historical-romance

Rolling onto his side, he drew her close. "Sleep, milady. I will keep you warm tonight, and safe." He pulled the blanket over her, wrapping one arm around her waist as he settled beside her on the furs. "And for one night, at least, neither of us will be alone.

Camhanach, it is a bargain as old as the world itself." He chuckled."Women want protection...men want a willing lass to warm their bed.

They sat in a sphere of quiet, save the sound of theirbreathing and the carriage__ creaks and sways. Outside,the coachman yelled his encouragement to the steedsmoving them forward. The whole carriage cocoonedthem in a peculiar world with the heaven__ wool-thickmists pressing against the windows. Her hand didn__ stop rubbing his neck, but sheshifted her leg, bending her knee to rest her leg onhis thigh. Her patten slipped off, dropping to the floorwith a thud. Cyrus__ head moved off the squab. __re youundressing for my benefit?_ His smile__ wicked curve played on her. From herstays to her drawers, everything was too tight, toomuch against her skin. Cyrus reached for her handworking his neck muscles. He brought it to his lips andkissed her knuckles thrice with slow adoration. __e don__ have to stop,_ she said, her voice breathyand quick. ____ sure you have more aches and pains._ Mid-kiss, he smiled against the back of her hand, hiswarm breath brushing her skin. __here are so many ways a man could go withthat._ Humor lightened his voice. __ut I__ sure youmean to provide tender care to my neck only._ She grinned at her unintended innuendo. This wasthe experience she craved__o flirt and tease, to kissand touch. Cyrus put his lips to her wrist, marking herwith hot kisses. A spangle of pleasure shot up her arm. __ou would break down the meanest soul withyour soft heart._ He set her hand on the blanket__scratchy folds, his thumb caressing her wrist. __igh praise, indeed, sir._ Tinseled sparks danced across her skin, not lettingher recover from those gentle touches, his lips to herarm. He stroked a lone finger on her hand that restedbetween them. __nd you don__ care one bit that I__ the son of aMidland swine farmer, do you?_ Cyrus asked the unexpected question, but his voiceconveyed confidence in her answer. Was her chivalrousbrawler showing a hidden spot? She peered athim, wanting a better view of his shadowed features. How was she to decipher this latest turn? The carriage bumped and rocked, and the outsidecandle lantern swung another shaft of light inside. Hisquicksilver stare pinned her. __iss Mayhew, have you ever wondered how afreehold farmer got to be in such a fine place?

He leaned back. __hat, may I ask, is the nature of our business?_ She inclined her head. __ust so. It came to my attention earlier today that you had canceled the seventy-fifth annual Christmas Eve ball. I would have called upon you immediately, but I__ afraid a prior engagement tied my hands until this very moment._ He tried to make sense of her words. She was apologizing for not descending upon him more promptly for a meeting he__ never in his wildest dreams anticipated?

Vintage kisses," Finlay said. "If only they could be bottled, you would have an elixir beyond price.

She was dangerous. I__ heard the rumors, that she had a history as a wild woman, that she__ been married to a gambler, maybe even been one herself, that her past was scandalous at best. But who was I to judge? My past was littered with scandal.

Just stop, for once, answering my questions with a question. And, incidentally, it's my concern because I care about you.

When I saw the women ranged in the windows, when I saw their calculating looks, assessing my purse...and other things, I realized I didn't want any of them in my bed." ..."That's why I left, princess," he rasped. "Because I realized it was you I wanted in my bed. Only you.

At first, I did not tell you any of this because...you were not supposed to mean anything to me. And later..." His voice became rough with emotion. "Later, I did not tell you because you mean so much to me.

He had a hint of a Southern drawl, as if he__ worked hard to hide it, but couldn__ quite rid himself of the last of it. It was rough and gravelly, and had the seductive warmth of sinking into strong arms in front of a cozy fire. To my surprise, a spark of that long-dead heat stirred in my belly. This wasn__ the sort of response a woman should have to finding a strange man in her barn.

A man who is born to be hanged can never be drowned.

There is no need to overreact. I__ certain there are worse things that could happen to a young lady than to be denied a voucher to Almack__._ With a small smile, Amelia Bouchard folded up the letter that had delivered the bad news and tossed it into the fireplace.

His gaze lowered to her breasts, scalding her with the intensity of his stare. "At this moment, I'm exceedingly glad I'm no longer a monk.

In America, I appear more simple that I am, because I was completely out of my element. It was my misfortune, not my fault, that I was born in a country which was not congenial to my desires. -1815, in a letter to her father William Patterson

There is always a danger that those who are less obviously and traditionally important, prominent, or powerful will be left out of the history of human experience.

The soldier in the portrait had been a respected and admired officer...The man he had become was fighting a different battle now. He had his demons, just as she had her ghosts.

If you can write, you can read. And if you can read, you can better understand the world and its different societies. Knowledge is the key to destroying prejudice and individual hate, which always culminates in violence against the innocent.

Until we find Enio, I'm closer to you than your own shadow.