Desire Me (40 page)

He listened as he moved, waiting to hear the sound of fraying rope, but all he could hear was his own heavy breath. His heart
pounded. Sweat coated his hands, and he prayed he wouldn’t lose his grip. The light to his left grew closer.

Finally he reached the other side. He fell onto the dirt floor and lay there to steady his breathing. He was one step closer
to finding the Stone of Destiny.

Where authors give you the inside scoop!

From the desk of Margaret Mallory

Dear Readers,

Am I unkind? I made Sir James Rayburn wait until the third book in my All the King’s Men trilogy to get his own story. First,
as a toddler, he watched his mother find love with her KNIGHT OF DESIRE, William FitzAlan. Then, as a young squire, he played
a supporting role to his uncle Stephen, the KNIGHT OF PLEASURE, in his quest for true love. And now, when I finally give this
brave and honorable knight his own book, I let the girl he loves stomp on his heart in the prologue.

After that unfortunate experience, all Jamie Rayburn wants—or so he says—is a virtuous wife who will keep a quiet, ordered
home waiting for him while he is off fighting. Instead, I give him the bold and beautiful Linnet, whose determination to avenge
her family is bound to provoke endless tumult and trouble. Worse, this heroine is the very lady who stomped on Jamie’s heart
in his youth.

Why would I do this to our gallant knight? After he has shown such patience, why not reward him with the sweet, undemanding
heroine he requested?
Although that heroine might prove to be a trifle dull, she would be content to gaze raptly at our hero
as he told tales of his victories by the hearth.

Truly, I meant to give Jamie a softer, easier woman. But when I tried to write Jamie’s story, Linnet decided she
had
to be there. And when Linnet sets her mind to something, believe me, it’s best not to stand in her way.

Besides, Linnet was right. Who better to save Jamie from a staid and tedious life? No other woman stirs Jamie’s passion as
she does. And what passion! If our handsome knight must contend with murderous plots, court intrigues, and a few sword-wielding
sorcerers before he can win his heart’s desire, then so be it.

I am sure Jamie forgives me. Our KNIGHT OF PASSION knows a happy ending is worth the wait—and it’s all the more satisfying
if it doesn’t come easy.

I hope you enjoy reading Jamie and Linnet’s adventurous love story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

www.margaretmallory.com

From the desk of Cara Elliott

Dear Readers,

Oh, dear
. Just when all the gossip about Lady Sheffield and the Mad, Bad Earl of Hadley (you may read their story in TO SIN WITH A
SCOUNDREL)—has died down, the Circle of Sin series is once again in danger of stirring up scandal. This time, it’s Lady Sheffield’s
fellow scholar, the lovely and enigmatic Alessandra della Giamatti, who is caught up in a web of lies and intrigue.

Well, luckily for her, Hadley’s good friend, the rakish “Black Jack” Pierson, comes to the rescue in TO SURRENDER TO A ROGUE
(available now). A decorated war hero, Jack is also a talented painter… not to mention highly skilled in the art of seduction.
(Apparently, he is intimately acquainted with all the creative ways a man can use a soft sable brush to… er, I really ought
to allow you to discover those colorful details for yourself.)

At first blush, archaeology might not seem like a subject that inspires heated passions. However, I chose to plot my story
around an excavation of ancient Roman ruins in England because I have always been fascinated by how, throughout history, the
idea of buried treasure has resulted in both serious scholarship and serious skullduggery. In Regency times, the
“science”
of archaeology was in its infancy. Napoleon deserves credit for taking a host of scholars with him to Egypt, along with his
invading army, and encouraging them to preserve artifacts of the past for academic study. On the English side, Lord Elgin
carefully crated up marbles from the Parthenon in Athens and removed them to London, where they became the nucleus of the
British Museum. (Today, there is quite a vociferous debate between Greece and Great Britain about whether the artistic treasures
were, in fact, looted from their rightful home—but that is a topic I shall leave to the diplomats to decide.)

In TO SURRENDER TO A ROGUE, things really heat up as the digging begins outside the spa town of Bath, which is, in fact, set
on the site of an ancient Roman outpost. Someone is threatening to expose a scandalous secret from Alessandra’s past if she
doesn’t betray all the principles she holds dear. Does she dare confide in Jack? She has good reason not to trust handsome
rogues, so it’s no wonder that she views him as dangerous.
Oh so dangerous
. But if ever a lady needed a hero to fight for her honor…

And speaking of dangerous men, Alessandra’s cousin—that unrepentant rake otherwise known as the Conte of Como—is rattling
his own sword… so to speak. Not content with playing a secondary role in my first two books, Marco saunters into an adventure
of his own in TO TEMPT A RAKE (available in winter 2011). As you know, he is a rather arrogant, abrasive fellow, and he is
used to having females fall at
his feet. So when the free-spirited Kate Woodbridge—the most rebellious member of the Circle
of Sin—resists his flirtations at a country-house party, he can’t help but be intrigued. Like her fellow “sinners,” Kate is
both beautiful and brainy—and hiding a dark secret that occurred in her past. When things take a sinister turn at her grandfather’s
estate, seduction is no longer a game, and she is forced to decide whether a rakehell rascal can be trusted…

Please visit me at
www.caraelliott.com
, where you can sneak a tantalizing peek at all three books in my Circle of Sin series.

From the desk of Robyn DeHart

Dear Readers,

Who out there isn’t fascinated by the lost continent of Atlantis? The legend is as compelling as Jack the Ripper and El Dorado,
those unsolved mysteries that have been perplexing people for hundreds of years. But it was Atlantis that captured my attention
for the second book in my Legend Hunters series, DESIRE ME.

With Atlantis, you have a little bit of everything—Greek mythology, hidden treasures, and utopian
societies. I couldn’t help
but add my own flair to the myth and make my Atlantis home to the fabled fountain of youth. Add in an ancient prophecy, a
lost map, and Sabine Tobias, a heroine who is a living, breathing descendant of the Atlanteans—and you’ve got a recipe for
adventure coupled with plenty of trouble.

But what does any damsel in distress need? A good hero. A sexy-as-hell, smart-mouthed hero who is, shall we say, good with
his hands. That is, he’s handy to have around when you’re stuck in an underground chamber or when you need to slip into an
old estate without being seen. Enter Maxwell Barrett, legend hunter extraordinaire and expert on all things Atlantis.

With DESIRE ME, I return to my series about Solomon’s, the exclusive gentleman’s club of legend hunters. This book was, at
times, harrowing to write, but not nearly as dangerous for me, the writer, who sat safely at home in my jammies with my faithful
kitties to keep me company. Poor Max and Sabine, though, are on a perilous race against time, trying to solve the ancient
prophecy before a nasty villain destroys them both. But they find themselves neck-deep in trouble about as often as they find
themselves wrapped in each other’s arms.

Visit my website,
www.RobynDeHart.com
, for contests, excerpts, and more.