"If you do not plan to sleep, I must not stay."
"I want you to stay with me." Her hand slid along his arm. How different was a man's arm, with silken hair and corded muscles that rippled beneath her touch.
His tone roughened.
"You ask too much of me, Brenna. I am a man, not a saint. How long do you think I can lie here beside you and not touch you?"
Her throat went dry. She touched her tongue to her lips. He watched the movement and had to fight the desire to bend his lips to hers.
"Then touch me, my lord."
For a moment he could not believe what he'd heard. His eyes flashed.
"I do not jest, my lady."
"Nor do I."
He caught her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his direct gaze.
"You have only just awakened. Perhaps you are confused."
"I am not confused."
"Then you are grateful that I saved you from your attacker. Do not mistake gratitude for some other, deeper emotion, Brenna."
"It is not gratitude I feel." She held herself very still, as if terrified of her sudden boldness.
He kept his tone deliberately stern, in order to ruffle her composure.
"If I touch you, it will not end as it did before. I have not the strength to walk away again. I intend to make love with you, Brenna, the way a man loves a woman. And I will want you to make love with me, as well."
"That--is what I want, my lord."
Her gaze never left his. He expected to see fear, or at least hesitation. But what he saw was a look of cool determination. And the first soft stirrings of desire.
Chapter Eighteen
The fire had burned to embers, leaving the room bathed in a rosy glow.
Pale moonlight filtered through the balcony window, touching the figures in the bed with a luminous light.
The silence of the room surrounded them. It was as if the night creatures had conspired to still their voices. There was no sound except the soft whisper of their breathing. And the wild thundering of their heartbeats.
"Are you afraid, love?" With his finger Morgan traced the curve of her brow, the slope of her cheek, the outline of her lips.
Love. His endearment filled her with sudden yearning.
"Aye. I am terrified."
He touched his lips to hers and murmured, "There is no reason to be. I promise I will not hurt you. I will never hurt you, Brenna." . ";;
"That is not what I fear." She drew back.
"I am afraid I> will not please you." % With his hand at her back he drew her firmly against thU length of him.
"You already please me, Brenna." Brennat Brenna. Her name sang like a litany in his mind. Neya j would he grow weary of saying her name.
"You are the loveliest creature I have ever known. All the beauty, all the goodness of this world, are in your eyes."
" She gave him a timid smile.
He sensed her uneasiness. With a gentle smile he said, "Trust me. It is true we are about to go to a new place. And the unknown is always frightening. But we go there together, love."
He buried his lips in the hair at her temple and felt the wild beating of her pulse. Forcing himself to go slowly, he moved his lips along her cheek to the tip of her nose.
"Such a haughty little turned-up nose," he murmured.
She chuckled and he felt her relax in his arms.
"You do not like my nose?"
"It is a fine nose. And your lips." He nuzzled the corner of her mouth until she sighed with impatience and turned her head until his lips were covering hers.
"Such perfect lips." His words mingled with her breath and were swallowed up in the kiss. He lingered over her lips, loving the way they felt beneath his. Soft. Seductive. Inviting.
His hands moved along the warm, naked flesh of her back, igniting little fires wherever they touched.
"You are so small, Brenna. So delicate." He lifted himself on one elbow to allow his gaze to study her. Her skin was washed by moonlight. With a kind of reverence he trailed his hand along the soft curve of her hip to her narrow waist, then upward to the swell of her breast.
"So beautiful."
She closed her eyes and he pressed his lips to her closed lids. As he explored her face with his lips, she relaxed, allowing herself to drift on a hazy cloud of contentment.
His lips traced her eyebrow, her cheek, her ear. With his tongue he traced the outline of her lips, then lingered, savoring all her sweetness.
The kiss was a promise of more. So much more.
He lifted her hand to his lips, then pressed a kiss to her palm and closed her hand around it. She trembled as he kissed her wrist, her elbow, her shoulder. She laughed softly as he nuzzled her neck.
Before she realized what he was doing, he bent his head. With the merest brush of his lips he pressed a kiss to her hipbone. She flinched and tried to draw away, but he held her firmly while his lips trailed the flare of her hips to her
Chapter Eighteen
Q^As^Q
The fire had burned to embers, leaving the room bathed in a rosy glow.
Pale moonlight filtered through the balcony window, touching the figures in the bed with a luminous light.
The silence of the room surrounded them. It was as if the night creatures had conspired to still their voices. There was no sound except the soft whisper of their breathing. And the wild thundering of their heartbeats.