“He was right to fear.Patrick stood in the shadows, possessed by a rage so intense that it took every ounce of his control not to kill the bastard.He'd kissed his woman. Touched her. Held her in his arms.Patrick's fists clenched at his sides. Rage seethed inside him, filling his veins. Building and building until his muscles flexed and burned with the pressure to contain it.He wanted to be discovered. Wanted the excuse to vent his rage.Damn the consequences. After what he'd just witnessed, he'd probably lost what chance he had with her anyway.”

“You want to know what's wrong?" He took her chin, forcing her to look at him. She could feel the angry pounding of his heart through the soft leather of his jerkin. "I'll tell you what's wrong. I want you so bad, I can'tthink straight. My body is on fire. I can't look at you without wanting to pull you into my arms. I can't touch you without thinking of running my handsall over you." Her eyes widened. The raw desire in his gaze shocked her.Never had she thought herself capable of driving a man to such extremepassion. "But that is only half the problem." His eyes had narrowed to slits, the lines around his mouth etched white. The dark stubble of his beard cast an ominous shadow along his hard, square jaw.Whatever the problem, it didn't bode well for her. She tried to pull away, for the first time truly frightened, but he wouldn't let her go. His armswere like steel."You want to know what's really wrong, Elizabeth?" His face was only inches from hers. "I saw you kiss him." He spoke each word with damning precision.”

“Her eyes heated with the anger and hurt that had been held inside herfor too long. "Your trips to the village have not gone unnoticed."A look of confusion crossed his too-handsome face. "What does mygoing to the village have to do with us?""I know there are women--"He swore and gripped her arm, jerked her up against his chest. "Whoput such nonsense in your head?"She didn't say anything, her throat hot and tight from the ball of tearsconstricting it."Finlay," he said flatly. She looked at him in surprise. " 'Tis no secretthat he despises me, but I am surprised that you listened to his venom.""It's not too difficult to believe. You are a man.""Aye," he said softly. "But I've not had another woman, Elizabeth."Her heart faltered. Her eyes shot to his, not daring to believe ... Hecradled her cheek tenderly in his big hand."How can I when I want someone else?"He hasn't been with a woman ... he wants me.”

“Taking Flora to his room, rather than any other, amounted to a public declaration of his intentions. She was his, and he was saying as much.Lachlan didn’t give a damn what anyone thought, he wanted her with him. It was as simple as that.”

“He gave her everything. Everything but the promise of a future. And she met his dark strokes with a plunder of her own, holding his gaze, raking his soul of its secrets. She knew just what she meant to him.”

“How could she have reacted like that? She didn’t understand what had come over her. She’d felt his passion and her own. It made her anxious. On edge. For something. Something that made her skin prickle whenever he was in the room with her. Indeed, she found it difficult to concentrate when he wasaround. He was big and strong and smelled incredible. She wanted to curl up against his chest and never leave. She’d never had such strong urges. But then again, she’d never met a man who made her feel so protected simply by his solid presence and his confident command of everything around him. His strength was strangely soothing. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d felt so…content.”

“Her mouth was right on his ear, and she spoke her wicked thoughts aloud. "I want you inside me."That was it. With a violent growl, he snapped. "Damn you, Elizabeth.”