Free April Moon by Susan King, Merline Lovelace, MIRANDA JARRETT Page B

can’t be helped.”
    Her jaw sagged. “You have ten thousand pounds?”
    “That and more.”
    He couldn’t help but grin as she stared at him in speechless astonishment.
    “My grandfather was something of a pirate in his day,” he admitted ruefully. “My father took to merchanting instead of piracy and built a fleet of ships. The Seahawk came out of our family yards. She was one of the first ships to be commissioned in our navy, you know.”
    “How…How could I?”
    “I’ll be going back into to the family business when I finish my naval service. I’ll have my own ship and will most likely try my hand at the China trade. Have you ever been to Cathay, lass?”
    “No, I—I…”
    Taking pity on her near incoherence, he brushed her mouth with his, gentler this time, and infinitely tender.
    “I’ll make you a good husband, or try mydamndest to. I admit I’ve not had any experience at marriage.”
    She recovered a bit at that. “Well, I have. All of London will tell you I would make you a most wretched wife.”
    “All of London would be wrong.”
    “You haven’t heard the tales they tell of me,” she said with a touch of desperation, determined he should know the truth. “Whispers buzz like a storm of hornets when I enter a salon or a ballroom.”
    “I’ve heard what Maude has to say about you, and seen your courage under fire.”
    “You’ve also seen me at my most wanton,” she reminded him, red flags staining her cheeks. “You cannot wish to marry a woman who bedded with you less than an hour after you met her.”
    His laughter rang out, rich and strong. “Oh, sweeting! That above all else is exactly why I wish to marry you. I’ve never felt such hunger or burned with such desire. Nor, I’ll wager my best pair of boots, have you.”
    The red in her cheeks deepened. “How can you possibly know that?”
    His eyes danced. He wasn’t about to admit his considerable expertise outside the marriage bed, for all he lacked any in it.
    “Suffice to say I saw the wonder in your eyes. The same wonder filled me.”
    Then and now, although at the moment the lust Richard felt was more painful than wondrous.
    “Say you’ll marry me, my lady, and sail to the far corners of the earth with me.”
    Sarah looked into his blue eyes and knew her answer. He called to the wildness in her spirit, seduced her with his impossible gallantry, and fired her blood with his touch. How could she not sail away with him?
    “Yes,” she answered with a heady recklessness that matched his, “to both propositions.”
    “Good. We’ll scare up a vicar in the first port we come to. In the meantime…”
    His mouth brushed hers, once, twice. Rising up on tiptoe, she wound her arms around his neck.
    “In the meantime,” she echoed, the words a warm whisper against his lips, “I do have a reputation to live up to.”
    With a wicked grin, he swept her up and carried her to his bed. Sarah caught a last glimpse of the full moon glowing outside the window before she opened her arms and welcomed him joyfully into her heart.

Dear Reader,
    The characters in this book are purely fictional, but the British practice of impressing American sailors was not. An estimated 10,000 Americans were pressed into service aboard British ships. Diplomatic relations between England and the United States became so strained because of this issue that the U.S. finally declared war.
    The war of 1812 is often dubbed The Forgotten War, but it produced some notable moments in history—among them Dolly Madison fleeing the White House with George Washington’s portrait mere hours before the invading British army marched into Washington and burned the city.
    If you find this period in American history as fascinating as I do, you might enjoy A Savage Beauty, the first in my new historical series for MIRA books, now available wherever books are sold.
    All my best,
    Merline Lovelace

WHITE FIRE
    Susan King

Dear Reader,
    The same gorgeous moon that shines on