Page 31 of Forbidden

He struck his fist against his hand and turned away from Amber. Though he said nothing more, tension radiated from him like heat from a hearth fire.

When Amber approached and stood close, his nostrils flared at the evergreen freshness of her scent.

“Be at peace, Duncan.”

A warm, gentle hand caressed his fist. He flinched subtly, surprised. She had been very careful not to touch him since he had stolen that single, hungry kiss from her. Just as he had been careful not to touch her again.

Duncan told himself that he was wary because he had no way of knowing whom Amber had been to him in the past or would be in the future. They might very well be lovers separated by conflicting vows.

Yet the instant Duncan felt the sweetness of Amber’s brief caress, he knew the real reason he hadn’t touched her again. The torrent of passion and yearning she aroused in him was like nothing he had ever felt for a woman.

The passion Duncan understood, for he was a healthy man in the presence of a girl whose very scent made him harden in a wild rush of blood. But the hungry yearning to hold and be held was as new and unexpected as his lack of memory.

The surprise that came each time Duncan confronted the depth of his response to Amber was what finally had convinced him that he had never felt such passion for a woman before. Just as the fact that he kept reaching for a sword told him that he had worn one in his unremembered past.

“Duncan,” Amber whispered.

“Duncan,” he repeated sardonically. “A dark warrior, am I? But there is no sword at my side, no cold weight of metal to keep me company when danger calls.”

“Erik—”

“Aye,” Duncan interrupted. “The all-powerful Erik, who is your protector. The great thane who decreed I would go unarmed for a fortnight, yet still his squire lounges ever within reach of your shout.”

“Egbert the Lazy?” Amber asked. “Is he still about?”

“Dozing in the shed. The fowl are quite put out to share their roost.”

“Turn to face me,” she said, changing the subject. “Let me see to the fit.”

Slowly Duncan complied.

Amber tugged at a lace here and there, tucked in a stray fold of cloth, and handed over the beautiful indigo mantle that she had brought through the rain from Stone Ring Keep.

“For you,” she said.

Duncan looked down into the golden eyes that watched him with such transparent eagerness to bring him ease.

“You are very kind to a man with no name, no past, and no future,” he said broodingly.

“We have been over that many times to no avail. Unless…are you remembering more?”

“Not in the way you mean. No names. No faces. No deeds. No vows. Yet I feel…Ifeelthat something both grand and dangerous is waiting for me, just beyond my grasp.”

Amber’s slender hand settled on Duncan’s fist again. She sensed no memories looming from his past, no condensing of the shadow memories that swirled and faded, only to be reborn, taunting and hinting. Everything was as it had been.

Especially the sensual hunger for her that pervaded Duncan’s being as deeply as the shadows of his lost memory.

Knowing of Duncan’s need made a curious kind of heat uncurl throughout Amber’s body. It was as though an invisible fire lived in the pit of her stomach, waiting only for the breath of Duncan’s desire to burst into flame.

Amber told herself that she must lift her hand and not approach Duncan again, but her hand remained where it was, touching him. Such contact was a sweet, subtle drug. The joy it gave her should have terrified her, yet it only lured her even more deeply.

“Life is both grand and dangerous,” Amber said in a low voice.

“Is it? I don’t remember.”

Duncan’s barely restrained emotions lashed through Amber, a seething mixture of frustration, anger, and impatience.

With an act of will that left Amber aching, she forced herself not to thread her fingers deeply into Duncan’s hair and hold him until pleasure at her caresses overcame all other emotions. Yet she couldn’t prevent herself from touching Duncan just a little.