The Humbug Man Read online

  He took her gently by the waist and looked down into her soft, frightened eyes. “Listen,” he said gently, “I’m just as nervous as you are. Probably more, because I’ve got to set the pace. So just relax, Mrs. Hollister, and we’ll kiss each other stupid and see where it gets us. Okay?”

  She lifted her face to his, smiling shyly, and closed her eyes as his mouth settled gently on hers.

  As he’d thought, once she relaxed and stopped being shy with him, everything fell into place. Minutes later, they were on his king-size bed, fighting the clothes that separated them until nothing did, not even the faint chill of the air.

  “Slowly,” he whispered, stilling her movements, holding her. “Slowly, honey. Yes. Yes, like that,” he murmured against her mouth as she shifted, letting him guide her. His lean hands caught her hips and held them as he moved. His mouth became demanding then, his hands insistent. He paused, breathing roughly, and felt her trembling. Then he moved again and it was easy. So easy. So sweet.

  She clung to him, feeling his movements, feeling him breathe, feeling the wildness of his heartbeat over her breasts as his body slowly merged with hers. She’d been afraid, but there was nothing to be afraid of. He was her husband and she loved him, and this was the most beautiful expression of love that she’d ever dreamed of.

  Her eyes closed as he shifted again and she opened her mouth against his throat as she heard him whispering, heard the words, burned with the passion in them. She arched, trembling, clinging, and heard his breath catch even as her body began to echo the sweet rhythm of his. And all at once they were soul to soul, as close as flesh could get to flesh. One.

  She could barely breathe at all, and she was still trembling in the aftermath when she felt his eyes on her face. She opened her eyes, looking up, fascinated, into the black tenderness of his gaze.

  “I love you,” he whispered huskily.

  “I love you, too.” She reached up, clinging to him, shuddering in completion. “Tate, it was…it was never…”

  “Never like this,” he finished for her. He nuzzled her cheek with his. “I know.” He wrapped her close, savoring her soft warmth in his arms. “You know,” he whispered, “if we do this enough, you might get pregnant.”

  She smiled into his throat. “I’ve heard it said that a ranch needs lots of sons.”

  “Well, we’ve got lots of time,” he whispered, lifting his head. “And I’d like to give you children, Maggie,” he said, bending. “I’ll love you all my life. All the way to the grave. Good times, bad times, all the times we share. You’re my world.”

  “Oh, Tate, you’re my world, too,” she whispered brokenly, burying her face against him.

  “Come here,” he whispered. “Show me.”

  She tried to answer him, but there was so much emotion in her throat she couldn’t speak for it. Two lost, lonely people had found a miracle this Christmas. And as she pressed against him, she managed to smile through tears of exquisite joy, her heart brimming over as she thought of all the Christmases yet to come that she and Blake would share with him—Christmases bright with laughter and filled with love.

  * * * * *

  New York Times bestselling author

  Returns to the plains of Wyoming with a fiery new couple!

  “Diana Palmer is a mesmerizing storyteller who captures the essence of what a romance should be.”

  —Affaire de Coeur

  Available October 28, 2014!

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  New York Times Bestselling Author

  DIANA PALMER

  Gabriel Brandon had been her hero ever since she was a girl and he’d rescued her, an orphan, from sure ruin. And Michelle Godrey had loved him forever, the mysterious rancher with the dark eyes, her protector and guardian angel. Now she’d blossomed into a woman. Could Michelle ever cast aside the shadows between them? Could she show Gabriel that their Lone Star love was true?

  TEXAS BORN

  Available wherever ebooks are sold!

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  eISBN-13: 978-1-4603-7820-5

  The Humbug Man

  Copyright © 1987 by Diana Palmer

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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