Violet Thornhill is determined not to be controlled by any man. Coll Munro is accustomed to being in charge. Thrown together in a search for a lost Scottish treasure, the pair can't agree on much of anything except that they are irresistibly drawn to each other. Will their differences keep them apart or will they find that passion leads them to the true treasure of the heart? Don't miss Enraptured, the sizzling finale to Candace Camp's Secrets of the Loch series.

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PG-13 Excerpt

Coll stared after Violet as she strode into the dark hall and out of sight. Letting out a low noise, half groan, half growl, he flopped back onto the bed. He rolled onto his side and buried his face in his pillow, muttering oaths, none of them adequate to express what burned through him. What if she had understood his mutterings? Had she realized the state he was in?

He had been dreaming of her. It had been summer in his dream and they'd been swimming at the loch. She had worn only a shift, and the wet cotton clung to her body, revealing every delectable inch. She lay back on the ground beside the loch, holding up her arms to him, and he went to her, burying his mouth in hers, his hands sliding under her shift and over her slick skin. Then she had said his name, and he had opened his eyes to see her standing before him. For an instant, still lost in passion and sleep, he had reached for her. He was fortunate he had come to full consciousness before he dragged her into his bed.

He grunted. Aye, fortunate. So much better to be lying here sweating and shaken, still hard as a rock and no chance of release, at least not in the way he ached for. Why did he let the woman torment him so? Yes, she had those doe-soft eyes, lambent and huge, and her breasts were full and soft and would cup so sweetly in his palms. Her lips were luscious, eminently kissable. But other women were beautiful, other women were softer, sweeter, more pliant.

Yet none of them beckoned him as she did. That tartness in her made it all the more tantalizing to taste her sweetness. The possibility of watching the warmth and pleasure unfold in her lured him. He yearned for the powerful, primal satisfaction of awakening that most hidden part of her — as if she had locked inside her some deep, shimmering secret that only he had the key to open.

Coll sat up. He must get up and dress; he must turn his mind to other things, forcing the roiling, pulsing hunger inside him to ease. If he did not learn to do so, it would be an exquisite torture living in the same house with her. Perversely, it seemed that he ached to race straight toward that torment.

R-Rated Excerpt:

"Violet . . ." His eyes were lambent, his face soft. He let his hands fall back onto the table above his head, his entire body relaxing.

"It is true that you had your way with me." Violet reached down, grabbing her dress, still hanging about her hips, and tore it off over her head, followed by her chemise and petticoats. "And now . . ." She slid her hands up his arms and gripped his crossed wrists as if to hold him prisoner. "I intend to have my way with you."

She heard the quick, little intake of his breath. "Do you now?"

"Indeed." Violet glided her hands down his arms, bending to press her mouth to the tender skin inside his elbows, trailing her lips along his flesh. Her hair flowed over his face and onto his chest, and she felt him turn his head to catch her hair between his cheek and arm, rubbing against it like a cat.

Laying feathery kisses over his brow, his eyes, his cheeks and chin, she avoided his lips though he turned toward her, searching. "No," she breathed into his ear, and took the lobe between her teeth to worry it. "I will kiss you when and where I choose. It's my turn now."

She felt the heat flare in his skin. With the tip of her tongue she traced the whorls of his ear, and the rasp of his breath in his throat aroused her. She kissed the side of his neck, loving the leap of pulse beneath her lips, then moved to the other side, working her way up to his ear.

Violet slid her hands up his arms, so that her own arms lay aligned with his. Her lips hovered above his as she gazed down into his eyes. "You see, I am going to fall upon you like a savage now." Again she felt his flesh turn to flame under hers, and she smiled and kissed him.

In a long, delicious kiss she savored the taste of him, the feel of his lips and tongue on hers, the heat that poured from him. It was so delicious that when she pulled back from him, she tilted her head the other way and kissed him again.

"I shall force you," she whispered as she nuzzled into his neck. "I shall take you without a thought to whether I hurt you."

He chuffed out a little laugh. "I think you've passed that point."

Violet raised up to gaze down in his face. "Do you want me to stop your torment? Release you from my retaliation?"

"Nae." Passion etched his features. "I want to feel your revenge in full measure."

"Then I" — she kissed the point of his chin —"shall oblige."

Violet moved down him, caressing his naked chest with her hands and body and mouth, stopping to lay a soft, moist kiss on his navel. Coll groaned, reaching for her breasts.

"None of that." She caught his wrists and pressed a kiss to each one before pinning them to the table beside him. "Just for that, I think, I must pay special attention here." Her mouth lingered over the shallow well of his navel, then she worked her way across the soft flesh of his stomach, taking her time with it until she wrested another groan from him.

Violet slipped her hand beneath his back and down under his breeches. He jerked at her touch, his hands breaking free of her light hold.

Stroking her hair, he grabbed a handful of the silky mass and pressed it against his lips. Releasing the locks, he linked his hands behind his head, his gaze hot and slumberous, and smiled at her. "No doubt you shall add that transgression to my punishment."

"I shall." Her answering grin was wicked.

She stripped his breeches from his legs. Tossing them onto the floor, she cast a slow, appreciative eye over him. "You're a long, lovely sight of a man, Coll Munro."

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