KRISTI GOLD - Expecting the Sheikh's Baby

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With his dark eyes, swarthy skin and sensuous mouth, Ashraf ibn-Saalem, Prince of Zhamyr, was one gorgeous sheikh. Rich, smart, worldly, sexy…and virile. Just the man to father Karen Rawlins’s baby and give her child a heritage.

Chocolate Kisses

To seal their bargain, Ash insisted on a kiss. A rock-my-world kiss that left Karen’s lips swollen, hot and wet. She knew his insistence on making a baby the conventional way would certainly be fun…but would it be wise?

Hot quick bread with vanilla ice cream

Despite a rushed wedding, their baby-making was anything but. The sheikh’s slow exploration of her body was sweet torture. His hands and tongue ignited a trail of heat over her sensitive skin that left her parched as a desert and thirsty for more. But that wasn’t part of the plan….

Buon appetito!

Dear Reader,

Welcome to another stellar month of stories from Silhouette Desire. We kick things off with our DYNASTIES: THE BARONES series as Kristi Gold brings us Expecting the Sheikh’s Baby in which—yes, you guessed it!—a certain long-lost Barone cousin finds herself expecting a very special delivery.

Also this month: The fabulous Peggy Moreland launches a brand-new series with THE TANNERS OF TEXAS, about Five Brothers and a Baby, which will give you the giddy-up you’ve been craving. The wonderful Brenda Jackson is back with another story about her Westmoreland family. A Little Dare is full of many big surprises…including a wonderful secret-child story line. And Sleeping with the Boss by Maureen Child will have you on the edge of your seat—or boardroom table, whatever the case may be.

KING OF HEARTS, a new miniseries by Katherine Garbera, launches with In Bed with Beauty. The series focuses on an angel with some crooked wings who must do a lot of matchmaking in order to secure his entrance through the pearly gates. And Laura Wright is back with Ruling Passions, a very sensual royal-themed tale.

So, get ready for some scintillating storytelling as you settle in for six wonderful novels. And next month, watch for Diana Palmer’s Man in Control.

More passion to you!

Melissa Jeglinski

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to former Bostonite and honorary Texan

Sandy Blair for her incredible information and wonderful insight.

has always believed that love has remarkable healing powers and feels very fortunate to be able to weave stories of romance and commitment. As a bestselling author and a Romance Writers of America RITA ®Award finalist, she’s learned that although accolades are wonderful, the most cherished rewards come from the most unexpected places, namely from personal stories shared by readers. Kristi resides on a ranch in Central Texas with her husband and three children, along with various and sundry livestock. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at KGOLDAUTHOR@aol.com or P.O. Box 11292, Robinson, TX 76716.

Meet the Barones of Boston—

an elite clan caught in a web of danger,

deceit…and desire!

Who’s Who in

EXPECTING THE SHEIKH’S BABY

Ashraf ibn-Saalem—After a painful betrayal, this Arabian sheikh has put his heart on ice, but not his libido. His shrewd, dark eyes appreciate women, but his hardened heart vows never to love again. But there is one thing he wants—a child.

Karen Rawlins—Some say this long-lost Barone cousin is unbendable, stubborn, unyielding. Karen says she’s her own woman. At thirty-one, she hears her biological clock ticking and sees a child of her own in her nightly dreams. But she’d just as soon subtract the husband from the baby-making equation.

Maria Barone—More than anyone, she knows that no matter what you want, you can’t run away from what fate has in store….

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

The man could be her father, but that was impossible.

Her father was dead.

Karen Rawlins touched her trembling fingertips to the photograph of Paul Barone included in the Boston newspaper along with a story covering the Barone family’s latest reunion. The article also reported the tale of the unsolved mystery from years ago surrounding the abduction of Paul’s twin brother, Luke, serving as confirmation of what Karen had recently learned from the yellowed pages of her grandmother’s diary—her loving grandparents had lived a lie for over half a century.

Karen sat in the only home she had known, deep in the heart of Montana, while too many unanswered questions haunted her as keenly as her memories. Had her father known about the journal Karen had found among her grandmother’s belongings? Had he learned of the deception before his untimely death? Had he known that he had been born to a wealthy Massachusetts family only to be kidnapped by the woman he had always considered his mother, and that his name was not Timothy Rawlins but Luke Barone?

Karen tossed the newspaper aside knowing she would never have all the answers she craved. Everyone who could fill in the blanks was gone. Her grandparents had died only months apart two years before in peaceful slumber, and her parents had been killed in a devastating car crash a year ago.

Dealing with the overwhelming loss and this new insight into her family tree might have been easier if Karen hadn’t ended her engagement to Carl. But that had been a blessing. She preferred to live her life alone as long as she could live her life as she wanted. That had not been Carl’s intent. Carl’s intent had involved control. He’d wanted a wife who would hang her life on his whims, not a woman with dreams and opinions and career goals. She refused to mourn that ending.

Karen wrapped her hands around a mug of coffee, trying to absorb some warmth, though the July weather outside was warm and wonderful. Still she felt chilled to the marrow, even in the comfortable kitchen that smelled of cinnamon and radiated kindness, an ideal depiction of home and hearth. She also felt utterly alone.

Needless to say, it had not been a banner year for Karen Rawlins. It then occurred to her that she had no reason to stay in Silver Valley. The single-stoplight town had nothing to offer but bittersweet recollections and the realization that much of what she’d believed about her family, her legacy, was false—except for the fact that her parents and grandparents had loved her without reservation.

Perhaps Boston held more opportunities. Exciting opportunities. A place to regroup and grow. Karen decided then and there to seek out the Barones, to tell Paul what details she knew about his missing brother with the hope that the family would welcome her with open arms and open minds. She would find a good job and maybe one day establish her own interior design business. She would make a good life for herself. A new life. And in order to fill the empty space in her soul, Karen would attempt to have a child, someone to love her without conditions.

No, it had not been a banner year for Karen Rawlins, but it could be—would be—from this point forward. She would simply have to make it happen, and she would achieve all of her goals without the interference of a man.

Oh, heck, not him again.

From behind the marble counter of the Barone family’s famed Baronessa Gelateria, Karen Rawlins knocked her elbow on the edge of the cash register and stifled a yelp that would surely drown out the rendition of “Santa Lucia” filtering from the overhead speakers. She also bit back a litany of mild curses directed at the lone man seated in the corner booth next to the windows. A man who stood out like a searchlight among the Barone family Italian ice-cream shop’s simple, traditional decor.