by Lucy Ashford
For her.
Tenderly, powerfully, he made love to her. And she indeed matched him in his ardour as he took her to the pinnacle of pleasure and beyond, until she felt herself shattering into a million shards of starlight.
Wrapped in his strong arms, she recalled the perilous, often sad journey that had brought her here. Alec was watching her, stroking her cheek with one finger.
‘Not tears, sweetheart?’ he whispered.
‘No. Oh, no! At least—not tears of sadness. I love you, Alec, so very much. I just hope I will be worthy of you.’
‘You’ve proved that and more, a thousand times,’ he told her gravely, stroking a curl away from her temple. ‘When I realised you’d left me, after that ball, I faced an abyss. And I knew then that I could face anything—anything at all, Rosalie—except the loss of your love.’
She nestled tighter into his arms. ‘You have that for ever,’ she breathed.
He kissed her tenderly, his lips warm on her cheek. ‘For ever and always,’ he echoed.
Rosalie twined her arms around his neck with a little sigh and her heart overflowed with pure happiness. For ever, with her darling Captain Stewart, was all that she could want, or need.
* * * * *
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Lucy Ashford 2012
ISBN: 978-1-408-94372-4
