Free Lords of Desire by Virginia Henley, Victoria Dahl, Sally Mackenzie, Kristi Astor Page A

smile of satisfaction curved his mouth.She’s been hoping I would come for her.
    The room was in darkness and when he lit the candles and saw the empty bed, the complacent smile was wiped away. His heart constricted.She’s left me…. She’s gone back to her own time! He felt bereft. Sharing things with Tory had given him deep pleasure and brought new meaning to his life. He refused to accept her loss. “Come back to me, Victoria,” he demanded. His glance swept about the chamber and he noticed that the books were gone from the bedside table. A tiny glimmer of hope lit in his heart and he clung to it fiercely as he descended the stairs of the round tower and made his way to the small library. He flung open the door and it crashed against the wall.
    Tory gasped. “I…I couldn’t sleep…. I was getting a book.” The undisguised look of relief on Falcon’s face revealed to her what he had feared and her heart softened toward him. “I was never angry with you. My temper flared to mask my fear for your safety.”And my dread of your committing shameful deeds . She quickly shoved the book she’d been reading back on the shelf. It was about shipwrecks caused by accident or by foul deliberation.
    “I want no gulf between us, Tory. I’ve always been a solitary man—I never knew what I was missing until you came into my life.”
    She went to him and raised her face to his. “Thank you, Falcon. I feel exactly the same way. Sharing your life fills me with wonder and joy. And I do appreciate the freedom you offer me—my existence was so restricted before. I shall try my utmost to return the favor.”
    He wrapped his arms about her and grinned. “That was our first quarrel.”
    “We feel things so passionately, I doubt it will be our last.”
    “Passionate?” He bit her ear. “I’ll show you passionate.”
    She laughed, and wriggled from his embrace. She had the urge to run for the sheer pleasure of having him chase her and catch her. Perhaps if she used feminine, subtle persuasion, she could keep him from his piracy.
    That night after their mating, Falcon held her for hours while they talked. He told her about his childhood, his sailing adventures to foreign lands, and the time he’d spent in London at the Royal Court. Tory entertained him with stories of how she escaped from the confines of her narrow life by the clever use of ploys, tricks, and deceptions that often needed the compliance of her brother, Edmund. The part where she used the garden shed to put on her stockings, screw her hair into a bun, cram on a black bonnet, pick up her prayer book, and put a pious look on her face had Falcon roaring with laughter.
    They slept in spoon fashion; his powerful body curved about her back, his arm anchoring her to him possessively. As Tory drifted into sleep she hoped that tomorrow night she would be able to keep him attached to her by an invisible thread that would stay him from his dangerous roving.
    When Tory awoke she was alone. She wasn’t too concerned because he always arose early and usually broke his fast in Bodiam’s Great Hall with the other castle inhabitants, including his crew. Just to make certain he hadn’t left, she went to the desk and pulled open the drawer. She let out a long breath when she saw his pistols were still in their case. She ran her fingers along the twelve-inch barrels, fascinated that such beautiful objects were meant for a deadly purpose. She heard the chamber door open behind her and spun round guiltily. Quite used to being caught in compromising situations and talking herself out of them, she spoke a half-truth. “Falcon, I was admiring your pistols.
    Would you teach me how to use them?”
    “I admit I enjoy tutoring you in pleasurable pursuits, but I’m not sure shooting qualifies as such. I assumed guns would be offensive to you.”
    “I prefer to think of them as defensive.”
    He came to the desk and lifted the weapons from their case. “This is a pair of naval