historical-romance

You could cut...all that

I thought I had to be alone to be free. But I am only ever truly myself when I am with you, Azhar. I know, that is such an -- an extravagant thing to say, but it is true. I have to realize that freedom means having the ability to choose. To choose to share your life, to choose to love unconditionally. The two are inseparable. There is no freedom without love and there is no love without freedom.

Look through that clump of trees. There's a hawk sitting on the weathervane at the Red Rooster Inn. I've heard that if someone you love very much passes away, they can come back in the form of a hawk, to look after you and give you comfort.

David started up the wheeled stairs to the upper floors with his sword at the ready. He expected to encounter Blackadder warriors, protecting the lady of the castle. But there were none on the stairs and none guarding the door on the first floor.Damn it. She must have escaped. He gritted his teeth as he envisioned the lady__ guards leading her through the tunnel.He was about to open the chamber door to make sure it was empty when Brian, one of his best men, came down the stairs.__aird, I checked all the chambers while ye were in the hall,_ he said.David__ jaw ached from clenching it.__here__ one door on the floor just above us that wouldn__ open with the latch,_ Brian said. __hall I break it down?__avid waved him aside and pulled the ax from his belt as he raced up the stairs.__pen it!_ he shouted and pounded on the door.He did not wait. She could be escaping through a secret door this very moment. Three hard whacks with his ax, and the door split. He kicked it until it swung open, then stepped through.At his first sight of the woman, his feet became fixed to the floor. He felt strange, and his vision was distorted, as if as if he had swallowed a magical potion that narrowed his sight. He could see nothing in the room but her.She was extraordinarily lovely, with violet eyes, pale skin, and shining black hair. But there was something about her, something beyond her beauty, that held him captive. She was young, much younger than he expected, and her features and form were delicate, in marked contrast to the violent emotion in her eyes.David knew to the depths of his soul that a brute like him should not be the man to claim this fragile flower, even while the word mine beat in his head like a drum. He had no notion of how long he stood staring at her before he became aware that she held a sword. It was longer still before he noticed the two wee lasses peeking out from behind her like frightened kittens.Anger boiled up in his chest. Every Blackadder man in the castle who could still draw breath should have been here, standing between him and their lady. Instead, she faced him alone with a sword she could barely lift with both hands.It was a brave, but ridiculous gesture.There was no defense against him.

He nodded. A curt movement of his head, and she was, for no reason at all, convinced that the man before her was not in dislike of her but simply a man who did not have words come easily to him because he__ grown up alone. She thought of him as a boy. Lonely here, with no father and no mother to hold him, only the servants for company, and Killhope as an unceasing reminder of the centuries of duty and responsibility that were his. Her heart twisted up.

Perhaps... Perhaps he could make her happy. Not with the Granville money or his social cachet, but just by being the man he was, at his core. Sometimes, when he looked deep into those blue eyes, it felt like anything was possible.

If he spoke, there was no possible outcome but another disastrous exchange of words at cross-purposes. The chances of him finding both the right words and the right inflection were, in his experience with her thus far, vanishingly small. He would either growl at her, or tell her what was in his heart.

Her beloved lunatic needed her__hether he knew it or not. Whatever it took, she was not leaving without him.

A fierce possessiveness gripped him, a need to brand her, to make her his, now and forever. And he knew it was madness.

To know, finally, what love is and not be allowed fulfilment ...

I suppose,_ continued Nate, __t__ not Bertie__ fault that he lacks the physical stature to carry a delicate young woman such as yourself a good distance. I believe he did not care to see you within the folds of my arms which were reluctant to release you, for I thought I would never see you again...

In my dictionary, romance is not maudlin, treacly sentiment. It is a curry, spiced with excitement, and humour, and a healthy dollop of cynicism.

This was the kind of kiss you remembered when you were a very old lady with a very poor memory.

She ... grabbed her bra, clasping it and shoving her arms through. "Ye harness your udders?" The man was insufferable. "For your information, it's a bra - short for brassiere, something that wasn't invented until the twentieth century.

I-I've wanted you ever since..." She untied the sash around her waist and let the dressing gown drop to the floor. God save him, she wore not a stitch of clothing. Every shred of self-control fled. His mind consumed with the tantalizing woman before him. Somehow she was even more beautiful now that he'd remembered. The candlelight flickered amber across her skin. Chestnut tresses slid over her shoulder, framing two perfectly formed breasts, tipped by rose. Sean licked his lips, those delectable rosebuds would be his second stop. In two strides, he wrapped her in his arms and crushed his body against hers. "For all that is holy, you have claimed my soul, my flesh and my mind.

I've come to seduce you." His pupils dilated as his gaze heated. She smiled. He hadn't been surprised at her presence, but he'd been very surprised at the reason. He held up a palm. "By all means.

For her, their romantic interlude atop the staircase had been a glorious, magical, enlightening introduction to pleasure. For him,it had merely been Friday evening.

I may be dead inside, but I'm more than alive enough for you." He gripped her chin and covered her mouth with his.