Excerpt of A Scarlet Bride by Sylvia McDaniel

"We shouldn't be out here alone."

"Nobody knows but us," Connor murmured.

"I'm going in." Alexandra made a move to leave the porch, but Connor reached out to stop her. His touch sent warning bells echoing through her mind.

"Not before I show you that my kiss affects you as much as yours tortures me," he whispered softly in the darkness.

Alexandra swallowed hard, trying to remain in control. "You're not the Casanova you think you are."

"I only wish to show you how it could be between us."

"The way it was with dozens of other women you've had?"

"You flatter me," he said, taking her hand in his. "With you it's different. You've set my blood afire, almost from the moment I saw you. I ache with the need to touch you."

Alexandra took a deep breath. Connor's words conjuring up images of tangled sheets and sweltering nights, of lovers whispering words of enticement and pleasure. Images she had only dreamed of, but never experienced. Images she had once longed for.