The Fire's Center

Unemployed governess Riona Connolly is willing to do anything to save her family from starvation during the Irish Potato Famine. When she meets the handsome Dr. Lucien Woulfe, who offers her post at his clinic, it seems a dream come true.

No man has ever stimulated Riona so completely, in mind and body. Yet she knows her burning attraction to her sensual employer is forbidden in the straight-laced, class-conscious society of Victorian Dublin.

Lucien never imagined he would ever meet a woman who could share his life so perfectly. A dedicated doctor who has been wounded by love in the past, he has no time for relationships.
 
Yet one look at Riona, and he burns with a passion which soon grows all-consuming for them both.

But as the Famine rages, and brings a deadly series of fevers with it. Riona and Lucien must walk through the fire’s center to secure their happiness before it is destroyed by the enemies aligning themselves against the unsuspecting couple, and by the vagaries of Fate.

Can their fiery love win through to a bright future, or will it too become yet another casualty of the Great Blight?

After an hour of quizzing her verbally, Lucien pronounced himself more than satisfied with her medical knowledge, and decided to give her a slide test.

"Here, you keep looking down the microscope, and I'll hand you the slides one by one, so you can’t peek at the labels," he suggested.

"All right," Riona agreed, and soon began rattling off the names of the samples he handed her.

Lucien stood close bedside Riona, as if drawn there by some magnetic force. Try as he might, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tempting flesh of her arms and the shadowy curve of her breasts as they worked side by side.

Though surrounded by flowers in the study, which the maid had put there to brighten up the otherwise rather dull room, Lucien could also smell her own distinctive perfume, fresh, wholesome, and infinitely more alluring that the Parisian concoctions his female acquaintances practically bathed themselves in for formal functions.

Suddenly she held out her hand and asked, "Next one, please?"

Lucien jumped out of his reverie for a moment to hand her the glass slide, but all of a sudden he found himself grasping her fingers tightly instead.

As Riona looked up from the microscope in surprise, Lucien took a step closer to her and pulled her into his warm embrace.

Riona’s lips parted with a gasp, so that Lucien had free access to the tempting delights of her mouth, and the hungry kiss they shared soon left them wanting more.

Lucien ran his hands up and down the length of Riona’s spine, and he thanked God silently that she wore no corsets as he caressed her feminine fullness above and below.

Riona for her own part tried to remain stiff and unyielding in his torrid embrace, but the heat of his passion melted her reserve. She soon found her arms creeping around his neck, while her lips slanted across his mouth to deepen the kiss even further.

Lucien laced his fingers through Riona’s hair, scattering pins and her silk ribbon all about the room as her auburn locks tumbled down around her shoulders. He began to kiss her face and neck then, nuzzling her hair, before whispering, "Lovely, so lovely," in her shell-like ear.

Lucien knew he ought to stop.
Had to
stop. But the vibrant woman he held in his arms worked on him like some powerful drug. The more he took liberties with Riona, the bolder he became. The more she matched his caresses, and the more inflamed he grew…

Reviews:

"This is another beautifully sensual historical novel by the remarkably talented Ms. MacMurrough." -- Carolyn Stone,
Under the Covers Book Reviews

Ms. MacMurrough’s ability to depict people, settings and events is remarkable, making every word of this novel a pleasure. -- Evelyn Trimborn,
Harlequin Hearts

Passionately intense, this a book you will savor every word of, and remember long after you have finished it. -- Jacinta Carey,
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