Free Courting the Darkness by Karen Fuller Page A

husky, conveying his wants…his needs…somehow, seeking permission.
    ***
    Her name crossed his lips like a caress, and she opened her eyes, gazing deeply into his. She had never craved the touch of another as she did for him. Disbelief flitted across her mind that he could possibly want, crave, desire her. Yet, she could see the truth of the passion and yearning she felt reflected back to her in his eyes. “Yes.” She whispered her response. That one word hung in the air, left open to interpret everything.
    He lifted her chin with his finger, kissing the tip of her nose. “You are full of surprises.” His tone was husky and strained. Stepping away from her, he took her hand.
    Her eyes flew up to his, confused. “Mica…” Her voice was barely a whisper, leaving the unasked question hanging in the air.
    “We will finish this.” His voice was a soft caress.
    She closed her eyes at the promise, and heat coursed through her veins.
    He placed his finger under her chin, and she opened her eyes to look into his. “Take a good look around you.” She pulled her eyes away from his to look around. A fresh blanket of snow coated everything. Turning her head, she glanced back over her shoulder toward the cavern. “We can’t take this back inside for the same reasons you wanted to come outside in the first place.”
    She tilted her head, gazing into his eyes again, letting her shoulders sag in defeat. “Caleb.”
    “Yeah, Caleb.” He looked away. “He’s really fond of you.”
    “I’m fond of him, too. I think he’s great.” She chewed on her bottom lip, looking at the ground. “But I only think of him as a good friend.”
    He pulled her back to him, wrapping her in his arms. “He wants to be more than a friend.”
    “I was afraid of that.” Leaning her head back, she looked up into his eyes. “What about you? What do you want?”
    “What do I want? I’m still trying to figure that out.” She looked away and he held her tighter. “Hear me out before you get upset.” She held her chin up stubbornly, tilting her head to glare into his eyes. “When Drake summoned me to go after you, I was angry. I’ve told you this before, but I don’t take orders very well. Since I didn’t have much of a choice, I was going to break you out of that place and take you right back to Drake and dump you on his doorstep. I told Caleb that when I asked him to tag along.”
    Tears pooled on her bottom lashes. “Why didn’t you do just that?” Her bottom lip quivered, and she swallowed hard. “Why go through all this trouble if I’m such a bother?”
    He wiped a stray tear away with his fingertips. “I didn’t do that because from the time you knocked out that guard with your magic in anger, I felt an attraction to you,” he remarked softly. “Desiree, I’m a loner. I don’t have the desire to be around too many others. In fact, I usually go through great lengths to push others away. I have never cared what other people thought about me. They didn’t matter to me at all. I tried to walk away at that restaurant. For the first time, it bothered me what someone else might think. It bothered me that you might think less of me. Your opinion of me mattered to me then. It matters to me now. Those thoughts and feelings are alien to me. For the last three hundred years, I thought I knew what I wanted. Now, I’m not so sure anymore.”
    She stepped out of his arms, turning away from him. “I’m sorry.”
    “What do you have to be sorry for?”
    “Disrupting your life, and for putting you through so much trouble. And for making you doubt yourself.”
    “You obviously didn’t hear what I was trying to say.”
    “I heard every word.”
    He pulled her back into his arms, holding tighter when she struggled. “Obviously not.” His voice was strong and husky. “The first thing I told you was that I am attracted to you.” He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I’m very attracted to you. I don’t want to take