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  “Seth, if you need to go deal with something at work, I’ll understand. You can just drop me off at the town house and I’ll go to bed, get some rest. I’ll be fine.”

  Seth pulled out onto the traffic on Route 58, turning onto North 1. He slipped easily into the early afternoon traffic. “Takeo can handle it. He knows what he’s doing, don’t worry.”

  Abby shrugged. She was still tired and very sore. If Seth was willing to pamper her, she’d let him. “Okay, if you’re sure.” She settled wearily into her seat, leaning her head back against the headrest. She smiled when Seth turned the radio on, plugging one of her favorite CDs into the player. She closed her eyes and allowed the soft sounds of the music to lull her nearly to sleep.

  It took longer to take her home than she’d thought it would. When she opened her eyes, she realized they’d crossed the canal. She sat up in surprise as they traveled down Route 13 toward Odessa. “Seth, where are we going?” she asked, mystified.

  “You’ll see.”

  “Hmm. You’re up to something.”

  “Am I?”

  She smiled and watched the trees as they drove on. Whatever he had planned, she was safe.

  He made a few turns down streets she wasn’t familiar with, but she had a vague idea of where they were when he finally pulled over in front of an empty lot. He got out of the car and walked around to her side, opening her door and helping her out. He was very careful of her damaged right arm, cupping her elbow gently to guide her. They walked out into the middle of the empty lot.

  It wasn’t much to look at. It was on a back road with very little traffic, facing a large pond.

  Seth was watching her closely. “What are you building here?”

  He smiled slightly before he replied. “A house.”

  She nodded and turned back to the view. “You’ll have to put a lot of windows facing the water. The view is spectacular.”

  “I know. I thought of putting the kitchen and the sun room facing that way.”

  Abby sighed dreamily, walking forward slightly. “You know what I would put over here?” she asked, veering off slightly to the right.

  “No, what?”

  “The living room, lots of windows again, with a fireplace right here—” she pointed, “—made of river rock. Oh, and over here, that’s where I’d put the dining room.”

  The chilly afternoon breeze whipped her hair around her face. She pushed the strands out of her mouth, surprised at the strange, startled look on his face. He watched her intently, all traces of amusement gone. She sighed and gazed at the water. “Whoever got this land is very lucky.” She stared out at the pond, seeing the flower gardens she would plant to take advantage of the view. “I hope they love it.”

  “I hope they do too.” There was a strange note in his voice.

  She turned and smiled at him. “So, what are you going to do here?”

  He walked slowly toward her. “I thought I’d put the living room here, with a fireplace made of river rock.” Moving several feet away, he stood where she had been moments before, his gaze never leaving hers. “I thought this might be the dining room.” Stepping backward, he spread his arms. “The kitchen, with the sunroom just through here.” He walked forward through the imaginary doors. “The gardens, over here, so that you can maximize the view of the water.”

  Abby felt as if she couldn’t breathe as she watched him walk from imaginary room to imaginary room. His gaze never left hers as he described the house he wanted to build. She nodded or shook her head as what he said took form in her imagination, his words changing with her tiny movements. She interacted with him silently, helping him plan the house he was going to build.

  Their house.

  Hope began to fill her as he moved closer to her. “What would you put here?” she whispered as he took her in his arms.

  “A porch with a swing.” He leaned down and kissed her with breathtaking tenderness. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there in the hospital for you, but I was finalizing the purchase of the land. I couldn’t get away.”

  She lifted her hand to his hair, surprised at the apology. “I thought you looked tired and worried when you came to pick me up, so I thought something serious had gone wrong. Maybe another fight.”

  He smiled, stepping back from her slightly. “Something was wrong. I couldn’t sleep.”

  She frowned. “Why not?” She wanted to check him over, see if the wounds Diana had left behind had healed.

  He sighed and reached into his pocket. “Because I didn’t know how you would react to this.” He took her hand and placed something hard and cold into it.

  She opened her hand and gasped. There, lying on her palm, glittering in the sun, was a round diamond solitaire, set in gold. He was watching her with serious, dark blue eyes, and tears started to fill her own.

  He took her gently by the arms. “I want to be with you. I want to fight with you, live with you, make love with you. You fill my world. You’re all I see, hear or need. I want you to marry me, to live in the house I’ll build for us. I need you by my side, taking care of me, letting me take care of you. I want children with you. I want to grow old with you.” She felt the tears begin to fall as her hand clenched the ring he’d given her. He cupped her face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “I want to yell at you when you do something stupid, because then I know you’re still around to be yelled at. Even if you don’t like it.” He took her by the shoulders and shook her slightly. “And if you ever, ever scare me like that again, I will put you over my knee and paddle you. Understand?”

  Abby felt herself trembling, but not with fear. “Understood.”

  “I love you. Will you be my wife?”

  She stepped away from him and was surprised by the flash of pain in his eyes. She smiled and, suddenly unable to speak through the lump in her throat, held up her hand, the ring glittering on her finger.

  She watched his eyes close in relief before she was swept up in an embrace so tight she almost couldn’t breathe. She quickly took her arm out of the sling and maneuvered it behind him, holding on to him as tightly as she was being held. He buried his face in her hair, taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. Eventually, he lifted his head. She saw tears in his eyes just before his mouth took hers in a kiss that rocked her to her knees. He plundered her mouth, demanding everything she was and giving everything that he was to her. Her senses swam under the onslaught. She felt him grip the back of her head to hold her even closer, and she gasped as his teeth scraped her lip. He held her in the kiss for what seemed like eternity, slowly and carefully easing out of it as if what they had found together would shatter if he moved too quickly.

  They were both breathing hard when he finally lifted his head. He stared down into her eyes, his own dark, dark blue, and she smiled up at him. She raised her hand to his cheek and sighed softly when he moved his head to gently kiss her palm.

  “Seth?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Where should we put the nursery?”

  He began to glow, though his wings hadn’t appeared. “Wherever you like.”

  Abby was almost glowing herself. She’d gotten her angel, and she was never going to let him go.

  * * * * *

  Take a bite out of love with author Dana Marie Bell and her paranormal romance that will leave you hungry for more…

  A seduction-gone-wrong leaves vampire Parker Hollis with a new vegetarian lifestyle and on the run from a vengeful witch. Moving to small-town Maggie’s Grove, Parker meets a redheaded dryad with green, leafy blood who draws him in a way he hasn’t experienced in decades. His new neighbor Amara Schwedler smells divine, and it isn’t long before craving gives in to need.

  When the witch who’s been plaguing Parker’s life discovers the newfound attraction between Parker and Amara, she takes out her anger on the town. Can the supernaturals of Maggie’s Grove accept Amara and band together in time to withstand the assaults of the enraged witch?

  Blood of the Maple


  Available now!

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  About the Author

  Dana Marie Bell wrote her first short story when she was thirteen years old. She attended the High School for Creative and Performing Arts for creative writing, where freedom of expression was the order of the day. When her parents moved out of the city and placed her in a Catholic high school for her senior year, she tried desperately to get away, but the nuns held fast, and she graduated with honors despite herself. She’s now a bestselling author with Carina Press and Samhain Publishing, and has consistently earned top reviews from Romantic Times Book Reviews.

  Dana has lived primarily in the Northeast with a brief stint on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix. She lives with her soul mate and husband, Dusty, their two maniacal children, an evil ice cream–stealing cat and a bull terrier that thinks it’s a Pekinese. She’s been heard to describe herself as “vertically challenged” and “a lapsed brunette.” Dana also suffers from osteoarthritis, and can be seen walking with a cane or tooling around in her mobility scooter. Her condition was the inspiration for Belle’s hip injury in Steel Beauty.

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  ISBN: 978-14268-9484-8

  Copyright © 2012 by Dana Marie Bell

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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