Taken by the Duke (28 page)

“You’re still here,” she croaked, her voice cracking from the strain of her injury.

He nodded as he crossed the room and took a seat on the bed beside her. He cupped both her hands in his and held them steady as he looked down at her. He was filled with a swell of love that nearly overpowered him.

“Ava, you are injured, and we have little time before your brother will intrude upon us and do…well, I do not know what. But I must tell you something of great importance.”

She wrinkled her brow and opened her mouth to speak, but he covered her lips with his fingers. “Just nod or shake your head if you can. Save your voice.”

She hesitated and nodded.

“You told me in the park that you loved me,” he said, running a finger over her cheek.

Tears leapt into her eyes and she nodded swiftly.

“At the time I was more concerned with your injury. And with the approach of the guard. I could not respond to you in the manner you deserved.” He smiled. “I want to remedy that now.”

She nodded again, but this time she was wary.

“Ava, I love you with all that I am. And I do not deserve you. I want you to know I recognize that.”

She shook her head vigorously, and he laughed despite himself.

“I do not, so please don’t pretend I do. I have been cruel, callous, stubborn and wicked thanks to a war that I realize now wasn’t mine to fight. I hate myself for what I’ve done. But I cannot say I am sorry, because all of that brought you to me.”

She reached out to touch his cheek and nodded slowly.

“I love you, Ava. And I want to marry you.”

Her eyes went wide, and she sat up straighter in the bed. “Marry?” she repeated.

“Your voice—” he began, but she shook her head.

“This is too important a moment to nod and shake my head through it like a trained seal in a circus.” She swallowed and flinched with the action. “Christian, do you mean it?”

He smiled, heart lighter than it had been in his entire life. “I mean it with all my heart. I want to marry you, Ava. And do my best to endeavor to deserve you.”

She sucked in her breath, and tears began to flow down her cheeks. “Yes, Christian. I will marry you.”

From the doorway there was the clearing of a throat. Both of them looked toward the sound and found Windbury standing there, staring at them.

“This is your decision, then?” he asked, tone flat and low in the quiet of the room. “To marry my enemy?”

Ava looked at him with more tears in her eyes. “I would hope you could find a way not to believe that my husband is your enemy, Liam. That you could accept this union and try to be happy for me.”

Her brother stared at them for a long, charged moment. “Ava, I will never attack your home or someone you love. And after everything you have been through thanks to me, I could not deny you what you desire,” he said softly.

Ava’s face lit up, but before she could say anything, Liam continued. “But I will not approve,” he said, looking away from her. “And I cannot watch you do it.”

He turned and left the room. Ava stared after him, her eyes wide and filled with pain so keen that Christian would have died rather than see her feel it.

“He’ll come around,” he said, though he didn’t necessarily believe that to be true.

She looked up at him. “Perhaps. But the fact is that I have lived in the world he created, the war he created for a very long time. And I don’t want that anymore. He may not approve, but
you
are the man I love. I have seen too much loss in my life not to know that love is not something I can walk away from. Not even for my brother. I want to marry you, Christian. No matter the cost, no matter the consequence. I want to marry you.”

He pulled her to him and gently kissed her. As he pulled away, he whispered, “Then we marry as soon as you are well enough to travel to Gretna Green.”

He was prepared to pull away, but she cupped the back of his head and drew him down. And this kiss was much deeper, much more passionate, and it told him that their future would be bright and beautiful.

A future that began that very moment.

About the Author

Jess Michaels is the award-winning author of thirty-eight romances, erotic romances and urban fantasy novels. She lives in Arizona with her fantastic husband and two adorable cats. While not writing about sexy gentlemen and wicked ladies, she can be found doing geeky things like playing video games and performing aunt duties to two nephews. You can find her online at
www.authorjessmichaels.com
, on Facebook (Jess Michaels) and on Twitter @jessmichaelsbks.

Look for these titles by Jess Michaels

Now Available:

Mistress Matchmaker

An Introduction to Pleasure

For Desire Alone

Her Perfect Match

Coming Soon:

The Pleasure Wars

Pleasuring the Lady

Beauty and the Earl

She will do anything for him…except surrender.

Her Perfect Match

© 2013 Jess Michaels

Mistress Matchmaker, Book 3

Vivien Manning, the notorious Mistress Matchmaker, is tired. Tired of the parties, tired of the lovers, tired of being her. So she decides to leave London behind once and for all and start a whole new life.

But before she goes, she must tie up some loose ends, and makes a list that includes a man she’s never been fully able to let go—Benedict Greystone.

Benedict was broken when Vivien broke off their affair years ago. When she comes back into his life...and his bed…he isn't certain of anything except the power of their desire.

But as Vivien moves closer to disappearing forever, both of them begin to question if the past can be overcome and if love might be the one loose end that cannot be neatly tied up.

Warning: This book contains scenes of a powerful woman, unafraid of her sexuality, trying to find her way in the world. There is a brief scene of a threesome M/F/M and then one woman falling madly in love with one man. Proceed with caution, a fan and tissues.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Her Perfect Match:

Benedict saw Vivien coming across the room in his direction from the moment she turned ever so slightly. But that was nothing new. Whenever they were in the same space, he couldn’t help but be utterly aware of her and her every move. Her every breath. That was the curse of his feelings for her. They forced him to track her when he knew he should not.

His distraction must have been obvious, for the people he had been talking to a moment before moved off and left him alone as Vivien reached his side with a smile he knew too well. It was her false “mistress” expression meant to soothe and seduce. It wasn’t real.

“Benedict,” she said as she reached for his hands. She squeezed them briefly and then let them go, but the touch blasted him back in time to a night when they had lain out on the grass after making love, holding hands and staring up at the stars.

“Vivien,” he managed to croak out. “This is a lovely party you have thrown together for your friends.”

She tilted her head. “Yes. It isn’t my usual kind of event, but I’m happy to celebrate all four of them and their marriages.”

He swallowed back a biting word about her lack of desire for her own marriage and instead smiled. “Both the couples do look very happy.”

She shifted ever so slightly and then rushed into a new topic.

“How have you been? I have not seen you in…it must be a few months.”

Benedict pursed his lips. It had been four months, six days.

“Right after Christmas, I think it was,” he said. “I returned to London to take care of some business and saw you at the opera, wasn’t it?”

Her eyes widened when he could recount so many details, but he shook his head. If only she knew that he could recall even more. Like how her blonde hair had been styled in a different way that night. Like how she had smelled of lemons and rosewater. Like the exact cut and color of her blue gown.

He kept those details to himself. She had already rejected the idea that he would notice them. Rejected him. There was no changing that.

“I think you are correct,” she said. “How have you been since then?”

“Very well,” he replied, keeping up the same charade that she was. That they were acquaintances. “My family is well.”

“Good.” She remained smiling, but he could see the slight twitch in her cheek. Vivien had always known that his family did not approve of the relationship they’d shared.

Benedict clenched his hands at his sides. She had used that fact in her parting with him. Hidden behind their disapproval in a cowardly display when he knew there was more to her rejection of his heart. She had told him to move on with his life. And since that was what she wanted…

“I am being encouraged to marry,” he said, watching her carefully for her response. “And I believe it may well be time for me to make that commitment.”

She blinked. That was her only response. Just a flutter of her eyelids that betrayed she felt any deeper emotion about his announcement than she showed. It took her a moment to respond.

“I suppose it is time for you to pursue a new future.” She hesitated as if she was going to say more, but didn’t.

“Yes. A new future,” he repeated, but there was no pleasure in the words he spoke. They felt like sand on his tongue.

She tilted her head. “You do not wish for this?”

He bit back surprise that she would be so direct. “You know what I wish for.”

Now it was her turn to draw back. “Benedict—”

He waved his hand to silence her. “Please do not go through all your reasons for rejecting me. I have heard them all.”

She was silent for a moment, watching him with a hooded gaze he could not read. Then she moved closer. “Benedict, it is true I cannot accept any future you have offered me. We both know why.”

Except he didn’t, but he said nothing and she continued.

“But I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t still…think of you. Of us.”

He stared. Was this happening? Was she truly saying these things after three years of polite distance and pretending to be friends?

“You do,” he said, flat and emotionless for he feared revealing too much.

She nodded. “It seems there is unfinished business between us. On both sides. And since everything is about to change, I wonder if we should resolve that business, if only so it won’t haunt us.”

“What are you saying?” he asked softly.

She swallowed and her voice trembled as she whispered, “Be with me again.”

He stared at her for he didn’t know how long. This was like a dream. Or a nightmare he had lived out before.

Vivien shifted with discomfort. “Benedict?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m certain I didn’t understand you correctly. Will you repeat the question?”

Blood rushed to her cheeks, making them pink. He had so rarely seen her bashful that he stared at the sight.

“We have something still between us, Benedict. Before everything changes, I would like to resolve it. I want to be with you.”

“Vivien,” he whispered. “Why now?”

She was silent for so long that he thought she might not answer. Then she looked him in the eyes. “Why not?”

But as he stared into the blue depths of her gaze, he saw something deep within that he thought she did not mean to share. A secret, a hesitation, something she was not saying.

And
fear
was there too. Fear which wasn’t like her.

She reached out and squeezed his arm. He felt her touch crash though him like lightning and he almost recoiled from its power.

“Don’t decide this very moment,” she insisted. “I will wait for you tonight after the party. If you come to my room…you
come
.” She emphasized the word so there was no doubt to its meaning. “If you don’t…I understand and I will wish you nothing but the best.”

She released him and stepped away. Without another word, she scurried into the crowd and left him standing, wrecked in her wake and totally uncertain of what he should do.

She offered him a return to the happiest time of his life. A sweet taste of passion and pleasure and all the love he still felt for her. But he knew that taste came at a cost. She had already made it very clear that they would never be together beyond an affair, beyond sex.

His brother had been telling him for years to walk away from Vivien. But he had never been able to do that.

And now might not be any different.

The worst of times, the most passionate of loves.

The Bookseller’s Daughter

© 2013 Pam Rosenthal

In her family’s bookshop, Marie-Laure Vernet had adventure, romance and mystery at her fingertips. And intrigue, in the form of an enigmatic stranger as unsettlingly attractive as the scandalous books he smuggled. But he disappeared, and so did the bookshop’s meager fortunes.