Free A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

the cloth of his jacket. I don’t think he was even aware of it, just habit. He kissed like he seemed to do everything, with a practiced ease, smooth skill. His arms wrapped around my waist, pressed me to his body, lifted me off the floor. He started moving me backward toward the circle. I drew back from the kiss enough to say, “Wait, wait.” But we were in it, and it stole my breath for a second until we were on the other side, inside the circle. It was like being in the eye of a storm. Inside the circle was quiet, the most restful place I’d felt in the entire house. A tightness I hadn’t known was there eased from my shoulders and back.
    Alistair scooped my legs up and walked us both onto the bed with his knees. When we were near the center of the bed, he laid me down and stayed on his knees, looking at me, towering over me. But I’d worked alongside Uther for three years. Six feet was nothing when you’d been having lunch with thirteen.
    I don’t think I looked impressed enough because he took off the tie and tossed it to the bed, fingers going to his shirt buttons. He was going to undress first. I was surprised. A control freak usually wants their victim naked first. He was out of his jacket and shirt, hands going to his belt before I could figure out what to do. Slowing him down seemed to be good.
    I sat up, touching his hands. “Slow down. Let me enjoy the unveiling. You’re rushing through it like you’ve got another date tonight.” I held on to his hands, rubbing across his skin, stroking his bare arms. I concentrated on the feel of the tiny hairs on his forearms and how they slid under my touch. If I concentrated just on the physical sensations one at a time, I could make my eyes lie or at least show a genuine interest. The trick was not to think too hard about who I was touching.
    â€œThere’s no one but you tonight, Merry.” He drew me to my knees, then ran his hands through my hair, letting it slide through his fingers so that he held my face in his big hands. “There will be no one else for either of us after tonight, Merry.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that, but it was the first thing he’d said that was sort of psychotic so I was doing something right. “What do you mean, Alistair? We eloping to Vegas?”
    He smiled, still holding my face, staring into my eyes liked he’d memorize them. “Marriage is just a ceremony, but tonight I’ll show you what it means to be truly one with a man.”
    I raised an eyebrow before I could help myself. Knowing my face already showed it, I said, “My, you do have a high opinion of yourself.”
    â€œIt’s not idle boasting, Merry.” He kissed me, softly, then crawled past me to the headboard of the bed. He pressed on the wood, and a little door sprang open. A secret compartment, how nifty. He turned with a small glass bottle in his hands. It was one of those glass bottles with curves and frills to it that you’re supposed to keep expensive perfume in, but no one ever does.
    â€œTake off the dress,” he said.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œIt’s massage oil.” He held the bottle up so I could see the thick oil in the light through the ruby glass.
    I smiled at him, and I tried to make it everything he wanted: sexual, flirtatious, a little cynical. “The pants first.”
    He grinned at me, evidently pleased. “I thought you said you wanted to go slow.”
    â€œIf we’re getting naked, you first.”
    He started to turn and set the bottle inside the compartment again. “I’ll hold it for you,” I said.
    He stopped in midmotion, turning back to me with a heat in his eyes that was almost touchable. “Only if you put some on your breasts while I undress.”
    â€œWill it stain my dress?”
    He actually seemed to think about that, face becoming thoughtful, intelligence showing through. “I’m not sure, but