“The temptation to just crawl up onto the bank and lie there in a huddled mass of misery was almost overwhelming, but some part of her, as she observed with a certain dazed detachment, was too pigheaded to give up. No,she would plod on likely to the ends of the earth, slipping and sliding, gasping and groaning, until either the river won or she did.Had she been inclined to wager, she would have bet on the river.”

“He was there,keeping watch over her, which meant he expected something to happen.What? That she would be so foolish as to try to escape? Not for a moment did she believe he would seek to trap her like that. No,he was waiting for someone else,the real villain who had sought to harm them both.Waiting and hoping to lure him out by the simple expediency of using her as...bait.That husband of hers-that dear, darling husband of hers-was going to have some serious apologizing to do when this was over.Fearing that the sheer expanse of her smile would give the plan away, Rycca pulled a corner of a blanket up over her face. A short time later, she drifted off to sleep again,secure in the knowledge that she lay under the watchful eye of the Dragon.”

“It is not safe for a woman to be traveling on her own.""I was perfectly safe until you crossed my path.""Well may you see it that way,but if I hadn't come along,someone else would have and you could be in great difficulty right now."If she hadn't known it would hurt, she might have laughed. As it was, she had to content herself with a grimace. "Oh, you mean I could have been chased over a cliff?”

“He could not be absolutely certain she would not get away-again.In the dark of night, haunted by such grim thoughts, Dragon found consolation. He had a fleet of ships at the ready. Before his willing Saxon bride could don boy's garb, run off a cliff, or plunge into a river, he would have her safely aboard and at sea. Damned if he wouldn't.He felt better after that and even dozed a little but was up and dressed before dawn's gray fingers peeled night away.”

“She was just starting toward the sauna when the low door in the side of the hill opened and a man stepped outside. A naked man.Oh...Oh,my...Heaven...Rycca's cheeks flamed. They felt hot enough to light tinder but she scarcely noticed. Without allowing herself to think, she slipped behind a tree and stared. Although, to be honest, "stared" really didn't get close to it. She gaped...she gawked...she practically ogled. She was enthralled, fascinated, deeply impressed, and positively tingling.He was glorious. Far and away, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. Her palms itched. She wanted to run them over every inch of his magnicifent body, over broad shoulders that rounded into chest and arms taut with muscle, over thighs and calves that looked corded with steel, and back up again to...She'd forgotten to breathe. Inhaling painfully, she watched him turn toward the river. Even his back was beautiful, and his buttocks...When had the day turned so horribly hot? Indeed, it was a marvel the grass wasn't igniting before her eyes. Perhaps the sun had suddenly moved closer. Yes,that must be it.”

“Except for Thurlow,there was not a person she would have missed and many a one to whom she would gleefully have said farewell forever.But that had changed now,utterly changed. She longed for Dragon, the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand,the warmth of his smile. For a moment she closed her eyes and saw him behind them.”

“That's a bad bruise.""I scarcely feel it." Indeed, she probably could have been smacked over the head with a log just then and would scarcely have noticed.”