Midnight Angel (Stokehurst #1)(74)

“Luke! Luke—”

He shook her awake, bending over her writhing body. “I'm here,” he said repeatedly, while she clutched at him and breathed in choking gasps. “I'm here, Tasia.”

“Help me—”

“You're all right. You're safe.”

The nightmare was slow to leave her. Shaking wildly, Tasia buried her sweat-blotched face in his neck. She had never felt so foolish and cowardly. “Nikolas,” she managed to say. “He sh-shut me in a coffin. I-I couldn't get out.”

Luke sat up and cradled her against his broad chest, rocking her as if she were a child. She couldn't see him in the darkness, but his arms were hard around her, and his low voice was close to her ear. “It was just a dream,” he murmured. “Nikolas is far away, and you're safe in my arms.”

“He's going to find me. He'll take me back there.”

Luke continued to rock her slowly. “My sweet little girl,” he whispered. “No one's going to take you away from me.”

Tasia tried to gulp back her tears. “I'm s-so sorry about today. I don't know why I said those things—”

“Hush. It's all over now.”

Suddenly she erupted into giggling sobs. “I'll go crazy if I have another nightmare like that. I can't stop it from coming back. I'm afraid to sleep.”

Holding her close, Luke whispered against her hair, endearments, meaningless phrases to comfort her. His muscled shoulder was tense beneath her wet cheek. Tasia gave a shuddering sigh and breathed in the scent of his skin. His hand was resting on her side, his thumb touching the outer curve of her breast. “Don't let go,” she whimpered, turning to him with her body, her entire being, wanting him with a depth of hunger that frightened her.

“Never.” He kissed her, his tongue skillfully exploring her mouth. At the same time, his hand moved over the soft rise of her breast. He allowed her no words, no time to think as he pulled her from the nightmare and replaced it with a dream of exquisite fire. His fingers skimmed the surface of her breast and pulled lightly at her nipple, worrying the tender flesh until it gathered to a point. Covering the bit of textured silk with his mouth, he used wet flicks of his tongue to stimulate her. Tasia's head fell back as liquid rushes of feeling washed over her, and she was bathed in the healing warmth of desire.

He pushed her down on the bed, flat on her back. Tasia lay in trembling submission, waiting for his touch, his warmth to cover her. There was nothing but stillness. Her eyes opened as she strained to find him in the darkness. “Please…” Blindly she reached for him, her groping hands finding only empty air.

She felt his mouth on her stomach, kissing and licking in a slow path from one hipbone to the other. Her muscles tightened, and she groaned his name. He was unmoved by her urgency. Brushing away her importuning hands, he feasted on her body as a gourmet savoring exotic cuisine. A swirling lick over her breast, a teasing bite at her waist, a string of kisses along her inner thigh. Driven to wanton shamelessness, she writhed and opened her legs wide. He laughed softly and slid his fingers into the tender opening of her body. She gasped as she felt his touch slip easily inside her, stroking deeply, probing with knowing gentleness.

His breath burned the silken hollow of her groin. He rubbed his mouth and nose into the mat of delicate hair, reaching with his tongue, dragging it deep through the fragrant softness. Using his mouth and his fingers, he teased her to the brink of fulfillment, drawing away just before she could cl**ax.

Tasia gave a high-pitched moan, arching in frantic welcome as he swung over her and positioned himself between her thighs. He entered her in a smooth, hard glide. She convulsed at once with a scream of pleasure. He continued to move at a measured pace, sweat beading on his skin as he fought for control. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lost to everything but the feel of him pushing hard within the succulent depths of her body. The tide of sensation approached again, and she tensed beneath him while stinging tears slipped from her eyes. “I love you,” she sobbed against his taut throat.

He deepened his thrusts, nudging against her womb, and she shuddered in ecstasy. Her body tightened around him, making it impossible for him to contain his passion. He joined her in a soul-wrenching cl**ax, groaning at the wholesale shattering of his nerves. They stayed locked together, breathing hard, twining around each other in fierce reluctance to let the intimacy end.

“I love you,” she said again, when she had the strength to speak. She buried her head against his chest. “I was afraid to say it before.”

He smoothed her long hair in a gentle, repeated motion. “Why did you now?”

“I can't live that way any longer, being afraid of what's in my heart. And I don't want there to be secrets between us.”

Luke pressed his lips to her forehead, and she could feel that he was smiling. “No secrets,” he whispered. “No lies, no fear…no past.”

“If it all ends tomorrow, at least we've had this,” she said, drugged with sleepy pleasure. “It's more than most people ever have. It should be enough.”

“A lifetime wouldn't be enough.” Luke kept her wrapped close, her hair spilling over him in dark rivers of silk, her sleek limbs tangled with his, her warm breath on his shoulder. He felt the mingling of fragility and resilience within her. Although he was not a religious man, a silent prayer resounded through him. Thank you, God, thank you for leading her to me…How he had come to merit her presence in his life was a question better left uncontemplated. He wouldn't tempt fate by wondering.