by Jennie Lucas
Life had once felt so dark for all of them, Laney thought as they shared Christmas dinner around the table. Each of them had lived through a different kind of pain. But for each of them, love had melted it away.
Kassius had done it, Laney thought suddenly. He’d changed their lives. He’d been the miracle.
But when Laney told him as much, when they’d all risen from the dinner table to take a family walk through the villa’s beautiful, well-kept gardens, Kassius snorted and shook his head.
“If there was a miracle, it all came from you, Laney,” he said as a cool breeze whirled around them from the sparkling blue sea. He glanced back at his father, who was smiling tenderly at his baby grandson harnessed to his chest in a baby carrier, walking with Yvonne and Ove and Clark and Jeanie. Turning back, Kassius tucked a tendril of her long dark hair behind her ear and said seriously, “It all started with you. Your courage, and wisdom, and grace. From the moment we met...”
She tilted her head teasingly. “You mean when you hit me with your car?”
He grinned, then sobered. “I’m just sorry I made you go through far worse pain than that.” He looked down at her, his dark eyes deep with emotion. “But you didn’t give up on me. You loved me, even when I didn’t deserve it. You always knew I could be the man you deserve. The man who loves you. The man who always will.”
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. She felt so happy, it brought tears to her eyes. “Kassius...”
“Wait.” Abruptly, he pulled her away from the rest of the family, into a small copse of oak trees behind the box hedge. Looking up at the oak tree, he said innocently, “Oh, look...mistletoe.”
Astonished, Laney looked up at the evergreen leaves and white berries growing on the oak tree. Then she narrowed her eyes.
“You lured me to this spot on purpose,” she said accusingly.
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Would I do that?”
“Totally.”
Kassius grinned. “You know me well.” He ran his hand slowly down her back. “So you might as well know, I intend to lure you into bed later. Maybe more than once.”
Eyes shining, Laney reached up to caress her husband’s rough cheek.
“You don’t need to lure me,” she whispered. “Just kiss me. And never let me go.”
So lowering his head, that’s exactly what he did.
* * * * *
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Dante Di Sione can’t believe the beautiful blonde who ‘accidentally’ stole his family’s tiara is blackmailing him – for a date to her sister’s wedding! If Willow wants to be his fake fiancée, she’ll have to play the part to the full. Only Willow’s confidence is fake…and she’s a virgin!
Read on for a sneak preview of
DI SIONE’S VIRGIN MISTRESS
the fifth in the unmissable new eight book Modern series
THE BILLIONAIRE’S LEGACY
“I’m sorry. I’m out of here.”
“Dante…”
“No. Listen to me, Willow.” There was a pause while he seemed to be composing himself, and when he started speaking, his words sounded very controlled. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re lovely. Very lovely. A beautiful butterfly of a woman. But I’m not going to have sex with you.”
She swallowed. “Because you don’t want me?”
His voice grew rough. “You know damned well I want you.”
She lifted her eyes to his. “Then why?”
He seemed to hesitate and Willow got the distinct feeling that he was going to say something dismissive, or tell her that he didn’t owe her any kind of explanation. But to her surprise, he didn’t. His expression took on that almost gentle look again and she found herself wanting to hurl something at him…preferably herself. To tell him not to wrap her up in cotton wool the way everyone else did. To treat her like she was made of flesh and blood instead of something fragile and breakable. To make her feel like that passionate woman he’d brought to life in his arms.
“Because I’m the kind of man who brings women pain, and you’ve probably had enough of that in your life. Don’t make yourself the willing recipient of anymore.” He met the question in her eyes. “I’m incapable of giving women what they want and I’m not talking about sex. I don’t do emotion, or love, or commitment, because I don’t really know how those things work. When people tell me that I’m cold and unfeeling, I don’t get offended—because I know it’s true. There’s nothing deep about me, Willow—and there never will be.”
DI SIONE’S VIRGIN MISTRESS by Sharon Kendrick
Available November 2016
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Copyright ©2016 Mills & Boon
ISBN: 978-1-474-04427-1
BABY OF HIS REVENGE
© 2016 Jennie Lucas
Published in Great Britain 2016
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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