Page 46 of Dark Embrace

He went still, lips closed, as she began kissing him with all the love in her heart. His mouth softened. She licked the seam of his lips and kissed him again, and he finally opened for her.

Brie kissed him deeply, and Aidan moaned long and low, tragically. It was the sound of a man who had been lost and alone for a lifetime.

Suddenly his hands caught her shoulders and he claimed the kiss, deep and wet, openmouthed and frantic.

He kissed her as if he had never kissed a woman before, and he cried out.

Brie felt him come to that mighty precipice just as he turned away from her. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, aware of him battling the explosive pressure. She couldn’t stand it, either, she thought. Then he gasped, seizing her hands and clenching them tightly against his abdomen. And he exploded.

Brie felt as if she was soaring through the stars, stunned and holding him tightly. She whirled, shocked by such empathy, as he gasped again and again until he finally calmed and sagged in her arms. Breathing hard, her body still on fire, she felt his body become still.

He had not been able to withstand her touch, not when it was infused with her love.

He was suddenly facing her, flushing. “’Tis but a dream.”

And she sensed what he intended. “Don’t leave me now, like this.”

His hard blue gaze held hers. “I am sorry.” He vanished.

Brie cried out furiously, in dismay. And instead of the pale walls of her loft, she stared into the dark shadows of the night.

Her pulse was pounding, and she was feverishly hot and aching everywhere. Owls hooted. The wind sighed. Brie realized she lay in a small bed beneath heavy wool blankets and a fur. She blinked. She had been dreaming.

It had been so real.

It had been so strange.

In that instant she recalled every moment of the dream encounter. Uncomfortable and alarmed, she sat up abruptly, glancing toward the open tent flap.

Aidan was silhouetted in the shadows. It was obvious he was staring at her.

Had that been a dream or not? “Aidan?” she whispered roughly.

He turned and walked away.

She leapt up and ran after him. He had paused by a small fire, and he turned to watch her approach. Across the darkness, their eyes met.

Brie slowed. She should be furious at him for watching her while she slept and for watching her while she had a very private dream. If he had been watching her dream. Because the dream remained incredibly vivid and terribly strange. He hadn’t made love to her, but she had made love to him, in a way. He had been desperate for her touch and her love.

She knew damn well that dreams often held secrets that were meant to be revealed or were harbingers of the truth. When had he last been loved, really loved, by any woman?

“Ye willna recall the dream in the morning,” he said harshly.

“Don’t you dare enchant me,” Brie cried furiously.

“Go back to sleep.” He walked away.

Brie turned back to the tent and was suddenly confused. What was she doing, wandering about the Highland camp in the middle of the night? Had she just spoken to Aidan, and if so, about what?

Had she been dreaming?

THEIR ARMIES MET AT FIRST LIGHT. It was midday now. Initially both bowmen and artillery had fired upon their opposing foot soldiers, mowing down the marching front ranks as the two armies inexorably approached one another. But the fighting had become vicious at last, and it was the kind of fighting Highlanders lived for: hand-to-hand and sword-to-sword combat.

The sun was high, and it beat the bloody earth. Vultures soared. Wolves waited. Dead archers and gunners, Highlanders, slain knights and their chargers littered the fields. Only a few dozen men remained, all locked in mortal combat. Aidan finished a royal soldier, welding his sword right through the man’s armor. As the man went down, Aidan turned.

The flame-haired warrior coming at him was a giant with an ax and sword, and a mace and spiked ball. The rival was a head taller than Aidan and his black eyes were soulless, which savagely pleased Aidan. He wasn’t ready to retire from the field—oh, no.

Aidan laughed at the warrior, lifting his broadsword.