The Reluctant Bridegroom (41 page)

“Sky!” Rebekah cried, and tears sprang to her eyes. “I’m so glad!”

His arms tightened around her, and he bent his head to touch her lips. He kissed her gently, firmly, possessively. The mixture of joy, response and surrender was like nothing either of them had ever known. The anger and fear that had separated them were gone, and when he pulled back, his eyes searching hers, he whispered softly, “I didn’t know a man could love a woman like I love you, Rebekah! It’s going to take a whole lifetime to explain it to you.”

She bracketed his face with her hands and kissed him passionately, all the pent-up longing rushing through her. As they drew apart, she looked up, her face aglow with new life, and smiled joyously, “Oh, Sky! I’ve got a lifetime to spare!”

GILBERT MORRIS spent ten years as a pastor before becoming Professor of English at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas and earning a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas. A prolific writer, he has had over 25 scholarly articles and 200 poems published in various periodicals, and over the past years has had more than 180 novels published. His family includes three grown children. He and his wife live in Gulf Shores, Alabama.