Love Slave (Outlaws and Heroes, Book 1)
Page 21
"Here, angel. Here. Now I want to do this right." He bent one knee on the floor, the other crooked, in a formal, gallant pose. Taking her left hand, he held the ring at the tip of her finger. "Will you marry me, Rachel? Think about it before you answer because marriage to me is for life."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. The answer is yes, Rand. And it's yes again, Joshua." Her hand was shaking, why even her finger had the tremors as he slipped on the ring.
"For better or worse," he said in a gruff voice. "Though I'm afraid I'll get the first and you'll get the second. But maybe the richer or poorer part will help even things out. Especially since you threw that million bucks in my face."
He pressed a kiss to the ring and got up. Rachel's eyes darted from him to the rock on her hand, unable to decide if she was closer to more tears or laughter. She gave in to both.
"You idiot. You know better than to even mention money. Like my dad said, it can't buy you love. You've got mine and it's free for the taking."
"And I need you enough to take it. I want forever, Rachel. I want the fights when I slip, your arms to be there when I fall. And I want babies. The whole nine yards."
Rachel's gaze froze on the ring. Had Jayna interfered? Was Rand here because he knew about the baby?
"Did Jayna call you?" she demanded.
"Call me? About what?"
"Being a father to be, that's what."
Any pretense he had of suave sophistication gave way as his jaw dropped in a Duh, say again? expression.
"I don't believe it. You said you weren't... but, I'll be damned. You lied, didn't you?"
"You bet I did, Mr. Master." She smiled sublimely. "I let you go, and you came back."
"Why, you little sneak," he growled. Rand tried to pull a stern face but ended up with a big, ear-to-ear shit eating grin. With a quick swipe, he shoved the phone and papers and playing cards from her desk. They winged and thudded to the floor while he leaned her back and promptly ran a hand up her thigh. "I think I need to dole out a lesson to my love slave for keeping secrets from me."
Rachel yanked him down by his tie, bringing his mouth a whisper from hers. Angling for a heated kiss, she seductively murmured, "You're a savage."
"And, angel, you're silk."
The End
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DEAD OR ALIVE
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Two
Excerpt from
Dead or Alive
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Two
by
Mallory Rush
Bestselling, Award-winning Author
Her hands were marvelous, rubbing his chest, his arms, even his feet, with a skillful fervor. Indeed, though the overly warm water was a balm to his chilled flesh, her touch was hot as a branding iron.
The chills began to subside. His shuddering breaths came easier. He flexed a foot. Then crooked a knee. His arms felt equally stiff, but he opened them to the sweet lady of tender ministrations.
Lori wrapped her arms around his neck, then pressed her fingertips to his throat. "Strong and steady. Sweetheart, you're gonna make it." She said the last with a heated passion as she pressed her lips to the pulse he could feel beating hard and quick, such was the magic of her kiss.
"Your voice sounds lovely. And strangely familiar." Lines of concentration creased his brow. "Such a mystery, is it not?"
Lori was carefully ambiguous in her reply. "Not such a mystery, really. I talked to you a lot while you were... unconscious."
Lori was suddenly uncomfortable—with their compromising positions; with her awareness of this man whose nearness was awakening something inside her, so strong and compelling she could hardly think past the clamoring impulses she had thought buried with her husband. Now they were returning to life with a vengeance, resurrected by the man she had labored, prayed, to save.
A man who was anything but frozen as he abruptly pulled her into the tub and murmured, "M'lady it is clear that you are no ordinary harlot."
Dead or Alive
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Two
by
Mallory Rush
~
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Dead or Alive
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Page forward and continue your journey
with an excerpt from
DANGER AND DESIRE
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Three
Excerpt from
Danger and Desire
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Three
by
Mallory Rush
Bestselling, Award-winning Author
His thumb stroked her jugular. "You're not afraid of me, are you, Mel?"
She was afraid of him like she'd never been afraid before. Scared senseless that this damaged man could damage her heart—and destroy her career in the process.
"Should I be?" she whispered haltingly.
"Oh, yeah," he murmured. "You most definitely should be fearful of a man who's as needy as I am." He smiled then. With about as much warmth as a Canadian winter.
Melissa shivered. "And just what do you charge for your services?"
"Depends on what you can afford. Seein' that money's no object to me and I like to consider my organization as a nonprofit social service, I prefer to barter. Nice suit I was wearing today, wasn't it?"
"Brooks Brothers, eat your heart out."
"Yep. Even retired tailors can fall on hard times and find out it's not what they know but who they know that calls the shots. I call 'em as I see them. Oh, which reminds me. That envelope you gave me had a phone number where you could be reached and—"
"Did you call there?" she asked anxiously.
"Why do you sound like you're worried that I might've?"
Where was her training when she needed it? Top of her class and she'd been reduced to weighing the price of her failure against the possible miscarriage of justice she'd been given to carry out.
"Of course I'm worried about you calling me. If you're being bugged, then there could be a tap on your phone."
"There is," he assured her with a dry chuckle. "And that's why I didn't call but let my fingers do the walking." He walked his down her arm and rubbed her inner wrist. "Your pulse is beating awfully fast. So's mine. Now, about that motel where you're staying..."
"Yes?" she whispered, grateful for the wall's support.
"It's not exactly a Motel 6, but I'd rather you be staying somewhere with a style more suitable to you."
"I'm afraid that's not within my means." Not only that, she was staying where the Bureau had put her up.
"My means are plenty ample," he assured her. "And I'd very much like to expend some on a worthy cause. Let me put you up, Mel. No strings, I swear. I just want you staying in the best place possible for as long as you're here. Given my current situation, it could take a little while to deal with yours. By the time I can manage it, who knows? Maybe you'll decide Dallas has enough fatal appeal to stay for more than a visit."
Clay Barker was fatal appeal incarnate, and she was ready to take up residence in this alley in exchange for the kiss she was longing for. If only he wasn't who he was. If only she wasn't who she was....
"Melissa? You're awful quiet. Hope you didn't take offense. I just want to help you. It'd make me feel real good." He leaned in, brushed his hips lightly against hers. "C'mon darlin'," he murmured, "make me feel good."
Danger and Desire
Outlaws and Heroes
Book Three
by
Mallory Rush
~
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Danger and Desire
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
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BAD BOY OF NEW ORLEANS
Excerpt from
Bad Boy of New Orleans
by
Mallory Rush
Bestselling, Award-winning Author
"Please leave."
"Look at me and say that, then maybe I'll believe you."
Micah forced her eyes to meet his once more for a brief, agonizing moment. "The answer is no," she said, her voice sounding like a plea in her own ears.
"You say no. Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me? To yourself? Don't ever try to take deception up for a living, Micah. You're lousy at it."
"Too bad you're not."
Micah regretted the words as soon as they were out. For so brief an instant she wondered if she had imagined it, she could have sworn she saw him grimace.
"He really did a number on you, didn't he?" Chance laughed then, a little unpleasantly. "A little more time, Micah? I've waited years, what's a few more weeks?"
He studied her face then, and Micah did her best to shut him out, not to acknowledge the exhilaration that came with his nearness, or the acute, unwanted things he was doing to her inside and out. She felt confined by her own emotions, and the tension between them was stretched so taut, she expected to hear something snap.
Then for a frozen, heart-stopping moment he bent close as though he meant to kiss her.
Micah heard her own breath hiss through her teeth as Chance fastened her seat belt.
"You can run, Micah," he whispered, his face scant inches from hers. "You can run as fast and as hard as those sweet, long legs can take you, but in the end you'll still run to me. Because I'll be there every which way you turn. And Micah," he touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers, and she felt the jolt of that touch down to the pit of her stomach. "Remember..."
And as he left she knew it was true he could be cruel, ruthless. A man, Micah thought, who some believed had no capacity for tenderness, for love. She could almost believe that; she needed to believe that, and she could. As long as she didn't remember...
Bad Boy of New Orleans
by
Mallory Rush
~
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Bad Boy of New Orleans
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Mallory Rush, aka Olivia Rupprecht, has had 17 novels published by Bantam, Doubleday, Harlequin Books, and Dorchester Publishing. Her titles have frequented fiction bestseller lists and are translated into many foreign languages. She is the series developer for True Vows, the first reality-based romance line from HCI Books. Visit the author at www.malloryrush.com.
Table of Contents
Cover
A note from Mallory Rush
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Excerpt from DEAD OR ALIVE - Outlaws and Heroes, Book 2
Excerpt from DANGER AND DESIRE - Outlaws and Heroes, Book 3
Excerpt from BAD BOY OF NEW ORLEANS by Mallory Rush
Meet the Author