Jane Godman - Immortal Billionaire

Dark secrets and unquenchable desire collide in this captivating paranormal thriller...

Connie Lacey lives a nomadic existence. Alone. Safe. She can’t risk being found by the stalker who haunts her waking nightmares. Until an invitation from billionaire Sylvester de León—to spend thirty days with him on his private island, Corazón—proves impossibly tempting. But one look at the gorgeous host’s deep blue eyes, and Connie knows there is nothing safe about this paradise and the aristocratic man who calls it home.

The island is cursed...as is Sylvester himself. Yet something in him calls to Connie, ignites a desire that’s filled with raw, timeless need. But Corazón has many secrets, each more dangerous than the last. And in a place where everlasting love, the past and fate intersect, even death is only a beginning...

Connie was instantly lost in a whirlpool of sensation.

His hands slid under her blouse and over the flesh of her back. She trembled at the contrast between the roughened pads of his fingertips and the smoothness of her flesh. Sylvester shuddered as she ran her fingertips along the back of his neck and through his hair. It was an endless kiss, and Connie murmured softly into Sylvester’s mouth.

“Don’t tell me that wasn’t meant to happen.” She didn’t want to plead with him, but if that was what it took...

“I think we both know it is meant to happen. It’s going to happen.” His hands moved down to her hips, holding her closer to him so she could feel him throbbing against her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Connie.”

She pressed tighter against him, fitting herself to him blatantly, showing him with her own body exactly what she wanted. “Maybe I want you to.”

JANE GODMAN writes in a variety of romance genres, including paranormal, gothic and romantic suspense. Jane lives in England and loves to travel to European cities, which are steeped in history and romance—Venice, Dubrovnik and Vienna are among her favorites. Jane is married to a lovely man and is mom to two grown-up children.

Immortal Billionaire

Jane Godman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

Immortal Billionaire represents a departure from my usual paranormal romances. For one thing, the setting is a luxury, privately owned Floridian island instead of a mystical otherworld inhabited by warring races of faeries, vampires and wolves!

In this book, the paranormal elements are implied rather than overt, with a strong theme of romantic suspense infusing the story.

On the island of Corazón, a curse from the past spills over to haunt the present. Dark secrets still linger from a time when the brave Calusa, the Shell Indians who inhabited Florida’s golden shores, defied the invading conquistadores. It’s a legacy that leaves the heroine, Connie Lacey, caught up in a web of intrigue and danger, not knowing whom she can trust.

In spite of the all-pervading sense of peril, the attraction between Connie and her billionaire host, Sylvester de León, is instant and overwhelming. But the clock is ticking and the curse of Corazón cannot be denied...

I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at my website, www.janegodmanauthor.com, on Twitter, @JaneGodman, or on Facebook, Jane Godman Author.

Happy reading,

Jane

This book is dedicated to my new grandson, Luke, who arrived while I was writing it and gave me a whole new perspective on life!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

It is easy enough to list in advance, and with absolute certainty, those things for which we are prepared to die. Family, country, religion, the one we love, a valued way of life. Until we are faced with a situation that puts our convictions to the test, we can never know for sure which of these will hold true. There were many lessons to be learned during those strange weeks on the island of Corazón, but, for Connie Lacey, this would prove to be the most important.

* * *

Four years of running and hiding. Four years of looking over her shoulder. Of viewing every man she met with suspicion. Of waking every morning, wondering if today was the day he would finally catch up with her.

The relief of being offered somewhere to hide was so huge it drove every other thought out of her head. She had a brief mental image of herself as a disaster survivor and the man opposite as the rescue worker who had just draped an emergency blanket around her shoulders. She resisted the temptation to cling to him, garbling out incoherent thanks until he was forced to gently pry her hands away. They were the wild thoughts spinning through Connie Lacey’s mind as she listened to the clipped tones of the attorney.

With hindsight, she probably should have paid more attention to the strangeness of the offer he was making and the diffident manner with which he made it. Gratitude will do that to you, she decided later. At the time her attention was taken up with grabbing this opportunity. Nod, smile and sign on the dotted line. Don’t ask questions that might make him withdraw this incredible invitation. All she could focus on was the fact that—for thirty days, at least—she would not have to sleep with a knife under her pillow.

“You have one week.” She realized Mr. Reynolds had finished outlining the details of the proposal. “My client will expect you to be in Florida in exactly seven days’ time.”

Connie swallowed hard. She might have known there would be a catch. The logistics of getting to Florida posed a massive problem. Mentally, she reviewed the contents of her wallet. She knew exactly how much cash was in there. It wouldn’t get her across town let alone across the country. Before she could speak, Mr. Reynolds reached into the desk drawer and produced a hefty roll of banknotes. His expression softened slightly as he passed them across the desk.

“Expenses. For the journey and such sundry other items as may be necessary.” He cleared his throat with a hint of something that might have been embarrassment. “My client is a very exacting man. His guests will, for example, be required to dress for dinner during their stay on Corazón.”

Darn! And there I was thinking I had successfully managed to hide the fact that the sole is hanging off one of my sneakers and this sweater has forgotten what color it used to be.

Connie stuffed the wad of cash into her shoulder bag with a muttered word of thanks. If an encounter with Sylvester’s attorney could reduce her to the status of a gibbering wreck, how on earth was she going to cope with the man himself?