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Rare and Precious Things
RAINE MILLER
PROLOGUE
7th May, 1837
I visited J. today. I talked to him and shared my news. More than anything I would wish to
have his understanding of my regret, but I know it is out of the realm of possibilities until such a
time as I meet my maker. Then I may know his feelings on the matter.
What shall be the price of Guilt? Just five letters in a word which buries me with its
weight. I live, but yet I do not deserve the gift. I can go through the days, and the motions of daily
life, but for what purpose? What good can I bring to those I love, and who would love me in
return, if they should know my secret? I did not act with correctness when the ability was within
my power to do so. I kept silent because I was afraid to curb the one whom I loved more than any
other. My bitter regret now must always be born in an endless silence that has broken the hearts
of all those I ever loved.
Today I also gave my agreement to marry a man who says he wants nothing more than to
care for me and to allow him to cherish me. He looks into my eyes and touches a part of my soul
in a way that terrifies me, yet at the same time draws me in deeper to understand his motivation. I
believe he can see into part of my secret. He understands me, because his words cut right to the
essence of my problem, leaving me no choice but to give in to his demands.
So I will go to live at Stonewell Court and make my life with him…but I am very afraid of
what awaits me. How will I ever rise to the standard of what is expected of me? I am not worthy,
and I fear my carefully guarded heart is in great danger of being shattered beyond the ability for
it to continue to beat within my breast. Darius Rourke doesn’t yet understand that I do not
deserve to be cherished by any man. I am torn, and yet he is persuasively persistent in continuing
to assure me all will be well, and to trust in him.
I find myself unable to deny Darius in his wishes for me, just as I was unable to deny my
beloved Jonathan…
MG
Part One
SUMMER
So shine bright, tonight you and I
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye, so alive
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Rihanna ~Diamonds
CHAPTER 1
24th August
Somerset
“I
can hear the ocean,” she said up against me, her hand on the back of my neck lightly
caressing back and forth, the soft floral scent of her driving me crazy.
“Mmm hmm.” I stopped at what I felt was the perfect place for the unveiling. “We have
arrived at our nuptial destination, Mrs. Blackstone. I’m going to set you down so you can get the
full effect,” I warned, before tilting her down to stand on her own. I faced her toward the house
and covered her eyes carefully with my hands.
“I want to look. Are we sleeping here?”
“Not sure how much
sleeping
we’ll be doing…but we will be here tonight.” I kissed her
on the back of the head and took my hands away. “For you, my beauty. You can open your eyes
now.”
“Stonewell Court,” she said softly as she took in the view of the great house all lit up from
entryway to roof. “I thought this is where we were. I remember the smell of the sea and the sound
of the gravel when we walked here that day. It’s so beautiful. I—I can’t believe we get to actually
stay here.” She opened her arms wide. “Who did this, Ethan?”
She still doesn’t understand.
I brought my hands to her shoulders from behind and kissed
the side of her neck, my need to have my lips on her skin ruling me for the moment. “Hannah
mostly,” I murmured. “She’s been trying to work a miracle for me long-distance. Thank Christ
for virtual meetings and e-signatures on legal documents.”
“What?” she asked, turning to face me with a puzzled look breaking over her beautiful
face. I loved surprising her, and so far this one seemed to be something she was going to be
pleased about. Making Brynne happy made me happy. End of story. We’d both done the second
and third shifts manning the check-in desk at Heartbreak Hotel in the last months, and anything
that could ease some of that suffering, was long overdue. That’s how I rationalized it at least.
“The house is for us tonight,” I said, bringing a stray curl of her silky hair to tuck behind
her ear as I inhaled some more of her intoxicating scent, and allowed myself the acceptance and
contentment of knowing we’d really up and done it. We’d actually managed it. We’d survived
and made it to this point right here, right now.
Married. Husband and wife. Baby on the way. Homeowners of a big fucking house in the
country. Hard to believe all of those things could be written under my name, true, but I was
standing here looking at the tangible proof of it.
One thing was for certain. I wanted it all. No doubts. Not a one.
All mine.
Brynne pulled her bottom lip in between her white teeth and bit the side of it. I had to
stifle a groan at the sight of her when she did it. That luscious mouth… I needed that mouth on
me. Badly. As pornographic images rolled through my head for how the next hours would play
out, she said softly, “Well, I think your sister has succeeded, and then some. It takes my breath
away, Ethan. This is the perfect place for us to spend our wedding night…nothing could be more
perfect to me.”
“You’re more perfect.” I took her face in my hands and leaned in, putting my lips on hers,
pushing my way in for a sweet taste as we stood in front of the house surrounded by the glow of
torches and the summer nighttime sea breeze. I coaxed her to open up for me, and of course she
did. I took a good, long, and thorough taste of my girl, staking my claim of possession as I had
always been driven to do with her from the very start.
My wife.
So. Goddamn. Sexy.
“You like it?” I asked when I could manage to pull my tongue out of her. It had been far
too long since I’d had the pleasure of getting carried away without having to rein it in. And my
balls were the perfect shade of blue to prove it. She’d been sleeping at her Aunt Marie’s house in
preparation for the wedding. I was left wondering how in the goddamn hell people managed to be
celibate and still function normally. Well, actually I did know. It sucked massive bollocks and I
was barely able to.
“I more than like it, Ethan. I
love
it here.” She turned back around and faced the house
again, fitting her luscious curves right into my hips.
Oh, fuck yes!
She was going to feel how rock
hard my cock was against her lovely arse beneath the lace of her pretty wedding dress in another
minute, too. I was beyond the ability to curb things by this point. Two weeks was a fucking long
time to go without her…especially when I had grown completely and utterly addicted to her
being in my bed. I didn’t sleep well without her anymore. It just didn’t work for me now if
Brynne was not right beside me in the bed…to breathe in, and wrap myself around.
And if I had one of those motherfucking dreams.
As much as I hated for her to be burdened by my emotional train wreck of fucked-up
personal baggage, the vulnerable part of me realized that only her presence beside me would ever
do anything for soothing away those cocksuckers. Brynne was my only comfort, and yet, as I
agonized over scaring her with all that horrible shit, I tried my damnedest to prevent the night
terrors from happening. Sometimes I got away with it. Sometimes I didn’t. So far I’d managed to
avoid another bad one like the night before she was taken by Karl Westman.
Him. I felt my blood boil at the merest suggestion of him. That wankstain wouldn’t ever
be back to hurt her, or anybody else for that matter, but even the thought of how he’d tried to take
her away with him made me physically ill—
“Ethan? What’s wrong?”
I shoved my thoughts away and shook my head, holding her a little tighter. “Sorry. I
was—I—nothing’s wrong, baby.” I nuzzled behind her ear.
“I was telling you how much I love that we get to stay here tonight and you didn’t
answer—”
I cut her off before she could delve any further. My girl was very intuitive with me. She
would sense where my head was at and worry. Brynne knew more about my dark place than
anyone else, but at the same time, I couldn’t bring her into it any further than I already had. I just
couldn’t do that to her—not my sweet, innocent girl, now my lovely wife, and the mother of my
child. And certainly not right now, not with our honeymoon before us. I was going to enjoy our
time together. Or die trying. Most fucking definitely.
So I smoothly distracted her instead.
“I’m very glad about that, Mrs. Blackstone, because after we were here together, I
couldn’t get this place out of my head. I wanted to bring you here. The inside needs some
attention, but the bones are good and the foundation rock solid, perched up here with the sea

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