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  "And just which lord are you?" Sarah's mouth compressed into a thin line as she enfolded her arms about Emmy in a protective manner.

  Justin gave her his most conciliatory smile. "Actually. I'm Howden. Fifth earl."

  Sarah's eyes grew wide and round, then narrowed in disdain. "You are that earl? I have heard of you. You are a rake of the worst sort."

  Justin lifted his palms. "Once we are married, you may reform me and make me the best of husbands."

  Her eyes glittered. "Do not for one instant believe that I shall marry you."

  "But you agreed—"

  That was before I learned your title. Oh. for shame. Howden, to

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  hide such a thing. It changes everything.''

  He could not believe his ears. After shunning the marriage mart, avoiding the over-zealous candidates for his title, here he was, proposing to someone who wanted no part of him! His tone stiff and aggrieved, he muttered, "I do not see how it changes a thing."

  She waved his statement away. "I do not wish to marry a nobleman. You are not ready for marriage. I have heard how assiduously you protect your bachelorhood. Furthermore, we know nothing about each other. I cannot believe you would wish to be leg-shackled to a female you have just met."

  He grabbed her hand in his. "All that might have been true at one time. Now I have met you and I am ready to marry." He kissed her fingers and tucked them into her palm. "I already know a great deal about you. You are brave, trustworthy, honorable and utterly desirable. If I searched for years, I could not find another with your qualities."

  "You still remain a peer," she accused.

  "You wish me to renounce my title?"

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  Chapter Eleven

  His alarmed tones still rang as she considered his offer.

  "No. You cannot help being who you are."

  He felt humbled. '"Help me reform."

  "A challenging task, but quite impossible."

  He took Emmy from her arms and settled her in the cot. "I shall have to persuade you. then."

  "By what means?" She tilted her head, watching him suspiciously.

  "Fair or foul, my heart. Just as I have assiduously avoided parson's mousetrap, now I shall set the cheese myself."

  She bit her lip. but he saw the laughter in her eyes. Encouraged by that, he kissed her. When her mouth softened under his, he deepened the kiss.

  He felt her melt against him as he devoted himself to pleasuring her again. Where once her body was unfamiliar, a treasure to explore, now he felt the joy of familiarity, of knowing where she was most sensitive and responsive. He knew now how to touch, how hard, how gentle, how often; here a light, flickering touch; there with more insistent pressure.

  As he dedicated himself to her. he was caught up in a surge of passion so strong it all but blinded him. His heart roared, his breath came hot and harsh. Eagerly, he gave of himself, offering her everything he was or could ever aspire to be. She moaned and arched under him. proffering herself, giving him more satisfaction than he'd ever had before.

  He rose over her, spreading her legs, wrapping them around his

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  hips. He positioned his rod at her entrance, rubbing himself against her heated flesh, until he could endure it no longer and plunged into her.

  Their lovemaking was fast, furious and frantic. He cried out as his orgasm overtook him. as his seed spurted into her, as he gave her his life. She cried out herself, her voice high and thin, as she reached her own pleasure. Her inner muscles gripped him tightly, milking him, holding on to him. until at last, she relaxed, her body going lax.

  He collapsed onto her. his breath still coming in grating gulps. When Justin could at last think straight, he was appalled that he had taken her so roughly. "Did I hurt you?,' he whispered, almost afraid to look at her face and see the ravages of his assault.

  She squirmed under him. "Mmm." She stiffened. "Emmy! I cannot believe I forgot about her."

  Justin rolled off her and went to check on the baby. "She sleeps. She does not care what we do."

  "Are you sure?" Sarah asked as she sat up. She gasped.

  He returned to her immediately. He bent by the bedside and took her into his arms. "I am sorry, my heart. I forgot that you were unused to this."

  "I will be all right."

  Justin winced. How brave, how generous she was! What a greedy bastard he was. to inflict himself on her like that. "I can soothe the pain. Will you let me?"

  She spared him a wary glance.

  "Please. Sarah."

  When she nodded shyly, he rose, and pouring water from an ewer into a basin, he knelt by the fire until the water warmed. He procured a soft cloth from his dressing room and went back to the wide bed. She lay sprawled, sated and drowsy, yet he saw the way she flinched when he moved her leg to sit by her.

  He wet the cloth and wrung it out. Carefully, he parted her legs and eased the damp cloth against her tender flesh. She tried to close her legs against him. but he persevered, murmuring reassurances

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  until she relaxed and let him tend her.

  Gently, he cleansed the swollen petals, washing away the blood stains and his semen. His eyes widened as he took in the import of his actions. He cursed himself at the evidence of his rough treatment of her. When he had bathed and soothed her. he lowered his mouth and kissed every sweet, fragrant inch of her in atonement.

  She murmured, she stretched, she accepted.

  At last, he cuddled her in his arms. ''I am sorry to be so importunate with you. Sarah. Can you forgive me?"'

  She hugged him. "The pain is nothing, nothing compared to what you have taught me. I did not know it would be so beautiful."

  "It will only get better with us. Though I must abstain from making love to you for a day or so, I would not care if we were snowbound forever."

  She sighed. "It cannot be. You know I must leave. Justin. Or should I say 'my lord"?"

  He winced at the bitterness in her voice. "I thought we had settled this."

  "Our discussion was...postponed."

  "So it was." He grinned at her. "I warned you I would employ whatever means necessary."

  "You are a cad. sir." She smiled, taking the sting from her words.

  "Have I banished your reticence about marrying me?"

  ""Not at all."

  "It must be, Sarah." he insisted. "We have made love twice now. We are married beyond redemption. It needs only the formalities to make it proper."

  Her face blanched. "Beyond redemption? You make it sound like purgatory."

  "Never so. my love. We shall be the happiest of couples. We shall make our own paradise." He hesitated. "I forgot to sheathe myself this last time. Sarah. We might have already created my heir. We must marry."

  She made a sound, half laugh, half sob. "But why you, Justin?

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  You, the Earl of Howden. notorious member of Society? I did not want a man like you."

  "You already have me."

  She shook her head. Her hair, honey soft and fragrant, teased his bare flesh. His groin tightened. His yard pressed against her soft belly.

  "I do not want to marry as a result of..." she gestured to the bed.

  "I proposed before we made love this last time, my heart." he reminded her. "I cannot deny that our marriage is more imperative now that I have given you my seed. but. listen to me," he urged when she tried to break free. "What we shared together was more than I could ever expect to find, and yet, I would want you even if our lovemaking gave us a fraction of the pleasure."

  "I... is that true?"

  "Stay. Sarah. Be my countess. Be my love."

  "You speak so easily of love, Justin." She lifted confused eyes to his.

  He swam in them, saw himself as he could be with her. happy and fulfilled. From being the skeptic peer no one wanted for himself, so determined to avoid being leg-shackled he'd hidden himself in the country, here he was begging
her to free him from of his cynical doubts. From being inflexible in his resolution not to marry, he was now casting all reservations aside and flinging himself at Sarah.

  Sarah, who didn't want him.

  What a comeuppance for an arrogant, cynical bastard like himself. She humbled him by her bravery, her honor, her willingness to set aside her own future for Emmy's sake. What had he done to compare with her generosity?

  '"It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is also easy." He brushed a tendril of silken hair away from her temple and placed a kiss in its stead. "It comes from my heart. Sarah, if you will allow me, I will be a good husband to you. You and Emmy shall have the moon. I swear it,"

  "Hush, Justin, Do not make impossible promises."

  "Sarah. Sarah. Take pity on me. Bring your warmth and bright spirit

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  into my life. Make me see through your eyes. Help me. Sarah."

  She shuddered in his arms. "You are a devil, Justin Stowe, to tempt me like this. How wicked you are."

  "Change me," he suggested. "Make me into a good husband, a father."

  "You would be a father to Emmy?"

  Justin thought of the means by which he would make sure Emmy stayed with Sarah and with him. That nameless soldier would be lucky if he still had a regiment when he was through with him.

  "Justin?"

  He looked down into her worried face. "I shall be a very good father to Emmy, and to our own children." He paused, thinking of a number of honey-haired daughters with Sarah's cinnamon-spice eyes. They had best have brothers to protect them. Strong, arrogant pups like their sire. He grinned. "I can hardly wait."

  She inhaled, then expelled a lingering sigh. "Perhaps I shall marry you in the spring."

  He thought of flowers, of fresh green grass, of Sarah warm and fragrant, and swallowed hard. "Spring is too far away. Next week, by special license."

  "Next week?" she echoed. "I cannot—it is too soon."

  "At the rate I intend to ensure that I am a father in my own right before the year is out, it will be too late."

  "Ensure?" She laughed, a bubbling, frothing, frolic of a laugh that warmed his groin and made his already rigid cock strain to find its home. In a move that delighted him, she ran her hand down his chest and cupped his rod. "You are very determined. Must you always have your own way?"

  "Always, Sarah." He pushed against her palm, all but moaning when she circled and stroked. "When it comes to satisfying you, I shall always have my way."

  She lifted the covers to glance down at him. "I see." Her approbation made his blood boil. He pulsed in her hand as a tiny drop

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  appeared at the tip of his member.

  ''I had never thought of myself as a countess, Justin. I do not know how to go about as a member of Society."

  His knees trembled at her acceptance of her new role. "You need not concern yourself. The ton shall learn from you. All London shall envy me."

  Sarah licked her lips and closed her hand around him. He gritted his teeth against the pleasure that threatened to overtake him from both the physical sensations and the knowledge thai Sarah trusted her sensual feelings enough to explore.

  She squeezed him lightly. "Could we not live a quiet life in the country and forget town?"

  A thought occurred to him. "Perhaps later. I wish to present you to Society." He began to laugh. "I want to see the faces on all those matchmaking mamas who have been shoving their daughters my way. All their machinations for naught!"

  "For shame, Justin." Sarah tried to frown, but her lips quivered and her enchanting laugh pealed over them. "You are a devil."

  "But you love me anyway," he suggested.

  "I must," she agreed. "Why else would I accept you?"

  He hugged her. content at last. He would give her anything she wanted. "After our first visit to town, we shall stay to ourselves as long as you wish, my love. As for now, so long as we remain snowbound, we have nothing to do but care for Emmy and make love."

  She fit herself against him, nipples peaking. "Then you must pray for snow, Justin."

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  About the Author:

  Born in Ecuador and raised in Chile, Bonnie Mature was educated there and in the United States. She has also lived in Italy. England and Scotland, where she gained an appreciation for her Scots heritage. She now makes her home among the coastal redwoods south of San Francisco. Published also in book-length women's fiction, Bonnie finds there is nothing as satisfying as an emotionally gripping tale of two people making a commitment to each other She writes with sensitivity, with passion and with the touch of humor that makes sensuality fun.

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  SAVAGE GARDEN

  BY SUSAN PAUL

  To My Reader:

  Savage Garden is a sizzling historical romance woven around one man. one woman, and a passion for revenge.

  In the savage gardens of Mexico you'll meet beautiful Lady Raine LeFleur and ruggedly handsome revolutionary Miguel Chavez. In the middle of a war with France, the lust thing Miguel Chavez needs is to be irresistibly drawn to the daughter of a French major! Nevertheless, braving impetuous desire, forbidden love and a revolution, Miguel and Raine at last unite in their fight to save the only thing that matters to them... their undying love.

  I hope you enjoy Raine LeFleur and Miguel Chavez's adventures!

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  Chapter One

  Sinforosa Canyon, Mexico

  July 1865

  The mountains to the west of the French army stronghold turned purple as the sun slipped down behind their massive shoulders. An owl hooted from the gnarled branch of a tree; crickets chirped. A warm breeze shivered softly through the white lace curtains of the glass-less window, promising little relief from the intense heat of the night.

  In her room, Lady Raine LeFleur inhaled the sweet scent of the desert in bloom. The fragrant flowers of the feathery-leafed mes-quite enveloped her senses. As her gaze scanned the savage garden beyond the fort, her hands shook and the delicate tea cup rattled on its china saucer. She steeled herself as she lifted the cup to her lips and swallowed the last of the tea-like concoction. The housekeeper had promised that the ancient remedy would bring on a blissful night's rest. She would believe it when it happened.

  Raine made an abrupt turn and plunked the empty cup and saucer on the vanity. Her bare footsteps moved across the room making quick, angry strides. In only fourteen days, she would say good-bye to her father and return to France. The thought of her wedding set her teeth on edge.

  Lately, she suffered from insomnia and seldom slept more than a few hours a night. Worried over her uncertain future, she shifted her gaze to the bed that brought her no rest. Discarding her silk robe. she stretched. The warm air was a pleasant and balmy caress on her

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  naked skin. With a small smile on her lips, she headed for the bed.

  When Raine caught sight of her fiance's photograph on the bedside table, her eyes narrowed. He was the reason for her sleepless nights. Though she knew young women married men they didn't know every day, distress filled her being at the thought. Was it so unreasonable to want love to come before the marriage?

  Apparently.

  With a groan, she reached and flipped the ornate sterling silver frame face down with a thump. Arranged marriage or not—duty or not—she didn't want to marry this man. She hadn't seen him in three years. How could she love him?

  The air felt thick and heavy as Raine put out the lamp. She stifled a yawn as the housekeeper's ancient remedy began to work its magic. She crawled into bed and slipped between the crisp white linen sheets. Her body settled into the softness of the feather mattress. Under the cover she laid defiantly nude. In Mexico's oppressive climate it was more comfortable, although she knew even to think of such an act was considered sinful. Her father and most of his troops were out on patrol. She was alone in the house. With a rebellious little smile, she flung th
e top sheet aside and fell into a deep sleep.

  Half the night was gone when the dream began.

  He was there, mysterious and magnetic, just as he looked twice before on her daily rides. Mounted on a dark stallion far in the distance, the golden rays of the setting sun silhouetted him on top of a ridge. The vision so vivid, her breath caught in her throat. His skin was a dark bronze. She couldn't see his face clearly beneath the wide brim of the hat. Still, she thought him handsome. With his regal posture... how could he be anything but?

  From atop her horse she gazed at him, desire fueling her thoughts. His powerful presence seemed to engulf her; his rough masculinity aroused her mind and senses. The knowledge that this man was a revolutionary and, with the rest of Juarez's people, deep in battle with her countrymen to reclaim Mexico, heightened the danger. A

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  jolt of sharp need, a fierce urge surged between her legs. She wanted to be filled by this stranger, feel the presence of his rigid sex; needed to hold and keep his manhood in her soft-walled tunnel.

  Deep in the throes of her dream, the revolutionary returned her wanton look. Her mouth opened halfway in unconscious invitation. His soul reached out and spoke to her without saying a word. Come to me, it said—come to me fully and completely.

  This man so tempted Raine that her heart hammered. The bursting bud. no longer sheltered by its hood, throbbed. When he spurred his horse forward, the fear of him and the unknown excited her. So much, she had no desire to turn and flee, but waited, seemingly fused to her gelding's back.

  Was it because any type of intimate relationship, much less one with a Mexican revolutionary, an enemy, was forbidden—that made it so tempting?

  Then, too fast, horse and rider appeared at her side. The dark territory of the revolutionary's eyes was intense beneath the wide brim of his hat. His face was chiseled, stark, masculine. He looked wild and undisciplined, in total contrast to the way she had been raised, so fascinating that her breath caught in her throat and a heady warmth invaded the deeper regions of her womb.