Page 124 of Forbidden

“Neither do I, but ’tis true just the same. The first time I touched you, I felt a pleasure so keen that I cried out.”

“It was my desire you were feeling, not your own.”

“You were senseless at the time,” Amber retorted.

Duncan’s eyes widened. The reflected leap of candle flame made them appear almost as golden as Amber’s eyes.

“What are you saying?” he whispered.

“I touched you, Iknewyou, and I wantedyou. You were senseless, knowing nothing, remembering nothing, and fire curled through me when I ran my hands over your chest.”

The sound Duncan made could have been Amber’s name or a low sound of hunger, or both urgently mingled.

“I was made for you,” Amber said, unfastening her mantle. “You and you alone. Won’t you take what is yours and give me what is mine?”

“And what is that?” Duncan said.

But his smile and the thickening of his voice told Amber that he knew very well what was hers.

“We are joined in our souls,” she said softly. “Can our bodies do less?”

“Turn around, precious Amber.”

Uncertainly, she turned her back to Duncan. The feel of his fingers on her laces sent both desire and relief through her.

For a time there was no sound but the whisper of candle flames and the sigh of clothing as it was smoothed down warm flesh to fall in bright pools on the floor. Finally Amber wore nothing but her own warmth and firelight flickering over her skin.

Duncan’s finger traced the length of Amber’s back from nape to the shadowed cleft at the base of her spine. She held her breath.

“Do you like that?” he asked.

“Yes.”

His fingertip traced again, sliding slowly down until it must stop or be caught between lush, alluring curves. The trembling of Amber’s body and the raggedness of her breathing told Duncan that she did indeed enjoy the caress.

“Because I like it?” Duncan asked. “Is it my pleasure that makes your breath break or is it yours?”

“Both,” Amber said in a husky voice. “Your pleasure and mine combined.”

Again Duncan caressed the feminine line of back and hips, sliding more deeply into the shadow that tempted him mercilessly. He knew if he followed that dark curve he would find a place that was even softer than his dreams, hotter than his desire.

“I would like to feel that,” Duncan murmured.

“What?”

He smiled slightly. “My desire and yours combined.”

“Then take the gift of my body. Give me the gift of yours in return.”

“You have the poorer of the bargain.”

“Only because I am naked and you are clothed.”

The combination of tartness and passion in Amber’s voice made Duncan laugh softly.

“I will stay clothed for a while yet,” he said.

“Why?”