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A happy laugh "You're welcome to distract me in that particular manner any time you want, Husband"

"Really? Then I doubt you'll be leaving our cabin to see any of the sights you crave during our upco trip"

"That's all right I crave youhold of the jutting stone and wriggling across onto its flat surface "Care to join h I must warn you, this stone is even more cramped and uncoe seat"

"Cramped, uncomfortable, and public don't deterthat beautiful skin of yours," Julian proclai rope about his waist and cla to her feet "Still, there are ways around that particular probleh his topaz eyes as he righted Aurora, tugged her against him "I could take the brunt of the scratches," he ht cloud of her hair "Better still, we could stand I'd support your weight, even drape your skirts around us so no one could see" A seductive chuckle "Care to try?"

Aurora leaned back, stared at him in disbelief "You're serious, aren't you?"

"When it co love to you? Always A more pertinent question is, are you serious?"

With a swift glance at their surroundings—the not-so-distant fishing boats, the nearby villages—Aurora gave it up "Bested again," she grumbled

Julian grinned "You're welcome to retaliate Later, you may best me to your heart's content"

"What an enticing notion I look forward to it" She tucked loose strands of hair away fro as she contemplated the smooth waters of Mount's Bay, the picturesque shoreline that defined its boundaries, the huge white gulls that flew gracefully overhead "Toher tone "Until now, these places were just wisps of dreaends Now they're real"

"They sound much like you," Julian replied in a husky whisper "An unknown dream that's now reality—a miracle My miracle"

Aurora curve

d into his side "Thank you"

"No, soleil—thank you" His arainst hiht ahead "And Land's End wraps around to the west"

Following his gesture, Aurora gazed at the village that housed their great-grandfathers' secret, seeing naught but a tiny harbor dotted with fishing boats and a narrow stretch of beach that receded away froreen tracts of land "It's lovely, but I' beyond the coast to the rows of houses set before grassy hills "As I said, there's nothing re…"

Her voice lodged in her throat