Free To Desire a Wilde by Kimberly Kaye Terry Page B

continued to walk through the small cabin, her amazement growing as she spun around to face him.
    â€œShilah?” she asked, confusion turning to dawning realization when she saw what looked like a blush darken his olive-colored face.
    â€œShilah…did you keep it like this?”
    He avoided her glance, and she walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm. “Why?”
    â€œCome on, El…you know why.”
    Ellie felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room as his dark gaze settled over hers. Confused,not wanting to try and figure out what it all meant, she turned away.
    â€œI—I think we’d better go.”
    â€œWhat are you so afraid of, El?” he said, pulling her around to face him, his face tightening with anger.
    When Ellie tried to shrug off his hold on her, he placed two fingers on the side of her chin, forcing her to hold his gaze. “What about me scares you?” he demanded.
    She placed her hands on his chest and shoved him away, suddenly angry. Angry at the situation, the way he made her feel…at herself for not being able to turn away from the dark promise in his eyes.
    â€œAfraid of you?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you or anyone else. Whatever misconceptions you have in that head of yours about me, you can just forget. I. Am. Not…afraid of you,” she reiterated, dragging each work out, staring at him defiantly. She ignored the inner taunting voice that asked who she was trying to convince, Shilah or herself.
    The anger left his eyes, replaced with a look that made Ellie draw in a breath, her eyes widening at the intense way he was staring at her.
    His unflinching gaze trained on her, his focus shifting from her eyes, down to her mouth, and back. She felt herself go still beneath his perusal.
    It was as though he was trying to look into her very soul.
    Ellie felt chill bumps feather along her spine, down her body, and trembled.
    It was as though he sought to discern her every thought, push past every barrier she’d ever erected, barriers she’d worked her entire life to build.
    In that moment, it was as though all the layers of her life came tumbling down. Her breath grew ragged, her chest heaved as she fought a battle she could not see, one that she’d been waging against the world in an effort to keep herself, her emotions, her very self at a distance.
    She pushed against the stonelike wall of his chest to no avail. Angry tears rimmed her eyes, but she stubbornly fought against them, determined to hold them at bay.
    â€œWhat—” She stopped, breathed in deeply before continuing. “What do you want from me, Shilah?”
    For long moments he didn’t speak, so long she wondered if he’d heard her whispered plea, or if he had, whether he would answer her.
    She felt his finger beneath her chin, forcing her to raise her eyes to meet his.
    The heated look in his eyes as he stared down at her sent a curl of desire through her body. A deep emotion filled his dark eyes’ depths, so much emotion she turned her head away, unable to believe…accept what she saw.
    She felt his lips touch the top of her head in a soft caress.
    â€œIt’s just you and me, Ellie. Just like it always has been. You don’t have to hide from me.”
    He ran his finger down the side of her face. Before she realized what she was doing, Ellie turned into his hand, rubbing her head softly back and forth against his palm.
    He turned her face so that she was forced to look at him, and she saw a small smile lift the corner of his sensual mouth. Although he smiled, there was no humor in his dark gaze, only simmering desire and somethingmore…intangible, fleeting, so fleeting that she thought she’d imagined it.
    He leaned down and tilted her face to meet his mouth. He simply brushed his lips back and forth over hers in feathery strokes, before slowly lifting his head.
    â€œI can’t do