Midnight Eyes by Brophy, Sarah (well read books .TXT) 📕

of love between a man and a woman. Somehow, though, her body knew. It knew what it needed, and relentlessly pushed her toward the abyss of the unknown to get it.

It was in the part of her mind where the memories were freshest that a small doubt came to life. That small, rational region of her separated itself, hiding behind a cold wall of fear. It was almost overwhelmed by the sudden need of her body to learn all.

But fear was relentless and slowly froze her body’s needs. She lowered her hands to his chest and tried to push him away. It was no more than the fluttering of a butterfly and in Robert’s passion-clouded mind it barely registered. His body, however, was at one with hers and was instantly aware that she was no longer following him into the mad sensual realm they had stumbled upon. He struggled to lift his mind free of the lust that had taken hold of him and he couldn’t help but groan with frustration as he tore his lips free from hers.

Even though it was what she had silently asked for, she wanted to protest the sudden loss of the warmth of his mouth as she struggled to slow the rapid beat of her heart while she listened to Robert’s labored breathing. She found it oddly intoxicating that she could bring him to a state that equaled her own. His forehead leaned against hers, bathing Imogen with the sweetness of his breath.

It was a long moment before either of them could speak.

“I’m sorry,” Imogen finally murmured.

Robert lifted his hand to gently cup her face. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He inhaled sharply. “It is I who should be apologizing for my behavior. First I rush you from your own wedding feast without letting you eat properly, then I behave like an animal without control over his lust.”

He slowly ran his thumb over the softness of her cheek and she shivered as she felt the rasp of his callouses against her skin. Without any conscious thought she reached up to hold his hand to her face when he made to move it away.

“I didn’t really mind,” Imogen said shyly, surprising herself as much as him with the truth of that statement. “I’m just not sure…”

Robert’s sharp laughter cut off Imogen’s confused apology. They stood so close that she could almost feel it inside of her as it reverberated through his chest. His laughter almost felt like her own.

“Well, I am sure. You need time and I should be giving it to you,” Robert ground out harshly.

He held her tightly to his burning need for a second, then carefully lifted her bodily away from him. Bereft of his support she had to lean against the door to support her suddenly weak legs. In confusion she listened to him prowl the room like a caged lion, his disgust and self-loathing almost a tangible presence in the room.

The knowledge that it was her own fears and confusion that had caused his torment haunted her. She had never meant to cause him pain. She wrapped her arms around her middle, feeling his pain in her own body in much the same way she had felt his laughter. He thought his clean lust had frightened her, when instead it was her dark memories of another’s twisted perversion that had forced her to turn from the passion he offered her so freely.

Suddenly it seemed to her that those memories weren’t as important as the feelings that had come to life inside her with Robert’s touch.

“I don’t need all that much time.”

She said it so quietly that it took Robert a moment to hear it. His shout of grim laughter caught her by surprise.

“You don’t have to lie to save my feelings. Of course you need time to get over the fright and disgust caused by the insatiable animal you have married.” He slumped into a chair by the fire. He buried his face in his hands and tried to control the guilt and desire that raged in conflict through his body. Imogen could still feel it like it was a presence under her skin.

It was that new pain that made her decision for her.

Carefully she followed the sound of his ragged breathing and knelt slowly in front of him. She slid a hand up his thigh, partly for support, but mostly because she liked the feel of his coiled strength. Robert lifted his face, startled first by the voluntary touch and then by the look of earnestness on her face.

“Don’t say that. I know what fear and disgust feel like, and I didn’t find either in your kiss. It was beautiful and I wasn’t exactly fighting you off, if you remember.”

“How could you fight me? I’m at least twice your size,” Robert said darkly, trying to deny himself the comfort she offered.

“But you never used your size against me.” Her hand tightened over the tenseness of his thighs. “You stopped,” she whispered, and that knowledge was like a shaft of light into the darkness of her world. He hadn’t tried to harm or overwhelm her. He had stopped the second she had wanted him to. He had given her the choice. With that revelation came another, equally startling one; she chose to feel more of the fire he had built in her with just the touch of his lips on hers.

“May I touch you?” she asked, her face flaring with embarrassment at her own daring. She refused to be daunted, however, and took his sudden silence as an affirmative.

Robert’s breath stopped as he felt her small hand begin to move caressingly over the length of his thigh. “Lean back,” she murmured, and Robert found himself mutely complying, unable to resist the chance to feel her touch on flesh that craved it. She moved till she kneeled between his muscular thighs and carefully moved both her hands to his face. She ran a fingertip over the whorls in his