"If any hope can turn the tide of this curse, it would be yours. But no. There's more. I'll show you in the morning. You've given me life when I've had so little. We've made love in the moonlight. Now I want to make love in the water."

I shook my head, standing and moving away from him. "No. I'm not doing that with you in the sea. I would drown."

He laughed. "I have my own private sea, and I won't have any trouble keeping you afloat."

"What sea?"

"There's a natural hot spring that I've made great use of." Taking a candle, he led me quietly down the corridor past the rooms where Bridget, Prudence and Rebecca slept to his bedchamber. But he didn't stop there. He crossed his room and went into a small corridor, where the air changed, growing warmer and more humid. Then moving through a set of doors, he stopped and so did I. My halt was from surprise. It was a tiled Roman bath with large pools of steamy water. While I stared, Sean stripped. If I'd known of this room in first coming to the castle, I would have braved any obstacle to sink into its steamy waters.

"Come join me, Cassie." He slipped into the water then swam beneath the surface, appearing again in the middle of the pool. Water dripped from his dark hair and slid enticingly over his skin. As before, staring at his mouth brought the heated memory of him feasting on me to mind. My body burned for more. I undressed hurriedly and eased myself into the warm water, holding onto the side until I was sure of my footing. I had yet to learn to swim well; something told me I would in the future. He came up behind me, setting his hands on either side of mine on the tile and pressed his rigid arousal against my bottom.

I went to face him. He stopped me.

"Brace your hands on the tile." He eased my hips up and back until he slid his hot arousal inside of me. Cupping my breasts so that his fingers captured the tips and plucked them like berries, he slid in and out of me so slowly that I thought I was going to die of the pleasure. At one peak he thrust in deeply and held as he nipped the back of my neck at a place that sent fiery shivers to my toes and back to my loins.

"You weren't lying to me," I gasped.

"What?" He whispered in my ear, evoking another shiver.

"You've made quite a study of this subject."

"I'm just beginning to explore what I have learned."

I would have said more, but what he did next with his fingers ripped away any ability I had to think. All I could do was feel until I was so spent my knees wouldn't even hold me upright. Swinging me into his arms, he carried me to his room, dried me off. Then, placing me in his bed, he curled around me.

"I love you, Cassie. With all of my heart."

"I love you too," I sighed and drifted off to sleep.

"Cassie, it's almost dawn. We need to talk."

I turned to him, burrowing against him, needing his warmth. "I dreamed of Mary."

He drew a deep breath. "And?"

"I saw her on a dark cliff looking at the sea. I woke before I could see more."

"Dragon's Point," Sean said. "I'll show it to you some night. Mary used to go there to paint. There's a family graveyard there. Perhaps your family would like to bury her there."

I could see Mary at peace there, painting the sea. "Yes. I'll speak to my aunt about it later today." I hesitated. "Can you accept my dreams, Sean? I never know when the darkness will come."

"You shouldn't even question that. It is me you need to decide if you can accept. I never know when the headaches are going to intrude, and I may have to live in the shadows of the night forever."

Moving from the bed, he scooped me up into his arms and took me to a wall of curtains across his room. He pulled them open, and there was the sea set softly aglow by the pinkish light of the dawn.

"This is the time that the world is waking, that children are smiling, waiting to play. That men are going off to work and to the sea, and women are gathering to talk about their cares as they pray for those they love. The sun rises up and greets them all, will keep them warm through the day and will ease them to their beds at dusk. This is the time that I go to sleep. I will see none of them, I will hear none of them, I won't hear a baby cry, or run across a sunlit glen to chase my child as he laughingly plays. I live alone in the shadows and have no real hope that it will ever be different. I did have a few brief times in the sun recently, but it always came at a price. The headaches were just at such a point that I could stand the pain. I don't know if I will regain that or not."

He set me on my feet and knelt before me like a dark knight before a queen. "Will you marry me and share my world, Cassie? Can you? Will you dance with me beneath the stars?"

The sun rose against the horizon and he turned from it. I reached out and pulled the curtain shut, welcoming the darkness. I would be here to watch over Rebecca, just to be sure there was no horseman from the sea. I would be here for Bridget, to help with her mother and brother, and to know when she heard from her sister. And I would be here with him forever.

"Yes." I kneeled before him, and cupped his face in mine. What I couldn't understand before, I knew fully now. "Yes. I will share the light of my soul in the darkness with you." I kissed him then, promising all of my heart and all of my life to whatever destiny we would carve out of a bright future in the shadow of the stars.

About the Author.

Jennifer St. Giles, a USA Today Bestselling Author, also writes Contemporary romantic suspense as J.L. Saint. She is a nurse and mother of three. She has won a number of awards for writing excellence including, two National Reader's Choice Awards, two time Maggie Award Winner, Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Romance Writers' of America's Golden Heart Award, along with RT Book Club's Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Gothic/Mystery. Website: jenniferstgiles.com jlsaint.com I love hearing from my readers and you can find me on Facebook and Twitter. Midnight Secrets is the first book in the Killdaren Trilogy and tells the story of how love can make the difference and change the lives of everyone it touches if you let it. So open your hearts and enjoy!

Look for these titles by Jennifer St. Giles.

Now Available:.

Silent Warrior.

Collateral Damage by J.L. Saint.

Coming Soon:.

The Killdaren.

Darkest Dreams.

Silken Shadows.

Silent Warrior.

Tactical Deception by J.L. Saint.

Let a terrorist take her? Not over his dead body and damned soul....

Collateral Damage.

2010 J.L. Saint.

Silent Warrior, Book 1.

One thing makes Jack Hunter invaluable to his Delta Force Team. The same trait that makes him suck at relationships. Single-minded focus on his career-and honing his ability to never miss a kill.

After a terrorist missile devastates his team and leaves him with only partial memory of a FUBARed rescue mission, he retains only one clear picture no one believes: the last face in his gunsight belonged to a prestigious American businessman. The man's wife has to know something, but the only way to get to her is go AWOL.

After her husband trades his family to tango with double-Ds, Lauren Collins decides her dogs are better judges of character. She's unaware how far her soon-to-be-ex's web of deceit reaches-until the only thing between her, her sons and a killer is a wounded Delta soldier who activates her sorely neglected X-chromosome like nobody's business.

Their instant attraction is kryptonite to Jack's injury-dulled edge. Thrust into a world of peril, political treachery and treason, Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her life. Even if she and her sons survive, she's not sure her heart will...

Warning: Contains a warrior who doesn't hesitate to lay his body on the line, more than one emotional love story to tug at your heart, and chaos at Chuck E. Cheese.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Collateral Damage: "Come in to the bathroom and let me clean you up, then we both can relax," she said past the emotion clogging her throat. What almost happened was still too fresh in her mind for her to be anything but overwhelmed.

"I can do it." He stood, coming so close to her that she had to take a step back. His nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply. He searched her gaze for a moment as if trying to assess her mood.

"So can I, and right now I need to make sure you're all right more than you need to be Mr. Invincible." She marched to the bathroom and pointed to the closed commode, determined to ignore the effects of his close proximity on her senses. "Sit."

The corner of his mouth quirked up as he sat. "What's next? The Terminator?"

"Sponge Bob Square Pants," she said briskly as she turned on the water.

He snorted and winced. "Can we stick with Superman?"

"Depends on how cooperative you are, Dudley Do Right." More like Studly Do Right.

He laughed, then groaned. "Okay. You win. Just don't make me laugh again. No more torture."

She opened the first-aid kit and he reached for the Ibuprofen, downing a handful of them before pulling off his stained T-shirt. The bathroom shrank to the size of a pea pod, a very warm pea pod. And the torture had just begun because ignoring him and the effect of his chiseled in stone physique became impossible. His every muscle was perfectly defined, supple and vibrant with life. Thank God for that.

This man had put his life on the line for their country numerous times. And he'd put everything on the line for her without question.

Taking the wash cloth, she gently cleansed away the dried blood then dabbed some antibiotic ointment to his wound and left it open to air at his insistence. She turned her attention to cleaning his neck and chest as well, lingering more than she had a right to, but unable to stop herself from relishing every touch. A touch he was clearly far from indifferent to, a reaction that filled her even more with want, with need, with excitement. He seemingly watched her every move with his heated gaze, but then she swore he'd stared at her mouth, her breasts, her sex so long that it was a wonder she didn't burst into flames.

She surprised herself on how quickly she finished, then again, he had a way of warping her perception of time. It could have been five minutes, it could have been fifty, whatever it was, it wasn't enough. She wanted more of him, needed to give more to him in so many ways.

That bullet had shot to hell any barriers or pretensions, leaving a raw need that only he could fill. She slid her palm against his hard-edged jaw and eased his gaze up to hers. His skin had become burning hot, his pulse raced beneath her finger tips, and his respirations had quickened considerably. "Are you sure you don't need the hospital?"

"The hospital is the last thing I need right now." His voice was like sandpaper, made her feel raw, vulnerable and that much more needy. He placed his hand against her hers and turned to brush his lips to the inside of her wrist. The simmering desire between them flared white hot and burned a path all the way to her core. She shivered with excitement. The connection between them was one that only a near-death incident could forge.

Her mouth went dry and she searched hard for the right thing to say to him. Her heart was so full, her need so great. She met his gaze. "I don't know that I've thanked you enough. For being there yesterday. Today. For keeping my sons safe. For keeping me alive."

He started to shake his head and she stopped him. "Let me finish. I want to thank you for what you've done every day, for the years that you've been there doing what has to be done so I can live the life I live. It means more than I can express or ever repay."

He exhaled. "Lauren, sometimes it's a job, sometimes it's more than that. It's everything I believe. But right now it sure as hell isn't-"

She pressed her finger to his lips, halting his words. "That being said, I want you to know this has nothing whatsoever to do with gratitude and everything to do with what's in my heart." She planted her mouth on his, ready to start this kiss where their kiss last night had ended.

She can save him...or bring him to ultimate ruin.

A Tarnished Heart.

2010 Leslie Dicken.

The Earl of Markham's life is unraveling before his eyes. The harder he tries to pick up the frayed ends, the quicker his carefully guarded control slips from his iron grasp. Five years after the death of his wife, the threat of blackmail hangs over his son's inheritance.

His only hope to quell the gossip before it begins lies in a headstrong young commoner as wild and free as the English countryside she loves. She is wrong for him in every way. Yet she brings life to his colorless world-and warms his heart with a fire that threatens to shatter the wall around his heart.

Lizzie Parker is content with her garden, her village and caring for her aging father. She wants no part of the glittering London Season, but her father will not be denied his wish to see to her future. Still, she plans to do everything in her power to vex the man charged with taking her away from her beloved home. The man who once broke her heart. Markham.

She never expected his kisses to tame her resistance. With each touch he rouses her senses, until suddenly she's not at all sure where she belongs...

Warning: Blackmail! (oh my) Secrets! (oh my) Love Scenes! (oh oh my) and even a trip to the magnificent Crystal Palace in London. You won't be able to put this one down.

Enjoy the following excerpt for A Tarnished Heart: Lizzie picked up her pace, biting back hot tears.

"Miss Parker! Come back here."

Instead she lifted her chin and continued.

Markham's now familiar growl echoed behind her.

"Lizzie! Wait for me," Edmund called.

But she wasn't going to slow down for him, either. Home. It was all she ever wanted. What a fool she'd been to venture into the village when she could be spending every moment with her father.

Clopping horses approached, then the animals reared to a noisy stop and the door swung open beside her. Before she could react, Markham climbed down the steps and lifted her like a sack of feathers.

"Put me down, you boar."

Edmund yelled for her, but it mattered little against a man the size of Markham.

Her captor dropped her onto the seat cushion, yanked the door closed, and rapped on the wall. Within seconds, the vehicle sprang forward. The dowager wasn't there.

"How dare you? You think because there is no chaperone you can carry me off like a barbarian?" Her pulse leaped at her throat, an anxious pacing tiger trapped within a cage.

Markham settled into the seat opposite her, his black hair in disarray like a horse's mane. "It is time to return to London." The blasted man was not even out of breath.

"But I've not spent enough time with my father."

His dark stare glinted with restrained emotions. "It is not my fault you chose to squander your time, Miss Parker."

"Squander my time." The nerve of him. "And that gives you the right to lift me off the ground and kidnap me?"

"You were being stubborn, as usual."

Oh, that man and his bloody self-importance. "I'll show you stubborn."

She reached for the door handle but Markham's powerful fingers clamped down on her wrist. Without letting go, he moved onto her side, pushing her away from the door.

"I won't have you leaping out." The words tickled down her spine, spiked awareness deep in her core. Her breasts ached, nipples tightened.

His spicy, foreign scent washed over her in a conquering wave of dizziness.

"Let me go."

Markham leaned closer, his penetrating eyes halting her resistance. Her breath stilled as those perfectly formed lips hovered just inches from her face. She could see every nuance of his skin, every fine line around his eyes. "Apparently, you don't know with whom you are dealing."

Her eyes narrowed, a flush racing up her neck. "But I do know...a rude, boorish, self-absorbed peer who thinks he can manipulate people however he pleases."