Forever My Love (Berkeley-Faulkner #2)(17)

And then suddenly she was in his arms, her body racked with trembling. She tried to pull away, but she could not stop shaking, and she let him draw her into the shelter of his powerful form. Instinctively she clung to him, her face pressed against the velvet collar of his

coat until she moved her cheek and felt the warmth of his skin through the material of his shirt.

Alec sat down on the deeply shadowed turret steps, cradling her in his arms. “This is why I came after you,” he murmured, his dark head bending over her as she shuddered and moved her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes tightly as he murmured incomprehensible phrases into her hair—his tone was soothing, low and gentle, inconceivably tender.

“Don’t mock me,” she whispered dazedly, unable to believe that he had changed into this soft-voiced stranger.

“No, I won’t hurt you… shhh…”

“I don’t need you to—”

“I know you don’t… just shut up for a minute and let me hold you.”

She obeyed him, letting the warmth of his body seep into her skin, into her flesh, into her very bones, until the trembling stopped. His brutal strength was no longer something she had to contend against… no, all at once it had become her protection, bent around her in a shield. The familiar fragrance of him surrounded her… the clean masculine scent of his skin, the smell of expensive clothes, the faintest touch of bay rum… she breathed deeply of it. She would never be this close to him again and she wanted to remember… she had never felt so safe, comforted, protected.

“They were all laughing at me,” she whispered, her teeth chattering.

“No, they weren’t. They would have if you had been afraid of them—”

“I was.”

“No one could see that. Not even me.”

“I would have run away if I could have.”

“It’s all right now… it’s all right.”

Giving a broken sigh, she rested her head on his shoulder while his broad chest rose and fell steadily

beneath her. She did not know how much time passed by as she relaxed against him, but gradually it seemed that she had floated into the middle of the sweetest dream imaginable. His lips touched her forehead, sending an exciting chill down her spine, and his muscled arm tightened under the back of her neck as he eased her head higher.

Mira kept her eyes tightly closed, afraid that soon she would wake up. But for now her world was secure, filled with shadowy darkness and pleasant scents and with the warmth of Alec’s body engulfing hers. Pleasure crept through her body, pleasure more potent than an addictive drug. It made her helpless with desire, eager to yield to him, craving his touch, wanting his lips on hers. She felt his hot, moist breath against the softness of her neck… his seeking mouth brushed her skin, then moved lazily across her throat. Weakly Mira turned her face against his shoulder as Alec’s raven head lowered over her, his tongue flickering against the most sensitive parts of her neck.

“Mira…” he muttered, his mouth moving over her skin hungrily. “I want you… I want to make you feel things you’ve never dreamed about…” Her eyes fluttered open, and he became lost in the bewildered darkness of her gaze. “You don’t belong to Sackville,” he said thickly.

“I promised him—”

“To hell with whatever you promised him. It’s not right for you to be his. He doesn’t want you as I do. You can’t say he satisfies you, not when you respond to me like this. You’re starving for a man who will take the time to please you in bed, someone who will see to your needs as well as his own. A strong, young man in his prime—”

“He does please me,” she choked, trying to twist out of his lap.

“Like hell he does. Look at you—you’re panting and I haven’t even kissed you. If you don’t have the

look of an unsatisfied woman, then I’ve never seen one before.”

Outrage cleared Mira’s mind with a wintry blast. She tried to slap him but the motion was stopped in midair as his large hand closed around her slim wrist. “Don’t lie to me,” Alec said quietly. Mortified, Mira made an effort to calm herself.

“I’m not lying to anyone. Let go of me.”

“Look at me and tell me honestly that you don’t want me to—”

“Let me go,” she interrupted, breathing hard with anger, “you prinking, conceited cloak-twitcher of a—” ,

The barrage of invective might have continued for some time had Alec not heard approaching footsteps.

“Quiet. Someone’s coming,” he said, dumping her out of his lap, clapping a hand over her mouth, and dragging her across the hallway into his room. Mira struggled in his grasp, pulling at his wrist as the door closed behind them. “Stop squirming and listen,” he hissed into her ear. Mira relaxed slowly as she heard footsteps pass by the door. Her eyes widened as the heavy feet went up the turret steps. “Sackville,” Alec muttered grimly. “Come to take up where I’ve left off, no doubt.”

“I’ve got to get out of here!” Mira said tightly.

“He’ll ask about what I’ve been doing.”

“Don’t worry—you can tell him you were in the middle of considering an interesting proposition.”