Copyright © 2016 Johanna Lindsey
Author photograph © Alex Photography
Cover photo © Richard Jenkins
The right of Johanna Lindsey to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by arrangement with Gallery Books,
An imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
First published in this Ebook edition in 2016
by HEADLINE ETERNAL
An imprint of HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN 978 1 4722 3381 3
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Author
Praise for Johanna Lindsey
By Johanna Lindsey
About the Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Epilogue
Find out more about Headline Eternal
About the Author
Johanna Lindsey is world renowned for her ‘mastery of historical romance’ (Entertainment Weekly), with more than sixty million copies of her novels sold. She is the author of over fifty previous bestselling novels, many of which reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Johanna lives in New Hampshire with her family.
Praise for Johanna Lindsey’s legendary novels:
‘If readers need to remember why they are Lindsey fans, she delivers every reason in this spin-off of One Heart To Win. She incorporates her signature captive/captor plotline with sassy dialogue, plenty of verbal sparring, lots of heat and a bit of humor, all in perfect proportions’ Romantic Times
‘Many wonderful heroes have been created by Johanna Lindsey, and those who live in the Old West are always a favorite. Wildfire In His Arms has one surprise after another, and the twists are inventively riveting’ Single Titles
‘You could feel the sexual attraction between these two . . . Lindsey allowed their relationship to develop slowly, increasing the tension and making unexpected kisses sizzle . . . If you are looking for strong characters and a slow burning romance wrapped in suspense and surrounded by tumbleweeds, look no further than Wildfire In His Arms’ Caffeinated Book Reviewer
‘There is action, romance and suspense which make for a perfect escape from reality . . . I enjoyed this book so much’ My Nook, Books And More
‘This is a wonderful historical western romance with some twists that make this story totally unique. Ms Lindsey is known for her awesome historical novels . . . I was immediately hooked and stayed that way until the end of this story. I absolutely loved the characters, the settings and the interactions . . . Fantastic story from beginning to end that has Ms Lindsey’s storytelling talent shining’ Night Owl Romance
‘Johanna Lindsey still has a knack of creating fun and unforgettable characters who remain in a reader’s thoughts and heart years after finishing a book . . . Wildfire In His Arms is a walk in time, reminding me of the many reasons I adore Johanna Lindsey’s brand of storytelling and her masterful ability to create memorable characters’ Romance Junkies
‘One thing is for sure: Johanna Lindsey has a remarkable ability to pen characters who are at once dashing, dangerous, protective, intriguing, loving, admirable, eccentric, unusual, strong, determined and so much more, all at the same time!’ Fallen Angel Reviews
By Johanna Lindsey
Stormy Persuasion
One Heart to Win
Let Love Find You
When Passion Rules
That Perfect Someone
A Rogue of My Own
No Choice but Seduction
The Devil Who Tamed Her
Captive of My Desires
Marriage Most Scandalous
A Loving Scoundrel
Wildfire In His Arms
Make Me Love You
About the Book
MAKE ME LOVE YOU
One duel could be considered a matter of honour, but three duels are attempted murder. With enlightened society outraged at such reckless behaviour among young noblemen, the Prince Regent orders Robert Whitworth, the earl of Tamdon’s heir, and Lord Dominic Wolfe to end their dispute by allying their families through marriage. Whichever party refuses to comply will forfeit his lands and title.
Whitworth relishes the idea of sending his younger sister Brooke to his enemy’s remote estate. He knows the Wolf will reject her as a bride, thereby losing his wealth and status. The Wolf, however, is determined to scare away the Whitworth chit. With duelling no longer an available means of destroying the man he abhors, he will be satisfied to see him lose his lands and title. But he hadn’t expected his enemy’s sister to be so resourceful or resilient.
Brooke Whitworth has been dreaming of her first Season in London because she intends to win a husband who will take her far away from her unloving family. Instead, she is being sent to the Yorkshire moors to wed a mysterious nobleman whose family is cursed and who has thrice tried to kill her brother. But there’s no room in her heart for fear; this man is her means of escape. She will make him love her…
Chapter One
“THIS IS INTOLERABLE. HOW dare that disso
lute joke of a royal heir give the Whitworths an ultimatum!”
Aging badly, twenty-five years his wife’s senior, Thomas Whitworth still had a face that defied the passage of time. Though his hair had turned pure white, he had no wrinkles to speak of. He was still a handsome, if old, man, riddled with pain in most of his joints. But he had the constitution and stubbornness to appear otherwise, could stand hale and hearty in the presence of others even if it took every ounce of his will to do so. Pride demanded it and he was a very prideful man.
“He is Regent now, officially sworn. England and her subjects are in his hands,” Harriet Whitworth said, wringing her own hands. “And not so loud, Thomas, please. His emissary isn’t out the front door yet.”
But with the emissary gone from the room, Thomas collapsed on the sofa. “D’you think I care if he hears me?” Thomas snarled at his wife. “He’s lucky I’m not adding my boot to his arse to help him out the damned door.”
Harriet hurried over to the parlor door and closed it, just in case, before she turned back to her husband and whispered, “Even so, we don’t want our opinions of the Prince Regent carried straight to his ear.”
She had been young when she married Thomas, Earl of Tamdon, a prime catch in her day and a beauty still at the age of forty-three with her blond hair and crystal blue eyes. She had thought she could love this husband her parents had picked for her, but he did nothing to encourage that emotion from her and so it never came to pass. Thomas was a hard-tempered man. But she had learned how to live with him without becoming subject to his rants and rages, and never, ever to cause them.
She’d had to become as hard and callous as he was and didn’t think she would ever forgive him for turning her into a copy of himself. But at least he didn’t scoff at her opinions, even heeded her suggestions occasionally. That said a lot for a man such as Thomas, so maybe he did care for her a little even if he never showed it otherwise. Not that she wanted affection from him anymore. Frankly, she wished he would just die already so she could be herself again—if there was even anything of herself left. But Thomas Whitworth was too stubborn to even do that in a timely manner.
She brought him a lap robe and tried to tuck it around his legs, but he pushed her hands aside to do it himself. Summer was upon them and yet he easily took chill while others sweated. He hated his infirmities and aching joints. Most of his rages these days were directed inwardly because he was no longer the robust man of old. But his current rage was solely directed at the Prince Regent.
“What outrageous audacity!” Thomas said. “D’you think he isn’t aware of what the entire nation thinks of him? He’s a hedonist with no interest in politics, only the pleasures his royal blood affords him. This is just a ploy to confiscate our wealth because, as usual, he’s utterly in debt from his extravagances and Parliament won’t grant him relief.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” Harriet disagreed. “One duel could be ignored, despite that old ban on them that the emissary was keen to mention. Two duels would raise eyebrows but could still be ignored since no one has died yet. But the last duel Robert had with that northern wolf was too public and has become a scandal because of it. This is our son’s fault. He could have declined.”
“And be branded a coward? Of course he couldn’t decline. At least he nearly killed Dominic Wolfe this time. The bastard may still die of his wound and we can be done with this vicious vendetta of his and the Regent’s bold ploy to take advantage of it.”
“You think Prince George is bluffing? That he will do nothing if we don’t form this alliance with Lord Wolfe that he’s demanding? I fear he isn’t. One duel is for honor, but three is simply attempted murder, and there have been far too many public outcries against dueling from sectors that will fully support the Regent in this case. I say we end it this way, or d’you want to see our son forced to risk his life yet again? Need I remind you that he’s already been wounded himself in those duels?”
“I don’t need reminding of that, Wife. But the Prince Regent is as insane as his father is if he thinks a marriage between our families will end Dominic’s vendetta. The wolf is as likely to murder your daughter as he is to take her to his bed, if we give her to him.”
Harriet pursed her lips. It infuriated her that her husband never referred to his daughter as his, only as hers. But it had been that way since the day Brooke was born. Thomas had taken one look at the beautiful daughter she’d given him and turned away with a snarl. Sons he’d wanted and lots of them, not mewling females. But Harriet had only given him two children, not by choice. Five other pregnancies hadn’t come to term.
But now she said what she knew he would want to hear and just as callously as he would state it. “Better her than Robert. Robert is your heir. Brooke is just another mouth to feed in this house.”
The Whitworth heir chose that moment to open the parlor doors and join them. He had obviously heard the last remarks. In a bored tone, Robert said, “Send her immediately. The wolf won’t accept her. He’ll be the one to lose his lands and title while we comply with the Regent’s underhanded ‘suggestion’ of an alliance.”
Harriet expected no less from her son, who bore no love for his sister. No taller than his father at five feet ten inches and every bit as handsome and strapping as Thomas had once been, Robert had his faults, but she loved him in spite of them.
Both of her children took after Thomas with his once black hair and pale green eyes. Brooke was even taller than Harriet by several inches. But Robert was just as much a hedonist as the Prince Regent was and at twenty-three had already racked up quite a few mistresses at home in Leicestershire and in London. But then he could be charming—when he wanted something. Otherwise he was much like his father, disdainful of peers and servants alike.
Thomas was too furious over the entire matter to let Robert shrug it off with his usual disregard. “If you’ve gotten yourself into another situation like the one we had to deal with last year. . . . If you’ve broken your word—”
“I haven’t,” Robert was quick to cut in.
“You called these duels trifling, but this man’s determination to gain satisfaction smacks of a dispute that is anything but trifling! What the devil did you do to him?”
“Nothing. I’ve run into him only a few times in London. Whatever his real reason is for wanting me dead, he’s not fessing up to it. I imagine it’s jealousy or some slight I dealt him that is so ridiculous he’s ashamed to admit it.”
“Then you had good reason to decline those duels.”
“D’you think I didn’t try? He called me a liar! I couldn’t very well ignore that, now could I?”
Harriet knew her son. He was inclined to be less than candid when the truth did not serve him well. But Thomas believed him. Of course he did. He would not want to punish his precious son.
Less volatile now and more to the matter at hand, Thomas demanded, “You knew this outrageous demand was coming?”
“I had warning George might try this, yes, which is why I’ve returned from London. He heeds foolish advice from his sycophant cronies who bemoan that his purse strings have been tied yet again. He is hoping we will ignore his ridiculous assertion that this silly alliance will result in a peaceful end to the violence, so he can carry through with his threat. I assume you will not please him in that regard?”
“Then you don’t think he’s bluffing either?”
“No, unfortunately. Napoléon is killing enough Englishmen on the Continent. The Regent’s counselors do not believe it is good for the nation’s morale for the nobility to be killing each other at home, and the Prince is making the rounds to ensure that exact sentiment is shared by one and all. He’ll have all the support he needs to wield the royal hammer against us if we defy him.”
Thomas sighed and glanced at his wife. “Where is the chit? I suppose she will have to be told she is to marry.”
Chapter Two
NOW THAT THEY WOULD be looking for her, Brooke quickly abandoned her crouching positio
n below the open parlor window and ran straight for the stable. She’d heard it all, even what the emissary had said to her parents. She had been on the way to the stable when the man arrived in his fancy coach, and she’d been too curious not to stay and find out why he was there. Her parents rarely had visitors. They didn’t socialize at home, only when they went to London, so they had few friends in the shire. And they never told her anything, which was why eavesdropping had become a habit.
They would look for in her room first, then the conservatory, then the stable, her three haunts. She didn’t want to be found yet so she didn’t stop to check on the stallion’s sprained right foreleg or greet the new foal. She simply urged the stableboy to hurry with her mount, Rebel. She’d named her horse that because it was what she was, at heart anyway. She despised most everything about her life and wanted to change it. Of course she was powerless to change anything and had finally accepted that.
She didn’t wait for the groom, who was off having his lunch. It wasn’t mandatory that he accompany her since she was only allowed to ride on Whitworth land. That land was extensive, though. Only a quarter of it was devoted to the large sheep farm that had made the Whitworths rich in the wool trade for decades. Not that anyone in her family had ever sheared sheep! But the rest of the land was open or wooded, allowing for a good gallop, which is what she needed today. She wanted ample time to digest everything she’d just overheard before her parents shared the “news” with her.
Her immediate reaction was extreme disappointment that Robert’s dueling was going to cost her the Season in London that she’d been promised. The planning of that trip had brought her and her mother together. Brooke hadn’t seen that much of her mother in years. If Brooke didn’t know better, she might even have thought Harriet had been excited about it.
Brooke would have been packed and ready to leave for London soon. She already had the trunks and the new wardrobe to go in them. Harriet had been giving her a Season in London not because Harriet wanted to or thought it would please Brooke, but because it was what society expected of her parents, and Harriet always did what was expected of her. Brooke had never looked forward to anything as much as she had that promised trip. So much for promises.