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long enough. What I do now is my own affair.”
    She laughed. “That look was pure Celino. You almost never look like that anymore.”
    â€œYou’ve been watching me?”
    She nodded and pointed to the east. “I live over there. I bought Nicola’s orchard.”
    He stared at her, incredulous. “How long ago?”
    â€œSix months.”
    Fury swelled in him. She had been living next to him for half a year and nobody told him about it. Marcus had to have known.
    â€œWhy are you here?” he ground out.
    â€œBecause I love you,” she said. “I did my best to shame myself into denying it, but I can’t. I ran half across the planet and then came back so I could live for glimpses of you at the marketplace. I’m so utterly pathetic.”
    â€œSo why come back now?”
    â€œBecause I know how excision feels,” she said softly. “I didn’t want you to go through it alone.”
    She moved to rise. He covered the distance between them in a fraction of a blink and swept her off her feet, crushing her to him. The scent of citrus swirled about them, the heat of her body ignited his, and he sealed her mouth with his, hungry for a taste. She threw her arms around him.
    â€œI’m no longer Celino Carvanna,” he said, kissing her. All that he was, all the power, respect, prestige that came with being the head of a kinsman family, he had left it all behind.
    â€œAnd I’m no longer Imelda Galdes,” she whispered, her voice a breath in his ear.
    â€œI fly to New Delphi every month to that damn eatery, hoping to see you there. I bought your house and I sit in your garden, like some sort of imbecile, hoping you’ll come through the door.”
    Celino tasted salt and realized she was crying. He swallowed, pressing her tighter to him. A curious feeling claimed him, a powerful lightness. He felt strong, capable, and yet impossibly content. “I love you,” he said, his voice a raspy growl. “Promise me you won’t vanish this time.”
    â€œI promise,” she said and kissed him back.

About the Author
    â€œIlona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team.
    Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)
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    Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Georgia with their two children, three dogs, and three cats.
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Sometimes love is the only prize worth stealing…
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    Lover Enslaved
    Â© 2009 Jodi Redford
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    Thieves of Aurion, Book 1
    Mara Sheppard has no love for the Fae, but to free her brother from prison, she’ll do whatever the treacherous Queen Nalia asks. Even kidnap Dashael Rhyder, a womanizing thief.
    She should have known the deal would go sour.
    It’s almost too easy to bait and trap Dashael. Resisting his potent Fae allure isn’t. Especially since Nalia’s unexpected demand for a missing magical rune means Mara will have to hold strong far longer than she’d planned.
    Dashael’s best shot at escaping? Seduce her. If he can survive a few dozen of his closest enemies out for blood and the queen’s scheme to make him her personal stud…he might just make it.
    Then his game of seduction trips over a snag named Mara, and he falls. Hard. For a commitment-phobic thief, love might as well be a prison sentence. Yet the idea of losing her makes him miserable.
    Mara can’t deny that her enemy has stolen her heart. But their love is about to be tested by a lifetime of secrets. The risk may not be worth it. Especially if a life together means death for one of them.
    Warning, contains one or more of the following: Hot, sexy thieves, pain-in-the-butt