Free Enchantment & Bridge of Dreams by Christina Skye Page A

darkness, he realized. Right now, she felt nothing but the dark power of his kneading fingers. Right now, she was intensely vulnerable, infinitely female.
    And that realization gave Nicholas Draycott stunning pleasure.
    When her fingers moved a moment later, cupping his taut thigh, he felt it right down to the tip of his toes, right out to his fingernails, right up to the fevered pleasure centers of his brain.
    So this is what it’s supposed to feel like, the hard-eyed Englishman thought in wonder.
    Wanting—a thousand kinds of wanting.
    Needing—in ways that hadn’t even been invented yet.
    And through it all, feeling that somehow he had done all these things before.
    He didn’t notice her stiffening until her breathless gasp caught him short. Suddenly her fingers were hard on his thigh—and this time she was pushing him away.
    â€œL-let me go!”
    â€œKacey, don’t—”
    â€œRight now, damn you!” She twisted back and stumbled to her feet, blind in the encompassing darkness. “You arrogant bastard! You misbegotten slime! What have you done with the lights?”
    What have you done to me? Kacey screamed inwardly.
    Draycott’s jaw tightened. He had an advantage over her,knowing exactly where he was in spite of the darkness. Right now, for example, she was only inches from a sixteenth-century marquetry card table.
    He smiled faintly, the movement a slash of white against the darkness. “I did nothing. The electricity’s merely gone out again. The construction teams nick a cable every few weeks. They’re in too much of a rush to bother reading utility maps.”
    He heard her stumble, then curse beneath her breath. A moment later, the card table crashed to the floor.
    â€œAren’t you going to do something?” Kacey demanded irritably.
    â€œI thought I was. And very nicely, too.”
    He was laughing at her! Kacey thought. Damn the man! How could she have been so stupid as to trust him? To let him touch here, to allow herself to feel so—so safe in his arms?
    It’s only lust, Katharine Chelsea. Only a matter of hormones. After all, it’s been almost a year since—
    She closed her mind to that particular avenue of thought. “Well, if you want to sit here like a fool, then go ahead. But I’m going down to find a candle.”
    â€œYou’ll never make it in the dark.”
    â€œWanna bet?”
    â€œIt’s three flights down to the kitchen.”
    â€œAsk real nice, and I might bring back a candle for you. No, on second thought—”
    â€œYou’d bloody well try it, wouldn’t you? And in the process, you’d stumble and break that stubborn neck of yours. Then, no doubt, you’d try to sue me for aggravated assault. No thanks—you’re going to stay right here while I go and get the candle. Then I’ll see you safely to your room. And you’ll damn well stay there until the power is restored.”
    She heard him turn, his soft soles padding over the wooden floor.
    Kacey’s fingers clenched into fists. The man was a complete throwback to the Dark Ages! “Now just wait one minute!” Shestarted after him and promptly stumbled. The next second, she felt hard fingers grip her arm.
    â€œHas anybody ever told you you’re too bloody stubborn for your own good, woman?” Draycott growled.
    â€œA few times. How about you?” She expected him to snap back a denial, and so his silence surprised her.
    His fingers tightened. “Only once. It was a very long time ago.” His voice hardened. “I didn’t listen then, either.”
    A thousand questions sprang to her lips. Questions Kacey knew she had no right to ask.
    Questions, she reminded herself grimly, that she hadn’t the slightest interest in having answers for!
    The Englishman muttered something under his breath and pulled her along after him. “Come on then. At least I can keep you from