The Darkest Corner (Gravediggers #1)(100)

"So our options are to stay, to make this our home and continue doing the work you've done all these years. To use the funeral home as a front for everything else. Or we can pack our things and start over. New names and backgrounds. A new country. We'll be together and be able to live a life free of the dangers of covert life. But we'll always be looking over our shoulders."

"That pretty much sums it up," he said, his smile wry. "Do you regret loving me?"

"Not ever," Tess said firmly. "I'd do it all again. Deacon, don't try to second-guess yourself or do what you think would be safest. I know you love what you do. It's been your life. It's important. And you're good at it."

His lips twitched and he squeezed her hand. "I want to stay here," he said.

"I know," she said. "This is our home. We'll never have a normal life, but we can make the best of an abnormal life. We have each other."

"Always," he said. "And plenty of room for children on the second floor."

Her smile was radiant. "You want children? That's the first time you've ever said so."

"Yes. I especially want to make children," he said, rolling her to her back and kissing her senseless. "As long as we never leave them alone with your mother."

"She seems very happy and mostly stable for the moment."



       
         
       
        

"That's because you moved her into one of those retirement villages. She's got no choice but to be happy and mostly stable. She can cut hair at the little salon on-site and she's got plenty of new people to charm and steal stuff from. It seems like a match made in heaven to me."

"And best of all, she's a thirty-minute drive from here," Tess said, no longer feeling guilty for having peace.

"I promise I'll be at the church on time," he said, nuzzling her ear and working his hand beneath her shirt. He stripped her quickly and settled between her thighs, nudging at her silky folds. "I especially promise not to be late for the honeymoon."

He pushed into her, and her ankles pressed into the small of his back. It never took long for the first orgasm to build.

"Ohmigod, yes!" she cried out and clung to him.

"I'm glad you stopped telling me no," he said into her ear. "Yes is so much better." And then he followed after her into oblivion.





Keep reading for a sneak peek excerpt from the next mysterious, riveting installment in the Gravediggers series

Gone to Dust

Available Summer 2017 from Pocket Books!





CHAPTER ONE




She'd captured his heart.

This woman of noble birth-a queen-who'd traveled across vast lands to bring him gifts-to seek his wisdom and knowledge. But it was she who was wise, and her intelligence and cunning enticed him. Never had he met a match such as she. Her presence was greater than any gift she'd laid at his feet.

"You're quiet, my Lord," she said.

He lay on a pile of furs, his chest bare, and a soft breeze stirred the air and cooled his overheated skin. The thin linen sheet couldn't hide his desire as she walked through the shadows of his chambers and came to stand before him, bathed in the soft glow of lantern light.

Her beauty stole his breath-her skin dark and smooth-her eyes black as the rare diamonds she'd presented to his kingdom. The white silk of her robes was tied at each shoulder and plunged deeply-displaying the fullness of her bosom-the material so thin he could see the jeweled adornments covering her nipples. The silk was slit up each side so every step she took gave him a glimpse of the heaven he knew was hidden beneath. Her hair was her glory, rich and full, and she'd unpinned the crown of curls so it flowed almost to her feet. 

"You leave on the morrow," he said, his heart pierced with sorrow.

His body was rigid and stiff with pride. He was king. And he would beg for no woman to stay. But he wanted to.

"I am queen," she said, her smile sad. "My kingdom needs me. My people need me."

"I need you," he rasped, his hand knotted in a fist at his side.

"And you shall have me," she said, moving toward him.

She released the ties at her shoulders and the white silk slithered down the length of her body, leaving her bared before him. His phallus throbbed and his chest burned with desire. She was exquisite. Never had he wanted another woman as he'd wanted her.

The days had turned to weeks, and the weeks to months since her arrival in his lands. But never had she offered herself. The desire had burned between them, the flames fanning hotter and higher as time passed, but he'd respected her wishes to remain chaste in her own bed, though he could have taken her, as was his right as king. And now she honored him by giving him her body.