Tess Gerritsen: Double Impact

The past seemed a long ways off now. Though the nightmares still surfaced once in a while, for the most part she had accepted that she would never remember everything.

And as long as she had Michal and Nicholas, nothing else mattered.

Well, except for maybe one other thing.

When Nicholas had tired and his father had tucked him in for an afternoon nap, Ami knew it was time to tell her secret.

Michal hauled her up against him and pressed himself intimately to her. “Shall we get an early start?”

She heaved an exaggerated sigh and wrinkled her brow into a frown. “Really, Michal, you are scandalous.”

He nuzzled her neck. “It is my one downfall,” he whispered against her skin, the vibration of those masterful lips sending pleasure straight to her bones.

“First.” She wriggled away from him. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

He dropped onto the sofa and pulled her down into his lap. “Speak, woman, I have other things on my mind.”

Judging by the fullness of his arousal, she felt certain this was so. Though she’d like nothing better than to crawl between those sheets with him right this moment, they had to get this out of the way first.

“We’re pregnant,” she announced without further ado.

It took a moment for the words to fully assimilate in his brain. Michal stared at her blankly for two beats before realization struck.

His dark eyes gleaming with excitement, he folded his strong arms around her and held her close to his heart. “A girl, I predict,” he said with complete confidence.

She wouldn’t admit it just now for love or money, but she had a feeling he was right. “And just how can you know that,” she teased.

His wide smile was more beautiful than any she had ever known the pleasure of laying eyes on. “Because this is what I have wished for.”

“Do you always get what you wish for?” She felt herself holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

His expression turned somber then. “I wished that you would be returned to me.”

The sweetness in his words tugged sharply at her heart-strings. “Who am I to argue with destiny?” she mused, her gaze drifting down to those perfectly formed lips.

“Enough talk.” He covered her mouth with his own and slowly but surely proceeded to show her that wishes really could come true.

is an accomplished woman with an interesting story. Once a practicing physician, she has chosen, instead, to write full-time. A woman of many talents, she even plays fiddle in a band! Tess has cowritten Adrift, a CBS screenplay, and has several other screenplays optioned by HBO. Having lived in Hawaii, she now resides in Camden, Maine, with her physician husband and two sons.

was born in Scottsboro, Alabama, to parents who taught her that anything is possible if you want it badly enough. She began writing at age nine. Eventually, she met and married the man of her dreams, and tried some other occupations, including selling vacuum cleaners, and working in a factory, a day-care center, a hospital and a department store. When her husband joined the military, they moved to Berlin, Germany, and Debra became a secretary in the commanding general’s office. By 1985, they were back in the States, and finally moved to Tennessee, to a small town where everyone knows everyone else. With the support of her daughters, Debra took up writing again, looking to mystery and movies for inspiration. In 1998, her dream of writing for Harlequin came true. Now multipublished, Debra writes spine-tingling romantic suspense for Harlequin Intrigue and heartfelt love stories for Harlequin American Romance.