The Winter Man (32 page)
Authors: Diana Palmer
“Then you just make a movie star out of old Elliot and I'll stick around,” he promised.
“Okay,” Amanda said, “but what a loss to women everywhere. You'd have been super, Harry.”
He grinned and went back to the kitchen to cook. Elliot eventually wandered off, too, and Quinn took Amanda into the study and closed the door.
They sat together in his big leather armchair, listening to the crackling of the fire in the potbellied stove.
“Remember the last time we were in here together?” he asked lazily between kisses.
“Indeed, I do,” she murmured with a smile against his throat. “We almost didn't stop in time.”
“I'm glad we did.” He linked her fingers with his. “We had a very special first time. A real wedding night. That's marriage the way it was meant to be; a feast of first times.”
She touched his cheek lightly and searched his dark eyes. “I'm glad we waited, too. I wanted so much to go to my husband untouched. I just want you to know that it was worth the wait. I love you, really love you, you
know?” She sighed shakily. “That made it much more than my first intimate experience.”
He brought his mouth down gently on hers. “I felt just that way about it,” he breathed against her lips. “I never asked if you wanted me to use anythingâ¦?”
“So I wouldn't get pregnant?” She smiled gently. “I love kids.”
“So do I.” He eased back and pulled her cheek onto his chest, smoothing her long, soft hair as he smiled down into her eyes. “I never dreamed I'd find anyone like you. I'd given up on women. On life, too, I guess. I've been bitter and alone for such a long time, Amanda. I feel like I was just feverish and dreaming it all.”
“You aren't dreaming.” She pulled him closer to her and kissed him with warm, slow passion. “We're married and I'm going to love you for the rest of my life, body and soul. So don't get any ideas about trying to get away. I've caught you fair and square and you're all mine.”
He chuckled. “Really? If you've caught me, what are you going to do with me?”
“Have I got an answer for that,” she whispered with a sultry smile. “You did lock the door, didn't you?” she murmured, her voice husky as she lifted and turned so that she was facing him, her knees beside him on the chair. His heart began to race violently.
“Yes, I locked the door. What are youâ¦Amanda!”
She smiled against his mouth while her hands worked
at fastenings. “That's my name, all right,” she whispered. She nipped his lower lip gently and laughed delightedly when she felt him helping her. “Life is short. We'd better start living it right now.”
“I couldn't possibly agree more,” he whispered back, and his husky laugh mingled with hers in the tense silence of the room.
Beside them, the burning wood crackled and popped in the stove while the snow began to fall again outside the window. Amanda had started it, but almost immediately Quinn took control and she gave in with a warm laugh. She knew already that things were done Sutton's way around Ricochet. And this time, she didn't really mind at all.
* * * * *
NEW YORK TIMES
and
USA TODAY
bestselling author
DIANA PALMER
is back in Wyoming with tales of love born in Big Sky Country!
Don't miss these epic reads from the
Wyoming Men
series:
“Palmer is the queen of desperado quests for justice and true love.”
â
Publishers Weekly
on
Dangerous
Don't forget these other thrilling tales from
New York Times
bestselling author Diana Palmer:
“This is an action-packed, joyous return to Palmer's fictional Jacobsville, Texas...
Invincible
is quite suspenseful and infused with plenty of delightful, sparkling dialogue.”
âRT Book Reviews
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From
New York Times
and
USA TODAY
bestselling author
JODI THOMAS
A compelling, emotionally resonant series set in a remote west Texas townâwhere family can be made by blood or by choice.
Don't miss these great titles in the new
Ransom Canyon
series!
RUSTLER'S MOON
RANSOM CANYON
WINTER'S CAMP
(novella)
“Exactly the kind of heart-wrenching, emotional story one has come to expect from Jodi Thomas.”
âDebbie Macomber, #1
New York Times
bestselling author
Available now in ebook format.
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Other ways to keep in touch:
Read on for an exciting excerpt from
New York Times
bestselling author Diana Palmer's latest
Wyoming Men
series,
WYOMING RUGGED
â¦
S
HE
'
D BOUGHT PRESENTS
online for her father and Edna and Blair. She was careful to get Blair something impersonal. She didn't want his wife to think she was chasing him or anything. She picked out a tie tac, a
fleur de lis
made of solid gold. She couldn't understand why she'd chosen such a thing. He had Greek ancestry, as far as she knew, not French. It had been an impulse.
Her father had gone to answer the phone, a call from a business associate who wanted to wish him happy holidays, leaving Blair and Niki alone in the living room by the tree. She felt like an idiot for making the purchase.
Now Blair was opening the gift, and she ground her teeth together when he took the lid off the box and stared at it with wide, stunned eyes.
“I'm sorry,” she began self-consciously. “The sales slip is in there,” she added. “You can exchange it if⦔
He looked at her. His expression stopped her tirade midsentence. “My mother was French,” he said quietly. “How did you know?”
She faltered. She couldn't manage words. “I didn't. It was an impulse.”
His big fingers smoothed over the tie tac. “In fact, I had one just like it that she bought me when I graduated from college.” He swallowed. Hard. “Thanks.”
“You're very welcome.”
His dark eyes pinned hers. “Open yours now.”
She fumbled with the small box he'd had hidden in his suitcase until this morning. She tore off the ribbons and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful brooch she'd ever seen. It was a golden orchid on an ivory background. The orchid was purple with a yellow center, made of delicate amethyst and topaz and gold.
She looked at him with wide, soft eyes. “It's so beautiful⦔
He smiled with real affection. “It reminded me of you, when I saw it in the jewelry store,” he lied, because he'd had it commissioned by a noted jewelry craftsman, just for her. “Little hothouse orchid,” he teased.
She flushed. She took the delicate brooch out of its box and pinned it to the bodice of her black velvet dress. “I've never had anything so lovely,” she faltered. “Thank you.”
He stood up and drew her close to him. “Thank you, Niki.” He bent and started to brush her mouth with his, but forced himself to deflect the kiss to her soft cheek. “Merry Christmas.”
She felt the embrace to the nails of her toes. He smelled of expensive cologne and soap, and the feel of that powerful body so close to hers made her vibrate inside. She was flustered by the contact, and uneasy because he was married.
She laughed, moving away. “I'll wear it to church every Sunday,” she promised without really looking at him.
He cleared his throat. The contact had affected him, too. “I'll wear mine to board meetings, for a lucky charm,” he teased gently. “To ward off hostile takeovers.”
“I promise it will do the job,” she replied, and grinned.
Her father came back to the living room, and the sudden, tense silence was broken. Conversation turned to politics and the weather, and Niki joined in with forced cheerfulness.
But she couldn't stop touching the orchid brooch she'd pinned to her dress.
Copyright © 2015 by Diana Palmer
ISBN-13: 9781459291850
THE WINTER MAN
Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
SILENT NIGHT MAN
Copyright © 2008 by Diana Palmer
SUTTON'S WAY
Copyright © 1989 by Diana Palmer
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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