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

slept, he thought wryly, as he pulled up the log Gareth had been using as a seat, and got himself comfortable.

This wasn’t how he’d envisioned ending the day, but he couldn’t seem to prevent the grin of satisfaction that worked its way to his lips.

He could honestly think of no place he’d rather be.

Consciousness came to Imogen all at once. As she went from slumber to wakefulness, her senses suddenly came alive to the smells and sounds that surrounded her.

Her heart nearly stopped.

Instead of her familiar chamber, a strange world greeted her, and it was a moment before any rational memory filled in the strangeness.

“Gareth?” she called quietly as she sat up, trying to control her panic. “Gareth, are you still there?” Please don’t leave me alone in the dark, she pleaded silently, but was too afraid to say it out loud.

“Not quite,” came the hushed reply.

The relief that flooded over her at the sound of Robert so near left her no room to pretend cold indifference. Her face broke into a tremulous smile, and she found herself saying the first thing that popped into her head.

“Oh, I was just dreaming about you,” she said, barely recognizing the breathy voice as her own.

She felt a finger trace the line of her cheek, starting a small tingle that fired through her nerve endings.

Walking for miles was almost worth all this pain, she thought dreamily, as she threw her arms around his neck when he moved to hold her. It was worth it, if it meant that she was in his arms at the end.

Where she belonged.

Chapter Seven

Robert closed his eyes and, just for a moment, let himself savor the feel of her body close to his own. It seemed like an eternity since he had held her, inhaled the scent of her warm skin, heard the pounding of her heart in time with his own fevered pulse.

Without any conscious thought his lips sought hers. She opened her mouth to meet the heat of his and he felt his desire rise till it consumed all rational thought. Her tongue met and mated with his, first sliding along his almost timidly, but soon staking a bold claim to him.

A groan started low in his chest and rumbled up and into her mouth, causing a delicious shiver to run down her spine, spreading like a liquid flame through her body. When his hands moved up from her waist slowly, his fingertips just grazing the underside of the swell of her breasts, her heart stopped beating entirely. It started again only when his warm palm rested tensely against the side of them, then it raced as she waited for him to touch her properly. With an almost unhurried desire, he slowly moved till he covered her softness completely.

She had never been touched with such gentle passion before and she gave herself over to it. She tore her lips free from his and threw back her head as a soundless moan escaped, waves of longing pulsing low in her abdomen.

His lips, now free, began to explore the soft skin of her neck, branding her with their moist heat. That heat, as it moved down her neck, seemed to find an echo in every fiber of her body, her nipples hardening almost painfully under the rhythmic pressure of his hand. Her breath caught, but she did nothing to stop him from deftly undoing the brooch that held her cloak closed. He trailed openmouthed kisses along the neckline of her gown, dragging them over the fine fabric of her simple bodice, dampening it where he lingered. As his mouth moved relentlessly on, the damp fabric turned cold and Imogen shivered with delight as the sensation brought her deliciously to life.

He paused for a moment, before claiming one of her nipples through the fabric. Her head dropped to his shoulder with a shudder, her lips grazing the soft skin of his bent neck.

He drew back to look hungrily at the darkened patch of fabric and the peaking nipple evident beneath it. “You’re so beautiful,” he said thickly. “So goddamn beautiful.”

He lifted her chin with one finger, his eyes moving over her face. Her fine skin was flushed a gentle rose and her lips were open and inviting him back.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head once more, the frenzy of raw desire replaced with an almost aching tenderness. Where before there had been a war, now their lips mated as if part of the same being. Imogen curled her arms around his neck and buried her hands deep into his hair, holding on to him as if afraid he would leave.

He had absolutely no idea of leaving, although he should, he thought foggily. He tried to ignore that sensible voice, but he couldn’t seem to make it go away.

He held her tightly, his hands moving to cover the gentle swell of her bottom, drawing her ever closer to the aching heat of his erection for a moment, then he slowly pulled away again with small, nipping kisses. She groaned in protest, her lips clinging to his, begging his return. His jaw clenched with frustrated want, but he forced himself to lift his head from hers.

“I don’t think this is the place to continue this,” he said after drawing a shaky breath.

She made a whimper that sounded to him like pain. He rested a comforting hand over her cheek, which she covered with one of her own hands, and something inside him clenched at the simple gesture. Time and place ceased to matter. All he wanted was the warm woman he was moments away from making love with. He looked up into the sky, desperately trying to cool the inflamed heat of his mind and body, but when he looked back down she was still there, in his arms.

“Night has fallen. We should move quickly,” he murmured softly, trying to stop himself from giving in to the temptation of her lips once more.

His words chilled her