Surrender. Brenda Jackson

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SURRENDER

      Surrender

      Brenda Jackson

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Acknowledgments

      To my husband, Gerald Jackson, Sr., with all my love.

      To my goddaughters: Chimeka Jeanae Hodge and Ty’ra Jere Malloy.

      To my family and friends for their continued support: You are loved and appreciated.

      To Felicia Laverne Edwards: You are truly one in a million.

      To all my readers who asked for Aston Sinclair’s story: This one is especially for you.

      To fellow authors Carla Fredd and Carmen Green: I appreciate the friendship, the bond and most of all the support.

      To my best friend, Syneda Walker: Thanks for such a special friendship.

      To my Heavenly Father, who makes everything possible.

      THE MADARIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS SERIES

      Dear Reader,

      I love writing family sagas, and I am so happy that Harlequin is reissuing my very first family series, the Madaris family. It's been twelve years and fifty books since I first introduced the Madaris family. During that time, this special family and their friends have won their way into readers' hearts. I am ecstatic to be able to share these award-winning stories with everyone all over again—especially those who have never met this family up close and personal—in this special-edition reissue.

      I never dreamed when I penned my first novel, Tonight and Forever, and introduced the Madaris family, that I was taking readers on a journey where heartfelt romance, sizzling passion and true love awaited them at every turn. I had no idea that the Madarises and their friends would become characters that readers would come to know and care so much about. I invite you to relax, unwind and see what all the hoopla is about. Let Justin, Dex, Clayton, Uncle Jake and their many friends transport you with love stories that are so passionate and sizzling they will take your breath away. There is nothing better than falling in love with these Madaris men and their many friends.

      For a complete list of all the books in this series, as well as the dates they will be available in a bookstore near you, please visit my Web site at www.brendajackson.net.

      If you would like to receive my monthly newsletter, please visit and sign up at www.brendajackson.net/page/newsletter.htm.

      I also invite you to drop me an e-mail at [email protected]. I love hearing from my readers.

      All the best,

      Brenda Jackson

      A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

      —Proverbs 22:3

      Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Epilogue

      Prologue

      There was just something about a good-looking woman, Marine Colonel Ashton Sinclair thought as he sat alone at a table in the back of the restaurant called Sisters. The owner of the establishment, a beautiful and breathtaking woman by the name of Netherland Brooms, had captured his gaze and was holding it with an intensity that he did not find unnerving. In fact he found it to be an enjoyable experience, especially since he intended to marry her.

      The woman, however, had other ideas about that.

      He shrugged. There was nothing wrong with her having other ideas except when those ideas placed limitations on the future he intended to have with her no matter what obstacles she placed in his way.

      He leaned back in his chair as he continued to watch his wife-to-be. Even from across the room he saw her soft skin that he knew would feel like silk. Her hair, a dark black, had a gloss to it as it cascaded around her shoulders. He could even imagine her scent, a warm, musky fragrance that was exclusively hers. Fantasizing about how she would taste when he kissed her, as well as how good she would fit in his arms, sent everything male about him into overdrive. Then there was the way she walked and talked as she moved around the room, greeting the customers who frequented this restaurant of hers. She had nice rounded hips with even nicer curves, and her breasts, which lifted high and pushed against the fabric of the blouse she was wearing, were a total turn-on.

      A male smile touched Ashton's lips. He had known, from the first time he had seen her a few years ago, that she would be his one and only love. Thanks to his African-American heritage, which included ancestors that had been fierce tribal medicine men with mystical powers, and his Cherokee Indian heritage that had included a great-great-grandfather who'd been a shaman, he had been delivered a vision. In fact there had been two visions, and both indicated it was a foregone conclusion that he would marry Netherland Brooms sooner or later.

      He preferred sooner.

      She preferred never.

      She was a stubborn woman, but then he was a stubborn man.

      She thought her mind was made up about him, absolutely closed. But on that same note, he knew he was going to enjoy every single minute it took to make her change her mind, open it.

      This assignment would be difficult. He had to convince her to accept the love he wanted to offer her. He would have to show her how the two of them could be good together. He would have to prove to her that she was indeed the woman for him and that he was the man for her. She couldn't see what he already knew, what the visions had shown him—their destinies were entwined. She would be the one person to give him an all-consuming love, a meaningful life and three sons, triplets. One who would grow up to be a doctor, one a lawyer and the other, he thought smiling, an Indian chief. That had been one of the visions that he could not repute. One of his sons would do what he himself had not done and that was to rightfully take his place among his father's people in the Cherokee tribe.

      But there could be no babies until he was able to bind the woman to him that would one day be his sons' mother. He knew he had a challenge on his hands, but a smart man prepared himself for the difficulties ahead.

      And there was no doubt in his mind that Netherland Brooms would be difficult. She was acting the part already.

      The