Kenyon, Sherrilyn - Dark Hunter 06 - Phantom Lover Read Online Free PDF Page B

auditions for junior high school I went to play my scales and couldn't hit any of the lower notes."
    "You were nervous."
    "I was untalented."
    She felt Aidant's breath on her neck as he nuzzled her gently. Heat coursed through her, tightening her breasts.
    What was it about his touch that set her on fire? And the more she felt of his touch, the more she wanted him.
    "I'll bet you would make a great artist."
    Erin smiled at him and the confidence he had in her abilities. It was a nice change of pace. "I can't draw a straight line with a ruler."
    He kissed her then. Deep and passionately. His tongue brushed against her lips, sending waves of desire spiraling through her. She moaned against his mouth, cupping his head as needful desire coursed through her.
    He nipped her lips. "Maybe you should be a writer."
    "That I most certainly can't do."
    "Why?"
    "I get sick at the thought of it."
    He frowned. "Why?"
    Erin glanced away as she remembered that horrible day. "I was in college and I wanted to be a writer so badly that I could taste it. In order to major in creative writing, we had to submit our best piece of fiction. So I came up with a short story idea that I thought was great and really different. I worked and reworked it until I was sure it was perfect. I submitted the whole packet to the head of the department and then waited to hear back."
    She swallowed as she remembered how she'd learned of the professor's decision. "The Literary Journal came out a few weeks later, and in it were all the short stories from the students who were being admitted."
    "You weren't in it?"
    Her stomach tightened. "I was in it, all right. She had chosen my story to highlight what not to do if you ever wanted to be taken seriously as a writer. She ridiculed every aspect of my story."
    His arms tightened around her.
    "You can't imagine how humiliated I was. I swore I would never again do anything creative. That I would never put that much of myself into anything to be mocked for it."
    Tears stung her eyes and she would have cried had V'Aidan not leaned her head back and run his tongue under her chin to her throat. His body soothed the pain away and she moaned at how good he felt. How safe he made her dreams.
    "Why is this so important to you, that I be creative?" she asked.
    He pulled back and gave her a hard stare. "Because it's your repressed creativity that is drawing out the Skoti. If you will release it, they will have no fodder for your nightmares."
    That sounded wonderful until she thought about it. "And what about you?"
    "What about me?"
    "If the Skoti are gone, will you be gone, too?"
    He looked away and she saw the truth of it. Her heart ached at the thought of him never coming to her again. Even though they had just met, she needed him. Liked the way he protected her. Touched her.
    As a shy only child she'd lived her life with only a few friends and even fewer boyfriends. She'd never really been close to anyone. Yet she felt bonded somehow to Aidant. Felt a connection, a need to be with him.
    "I don't want you to leave me."
    V'Aidan's heart lurched at the words no one had ever uttered to him before. He was only used to people trying to drive him away.
    She leaned back against his shoulder so that she could look up at him and touch his face.
    She was so beautiful there. "Why do you desire my company?" he asked.
    "Because you're a champion."
    "No, I'm not."
    "Yes, you are. You saved me from the Skoti."
    He swallowed at that. "If you ever saw the real me, you would hate me."
    "How could I?"
    He closed his eyes as memories surged through him. This dream with her, it was an illusion. There was no truth to it. What he heard, what they felt... all formless delusions.
    And yet he wanted it to be real. For the first time in his life, he wanted something true.
    He wanted Erin.
    "You don't even know what I am," he whispered.
    "Yes, I do. You're an Oneroi. You defend people from their nightmares."
    V'Aidan frowned. It had been a long time since