Her eyes were heavy lidded as she met his. “What might that be?”
“To have you among the heather and bracken, with naught but the sky above us and my plaid beneath.”
“So,” she said with a catch in her breathing, “we will go soon?”
“Who can say?” he drawled, his gaze on the tight, tight bud of her nipple beneath the linen of her gown. “Mayhap when I am tired of making love to you on English soil, say in fifty years or so. Or it could be only after our babe is born.”
“A long time for your poor escort to wait.”
“Aye. He can return alone.”
“I misdoubt he will want to face the laird of Dunbar without you.”
“By God’s teeth, no,” Ross said, with a chuckle. Yet there was respect in his voice as well as humor.
“Such a fearsome man,” she said, trailing her hand along Ross’s neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. “I believe I must meet him for myself before too long.”
He smiled down at her with a quirk at one corner of his mouth. “If it pleases you.”
“We leave today, then?”
“Nay, not today.” He cupped her breast as if testing its perfect fit in his palm. “Tomorrow?”
“I misdoubt I’ll be ready.”
“When do we ride?”
“Tonight, sweeting, and it be your desire.”
“To Scotland?” she asked in all innocence, while wild heat rose in her face and dampness seeped between her thighs.
He whispered his answer against her hair.
Cate laughed, gasping, as she heard it, but did not gainsay him.
Acknowledgments
I’m grateful beyond words to the creators of Project Gutenberg and Google’s Public Domain book online service for making it possible to access ancient volumes on the life and times of Henry VII and his contemporaries. To be able to read these books that actually reside in one-of-a-kind copies on the dusty shelves of far-flung libraries has been an incredible boon; to download them instantly and read them in the comfort of my office was nothing short of amazing. I am also indebted to the originators of the many websites dedicated to medieval history in general and the Tudors in particular. Their expertise and generosity is fantastic. These include, but are not limited to www.henryvii.org/; historymedren. about.com; luminarium.org; www.britannia.com/history; www.medievalhistory.com; www.tudorplace.com.ar; www.the-tudors.org.uk; tudorhistory.org; history.wise.edu/sommerville/361/361-04.htm.
To the various authors, ancient and modern, who have treated on these subjects, as well, my most heart-felt thanks for their labors, which have made mine easier: Bacon’s History of the Reign of King Henry VII, Francis Bacon; Famous Men of the Middle Ages, John Henry Jaaren and Addison B. Poland; Henry VII, S. B. Chrimes; Henry VII, Gladys Temperley; Lives of the Princesses of England, Mary Anne Everett Green; Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest, Agnes Strickland; The Battle Abbey Roll by Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Powlett, Duchess of Cleveland; The King’s Mother, James Underwood; The Making of the Tudor Dynasty, Ralph Griffiths and Roger S. Thomas; The Reign of Henry VII from Contemporary Sources, Albert Frederick Pollard; A Source Book of Medieval History, Frederick Austen Ogg; Albion, Jennifer Westwood; Daily Life in the Middle Ages, Paul. B. Newman; Dictionary of British History, J.P. Kenyon; History of England, James White; Life in a Medieval Castle, Frances and Joseph Gies; Life in a Medieval City, Frances and Joseph Gies; Life in a Medieval Village, Frances and Joseph Gies; London and Westminster, City and Suburb, John Tombs; Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages, Frances and Joseph Gies; Medieval People, Eileen Power; The Cambridge Medieval History, John Bagnell Bury; The Castle Explorer’s Guide, Frank Bottomley; The History of Normandy and England, Sir Francis Palgrave; The History of the Ancient Palace and Late House of Parliament at Westminster, Edward Wedlake Brayley; The Knight, The Lady and The Priest, Georges Duby; The Ordnance Survey Guide to Historic Houses in Britain, various editors; The Steel Bonnets, The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers, George MacDonald Fraser; The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, Ian Mortimer; The Waning of the Middle Ages, J. Huizinga; and Westminster, Walter Besant.
I’m indebted to my editor, Susan Swinwood, and her colleagues at MIRA Books for their expertise and superlative efforts on my behalf, and to my agents, Richard Curtis and Danny Baror, for advice and their continuing support. To my family, surely the most understanding people in the world—thanks for your forbearance and being there. And to my husband, Jerry, for his quiet and eternal support, plus cups of coffee when most needed, love and gratitude always.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1175-9
BY GRACE POSSESSED
Copyright © 2011 by Patricia Maxwell
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