She burst out laughing. Not only was marriage a passion feast, it also seemed to be the most fun she'd ever had.

A WEEK LATER, THEY WERE doing the tango in an exclusive club in Jamaica, right on the beach.

"I told you I'd learn quickly with the right teacher," Mallory teased, kissing her ear as they moved around the room.

"Yes, and you did."

"So did you," he whispered outrageously.

She peered up at him mischievously. "I bought this book today."

"You did? A book?" He leaned down. "What sort of book?"

"It's a detailed book about how to, well, how to do stuff. With your husband."

"I don't have a husband," he groaned. "What about me?"

"It's a book for a woman about how to do stuff with her husband," she informed him. "It's very detailed."

"Does it have pictures?" he asked with wide eyes.

She glared at him. "It doesn't need pictures."

"Then, can you demonstrate it for me?" he added, and his dark eyes were twinkling.

She laughed out loud. "Oh, I think I can do that."

"Now?" he asked, stopping in the middle of the dance floor.

"Here?" she asked, horrified.

"How dare you?" he huffed. "I'm a decent, upright man, I am."

"You can't be upright while I demonstrate this book," she pointed out. She pursed her lips. "You have to be in a reclining position."

"This is getting better by the minute. Shall we go?"

He held out his arm. She put hers through it with a chuckle. "By all means. It might take some time," she added as they left the room. "I'm not sure I've got it down pat just yet."

"I promise not to complain, no matter how long it takes," he assured her with laughing dark eyes.

It did take a very long time. But he kept his promise. He didn't complain. Not even once.

Next month, don't miss

THE SAVAGE HEART by Diana Palmer

This classic historical, set in Montana

and Chicago, Illinois, is available

for the first time since its original

publication in 1997!

Turn the page for a sneak peek of the romance between

Tess Meredith and Raven Following...

Prologue

Montana

Spring 1891

THERE WAS LIGHTNING in the distance where dark clouds settled low over the buttes. Spring storms, all lightning display at first, were common here, and Tess Meredith loved to watch them-especially now that she had a companion who seemed to have a legend about every one of these natural occurrences...and every unnatural one, too.

But even more than watching summer storms with her new and treasured friend, Tess liked to ride fast, hunt and fish, live in the outdoors enjoying nature and what she called "adventure." Her father despaired of her ever marrying. Who would appreciate a young woman who had such accomplishments, not one of which had anything to do with traditional domestic occupations?

Today Tess looked quite different from the way she usually did and quite grown-up for a fourteen-year-old. Her blond hair was piled neatly on top of her head, rather than flying free; she was wearing a long cotton dress with a high neck, rather than rolled-up dungarees and one of her father's shirts. Polished lace-up shoes replaced the scuffed boots she always wore. Her father had beamed when he'd seen her earlier. Of course, he wouldn't say a chastising word to her on the subject of her dress or her unladylike pursuits. He was far too kind to do such a thing. It was the kindness in him, so deep and so sincere, that made him such a wonderful doctor, Tess believed, for many who practiced medicine had skill, but few had his way with patients.

She sighed and glanced over at Raven Following, the only man she'd ever known who treated her as an equal, not a silly child-or worse, a silly girl. He was a Sioux who had lived at Pine Ridge until about eight months ago. His shoulders, wide and powerful, did not move under the buckskins he wore. His long, thick black hair was braided and wrapped with narrow bands of ermine skins, and his strongly boned, handsome face was free of expression.

Looking at him, Tess was filled with melancholy and curiosity. What did Raven see? He seemed to see all manner of things around and in the far distance that she couldn't. Sometimes it was difficult for her to believe he was only six or seven years older than she.

"Are you scared?" she suddenly asked.

"A warrior never admits fear."

She smiled. "Oh, pardon me. Are you nervous, then?"

"Uneasy." His lean, graceful fingers held a stick that he alternately toyed with and used to draw symbols on the ground. Now he was idly moving it from hand to hand. "Chicago is far away from here. I've never been to a white man's city."

"Papa says you'll be educated there and afterward you can get a job. He knows a man who will give you work."