Byrd's Desire
5/5
()
About this ebook
When Cajun gal Celia Lecompte leaves Louisiana for her cousin’s ranch in Oklahoma, she wants nothing more than to put her past behind her and plan for the future. She’s sworn off men so romance isn’t in the picture. When her cousin warns her to watch out for the Thunderbird, a mythical creature, she’s sure Angelique is joking until she catches a glimpse of something she can’t explain.
One night while cooking up a pot of gumbo, a dark and mysterious man knocks on the door. He sweeps her into a sizzling kiss, and she shares her bed in mutual desire. Although she’s not sure who he is, she wants him in every way possible.
Byrd has a secret, however, and when he reveals it, he makes a request. If she accepts it, her life and heart will be transformed forever.
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Growing up in historic St. Joseph, Missouri, Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy scribbled her stories from an early age. Her first publication – a poem on the children’s page of the local newspaper – seems to have set her fate. As a full time author, she has more than twenty full length novels published along with assorted novellas and short fiction. A contributor to more than two dozen anthologies, her credits include Chicken Soup For The Soul among many collections of short fiction. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Missouri Writers Guild, and the Ozark Writers League. Lee Ann earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri Southern State University as well as an Associate Degree from Crowder College. She has worked in broadcasting, retail, and other fields including education. She is currently a substitute school teacher. As a wife and mother of three, she spends her days penning stories, cooking, reading, and other daily duties. She currently makes her home in the Missouri Ozarks, living in what passes for suburbs in a small town.
Read more from Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Kinfolk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuite the Catch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReturn of the Christmas Bride Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBy Any Other Name Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conjure Supper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Emerald Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFire Rescue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDion's Desire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanaan's Land Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Time for War, A Time for Peace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cowboy Gladiator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTall, Dark, and Cherokee Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStranger Danger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Time To Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Times the Charm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuck's Legacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere Dreams Come True Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlattery's Sin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legacy of Boone Wilson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCarnival Glass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohnny Gator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Byrd's Desire
Related ebooks
Running on Empty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPetty Thief of Hearts Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Coveting Ava: Genetically Altered Humans, #7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alternative Destiny Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDestined Dragon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBleeding Love Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Strokes of Pleasure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCurves For Her Bears: BBW Shifter Erotic Romance, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorth Fighting For Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Janaya: Alien Encounter, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarried Yet still a Virgin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRide Free (The Chromes and Wheels Gang) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Ex-Partner's Ex-Wife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dragon's Bride: Dragon Brides Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaken by the Gorgon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInking the Billionaire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRevealing Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDichotomy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTurning Leaf: The Awakening, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jewel's Bear: Bear Mountain Patrol, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQueen of Curves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Greek Prince: DILF Series, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Mistake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Angel at the Top of My Tree Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDemon Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Tether Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHer Sexy Skunk Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pride of the Cat II: In the Cat's Eye Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Paranormal Romance For You
Dreams of a Dark Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Hunger Like No Other Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Siren: Rise of the Drakens, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Modified Volume 1: Modified, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rejected Mate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eternal Bonds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lothaire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fighting Destiny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Needs at Night's Edge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Entreat Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Descent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dweller on Two Planets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlames of Chaos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Gothic Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warlord Wants Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wish Out of Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Vampire Bewitched Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What the Hex: A Paranormal Rom-Com Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Savior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sheltering Rain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magpie Lord: A Charm of Magpies, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chased by Moonlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silver Under Nightfall: Silver Under Nightfall #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kodiak's Claim: Kodiak Point, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witches of New Orleans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fortuna Sworn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Oxford Year: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Byrd's Desire
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Byrd's Desire - Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Published by Evernight Publishing at Smashwords
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2014 Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
ISBN: 978-1-77130-740-6
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Lisa Petrocelli
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For my friend, Odile, who taught me to cook Cajun and add a little Louisiana spice to life!
BYRD’S DESIRE
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
With the first hint of dawn breaking over the eastern horizon, Celia headed out of Natchitoches on Highway 71. She didn’t need a map as she headed for Shreveport. She paused for a quick breakfast in an out-of-the-way diner and trekked northward. The scenery shifted from flat country, punctuated with nodding donkeys pumping oil, as she climbed into the edge of the Ouachita Mountains. Celia gawked, worse than a tourist, at the heavy forest on both sides of the road and the scenic views, so different from her native habitat. At Fort Smith, the next town of any size after Shreveport, she veered west into Oklahoma.
The midsummer heat rose as she traveled and exchanged the Ouachitas for the Cookson Hills. Somewhere outside of Sallisaw, the air-conditioning in her worn-out Cadillac quit so she rolled down the windows. A hot breeze blew into her face and before she stopped for a quick lunch—a chicken sandwich and iced tea—her hair tangled and her makeup melted. She didn’t dare check her reflection in a mirror or she might turn tail back to Louisiana. An hour or so northwest of Sallisaw, she turned from the highway onto a narrow ribbon of blacktop, then five miles later exchanged it for a hard-packed gravel road. Celia slowed as she entered the ranch proper and winced as the cattle guard rattled beneath the Caddy. At the same time, the fuel gauge dropped to Empty
and she hoped she wouldn’t run out of gas until she reached the house. Although she never went to church anymore, Celia’s lips moved in a brief but heartfelt plea to the Virgin. To her right, vast acres stretched out toward a large pond and cattle grazed across the rolling grasslands.
She glanced left and spotted the ranch house, tucked atop a hill. Tall old trees surrounded it and if she didn’t know better, Celia would’ve sworn it’d been in the same spot for a century. A wide porch covered the front and a stone chimney rose high into the sky. It looks like something from the pioneer days, or the set for a classic Western movie. A windmill behind the house spun with slow, lazy turns in the slight breeze. The house loomed larger than she’d expected and the location was far more remote than she had thought. But here she was and here she’d stay.
With a sigh, she pushed back her wild hair and blotted her face with a tissue. Sweat turned her light yellow T-shirt to gold and on impulse she pulled some cheap cologne from her purse and dabbed both wrists, then her throat. With false bravado, Celia picked up her purse and sauntered up to the front door. Before she could knock, the door opened and her cousin, Angelique Lecompte Broussard, faced her. Angie could’ve stepped out of a fashion magazine layout, with her hair upswept in a perfect do, and her casual clothing beautiful and obviously expensive. Waves of expensive perfume wafted toward Celia and she struggled against the urge to skedaddle until Angie’s perfect deep pink lips curved into a smile.
It’s about time, cher, you showed up,
she said, her voice rich with the musical notes of the bayous. I’d about given up on you. Come in, come in. It’s hot.
Celia stepped inside and stifled a gasp. Above her, the ceiling stretched two stories high with open beams and a rustic look that she liked. The large room had been furnished with a distinct but subtle Western flavor. It radiated cozy comfort and whispered money. The gray fieldstone mantle above the fireplace held a pair of matching kerosene lamps and a sculpture of a pioneer woman holding a child’s hand. Plush, plump couches and overstuffed chairs were grouped before the hearth and in another corner, a large-screen television loomed. Navajo rugs on the walls and some Remington paintings added to the ambiance. Ben Cartwright and the boys would feel right at home here, Celia mused, and so would John Wayne.
What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?
Angie said with a laugh.
No.
Celia found her voice. "I’m just awestruck, I guess. You said ‘ranch’ and I