Free Darkest Risings by S. K. Yule Page A

strange longing to become his prey.
    Heat
pulsed between her thighs, and she fought back the urge to moan. The slight
flare of his nostrils and light that sparked in those glorious, turquoise eyes
made her wonder if he had detected her excitement. But how could he?
    “This
is Aldin. He’s the middle brother.” Ebony introduced him.
    “Hello,
Aldin. Nice to meet you.” Wilhemina swallowed hard around the lump in her
throat.
    The
room had become entirely too hot, and she wondered if steam was rising off her
skin. His short, inky black hair, and the stubble on his square jawline made
her fingers itch to touch him. His nose was straight, and full lips were
perfectly made for kissing a woman. Boy didn’t she know it. He was male
perfection standing in flesh and blood right in front of her. He was the man
she’d given herself to for the first time.
    Suddenly,
the room grew quiet, and everyone appeared to be uncomfortable, but she
couldn’t figure out why. Maybe her intense overload of emotions were somehow
sending out vibes of unseen energy. She had to get herself under control, had
to get through this awkward situation without making a complete fool of
herself.
    “Wilhemina.”
    The
way he said her name. “Wil-ha-mina” with the accent on the ha, amped up her already pumped hormones. She’d never heard anyone
pronounce her name in that exact way. She was at a loss for words, exposed,
wondering if he was going to tell everyone what happened last night.
    “You
talk for a moment while I see if dinner is ready,” Ebony choked out before
hurrying away.
    Aldin
came two steps closer, and her heart raced.
    “Calm
down, Wilhemina. What happened between us stays between us.” He said quietly in
hopes that no one was eavesdropping.
    She
was happy about that, but his closeness didn’t help with her body temperature.
    “Take
a deep breath. Relax.”
    He
chided her as if she were a naughty school girl. “Relax? Relax?” Her cheeks
heated, a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. “My friend has been
gracious enough to invite me to stay at her spectacular home, and it turns out
that the man I—I—oh! You know what I mean. You are her brother-in-law?” She
whispered the words vehemently.
    “It’s
not an ideal situation. I understand, but no one other than you and I need to
know what happened last night. Okay?”
    She
nodded. “It still doesn’t make me feel any less uncomfortable.”
    “It
is not my intention to make you uncomfortable in any way. I will excuse
myself.” He scowled.
    “No!”
she whispered again, and grabbed at his arm.
    He
looked down at her hand gripping him tightly and raised one thick brow.
    Damn,
the man was tall. She had to crane her neck back to look up into his face. She
took a deep breath, released his arm, then let the breath out slowly.
    “I
would feel terrible if I was the reason you didn’t eat dinner in your own home.
Please. I’ll be all right. It was just a shock.”
    He
nodded.
    “Dinner
is ready. Everyone take a seat please,” Ebony announced as she came back into
the room.
     
    * * * *
     
    Aldin
slid his gaze to Wilhemina for what seemed the hundredth time since they sat
down to eat. He chewed the succulent moist beef, but his normal appreciation
for McKayla’s cooking fell flat with his preoccupation. How had this happened?
Out of all of the women in the world, why had Wilhemina turned out to be
Ebony’s friend?
    He’d
been relieved that Ebony hadn’t placed her beside him, but couldn’t necessarily
say he was happy about her sitting next to Dominic either. He frowned and
wondered why that bothered him. Whatever the reason, the distance between them
had helped dampen the strong waves of emotion she’d been unknowingly sending
out, which he had no doubt everyone in the room had been able to feel.
    Luckily
for him, those emotions had been jumbled enough that anyone would have had
trouble zeroing in on the cause. Him. On the other hand, he hadn’t missed the
subtle