Eve Silver (35 page)

He closed his fingers about hers, drawing her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her palm. “So wise, Emma mine. I spent nights lost in despair, wishing I had answered her differently. All these years I have dreamed of death, and in my nightmares, Nicky does not survive.”

Emma snaked her arms around him, holding him close. “You saved him, brought him forth into the world. You are no coward,” she said, thinking of the way he had thrown himself into the conflagration in an attempt to save Cookie’s life, and later, how he had faced his own demons to save Meg.

He brought his lips to hers, a warm, sweet kiss of hope and promise, and together they sank back into the softness of the bed. “You complete me, bring light to my darkness.”

“Anthony,” she breathed. Her heart swelled with love, and she opened to him, shifting closer to lie full against him, to feel the hard length of him.

Arching back, he watched her for a moment. There was something in his eyes, some emotion, and it was so strong and bright that she thought it would surely singe her with its intensity. It was neither passion nor tenderness, though both were mirrored in his gaze. Something more. A reflection of her own heart.

“I love you, Anthony.” She had told him this once before, and he had made no reply. Anxiety and trepidation iced her blood, but she forged on, her emotion so strong that she could do naught but share it with him. “I love you with all that I am, all that I will ever be.”

He smiled, a glorious flash of white teeth, an expression of absolute joy.

“Then, Emma Parrish, I shall marry you.”

She gasped, and the words hung between them. He would
marry
her?

“I am a bast—”

His fingers on her lips held back the words.

She pushed his hand aside. “Your stepmother—”

“Has no say in my life,” he finished for her. “I
will
marry you, Emma mine.” He paused, and then added, “If you will have me.” An afterthought.

Her blood thrummed through her veins and her heart pounded in her breast, thunderous, so hard and fast she thought it would surely burst from the strain.

“If I will have you,” Emma echoed, a tiny squeak of sound. “That is all you will say to me? Nothing more?”

He smiled, that perfect curving of his lips that made her heart melt. “You asked me earlier how I knew which way to go, which fork to follow….” And then the smile faded, his expression growing serious. “Emma mine, I but followed my heart and it led me straight to you.”

Dear heaven. Had he said that? Truly said that…to
her
?

“Give me the words,” she whispered. “All of them. I swear I will not betray them, betray you.”

“I love you, Emma Parrish. Marry me. Be my wife. Make my house a home.”

She smiled at his words. They were a beautiful gift that filled her with inestimable joy.

“Then, Anthony Craven, I shall marry you, and build a life with you, and share a home with you.”

He grinned, leaned close to whisper against her lips, “Yes. You shall.” And then he crushed her to him and kissed her deep and hungry. Her blood began to sing.

A sound caught her attention and she shifted her concentration to the door that led from her chamber to Nicky's. The child stood in the open doorway, rubbing his fist against one eye, while regarding her sleepily with the other.

“Can I kiss Miss Emma, too?” he asked, stumbling drowsily toward the bed. Then he stopped and looked around. “We’re home! That’s grand!”

With a laugh, Nicky launched himself at the bed. Anthony tightened one arm around Emma, even as he opened the other to catch his laughing son against him. Emma felt the movement of his chest as he chuckled softly.

“Yes, Nicky, we are home,” she said, her heart near bursting with the immeasurable joy of living as she met Anthony’s adoring gaze. “We have all finally found our way home.”

-The End-

PRAISE FOR HIS DARK KISS:

“Riveting! A dark, steamy and twisted tale.” —
New York Times
bestselling author Lisa Jackson

“…deliciously gothic…”—Diana Tixier Herald,
Booklist

“…a beautifully written and compelling story and Eve Silver is fast becoming the new mistress of gothic romance.”—bookloons.com

“This one is a keeper…”—bellaonline.com

“A dark enigmatic hero, a young governess, passion, sensuality, mystery and murder: Silver gives the reader everything they want in a gothic reminiscent of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and then adds an updated twist of her own to the suspenseful and chilling conclusion.”—
RT BookReviews

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Books by Eve Silver:

Historicals
:

Dark Desires

His Dark Kiss

Dark Prince

His Wicked Sins

Seduced by a Stranger

Paranormals:

Demon’s Kiss

Demon’s Hunger

Sins of the Heart

Sins of the Soul

Sins of the Flesh

Body of Sin

Novellas:

Sin’s Daughter

Trinity Blue

Kiss of the Vampire in the anthology Nature of the Beast