Tapestry of the Past by Alvania Scarborough Read Free Book Online Page B

Need.
    Satisfaction.
    He knew she wanted him.
    Not looking away, he snagged the pillow from her grasp and tossed it over his shoulder. It felt as if he’d just stripped her naked. He planted both hands on the arms of the chair and leaned down until his face was level with hers.
    His stance was the same as earlier in the evening when he’d used intimidation to gain her cooperation. Then she’d felt threatened. She still felt threatened but in a way that made her excruciatingly aware she was female and he was male. A way that no other man had ever made her feel.
    Common sense told her to flee.
    Instead, she ran the tip of her tongue around her lips in a quick, nervous swipe and cast common sense to the wind.
    She leaned in until not even a breath separated their lips.
    Gabriel went still.
    He even seemed to stop breathing.
    In the hush, the sound of her heart beating in her ears nearly deafened Kalesia . His lips remained motionless under hers. She almost retreated, embarrassed that she’d misread his interest, then she stiffened her spine. There was only one way she’d know for sure. If she were wrong, she could always dig a hole and pull it in after her. But at least she’d know.
    She traced the seam of his mouth with the tip of her tongue.
    He released his pent-up breath with a shudder that bathed her face in heat. Long fingers tightened on the arms of the chair.
    Encouraged, she teased the moist lining of his lips. Her hands came up to cup his cheeks. She rubbed her palms on the stubble, loving the rasp of evening whiskers against her sensitive palms.
    He purred.
    That was all she could call the deep rumble that emerged from the depths of his chest. Against his mouth, she grinned. Oh, she wanted to pull that sound from him again.
    With the tips of her fingers, she traced the uncompromising line of his jaw, the bold shape of his nose before trailing her fingers up to his temples. On his left temple, she felt a small, irregular scar and smoothed the pad of her finger over it.
    He tensed slightly and Kalesia remembered his reaction when she touched the scars on his wrist. She slid her tongue over his, a warm, wet glide that both teased and promised, an unspoken agreement not to talk about his scars. The pulse in his temples jumped.
    Kalesia did what she’d been dying to do since she met him, she slid her fingers into the night-dark depths of his hair. She was the one to purr now. Oh God, he felt good. She kneaded his scalp, her mouth frantic on his.
    Gabriel sank to his knees.
    “Put your legs around me.”
    Dazed, she stared up at him, trying to make sense of the harsh command.
    “Do it. Wrap your legs around my waist.”
    If she did as he ordered, she’d be wide open to him. Tension hardened the already harsh lines of his face as the seconds ticked past and she didn’t move. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
    Slowly, she spread her legs.
    He surged into the space she created.
    “Around me. Wrap your legs around me.” Dark color slashed the high bones of his cheeks.
    She’d never had anyone want her like this. It was more than a little heady. And scary. What would happen when he learned she couldn’t live up to his expectations? Would he turn on her like Christopher had? Would he flay her with words meant to wound? Her teeth sank deeper into her lip.
    He tugged her lip free with his thumb, the work-roughened pad running over the abused flesh. The gesture was oddly soothing. Unable to resist, she swiped his thumb with a quick lick.
    Ocean. He tasted of the ocean. Kalesia closed her eyes, savoring his flavor.
    Gabriel pushed his thumb in her mouth. Without thought, Kalesia closed her lips around it and sucked.
    His groan filled the air around them.
    “Come on, sugar, put those beautiful legs around me.” Voice thick with desire, he ran his free hand down her leg, from knee to ankle. The delicate silk of her stocking caught on his calluses.
    He thought her legs were beautiful? Kalesia lifted her lids a