Emerald Embrace (44 page)
Authors: Shannon Drake
L
ightning flashed with sizzling fury across the darkened sky. Thunder clapped, and when its drum had ended, the cry, the rising shriek and moan of the wind, sounded again, more fiercely, more plaintively.
The dark rider did not care. Hurrying along the trail that led to Castle Creeghan—the great stone structure seeming truly this night like part of the cliff, part of the very rock—Bryan Creeghan was absolutely heedless of the weather.
But then the wild weather had never bothered him. Neither had the roar of the surf, the call of the wind, or the hard cliffs and tors that had bred him. And tonight…
Tonight, he was anxious to get home.
He’d been down to Edinburgh, receiving the last of the papers that cleared Eagle’s Walk and made the property legally theirs, with no liens and no holds against it. They had traveled there last summer, soon after Peter’s burial—in the castle crypt, beside his wife—and after Elaina and Niall’s wedding. They had spent months there, and they had been good months, and he knew that they would come back often, probably every year. And in the future, one of their children might long to move there, as he had himself, long ago, before the castle had become his responsibility.
But Creeghan was his, his heritage, and he had wanted his son born here.
The ghosts of Creeghan were all at rest. The wreckers had been tried. Three men had been hanged, and the others, including Clarissa, had been deported. Peggy had cried for months, but she had been grateful for her daughter’s life, and her sons were there, and Michael had given her a beautiful grandchild, and so life was going on. There was warmth again, and trust, and a great deal of love.
And tonight…
Bryan had wanted a babe himself, and dearly. Martise had swiftly fulfilled the beginnings of that wish.
He just hadn’t expected that son so quickly. The babe wasn’t really due for another month, but word had reached him along the way that he had best hurry, and so he was.
Lucian reared as lightning flashed and thunder crashed, and the great bay lunged forward. Bryan rode hard into the castle courtyard, where Robert awaited him in the pouring rain, ready to take his things.
He leapt down. “How is she?”
“Hogarth reported just minutes ago that your lady does well and fine,” Robert assured him.
Bryan smiled and hurried into the great hall, shedding his sodden greatcoat. Ian and Conar and his good friend Niall paced before the fire like expectant fathers themselves.
“Bryan! Ye’ve made it!” Ian welcomed him, and took the offending coat.
“Aye. And—”
“Upstairs, man. Elaina and MacTeague and Holly are with her, and Hogarth is standing guard at the door like some great bulldog!” Niall told him with a grin.
He nodded, then headed for the stairs. In the hallway he met Holly, rushing for the stairway, beaming from ear to ear.
“Laird Creeghan!”
He caught her arm. “Holly, is the babe—?”
“Aye, Laird Creeghan! Hurry, MacTeague’s sent me with word and Lady Creeghan is resting and well and—”
He hurried past her. “Laird Creeghan!” she called after him. “Wait, let me tell ye—”
But he didn’t wait. He barely nodded to Hogarth, who was indeed guarding the hallway, and he burst through into his room.
MacTeague was washing his hands, Martise was sitting up, features weary, but eyes alight, her gown fresh. She saw him, and she smiled, and he came to her side, kneeling down beside her. He saw the wee bairn in her arms and met her eyes again. “A lass? A lad? Tell me, my love.”
“A boy, Bryan, but—”
“A son!” He laughed, delighted.
But then he noticed that his sister, Elaina, had come to stand behind him, and she nudged him, and he murmured a bit impatiently, “Elaina, I’m just meeting my son—”
“Well and good, Laird Creeghan!” she remonstrated him. “But ye might as well meet them both at once!”
And she plopped a second swaddled bundle into his arms. He looked from one tiny crinkled face to another, at one black-thatched head to the other, and then he began to laugh.
“Twins!” he said to Martise.
“Aye, Laird Creeghan, twins.”
Her eyes were blue and dazzling. His love for her welled deep within him, and he kissed her tenderly and whispered his thanks to her for giving him two such beautiful sons.
He rose from his knees, for he was the laird of Creeghan. Then he was smiling and laughing as he sat down and met the gazes of the doctor and his sister, and then his wife.
“Twins! Just what Castle Creeghan needs!” he said.
She laughed, too, and the others departed to give them some peace.
Martise reached up to touch his cheeks, and was dazzled by the love and the passion in his eyes. Haunting eyes, fabulous eyes. The eyes of her husband, her lover, and now the father of her children.
She smiled and reached for his kiss.
For her, they would always be beautiful eyes. Exciting eyes.
Beguiling…
Eyes of fire.
Nico d’Or was a kind and gentle man who lived in the age of dragons. Through a simple twist of fate, Nico married the lovely Princess Elisia, and the couple were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Marina. Would they live happily ever after?
Well, not quite. The neighbor’s wife, Geovana, was neither sweet nor lovely, but a devious sorceress who spent her time casting dreadful spells, devising vile tricks, and mixing powerful potions with eye of newt and the horn of a toad.
Geovana used one of her favorite spells—strategically hurling rocks through windows to smash into the heads of her victims— tragically killing both Nico and Elisia, and leaving the beautiful Marina all alone. To make matters worse, Geovana became Marina’s guardian and, greedy for power, arranged a marriage between Marina and her own evil son, Carlo Baristo.
But Marina was in love with someone else. And as Christmas Day approached, Marina was faced with a terrible choice: save her land and her people, or follow her heart and believe in the magic of Christmas and true love.
ISBN# 978-160542071-4
Hardcover Adult / Illustrated Romantic Masterpiece
(Includes bonus audio CD)
US $25.95 / CDN $28.95
Available Now
www.theoriginalheathergraham.com
From the independent freedom of the American cattle ranch to the stifling restraint of the prim English parlor, Harmony Simmons loses all she has ever valued after the death of her affluent parents. According to her mother’s will, she must remain under the guardianship of her domineering older sister, Agatha, until she turns twenty-one, a crushing blow to her ambitious spirit. Dowdy Agatha is jealous and spiteful, resentful of her attractive sibling. A restricted existence in England promises hell compared to Harmony’s former privileged life with her successful father in the heavenly expanse of the West.
When Anthony Allen meets Harmony, he plays the rogue. Kidnapping this beautiful, well-bred angel with the sapphire eyes is a risk he’s willing to take to coax her into his arms forever. His Lady Blue. Never has he seen a woman like her. Never will he adore another. Later, however, he introduces himself as suave aristocrat Lord Farmington, a title she suspects is a sophisticated ruse.
Baffled by his duplicity, Harmony cannot determine whether her mysterious lover is a cavalier bandit or an honorable hero of the landed gentry. His secret ignites a fear deep inside, where her passion for him burns. What sinister shadows may lurk in his past? Does he love her as he claims … or is he a jewel thief and a criminal predator seeking her inheritance in an elaborate masquerade?
ISBN# 978-160542063-9
Mass Market Paperback/Historical Romance
US $7.95 / CDN $8.95
Available Now
www.helenrosburg.com
At the Lowara Gypsy Camp outside Windsor, England, in 1806, a young woman will lose her independence in a common marriage market transaction. Jade knows she is promised to Dimitri, a possessive abuser. Jade knows he will hurt her. Jade knows her freedom is gone.
When her father sends her to the arms of another man, she finds only slight consolation … until she encounters her intended. Evan Dark is a half-Gypsy gentleman—nothing like Dimitri. Caught in a battle between tribes, Jade is a piece of property, the ideal runaway bride. In order to escape Dimitri’s clutches, she sails for Charleston with Evan as his indentured servant. But, engaged to another woman as part of a plantation merger in South Carolina, Evan’s affiliation with Jade can never be more than professional.
Evan must choose between fulfilling his obligation to marry his betrothed or accept his overpowering passion for Jade, a woman his matchmaking Gypsy grandfather deemed the perfect Romany wife. In nineteenth-century America, where insincere tradition meets old money and arranged matrimony in upper-crust society, Evan faces the most difficult decision of his life: Remain loyal to the fiancée he holds in commitment… or be true to the lover he holds in his heart.
ISBN# 978-160542069-1
Mass Market Paperback/Historical Romance
US $7.95 / CDN $8.95
MARCH 2010
www.lisamariewilkinson.com
Galiana Montehue is beautiful, hallowed, and adored. Envied by her rivals and coveted by her suitors, this privileged lady of the manor enjoys the attention and esteem bestowed only on young women blessed with physical perfection. What more could a late-twelfth-century Welsh heroine need to shine at court?
Lord Rourke Wallis suffers a head injury at Galiana’s hands, rendering him blind and dependent. He never sees the beauty she curses with vehemence. Defending her twin brothers from Rourke’s drawn sword, she must live with the horrible debilitating consequences of her attack as she nurses the honorable knight. For the first time, she experiences a man’s sincere affection and genuine integrity.
In his dark and depressing internal prison, Rourke discovers a depth of passion impossible to find in the superficial realm of medieval fashion and visual charms. The gentle touch of her warm, delicate hands and the arousing lavender scent of her vibrant body awaken in Rourke a fervor he cannot deny. Galiana entices him like no other, drawing him into a tactile, sensual haven.
Yet the fulfillment of his desire must wait until the completion of his mission. Stolen from King William’s treasures, the magical Breath of Merlin must be recovered. This mysterious stone from antiquity contains supernatural power that royalty will fight to possess. Together they must unlock the secret to this dangerous, mystical gem, or face a future without the love they so recently discovered.
ISBN# 978-193383656-0
Mass Market Paperback/Paranormal Romance
US $7.95 / CDN $8.95
Available Now
www.traciehall.com