To Marry an Heiress
Page 28
“I want you in my bed,” he murmured.
“I am in your bed,” she reminded him.
He slid his finger beneath her chin and angled her face until their eyes locked. “This business of your bedchamber, my bedchamber is ludicrous. I want you in my bed every night. Even if you’ve no desire to make love. I want your scent wafting around me. I want to be able to curl around your warm body any time I wish.”
“Every night?”
“Every night.”
A smile blossomed over her face. “I think I can accommodate that request.”
Epilogue
Seven years later
“O nce upon a time, in a land across the vast ocean, an Indian maiden—”
“Not that story, Father,” young James Nathaniel Sheridan interrupted, his blue eyes bright. “Tell us the story about the lady of the fields.”
“Yes, please, Father,” Edwina Devona Sheridan pleaded. “It’s my most favorite of all the legends.”
“I seem to recall telling you the story last night,” Devon reminded the two children nestled against his sides as he lay on the bed, pillows at his back. They’d been born on the same night six years earlier. Trust his wife to begin with efficiency and make up for lost time in gaining the children she’d always desired.
“But I never tire of hearing it,” Edwina said.
“Do tell it to us, Father. It’s the reason I enjoy coming home,” Noel chimed in. Home from school for the holiday, he was lounging on the floor, his fingers buried in Jake’s thick fur.
He was a good-sized lad, having often worked beside Devon in the fields. More alarming, however, was his recent announcement that he wished to study veterinary medicine. Devon had a feeling that the days of the idle aristocracy were rapidly vanishing.
Yet he could not help but feel a burst of pride that at fifteen his eldest son had the confidence to seek his own path in life. He would, of course, inherit the title one day, but he had no plans to sit around waiting for it to be handed to him.
Millicent looked up from her latest fashion magazine. “There’s no hope for it, Father. You might as well get on with it. You know they won’t settle in to sleep until you do.”
“Very well.” Clearing his throat, he drew James and Edwina closer. He so enjoyed this nightly family ritual.
“Once upon a time, in the land of England, there was an impoverished nobleman who woke up each morning, looked out over the land, and saw only what it would not yield. He worked the fields each day but resented each swing of the scythe.
“And then one day to his utter amazement a lady appeared in the fields. When she looked out over the grain, she saw the dreams that could be harvested with hard work. So each day she stooked the wheat that he’d cut. And as she did, she whistled. In time, others came to the fields simply to listen to her tune of merriment.
“But they soon discovered that if they helped with the harvesting, the lady’s tunes became merrier and the harvesting went more quickly and the lord became more wealthy.
“And as he became more wealthy, so did they.
“During the harvest feast, the lord approached the lady of the fields and asked her why she’d worked day after day in his fields.
“‘Why, my lord, because I love you,’ she answered, as though he was a silly twit for being too dense to figure it out himself.”
Edwina and James giggled while Noel and Millicent grinned. Devon gazed at his smiling wife as she rocked two-year-old Gregory. The lad had already drifted off to sleep. He supposed he would have to repeat the story tomorrow night.
“Finish the story, Father,” Edwina prodded. “This is my most favorite part.”
“Ah, yes, the ending to our tale,” he murmured, looking deeply into Gina’s eyes. “Following her declaration, in the middle of the fields where the seeds of their love had been planted and taken root, he lowered his mouth to hers and she stole not only his breath but his heart.”
“And they lived happily ever after!” the children cried in unison.
Devon smiled warmly with satisfaction. “Indeed they did.”
About the Author
Lorraine Heath credits her parents for her fascination with romance. She is the daughter of a British beauty and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the Air Force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Herts, England, but moved to Texas shortly afterward. Since her “dual” nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan, she enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories. Her novels have been recognized with numerous awards, including Romance Writers of America’s RITA, the HOLT medallion, and four Texas Gold Awards. You can write to her via e-mail at lorraine-heath@attbi.com. She also invites you to visit her website at www.lorraineheath.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Other Avon Romances by
Lorraine Heath
NEVER LOVE A COWBOY
NEVER MARRY A COWBOY
THE OUTLAW AND THE LADY
A ROGUE IN TEXAS
If You’ve Enjoyed This Book,
Be Sure to Read These Other
AVON ROMANTIC TREASURES
AFTER THE ABDUCTION by Sabrina Jeffries
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER by Karen Hawkins
MARRY ME by Susan Kay Law
ONE NIGHT OF PASSION by Elizabeth Boyle
WHEN THE LAIRD RETURNS: BOOK TWO OF THE HIGHLAND LORDS by Karen Ranney
Coming Soon
THE BRIDE BED by Linda Needham
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
TO MARRY AN HEIRESS. Copyright © 2006 by Lorraine Heath. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader August 2006 ISBN 0-06-119830-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.uk.harpercollinsebooks.com
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
are-buttons">share