Giving him a smile of gratitude, Aurora shook her head. "I have no urgent need to return to England," she said softly. "This is my home now, Nicholas. Everything I care most about is here. Except for Raven, of course… Did your cousin Wycliff send any word of her?"

"A brief mention. She's still the toast of London, apparently. Her betrothal to a duke only seems to have added to her allure."

A slight frown scored Aurora's brow. "I worry about her, Nicholas. It disturbs me that she accepted Halford when she had so many better choices of husband."

"I don't much care for her choice either, sweetheart, but we have discussed this before. And we agreed I wouldn't forbid the marriage."

"I know, but even so… I think we were right to send her the journal. Perhaps it will help Raven reconsider before she commits to a life without passion or love. I want her to understand what she is giving up and realize that the joy of love is well worth the risk of pain."

"As Desiree discovered?"

"Yes." Aurora smiled faintly at her husband's superior look. "You were right, I admit. In the end, Desiree had both passion and love torn from her, but she didn't regret loving." Aurora gazed up at Nicholas soberly. "I only wish Raven could see that she would be far happier to marry for love."

"We didn't, remember? You took pity on a condemned pirate and spared me a fate worse than death, never knowing your love."

Aurora gave a small shiver, recalling how close they had come to missing their destiny.

Nicholas, however, evidently wasn't as disturbed by the dark memories as she was, for his mouth curved up at one corner. "As much as I dislike admitting it, we should be grateful to Gerrod. If not for him, we never would have met, let alone wed."

Perhaps she did owe the captain gratitude, Aurora grudgingly admitted. For the first time in her life, she was truly happy. She had a wonderful husband who filled her heart, and a completely new family as well. Nicholas's mother and two sisters had welcomed her eagerly as his wife, becoming as close as any cherished blood relations. She still couldn't think of Gerrod with equanimity, however, considering how he had sought Nicholas's death.

"Did Wycliff have any other news to relate?" she asked, changing the subject. "How is he faring with his new bride?"

"His letter didn't say." Nicholas's eyes lingered upon hers. "I can only hope he is half as fortunate as I am."

Smiling softly, Aurora rolled up the parchment and retied the ribbon. "Well, I would say a celebration is in order."

He bent to place a light kiss on her lips. "I can think of the perfect way to celebrate," he murmured warmly against her ear. "Indulging in another of my greatest pleasures… ravishing my beautiful wife."

"In the middle of the day?" she asked, feigning shock. "How very scandalous."

Nicholas's smile was pure, wicked magic. It made her blood sing and her nipples harden with the need for his touch. When he drew her to her feet, she went willingly. She ached for him, an ache only he could fill.

She felt the heat and strength of his body as his lips met hers. He kissed her tenderly, his taste deliciously familiar, the scent of his heated skin exquisitely tantalizing. Fever mounting, she wrapped her arms around him, letting the wild yearning rise up in her and overflow.

Wordlessly then, he led her into their bedchamber and shut the door behind him, closing them inside.

They undressed each other slowly, drawing out the moment, lingering to taste and touch. His dark eyes smoldered with desire as he laid her naked on the bed, while her heart leapt with the same desire at the magnificence of his aroused body. Rapt, she watched him come to her, sighing with pleasure as he joined her.

The smooth, hot flesh of his broad chest pressed against her sensitive nipples, the long sleek hardness of his thighs eased hers apart. Yet he was not prepared to give her completion, it seemed. Instead he wanted to torment her.

Aurora watched his eyes go smoky as he shifted his weight. Bending over her, he feathered light, erotic kisses over her skin, her tight nipples, her belly, moving ever lower, until his lips found the mound of her sex. She drew a sharp breath as he tasted her moist flesh, the hotter moistness of his tongue a delicious shock. She trembled under his erotic assault as talons of passion sank into her, raking her with need.

Finally, though, she could bear no more. Clutching at his dark gold hair, Aurora said his name in a raw, shaky voice, needing to feel the hot slide of his flesh into hers. "Nicholas, please…"

He wanted his possession as much as she did, she knew; his arousal thrust hard against her thigh, huge and impatient, as he covered her with his body.

His hands wound in her hair, and he kissed her hungrily, a slow, writhing kiss as he slowly entered her. A low groan sounded from his throat as her hot flesh tightly sheathed him.

Aurora welcomed him fully, arching beneath him as he filled her with melting fire. Her body was full of him, molten with him. She felt like weeping. Each time Nicholas touched her was so new and beautiful…

He felt the same wonder, she was certain. A shudder rocked him, and he drew back only enough to meet her gaze, his eyes burning into hers. Then he thrust again, sinking deeply into her, so deeply she couldn't tell where he ended and she began.

She did weep moments later as blinding surges pulsed from the deepest center of her. Pulses that caught Nicholas in their wake.

They moved as one and shattered as one, splintering in shards of bright, hot light. It seemed as if their souls fragmented and slowly reformed, fusing with unbearable sweetness.

They calmed slowly, small aftershocks of sensation rippling along nerve endings and prolonging the pleasure. Drowsy, sated with rapture, they held each other, limbs entwined.

"My life," Nicholas whispered against her temple, echoing her own thoughts. "My very soul."

Her heart unbearably full, Aurora sighed with contentment. Love had demanded an irrevocable choice from her, but she had absolutely no regrets. This sense of rightness between them was undeniable. They were fated to be together.

She pressed her face into the warm flesh of her husband's shoulder, thinking of Desiree's journal. The heart will know its one true mate.

It was true, Aurora reflected. Nicholas was her mate, now and forever. He had ignited her heart's hidden passion and brought her joy beyond imagining. He was her one true love, and she could not ask for more.