His Silken Seduction Read online

  He caught up her hands and rolled her under him so that he could settle into the cradle of her hips. “We are certainly equal, Lady Dexter. In everything, I would say, including…” he raised his hips and pushed deep into her welcoming warmth “...in our ability to satisfy each other.”

  The urge was very strong now. He began to move, timing his thrusts to the rhythm of his words. “To satisfy each other, in every...possible...way!”

  Dear Reader

  If you are new to the Aikenhead Honours, I hope that reading His Silken Seduction has left you eager to discover what went before. At the start of this story, poor Ben was lying hidden in a silk-weaver’s house in Lyons, recovering from a nasty bullet wound. But how did he come to be shot? And why had his comrades left him alone in such a place at such a dangerous time?

  The answers are to be found in the Aikenhead Honours…trilogy, three intertwined stories following the exploits of Ben and the other members of the spying ring...Dominic, the Duke of Calder, and his brothers, Lord Leo and Lord Jack Aikenhead.

  The acknowledged leader of the Honours is Dominic, the eldest of the three Aikenhead brothers. In the first story, His Cavalry Lady, Dominic is spying on the Russian Emperor during the royal visit to London in the summer of 1814. He strikes up a friendship with Captain Alexei Alexandrov, a decorated Hussar, even though they are on opposing sides. But Dominic is troubled, both by the enigmatic Russian captain and by the memory of a mysterious lady he held in his arms just a few weeks before. She disappeared like smoke, but she haunts him, first as a Frenchwoman and then as a passionate little lady from Scotland. Even with the help of Leo and Jack, Dominic cannot fully resolve the puzzles that beset him. When he is sent to Russia in the wake of the Tsar and his entourage, Dominic has to operate alone. Can he find the answers he is seeking in that alien land?

  In Dominic’s absence in Russia, Leo becomes the leader when the Honours are sent to Austria, in His Reluctant Mistress. Their mission takes them to the Congress of Vienna where most of the crowned heads of Europe are assembling to carve up the continent.

  Leo uses his reputation as a notorious rake as cover for his spying activities, aided by Jack and Ben. For once, his success with the ladies is not assured...he encounters a woman who is more than a match for him. But there is increasing unrest in France and the Duke of Wellington wants his own spies on the ground there.

  The Duke orders the Honours’ forces to be split ... Jack and Ben to France, Leo to remain alone in Austria to defend England’s interests. Discover how Leo deals with the intrigue, and how much a rake has to risk to rescue the woman he loves, in this second story.

  Jack and Ben are the most junior members of the Aikenhead Honours. Until their arrival in France, at the start of His Forbidden Liaison, they have never operated alone. They reach Lyons together, but their mission becomes urgent following Napoleon’s escape from exile in Elba. Jack, the incorrigible playboy, must assume more responsibility than he’s ever done before and go on, without Ben, to Paris and beyond.

  Jack knows that travelling alone would jeopardise his mission, but his only possible companion is a woman who is forbidden. If they brave the dangers of enemy territory together, will he be able to resist the temptation she presents? And will she consent to keep her distance, even if he does? Find out how their dilemma is resolved in the final story of the trilogy.

  Find out what came before His Silken Seduction with three tales of espionage and daring Regency romance in Joanna Maitland’s trilogy The Aikenhead Honours!

  Three gentlemen spies: bound by duty, undone by women!

  Introducing three of England’s most eligible bachelors:

  Dominic, Leo and Jack.

  Code-named Ace, King, Knave, together they are The Aikenhead Honours. A government-sponsored spying ring, they risk their lives, and hearts, to keep Regency England safe! Follow these three brothers on a dazzling journey through Europe and beyond as they serve their country and meet their brides, in often very surprising circumstances!

  Joanna Maitland was born and educated in Scotland, though she has spent most of her adult life in England or abroad. She has been a systems analyst, an accountant, a civil servant, and director of a charity. Now that her two children have left home, she and her husband have moved from Hampshire to the Welsh Marches, where she is revelling in the more rugged country and the wealth of medieval locations. When she is not writing, or climbing through ruined castles, she devotes her time to trying to tame her house and garden, both of which are determined to resist any suggestion of order. Readers are invited to visit Joanna’s Web site at

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3650-3

  His Silken Seduction

  Copyright © 2009 by Joanna Maitland

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