THE FIREBRAND OF FREEDOM VALLEYSince Kylie Bennett's return to her hometown, Michael Cusack had been painfully conscious of her metamorphosis from girl to lush woman, and of his need to belong to a close family like the Bennetts. Kylie's teenage crush on him had gone untested, for Michael was a protector of women and had refused to sacrifice her innocence. Now Kylie played «not interested»…but her kisses revealed hidden fires. Could it be that she still carried a torch for him? And, like his own slow fever, had it been simmering intensely for all these years…?
It had begun like any other assignment. Until the night she encountered Danya Stepanov atop a windswept cliff…then moved in with him. Her immediate feminine response to his masculinity frightened her, for Sidney Blakely didn't do the fair-lady bit. She led during slow dances. Her sole experience with sex had been fast and more about physical fitness. And she believed that home was where the photo shoot du jour was.But Danya was confident enough to allow her to lead. And he showed her that loving could be slow, and giving…and often. Trouble was, Danya wanted the total package: wife, babies. And Sidney had never believed that such a gift was intended for a woman like her.
Past experience had taught Mikhail Stepanov to keep his boss's dangerously alluring daughter at arm's length. But once the desperate single mother turned to him, how could he resist? In his embrace, Ellie wasn't the willful heiress he remembered but a fiery temptress he was determined to have and to hold forever….Ellie Lathrop knew the coolly competent businessman who ran her father's hotel empire had the power to help her keep her legally adopted daughter. Yet beneath Mikhail's steely exterior was a powerfully sensual male who, once aroused, could turn her world upside down….
A man's instincts are still to hunt and bring the woman to his lair. –Gabriel Deerhorn, Native American mountain manWith a shattering blow to Miranda Bennett's young heart, Gabriel Deerhorn had extinguished their tender love. A wise soul, he'd known naive Miranda needed independence more than matrimony. Suddenly she was back in Freedom Valley…and her nearness was both a torment and a treasure. For once, gallant Gabriel fed his own desire–he settled Miranda into his mountaintop home, and with a single, tenuous touch, their passion was reborn. Could it be that their thwarted past was just a stepping-stone to their radiant future…?
Powerful. Dangerous. Male. Alexi Stepanov was everything that painful experience had taught Jessica Sterling to fear. Which was why he made the perfect protector for her dearest friend. What made better sense than to counter a threat with maximum threat? Keep your enemies closer…wasn't that the general wisdom?Only, Alexi was too close for comfort….In honoring a vow, Jessica had resigned herself to a cold, lonely life as a wealthy widow, but Alexi warmed her world with his large, loving family…and a heat he alone stirred. Once, a man's touch had meant taking, but Alexi's touch was giving. And deceiving. For Alexi knew her friend had never been in danger.Jessica was.