"Did you really? Like it, that is? Just-a little?" Her voice was as soft as the night breeze. But Adrian wanted to shout with triumph when he heard it, to crush her close.
Instead he merely crooked one sable brow. "No." And then as her beautiful forehead furrowed, "Not just a little, stubborn one. Endlessly, unimaginably more thanjust a little. In fact, the way I want you right now is causing me mortal, racking pain!"
Gray"s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. She caught her lip between straight white teeth.
Dear God, what torture had the woman in mind for him next?
It had been two hundred years, after all, since he"d last felt such things! But of course, she couldn"t know that, Adrian reminded himself wryly.
Absently, she slid the tip of her tongue across her lip. Adrian smothered a raw curse at the sight.
"Did-did you say something?"
"Who, me?"
Reassured, she turned back to her contemplation of his mouth.
At her slow scrutiny Adrian felt his manhood throb painfully. Closing his eyes he began a rather desperate cataloging of some of the finer paintings in the abbey"s collection.
Two Turners.
The Whistler, of course.
A few middling sketches by da Vinci.
An indifferent Constable.
A rather masterful portrait of the Tenth Viscount by Sargent.
And of course, he mustn"t overlook that one thoroughly forgettable canvas by- Adrian was jerked back to agonizing reality as her lips slid wetly down his neck and caressed his suddenly bared chest. "What in the name of all the saints-"
He got no further. His breath exploded and his pulse went wild as her lips circled, then closed softly over his nipple.
A groan tore from his lips. His hands went utterly still against her neck. The pleasure was unbearable, unspeakable.
And all that he"d ever expected heaven to be.
In a fraction of a second, he was gone, six feet under, toes cocked, drowning in sensation. He shuddered, feeling her soft fingers at his shoulders, her sweet breath playing over his chest.
Most of all, he felt the wild, erotic slide of her lips, gentle and tentative with discovery.
He started to speak, and found to his fury that he had to clear his throat. "I think-yes, I really think that that"s enough, my dear."
His fingers tensed in her silky hair. He was perilously close to the edge, Adrian realized.
But she did not cease. Her tongue slid back and forth across his taut skin.
"Gray-stop." He grimaced as her teeth brushed the aching nub of his sensation."Now."
Something in his voice penetrated her haze. She pulled back, eyes dazed, breath ragged. "Did I-is something wrong?"
Adrian managed a raw laugh. "Wrong?On the contrary, my heart. Something"s far too right- and that"s what is wrong."
"Well, then-why can"t I-"
"Because, my sweet, dim-witted, splendid little fool, there aretwo of us here, in case you"ve forgotten. And if you keep doing such wildly abandoned things to me,one of that pair is going to lose his head and bury himself inside you until we both go over the edge."
Adrian tensed as soon as he"d said the words, certain she would flinch and retreat from him.
But wondrously, miraculously, she did not. Instead her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"It"s...really true then." Her glorious lips curved gently.
The sight was like pure sunlight poured into all the dark corners of Adrian"s ancient, embittered heart. If he had nothing else, it would still be worth all the pain, all the frustration just to know the sight of that one soft, sweet smile.
"But now, I really think it"s time you had a taste of your own medicine, temptress." His eyes glittered with a hint of wickedness.
Gray pursed her lips. "Oh, no, I don"t think-I never planned-"
Adrian groaned inwardly. He had his work cut out for him, that was certain.
He took a measured step forward-and watched her take one back. "Fair is fair, woman. You must realize that." He took another step.
She retreated in turn.
"Afraid, my stormy one? I can hardly believe it." He moved again.
She countered with another step of retreat.
"There"s nothing to fear, I assure you."
She retreated once more, but the movement was slower this time, indecisive.
Adrian"s smile grew to a wolfish grin as he watched her back right into the gnarled trunk of a rowan tree.
He didn"t give her time to think, time to run. He lodged his hands beside her head and eased his hard body close, his lips pressed against her trembling mouth.
Heaven fell. The sky sang. Light, time and matter dissolved into dreams.
But no dream could taste as good as she did.
And then her lips opened and Adrian groaned, catapulted into a whole new universe of sensation.
"Gray," he murmured. "Can you feel it now? Can you feel how much I want you?"
He felt her lips curve beneath him in answer.
Emboldened by that gesture, he drove his tongue deeper, seeking out the secrets of her mouth.
When he felt her fingers clutch at his shoulders, felt her tongue slide softly against his, Adrian thought he would howl from utter pain and perfect pleasure.
And then-only joy. Only wanton, breathless discovery.
Only Gray.
He knew it would be enough to last him forever.
But it wasn"t, Adrian soon discovered, enough for her.
Her fingers curved, insistent at his shoulders. Her hips moved gently against his rigid thighs.
And her tongue, dear God, her tongue was doingcarnal things, forbidden things, indescribable things.
Things that Adrian Draycott, profligate though he"d always been, hedonist and confirmed cynic, had never even dreamed existed.
And had certainly never expected to feel. Not two hundred years dead as he was.
A moment later, his lips closed around her restless tongue. Somehow his fingers were unlacing her bodice, exploring the exquisite curve of her breasts, his nails grazing the pebbled nipples that strained upward beneath the flimsy lace.
"Gray...sweeting...you"re heaven itself..." Heat raced through him white-hot, blinding.
Unimaginable.
It left Adrian stunned, breathless, shaking.
Maybe that was why he didn"t hear her moan, didn"t feel her tense against him until it was too late.
But her soft, breathless cries were unmistakable in the ragged silence, as was the tension that suddenly gripped her slender frame.
Her eyes widened. She cried out against him, passion cresting through her.
Adrian caught her close, smiling as he felt the first velvet tremor rip through her. Her suddenly locked fingers and shuddering body told him everything he needed to know.
And he gloried in every tremor, in every soft gasp. Sweet Lord, the woman was nothing short of magnificent!
Shifting slightly, he captured her between his braced thighs. With a delicate movement he triggered her sensory storm anew, sending her arching wildly against him.
And he caught each moan, each breathless, shuddering sigh against his lips, cherishing every one.
Without warning, her fingers tensed. With a wild cry Gray stumbled sideways, a trembling hand locked to her mouth, her eyes hazy with unshed tears. "N-no! I don"t want-I never wanted-"
And then she was gone, her gown a spiral of moonlight against the soft, dark grass.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
SHE TURNED AND RAN, her heart hammering painfully.
What had she done? How had this man broken down all her defenses? It was inconceivable.
Sheer madness!
Branches ripped at her hem, vines caught at her feet, but still, Gray stumbled forward, blind to everything but her pain and shame.
How?How could she have let such a thing happen?
She stumbled, her foot catching on an unseen vine. With a wild cry she pitched forward. Her head struck stone with a dull, sickening thud.
But Gray barely noticed the pain. Not the pain in her head, at least. For at that moment, Gray Mackenzie,nee Moira Jamieson, was beyond feeling little things like contusions or fractures. It was the pain in her heart that tore her apart and sent hot tears spilling down her cheeks.
Dear God, howcould she have?
She shuddered, still reeling from the sensual explosion she"d just experienced, from the unforgivable bliss she"d just discovered in the arms of a stranger.
When his strong hands circled her shoulders, she flinched and wildly shoved them away. "G-go away!"
Adrian ducked to avoid her flailing arms. "Contain yourself, woman. It"s hardly worth such a fuss."
"It is! I h-hate you!"
"Very well, but must you-ah-struggle so while you do it?" Sharp nails whipped past Adrian"s cheek, and he growled a graphic oath.
Gray was beyond hearing, nearly beyond reason. "You see-how soon it begins? But I don"t want it, do you hear? Not this cursed thing you call love. This raw, bleeding wound that never heals. I don"t want tofeel again, not ever. There"s just too damned much pain in it!"
Adrian ducked again. "Sometimes, just sometimes, it"s the pain that lets you know you"re alive."
Gray wiggled furiously. "Never! You"ll never set a hand-not the slightest finger-on me again, do you hear?"
He caught her grimly, hauled her up struggling into his arms. "Stop fighting me! You head needs tending, you intractable harridan. And-by God, you"re bleeding!"
"What are you-Where in the-"
"Enough arguing, woman!" He strode over the dark, soft grass until he came to the far side of the pool. There Adrian settled her gently in the ferns, then dipped his fingers into the water and caught up a palmful of moonlight, which he trickled carefully over her bleeding forehead.
It was not a deep gash, but it would pain her when the shock wore off. Grimly, he tugged at a handful of fragrant grass, then brushed away the last traces of blood.
"Better?"
Gray shivered, catching the fragrance of verbena and mint leaves crushed in his fingers.
"W-why?" she stammered. "Why do you care? Just let me go. I-I don"t know how much more I can take." It was an admission given shudderingly, at great cost.