine Arnold worked hard to compose her face as the carriage stopped outside Elkins House, the London residence of the Earl and Countess Templeton, or Aunt Esther and Uncle Richard as she knew them. In the glass of the carriage’s window, Kitty could see the faint reflection of her dark-haired, dark-eyed face, a little pale perhaps but still pleasing. She was thinner than she had once been, but this only made her deep-brown eyes seem larger and more striking above her sculpted cheekbones. She wished away the desperation lurking at the edges of her forced smile. Outside the entrance to the luxurious Belgravia mansion, the housekeeper, butler, and several other servants were waiting to welcome the family. Lady Templeton stepped nimbly out of the carriage first, followed by Kitty. Both ladies then paused beside the carriage door as Lord Templeton eased himself to the edge of his seat and slowly disembarked with the aid of a stick. “No, no, don’t fuss,” he grumbled cheerfully as two young footmen rushed forward in case he should require some assistance. “I can get into the house on my own two legs, thank you. Kitty’s arm is all the support I want.” Lord Templeton’s grey-haired face was warm as he looked to her, and Kitty eagerly fell in beside him, offering her arm. It was the least she could do in the circumstances. They had both been so very kind. “Let’s all get inside and have some tea, shall we?” suggested her uncle without further ado, leaving his wife to give instructions to the servants on the various cases strapped to this coach or in the slower carriage that would follow that evening. In the drawing room, Kitty settled her uncle into a big comfortable chair by the fireplace and tucked a shawl around his knees before adjusting a small table to be within easier reach. When the tea arrived, she passed him his cup with one sugar and no milk, just as he liked it these days. “Is there anything else I can get for you, Uncle Richard?” she asked anxiously, looking around the room. “Would you like your book and your glasses?” “Not at all, my dear,” he replied, patting her hand and gesturing towards the sofa. “I’m too well looked-after as it is. I’m not sure it’s good for me to be waited on hand and foot the way you do. You must take your own tea.” “What about you, Aunt Esther?” Kitty turned to face her aunt coming through the door. “Is there anything I can do for you?” Lady Templeton settled herself on the sofa with a satisfied sigh and shook her head. “Come and sit beside me, my dear, and rest yourself. We’ve all had a long journey from Fernside today, including you. There is no need to be running around after us this afternoon.” “I like to be useful,” Kitty protested but let herself be drawn down beside her aunt. “Do you know what would make me happy, Kitty?” Esther asked. “No, but if you tell me, I’ll…” “I’d love for us to take a look through the calendar together and talk about our plans for the season, who we’ll be meeting, and what you’ll be wearing, of course. With my daughter married this year, my pleasure in social events will be through you and Percy. I do like to see the young people enjoying themselves as you must know.” “Of course, Aunt Esther,” Kitty said, hoping that her face didn’t show how unhappy this idea made her feel. “You must have missed Diana a great deal while she was away in Scotland.” “Not with you at home to keep me company, Kitty dear,” her aunt assured her. “I feel like I have two daughters now instead of one, and no day could be dull with a son like Percy… Now, I’ll just ring for Mrs. Simpson, and we can get any invitations that were sent here rather than to Fernside. Then we can make our plans.” “Very good,” said Kitty with resignation, sipping her tea to hide her face. * * * “Hello, hello, hello…” said a laughing voice suddenly. “Why so serious, cousin?” Kitty looked up, startled, and then smiled genuinely to see her cousin Percy had entered the room and