Margaret Moore - A Warrior's Passion

Cover Page

Excerpt This one time, Seona’s heart commanded. Just this one time to be with him. This one time to love him, fully and completely. This one time to grasp a life’s worth of happiness. “Love me, Griffydd,” she pleaded fervently. “Love me now. Tonight.” “We will be married,” he promised as he reached out for her. She smiled at this honorable man who would not take what she was offering without some kind of promise between them. “I will always be yours,” she replied softly, and truthfully, hoping it would be enough. It had to be, for there was no more she could say. “I love you with all my heart, wife-to-be,” he murmured, pressing feather-light kisses upon her forehead and cheeks. “I am yours forever.” “Shh,” she hushed, afraid that if he called her “wife” again she would start to weep. “Later. We will speak of these things later.” Even though she knew full well that there could be no later for them. All they would ever have was this one time.

Dear Reader Dear Reader, This holiday season, we’ve selected books that are sure to warm your heart—all with heroes who redefine the phrase “the gift of giving.” Since 1992, Margaret Moore has written seventeen full-length historicals for Harlequin and two short stories, and will soon publish her first historical for Avon Books, A Scoundrel’s Kiss. Look for it around Valentine’s Day. Critics have described her as “a master storyteller,” and “a genius of the genre.” In A Warrior’s Passion , the ninth book in her medieval WARRIOR SERIES, a young woman is forced into an unwanted betrothal before the man she truly loves—and whose child she carries—can claim her as his wife. Don’t miss this exciting story! Linda Castle returns with the long-awaited sequel to Fearless Hearts, Territorial Bride, in which a cowgirl and an Eastern rogue must put their love to the test when she is thrown from a horse and seriously injured. The Shielded Heart by rising talent Sharon Schulze is the gripping tale of a warrior who learns to accept his special psychic gift as he teaches an enamel artisan about life and love. Rounding out the month is Harrigan’s Bride by award-winning author Cheryl Reavis, who also writes contemporary romances for Silhouette. Here, Thomas Harrigan returns from the Civil War to marry the bedridden, abandoned daughter of his late godmother. It’s great! Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historical® novel. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page A Warrior’s Passion Margaret Moore www.millsandboon.co.uk

About The Author MARGARET MOORE confesses that her first “crush” was Errol Flynn. The second was “Mr. Spock.” She thinks that explains why her heroes tend to be either charming rogues or lean, inscrutable tough guys. Margaret lives in Scarborough, Ontario, with her husband, two children and two cats. She used to sew and read for reasons other than research.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Copyright

Just this one time to be with him. This one time to love him, fully and completely. This one time to grasp a life’s worth of happiness.

“Love me, Griffydd,” she pleaded fervently. “Love me now. Tonight.”

“We will be married,” he promised as he reached out for her.

She smiled at this honorable man who would not take what she was offering without some kind of promise between them.

“I will always be yours,” she replied softly, and truthfully, hoping it would be enough.

It had to be, for there was no more she could say.

“I love you with all my heart, wife-to-be,” he murmured, pressing feather-light kisses upon her forehead and cheeks. “I am yours forever.”

“Shh,” she hushed, afraid that if he called her “wife” again she would start to weep. “Later. We will speak of these things later.”

Even though she knew full well that there could be no later for them.

All they would ever have was this one time.

Dear Reader,

This holiday season, we’ve selected books that are sure to warm your heart—all with heroes who redefine the phrase “the gift of giving.” Since 1992, Margaret Moore has written seventeen full-length historicals for Harlequin and two short stories, and will soon publish her first historical for Avon Books, A Scoundrel’s Kiss. Look for it around Valentine’s Day. Critics have described her as “a master storyteller,” and “a genius of the genre.” In A Warrior’s Passion , the ninth book in her medieval WARRIOR SERIES, a young woman is forced into an unwanted betrothal before the man she truly loves—and whose child she carries—can claim her as his wife. Don’t miss this exciting story!

Linda Castle returns with the long-awaited sequel to Fearless Hearts, Territorial Bride, in which a cowgirl and an Eastern rogue must put their love to the test when she is thrown from a horse and seriously injured. The Shielded Heart by rising talent Sharon Schulze is the gripping tale of a warrior who learns to accept his special psychic gift as he teaches an enamel artisan about life and love.

Rounding out the month is Harrigan’s Bride by award-winning author Cheryl Reavis, who also writes contemporary romances for Silhouette. Here, Thomas Harrigan returns from the Civil War to marry the bedridden, abandoned daughter of his late godmother. It’s great!

Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historical® novel.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

confesses that her first “crush” was Errol Flynn. The second was “Mr. Spock.” She thinks that explains why her heroes tend to be either charming rogues or lean, inscrutable tough guys.

Margaret lives in Scarborough, Ontario, with her husband, two children and two cats. She used to sew and read for reasons other than research.

Seona MacMurdoch sniffled and wiped her dripping nose with the back of her hand. Clutching her thin woolen shawl tighter around her shoulders, she raised her head, squinting in the drizzle, and looked up at the slate-gray sky.

No sign of sunlight and, inside the stone hall beside her, not a sound that would give any notion of why her father had summoned her.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done but wait until the chieftain called for her or sent one of his men to fetch her inside, provided he even remembered that, at one time this morning, he had wanted her.

Breathing in the scent of the wet earth beneath her leather-covered feet and the soaked thatch above her head, she wiped her damp face again and sighed with resignation. Then she leaned back against the wall, the movement setting the iron keys tied to the plain belt around her thin waist jangling. Her gaze roved over the wooden wall of her father’s fortress to the scraggy hills surrounding the bay, the thin, dark green of them obscured by the rain. From where she stood, she could look out the open gate of the fortress to the harbor, where the trading ships of her father’s fleet rocked in the bay.