Suddenly, more quickly than before, so quickly she sensed it took him by surprise as well, her body began to arch wildly under his. Her nails scored his back, marking his body. Adding to the scars it already bore in her name.

Her last coherent thought was shock that the hoarse, inarticulate cry she heard came from her own throat. And then her consciousness, too, was consumed by the fire that had raged through her body, turning everything that had gone before--loss and grief and bitterness--to ash.

Slowly, so slowly, the shuddering eruption resolved into a trembling exhaustion, and then, after an eternity, the movement of their bodies ceased. Nerve endings flickered once and then stilled.

Their bodies joined, Sebastian lifted onto his elbows to look down again into her face. Eyes closed, she was reluctant to face him after her unbridled responses, feeling that somehow there must be something wrong with a woman taking as much pleasure in this as a man.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Only then did she open her eyes. Their lids seemed weighted, drugged with passion's aftermath, almost too heavy to lift.

When she had, she saw that he was smiling at her. There was no shock in the blue eyes--only love and joy. And in the undisguised pleasure of his smile, she forgot whatever silly embarrassment she had felt.

This was her husband.A man who knew her body intimately. Her body and her soul, she realized.

She did not regret making those revelations. How could she? The trust they represented were as much a part of this union as the simple vows that had joined them.

"Micorazon ," he said softly.

She was. And because--like that ofher own parents--it seemed Sinclair marriages were magical, she knew she always would be his heart. Just as he, her so belovedhusband, would always be hers.

"Micorazon ."

end.