"Livia."

"Livia," he repeated. It suited her and those guileless sea-green eyes. "Why would you give yourself away so cheaply to someone like me?"

Livia paused as she saw the self-deprecation in his icy eyes. He hated himself. It was so obvious and she wondered why. "Because you seem nice."

He laughed bitterly at her answer. "Nice? I'm not nice. There's nothing nice about me."

That wasn't true. He had yet to be mean to her. He was hurting, she knew that. And it made him snappish.

But it didn't make him cruel.

"I need to go," she said quietly, regretting that he wouldn't be the one after all. "There's not much time before I have to return, and I have to take care of this by the morning."

"Why?"

Livia bit her lip as she felt her face flush again. In the morning, she'd be inspected by Clypper's doctors.

If she didn't find a man tonight, she was doomed.

"I just do." She let her gaze wander over his lush body. He had broad shoulders and a lean, firmly muscled frame. His white hair contrasted sharply to the black he wore.

He was gorgeous.

But he didn't want her.

Adron saw the steely determination in her eyes. She was going to find herself another man to sleep with her. He knew it.

He should let her and yet...

Why not me?

Ever since he'd lost his agility, he'd avoided women. He'd been afraid of embarra.s.sing himself with his stiff clumsiness. But she would have no one to compare him to.

Adron gripped his cane. He remembered a time when he could have scooped her up in his arms and ran with her to his bed.

But those days were lost to him forever.

"My bedroom is this way," he said, grabbing a bottle and heading down the hallway.

Livia quivered as she realized he was inviting her to join him.

Excited and terrified, she followed him down the elegant corridor and into a room at the end of it. The master bedroom was every bit as large as her own. A king-sized bed was set against the far wall, looking out over the city below them.

He set his bottle down on the night stand, then moved to a chair by the bed. His face hard, he sat down slowly.

She saw the pain on his face as he bent his leg and moved to take off his boots.

She wanted to know what had happened to him, but didn't dare ask for fear of making him angry.

So, she went to him and took his foot in her hand.

He looked up at her, his eyes startled as she pulled the boot free.

"You know, I've never done anything like this," she whispered.

"Seeing that you're a virgin, I would think not."

Licking her lips, she removed his other boot.

Adron could feel her nervousness, her uncertainty, and he wanted to soothe her. "I won't hurt you," he a.s.sured her.

She smiled a smile that wrenched his gut. How he wished he'd met her before that fateful night. Then, he could have been the lover she deserved. He would have been able to take her all night. Slowly.

Teasingly.

He had no idea what he'd be like now. But he would try to pleasure her. Do his d.a.m.nedest to make sure her first time was a favorable memory.

His groin tight, he pushed himself up and moved to the bed.

Before he knew what she intended, she sat in his lap and kissed him.

Adron inhaled the sweetness of her breath as he ran his hands over her back. He'd never expected a virgin to be so bold. And she was a quick learner. She deepened her kiss and teased his tongue with hers.

Oh yeah, this could be fun.

He unb.u.t.toned her shirt to expose her small corslet. She moaned as he ran his hand over the satin covered b.r.e.a.s.t.s and squeezed them gently in his hands.

Livia shook all over at the foreign throb between her legs. And when he released the catch behind her back and her corslet fell open, she shivered. No man had ever seen her naked before.

He stared at her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s as he ran his hands over the taut peaks. He traced slow, simmering circles around her, sending chills all over her body.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed. Then, he dipped his head down and took her breast into his mouth.

Livia hissed in pleasure as his tongue swirled around her flesh, teasing, licking.

Never had she felt anything like it.

She leaned forward, cradling his head in her hands. Her body was on fire. He trailed his hands over her back, down her hips and when he touched her between her legs she groaned.

He looked up at her, his eyes dazed and hungry as he breathed raggedly.

He rolled her over, onto the mattress, and turned the lights off. She heard him remove the rest of his clothes in the darkness, but she couldn't see anything at all.

Adron ached to see her naked, but he didn't want any light for her to see his damaged body.

His groin hot and throbbing for her, he unfastened the stiff, p.r.i.c.kly brace on his left leg and let it fall to the floor. Next, he removed the one on his hand.

Then, slowly, carefully, he pulled her clothes from her.

He ran his hand over her smooth, hot skin, delighting in her murmurs of pleasure. He'd never taken a virgin before and the knowledge that he was her first lover added even more excitement to the moment.

No man had ever touched her.

No one but him.

Even with his wings broken and clipped, he soared at that knowledge.

Livia moaned as he covered her with his long, hot body. She'd never felt anything like all that lean, hard strength spread out evenly against her bare flesh.

He kissed her fiercely as he separated her thighs with his knee.

Then, he pressed his thigh against the center of her body, the hairs on his leg teasing her intimately.

She ran her hand over his back, feeling the rugged terrain of scars, muscle and skin.

"My name is Adron," he breathed in her ear a second before he traced the outline of her ear with his tongue.

"Adron," she repeated, testing the syllables. It was a strong name that suited him.

He stroked her with his thigh, his tongue and his hands. Arching her back, Livia welcomed his touch. It was so wickedly erotic to feel him all over and yet see nothing of him. It was like a dream. A midnight fantasy.

Reaching up, she freed his hair and let it fall around his face, then she buried her hands in the silken strands of it. He leaned down and placed his lips in the crook of her arm where he suckled her flesh.

Adron swallowed as he pulled back, wanting desperately to see her face. Instead, he lifted his hand to trace the contours of it. He could feel the tiny cleft in her chin, imagine the small oval face overwhelmed by large green eyes that tugged at a heart he had thought was dead.

She was breathtaking. And for tonight, she was his.

All his.

Closing his eyes, he moved himself down her body, then cursed as a wave of fierce pain lanced up his leg and across his back.

She tensed beneath him. "What's wrong?"

Adron couldn't answer. The pain in his leg was so intense that it instantly quelled his desire.

He rolled over onto his back and struggled to breathe.

"Adron?"

The concern in her voice ate at him.

"My leg," he said between clenched teeth. "I need the pain-killers on my night stand."

"Which leg?"

"Dammit, get my medicine."

"Which leg!" she insisted.

"The left one."

Livia took his knee into her hands.

Adron cursed as more pain tore through him. "Stop!" he snarled.

"Sh," she said peacefully as she ma.s.saged the joint.

A strange warmth came from her hands, seeping into his skin. Adron frowned as the ache diminished.

Then suddenly, it was gone entirely.

For a full minute, he laid there, tense, waiting for it to return.

It didn't.

In fact, nothing hurt. Not his chest, not his arm, not his knee.

Nothing.

"What did you do?"

"It's only temporary," she whispered. "But for a few hours, it won't bother you at all."

Adron couldn't believe it. He'd learned to live in a state of constant, unrelenting pain. Physical agony so severe that he couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time.

Until now.

The absence of it was unbelievable. His heart swelled with joy. He was free. Even if it was only temporary, he still had a moment to remember what he'd been like before his body had been cruelly, vengefully taken from him.

And it was all because of her.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her precious lips.

Livia felt his heart pounding under her hand and she heard the laughter in his voice. "Thank you."

She smiled. Until he moved down her body with his kisses. Livia moaned as fierce pleasure tore through her. His hands and mouth felt incredible against her bare skin.

This was so much more than she had expected. Krista had told her that a man who didn't know her would be quick with the deed, then let her leave.

But Adron was taking his time. He seemed to actually savor her.

It was as if he was really making love to her. And she wondered if he was this tender with a stranger how much more so would he be if they actually knew each other?

But tonight was all they would ever know. When it was over she would leave him, and this moment would be nothing more than a treasured memory she would carry with her the rest of her life.

Tonight, there was just the two of them.

And she would revel in it.