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A Child Claimed By Gold
Rachael Thomas
A scandal of their own makingNikolai Cunningham has kept his family history secret for seventeen years. So when photographer Emma Sanders is granted exclusive access to his childhood home, he returns to Russia to ensure it stays hidden.Though she tries to keep her eye on the story, Nikolai’s potent sexuality proves too much for Emma’s untouched body to resist! But, convinced she only wanted a scoop, Nikolai casts Emma out unaware she’s pregnant!When the consequence of their recklessness is revealed, Nikolai will legitimise his heir – with a gold wedding ring!When one night…leads to pregnancy!
A scandal of their own making
Nikolai Cunningham has kept his family history secret for seventeen years. So when photographer Emma Sanders is granted exclusive access to his childhood home, he returns to Russia to ensure it stays hidden.
Though she tries to keep her eye on the story, Nikolai’s potent sexuality proves too much for Emma’s untouched body to resist! But, convinced she only wanted a scoop, Nikolai casts Emma out, unaware she’s pregnant!
When the consequence of their recklessness is revealed, Nikolai will legitimize his heir—with a gold wedding ring!
‘I wouldn’t lie to you, Nikolai,’ Emma said defensively, and looked away from his dark eyes and feigned interest in the tall buildings clearly visible above the newly green trees of the park.
Maybe if she took a few shots from the carriage he’d see she was as unaffected by him as he appeared to be by her.
The lens of the camera clicked, but she had no idea what she’d taken. Concentration was impossible with his dominating presence opposite her and the looming discussion of their baby. She turned the camera off and looked at him, to see he’d been watching every move she’d made.
‘We need to talk about our predicament.’
Still his dark eyes watched her, assessing her reaction to his words.
‘Predicament?’ she snapped, giving him her full attention. ‘Is that what this baby is to you? A predicament? Something else you have to deal with? Just what do you suggest, Nikolai?’
‘It is a predicament.’
He said it calmly. Far too calmly. And it unnerved her. What was coming next?
‘One I never wanted, but one which now means we must get married.’
One Night With Consequences
When one night…leads to pregnancy!
When succumbing to a night of unbridled desire it’s impossible to think past the morning after!
But, with the sheets barely settled, that little blue line appears on the pregnancy test and it doesn’t take long to realise that one night of white-hot passion has turned into a lifetime of consequences!
Only one question remains:
How do you tell a man you’ve just met that you’re about to share more than just his bed?
Find out in:
Her Nine Month Confession by Kim Lawrence
An Heir Fit for a King by Abby Green
Larenzo’s Christmas Baby by Kate Hewitt
Illicit Night with the Greek by Susanna Carr
A Vow to Secure His Legacy by Annie West
Bound to the Tuscan Billionaire by Susan Stephens
The Secret that Shocked De Santis by Natalie Anderson
The Shock Cassano Baby by Andie Brock
An Heir to Make A Marriage by Abby Green
The Greek’s Nine-Month Redemption by Maisey Yates
Crowned for the Prince’s Heir by Sharon Kendrick
The Sheikh’s Baby Scandal by Carol Marinelli
A Ring for Vincenzo’s Heir by Jennie Lucas
Claiming His Christmas Consequence by Michelle Smart
The Guardian’s Virgin Ward by Caitlin Crews
Look for more One Night With Consequences coming soon!
A Child Claimed by Gold
Rachael Thomas
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
RACHAEL THOMAS has always loved reading romance, and is thrilled to be a Mills & Boon author. She lives and works on a farm in Wales—a far cry from the glamour of a Mills & Boon Modern Romance story—but that makes slipping into her characters’ worlds all the more appealing. When she’s not writing, or working on the farm, she enjoys photography and visiting historical castles and grand houses. Visit her at rachaelthomas.co.uk (http://www.rachaelthomas.co.uk).
Books by Rachael Thomas
Mills & Boon Modern Romance
The Sheikh’s Last Mistress
New Year at the Boss’s Bidding
From One Night to Wife
Craving Her Enemy’s Touch
Claimed by the Sheikh
A Deal Before the Altar
Brides for Billionaires
Married for the Italian’s Heir
The Billionaire’s Legacy
To Blackmail a Di Sione
Visit the Author Profile page at
millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
Contents
Cover (#uc9341011-0474-5ad7-969b-c049dc725b06)
Back Cover Text (#u3041e9d3-eb6d-5f16-8084-4cfd2b60d9f1)
Introduction (#u961d112f-7d12-5d78-a9e5-0a3d4d28e146)
One Night With Consequences (#u63f1d920-5bf8-5cd1-8f0a-2588ff230ddd)
Title Page (#u582d28b4-122c-5a85-920e-8c7f41f1e6d4)
About the Author (#u3f90e38f-5be3-5251-a93a-75581963cca3)
CHAPTER ONE (#u5e189e5b-f9cb-5271-99aa-d7a370016425)
CHAPTER TWO (#uf40547b4-0fa0-57f8-95d0-269c5d7abeda)
CHAPTER THREE (#u2c05764d-5a01-5ce3-822d-c9ec184700fe)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u79ab439a-d429-5404-a718-752ac25537db)
NIKOLAI CUNNINGHAM BRACED himself against the icy-cold winds of the homeland he’d turned his back on as he waited for Emma Sanders to arrive on the next train. The heavy grey sky held the promise of more snow and matched his anger that a complete stranger had interfered in his life, bringing him back to Russia and a family he’d long ago disowned. He and his mother had left Vladimir for New York when he was ten years old and the shadow of the events preceding that day still clung to them, threatening to unravel everything.
The train rumbled into the station and he prepared himself for what he was certain would be the worst few days imaginable. His life was in New York, and returning to Vladimir had never been part of his plans. That was until his estranged grandmother had crept from the past, offering her family story to World in Photographs.
He’d also been contacted, no doubt because his grandmother had very graciously provided the name he now lived under, but he’d refused. At least, until he’d learnt his grandmother was more than ready to talk and expose everything he and his mother had fled from, probably putting the blame firmly at his mother’s feet. In a bid to protect his mother from their painful past, and prevent his name being linked to the family name of Petrushov once more, he’d had no option but to return.
He stood back and watched the travellers climbing down from the train, scanning them quickly, trying to remember the image he’d seen of Miss Sanders on the Internet and match it to one of the disembarking passengers. Then he saw her, wrapped up against the cold in true Russian style, only her face visible between the faux fur hat and scarf. She looked about her nervously, clutching the handle of her small case in a gloved hand. She could have been Russian, she blended in so well, but her apprehension and uncertainty singled her out as a stranger to Vladimir.
Accepting he had to do this and face whatever came from it for his mother’s sake, he pulled his coat collar tighter against the cold and walked towards her. She looked at him and he held her gaze as he strode along the platform, the determination to get this over with as fast as possible dominating all other thought.
‘Miss Sanders.’ He stopped in front of her, registering her height, which almost matched his, something he found strangely pleasing.
‘Mr Petrushov?’ Her voice was as clear and crisp as a frosty morning, but by contrast her eyes were a mossy green, reminding him of the depths of Russian forests in summer. Why was he noticing such details? She distracted him, knocked him off course, and only now he registered how she’d addressed him.
Nikolai’s anger intensified. Beautiful or not, Miss Sanders obviously hadn’t done her research well. It had been seventeen years since he’d abandoned the name Petrushov in favour of his stepfather’s name, Cunningham.
‘Nikolai Cunningham,’ he corrected then, before any questions could be asked, continued, ‘I trust you enjoyed your train journey from Moscow?’
‘Sorry—and yes, I did, Mr Cunningham.’ He saw her dark brows furrow in confusion, but refused to elaborate on why he, a Russian-born man, had a distinctly American surname. That was none of her business and he had every intention it would stay that way.
He looked down at the young woman, wrapped up against the cruel winds of winter, and although her alluring green eyes were a distraction he was unable to put aside his anger towards her. ‘And you must be Miss Sanders from World in Photographs?’ He added silently to himself, the woman who wants to rip open my mother’s past and delve into my childhood, no doubt in order to further her career.
‘Please, call me Emma,’ she said and held out her gloved hand to him. He didn’t take it but looked into the lustrous green of her eyes and wondered what colour her hair was beneath the fur of her hat. Her photo on the Internet hadn’t done her any justice: she was stunning.
Irritation mingled with the anger. This was the last woman he wanted to stir his interests. Just being here in Vladimir meant she had the power to cause real hurt to his mother and he strongly suspected she didn’t know yet just how much. It was up to him to ensure she never realised just how dramatic the true story of his family was.
He fully intended that she would be distracted by the undeniable beauty of a Russian winter and had already organised plenty of photo opportunities to keep her from the real story. A story that would destroy his mother and upend his world if it got out. All he had to do was prevent her meeting with the grandmother he hadn’t seen since he was ten but he didn’t yet know how to achieve that.
‘We should get out of the wind,’ he said firmly, trying to ignore the way the colour of her eyes reminded him of his childhood summers here in Vladimir. It was a place he hadn’t thought of for a long time and certainly didn’t want to think of now. ‘I took the liberty of booking into the same hotel; that way, I can be of as much help to you as possible.’
His motives were much less honourable. All he intended to do was ensure she saw only what he wanted her to see and certainly not what he feared his grandmother wanted to share with her—a family torn apart by deceit.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled up at him and satisfaction made him return the smile. He was already winning her round. Just a few more days of this nonsense and he could head back to New York and put all this behind him. ‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’
‘The hotel has a very comfortable lounge where I suggest we go over just what you need for your article.’
She believed he was being thoughtful. What would she say if she knew he was determined to hide all he could, despite his grandmother’s attempt to ruin the family name? That was another matter he had to deal with and one thing was for certain: Miss Emma Sanders wouldn’t be a witness to that particular showdown.
‘That would be a good idea.’ She laughed softly and, although the scarf around her face hid her lips and she drew her shoulders up against the cold, from the way her eyes sparkled he could imagine she was smiling at him. The image stirred sensations which contrasted wildly with the anger and irritation he’d been harbouring since discovering that his grandmother had agreed to be interviewed for the magazine.
