What are you thinking? Caleb asked, coming up behind her. She could feel his breath on her nape, warm and gentle. His arms slipped around her, pulling her close. That I envy Hank and Velvet, Lily said...
Were you following me? she asked, hugging her knees and watching her supper cook. Yes, Caleb answered in his direct way. He sat down across from Lily, and the firelight did a primitive dance over his...
The expression in Steven’s eyes showed both understanding and amusement, and he watched with undisguised interest as Emma hastily covered her still-pulsing bosom. I know, he sighed, with a crooked, te...
The driver tried to help Emma down, but he found himself elbowed aside by a tight-jawed Steven. Where the hell have you been? Emma’s husband demanded, grasping her shoulders in his hands. Emma met his...
Steven looked wan in the light of the lantern, but he smiled when he saw Emma. That distracted him from the fact that Sing Cho was opening a large brown bottle. Just when Sing Cho doused the long cut...
Steven longed to comfort her, but he didn’t dare. After all, he’d practically called her a prostitute earlier, albeit by mistake, and despite the sponge bath he figured he most likely smelled like a m...
Steven laid Emma gently on the carpet of daisies to take the little flagon from her hand. She watched, half bewitched, as he removed the stopper and touched it ever so lightly to the pulse point at th...
Steven didn’t see Emma again for a full week, and while he told himself it was for the best, he ached to see her every moment of that time. He spent his days pacing the room with Callie Visco under hi...
Some instinct told Steven who the ladies’ man was even before Chloe spoke. You’ve been so curious about Mr. Fairfax, Fulton, she said, in an idle tone. Here he is. The banker. Steven got to his feet,...
So, he said, putting an arm around her shoulders and escorting her toward his small wooden house, you’ve finally come to your senses and decided to settle down and make a real life for yourself. The m...
So you’ll be leaving now, I suppose, the banker said, breaking the strained silence. I don’t imagine a man like you cares to stay in one place too long. Steven folded his arms. Until just a few minute...
She was surprised when the major squatted down to help, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. What’s your name? he asked. Lily flung the last of the silverware onto the tray with a clatter. It’ll be mud if...
Scoundrel! she accused through her teeth. You deliberately let everyone see me with you—including Fulton! Steven arched his eyebrows in a counterfeit expression of surprise. Don’t tell me Mr. Whitney...
Mind you don’t fall in love with him, Emma. I’ve got Fairfax pegged for a good man, but I suspect you’re right in thinking he’s in some kind of trouble. I won’t have you caught in the middle of somebo...
Joss’s littlest child, a girl with her father’s curly hair, came bounding down the path toward them. Papa, is Uncle Caleb really a damn Yankee? she chirped. Joss didn’t so much as glance in Caleb’s di...
If you marry the wrong man, Steven warned, in a voice all the more ominous because of its quietness, you’ll regret it into your old age. You’ll never pass a day—or a night—without remembering how it w...
How are you feeling? she asked in the same tone she used on summer afternoons, when some of the town’s children came to sit beside the lake with her and listen while she read stories. He ruined everyt...
He sat up in bed, wishing Lily was there. He wouldn’t even have needed to touch her, just watching her sleep would have soothed him. Caleb shoved the splayed fingers of his right hand through his hair...
He caught her left hand in his and lifted it so that the diamond sparkled in the firelight. I see you haven’t cut off your finger yet. Lily smiled sleepily. That would have hurt too much.
Has anybody ever told you what a hardheaded little spitfire you are? Yes, Emma replied primly, and it’s never done them a mite of good. Steven