Chapter One
Body aching, eyes scratchy with fatigue, Julienne stepped out of the shower. She'd stood under the stream for more than an hour, until the water had gone from hot to lukewarm, then finally to cold. Shivering, she quickly dried herself, putting on a pair of panties and a long robe, wishing now that she'd chosen a sensible heavy housecoat instead of a sheer, sexy one. Brushing her teeth, then combing her hair into a twist at the nape of her neck, she opened the door and padded barefoot into the bedroom, eager to climb into her bed, crawl under the warm covers.
Seeing a fire burning in the fireplace, she paused. The fire hadn't been lit when she'd closed the bathroom door. The room was quiet, lights dimmed. Suddenly, the sharp scent of cloves tickled her nostrils, and she knew she was not alone.
Morgan sat in a chair dressed in shadows, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other. A bottle of scotch rested at his elbow, barely touched. It was clear he had come prepared to wait. Seeing him, an ache knotted in the back of her throat, threatening to steal away her breath. She could feel his gaze touching her, exploring her visually as his hands had once done.
She blushed at the silent intimacy that passed between them, knowing what he wanted of her, that he had come to take her. Heart pounding, she decided without thinking that tonight he would give her what she desired-or she'd turn him away. Saying nothing, she simply stared at him, waiting.
After what seemed an eternity, he finished his cigarette, drained the last of his drink and rose.
"Julienne." Her name, hoarsely whispered, conveyed not only his need for her, but also his anger and rebellion for being weak enough to come to her that night.
"I didn't expect to see you." She thought of the wondrous and primitive sensations his hands stirred in her when he touched her skin.
"I do not know why I had to come." His tone was low, beleaguered. "Something drew me here, to you."
With a desperate, angry sound, he came to her, his mouth claiming hers. Her lips parted willingly under the searching invasion of his tongue. She tasted sweet cloves and scotch. Her hands rose to encircle his neck even as his claimed her waist, pulling her to his hard, forbidding frame. Her body arched reflexively as one of his hands sought then fastened over her silk-covered breast, teasing the erect nipple under the material. His mouth left hers, and he nipped with gentle teeth at the soft flesh of her neck.
"You have bewitched me, woman."
"I've been trying." she said, at first tempted to give in to her need. She wanted to rip off her robe, surrender to the gratifying hunger to be naked to this man's touch. But if she did, she knew he would not accept his own pleasure. He would take her, use her, then leave her, quivering and unsatisfied.
He kissed her again, tugging impatiently at her robe, his hand sliding over the flat plane of her belly, finding the soft V between her legs. He began to explore, his fingers sliding beneath her panties to probe her depths.
_I haven't got the will to try and fight him,- she thought wildly, almost forgetting her resolve. I want him too much.
Putting her hands on his chest, she forced herself to squirm free of his hold. "No," she gulped. "Not this way."
Eyes glittering with a feral craving, he reached for her, but she fended off his hands, pulling her robe tighter around her body, wishing it wasn't so sheer. The tips of her erect nipples rubbed against the material, aching for his lips.
"Why not?" The set of his jaw was severe, even frightening. For a moment she believed he'd storm out in anger.
Julienne lifted a single finger to his lips to silence him. "I'm not refusing you," she soothed. "But I'm making a demand. Tonight, you can make love to me completely ..." She paused, giving him time to gather the gist of her words.
"Or?" he grated through nearly clenched teeth.
"Or you can leave. I'm tired of not having you. I need you. All of you."
The silence between them was terrible. There was a long interval in which it seemed to Julienne the whole world stopped spinning on its axis. She knew there were powerful opposing forces raging inside him. She selfishly hoped her words hadn't driven him away. In less than one week, he'd be leaving. She wanted every moment of what little time they had left.
"I do not even know why I should desire you," he growled in a husky voice, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "You are like poison in my veins, woman. In all these weeks, not an hour has passed in which I have not wanted you."
She gently shook her head and drew a deep breath. It was time to tell him the truth of their attraction.
"There's a reason you're so drawn to me sexually," she said. "Grandmother told me you saved my life the night I first came here."
His face hardened with suspicion. "Yes. That is true. She took my blood to strengthen you."
"And used that to bind us together in a ... a ... mating." Her voice wavered then cracked with guilt as she rushed her next words. "It's not a complete joining. It can still be broken-unless we make love."
She gazed at him without daring to say anything more and in spite of the shadows in which he stood, she saw the intense expression on his face, something she had never seen on his hard countenance before. Complicated emotions-part anger, part grief, part desire-colored his features. It was clear he felt overwhelmed, that his feelings for her were warring with the plans he'd already made.
She had expected him to be furious, to storm out of the room and never come near her again, now that he knew he had been manipulated by a woman he trusted.
"And would you want that, to be mated to me?" His eyes were a hot, tarry pool. His ferocious gaze held hers, stealing her breath with its intensity.
"Would it be so bad?" She offered a weak, uncertain smile. "You're going to leave soon. Even if we were lovers, how could it affect you? It won't be a forever thing. I'm only human."
He shook his head, as though unable to find the words he needed. "You do not understand. For my kind, a blood mating with a woman is forever. My going away would not end it."
It's a forever thing, the words echoed in her mind. I want that. I want forever with this man.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Keeper of Eternityby Devyn Quinn Copyright © 2006 by Devyn Quinn. Excerpted by permission.
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