Captive of Sin (34 page)

“I love you,” he groaned, burying his hands in the tumble of hair and bringing her up for a famished kiss. “How I love you.”

“Tell me again,” she said in a vibrating voice.

He did. Repeating the declaration, he pushed her back onto the silk bedcover. He kissed her breasts and belly and dragged boots, drawers, and stockings off until she lay before him bare, open and ready.

Soon he was naked too. He surged above her. No more
preliminaries. She didn’t mind. She craved this joining as much as he.

He thrust hard, as if proclaiming her his kingdom.

Then he lifted his head and stared at her with such reverence, her heart cartwheeled. She drew him down for a deeply passionate kiss. Even as her tongue pushed into his mouth, his body moved in hers.

The rhythm, his weight, his spicy scent, the heat of his skin, all were familiar. All were utterly new.

As they spiraled into ecstasy, her soul expanded, took flight. The experience was unlike anything before, for all their desperate passion in St. Helier. It was as if he flung open every gateway and invited her in. And she entered victorious to blaring trumpets and fluttering banners.

The triumphal music reached a dazzling climax. She arched and cried out as her world erupted into blinding light. Bright angels chorused around her, repeating one phrase over and over in harmonies that made her skin sing.

I love you, Gideon. I love you, Gideon.

She quivered with wild delight, lost in the brilliance. She knew Gideon was with her. He’d be with her always.

She opened her eyes to find him raised on his arms above her, watching her intently. His black gaze glittered in unmistakable possession as he looked down at her.

“I’ve never…” Her voice trailed away.

He looked like a man who had conquered the world. He looked like a man who had fallen in love deeply and irrevocably.

“I know.”

She raised one shaking hand to his cheek. His gaze was intent and told her he, like she, had been reborn in fire.

She’d never seen his eyes so clear, so unguarded, so full of love. Her heart overflowed with a happiness more precious because she’d believed it eternally out of reach.

“No shadows,” she whispered, at last recognizing the difference in his face.

“No shadows,” he echoed. He bent his head to kiss her, silent promise of a shining future.

I
always love writing the acknowledgments page, where I get to thank everyone who helped me along the way with a book.

As always, my deepest gratitude goes to everyone at Avon Books in New York. I’d particularly like to thank May Chen, my fabulous editor, the brilliant art department, and Pam Spengler-Jaffee and her amazing team in marketing. I’d also like to thank the great people at Avon Australia, especially Linda Funnell, Shona Martyn, Cassie Marsden, Christine Farmer, and Jordan Weaver.

Special thanks to my wonderful agent, Nancy Yost. Nancy, I love working with you!

This book involved some tricky research questions. I’d particularly like to thank Brenda Ross from the Société Jersiaise’s Lord Coutanche Library on Jersey in the Channel Islands, who rushed to save me when all other avenues of investigation had come to an end.

Thanks, as ever, to my wonderful critique partner, Annie West. I’d also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sharon Archer and Christine Wells, who came to my rescue at a difficult moment in this book.

I’d like to thank all my friends at the Romance Bandits, Romance Writers of Australia, and Romance Writers of America. You’re an unfailing source of inspiration. Thanks also to Michelle Buonfiglio, Kim Castillo, Maria Lokken, and Marisa O’Neill for your stalwart support.

Finally, a big thank-you to all those readers who have enjoyed my books! I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to know that my stories have touched your hearts.