Free Silvia Day by Pleasures of the Night

that would forever be imprinted on his memory.
    Sadness welled within him, and he lifted his head. How much worse would his attachment be if he took her again? Already all other women had lost their ability to entice him.
    Her eyes fluttered open. With her ravished mouth and swollen nipple, she was a picture of wanton abandon. He could lower her to the sand, and free his cock. A quick tug would pull her swimsuit aside, allowing him to sink into her creamy depths. In all his life, he had never wanted anything as much.
    “I’m afraid of what will happen,” she breathed, her chest rising and falling with her labored breathing, “if we make love again. I want more, Aidan.”
    Pulling her tight against him, Aidan rested his cheek on the top of her head. “I’m sorry I can’t give it to you.”
    He forced himself to release her, to relinquish her warm, curvy body. Forever.
    She righted her swimsuit and looked at him with big, dark eyes. “I’m happy you came, even though you can’t stay.”
    His thumb caressed the curve of her cheekbone. “Goodbye, Lyssa.”
    “Good-bye.”
    Turning on his heel, he left her.
    He felt her watching him all the way until the door shut and became an impassable barrier between them.

Chapter 4
    “You have broken one of our most sacred laws, Captain Cross.” The sea of gray-shrouded faces before Aidan nodded as one. “We do not choose the assignments given to Guardians lightly. It is not your place to reassign yourself and others to suit your own needs.”
    He stood impassive, his hands laced at his back, his stance wide as if prepared for a blow, which he was. He’d known the risks when he went to Lyssa. He had accepted them in return for a few moments with her, and the price was worth being able to hold her as he had.
    “You set the example for others,” the Elder continued. “Any transgressions on your part can start a chain of disobedience. Because of this, you will spend the next fortnight at the Gateway.”
    He flinched inwardly. The contrast of his new assignment to the joy of Lyssa’s presence was similar to the contrast between hell and heaven.
    But perhaps his time at the Gateway would be good forhim. He certainly would not have the luxury of thinking of her there.
    “You will begin immediately, Captain.”
    He bowed before turning on his heel. Having expected some onerous task, he had dressed for battle, and his glaive hung securely in the scabbard that crossed his back. His boots tapped ominously on the marble floor as he left the haiden and descended the steps to the open courtyard. Around him, casually robed Guardians stared. Some furtively, others openly. He’d broken a law that had not been broken in centuries, and everyone wanted to know what the punishment would be for so grave an offense.
    With a leap, he departed, gliding rapidly through the misty Twilight toward the reddish glow that illuminated the tops of a distant mountain range. As always, he was grateful for the hours-long length of the journey. It allowed him time to sort his thoughts, and then clear them away. At the Gateway, Guardians could think of nothing besides maintaining their grip on their glaives and ignoring the exhausted burning of their muscles. There would be precious little rest and food over the next two weeks. All Guardians who wished to join the ranks of the Elite were required to spend a month at the Gateway. The vast majority failed in that task.
    Once every century he returned, as all the Elite did, to remember how vital their task was. The stay was only a few days in duration, just enough to reinforce, but not enough to lose hope.
    Two weeks would seem an eternity.
    He paused at the top of the range and stared down at the horrors below. The vast door to the Outer Realmbulged with the effort to contain the Nightmares within. A mere crack of red revealed how the portal strained at the hinges and lock. From that tiny opening, black shadows flowed like water, pouring out and infecting the