Starbright Read Online Free PDF

her bureau. “And beside it is the music box you gave me.” She dropped her gaze, hoping to hide her blush. “I listen to it every night.”
    “You do?”
    She nodded.
    “It makes me very happy to hear that.” Aidan placed the letter back on the nightstand and moved toward her, his face graced with a gentle smile.
    Awareness of him prickled across Beth’s skin. She took a step in reverse, and the backs of her legs touched something soft. She gulped.
    Her bed.
    “Beth, are you okay?” A frown chased away Aidan’s grin.
    “Um… yes.”
    Aidan cupped her cheek in his palm, his eyes exuding sincerity and warmth. “You know I’d never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, right?”
    “Yes, I know.” This time Beth sounded much more confident because she believed every word.
    Aidan brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Then what’s wrong?”
    “I’ve… never done this before.” She felt a rush of blood to her face.
    His eyebrows knitted together. “Done what?”
    “This.” She motioned between them. “I’ve never kissed a man before you, aside from Will Everett, but that doesn’t count because we were acting and, well, I don’t have any romantic feelings for him. You’re the first man to ever touch me intimately or even hold my hand.”
    She was well aware she was rambling again but couldn’t stop. “I’ve never felt this way—physically or emotionally—about anyone before you. This may sound fanatical, given how new our relationship is. I hope you don’t feel I’m coming on too strongly…” She snapped her mouth shut, determined not to embarrass herself further, and gathered the courage to look at him.
    Embedded in Aidan’s eyes was a lick of lust softened with admiration.
    “Beth, the way I feel when I’m with you…” He exhaled a deep breath, as though steeling himself. “If you only knew… if I could only articulate it properly…”
    “Growing up, I was always taught it was important for a woman to hold an air of mystery when it comes to men and to never be brazen with her feelings. With you, I find myself breaking every rule.” Warmth fanned across Beth’s face at her admission. “I can’t help it. The dichotomy is appealing but also kind of frightening.”
    Aidan leaned in to her slowly. “Beth, you’re all I think about. Nothing about what you said scares me because I feel exactly the same way.”
    Relief softened her features. “I’m so glad. I don’t want you to question my moral character—”
    “There’s no one as good as you are, Beth.” He trailed his fingers up her arm, his eyes adopting a reverence that stole her breath. “You’re like a little dove, delicate and gentle.”
    Beth’s heart warmed with the sentiment.
    Aidan’s face lost its carnality as he closed the space between them and touched his lips to hers. Beth closed her eyes and kissed him back, her body melting into his without thought or decision, spawned by the heat that bloomed under her skin and pushed her mind beyond shame or shyness.
    Aidan’s hands wandered respectfully down her arms, up her back, and along her sides, caressing her hips, her waist, and driving her mad with their closeness to her breasts, which she longed for him to touch but felt too ashamed to beg for outright.
    “Everything I have, everything I am, is yours,” he murmured between kisses.
    “Oh, Aidan, I need you. So much…”
    In the wake of her declaration, Aidan’s lips moved with a sudden urgency she welcomed wholeheartedly. With every caress of his tongue and sweep of his hands, her mind grew hazier .
    Fused in Aidan’s embrace and lost in his kisses, Beth fell back onto her bed, her legs dangling over the edge of the mattress, her shoes slipping from her feet to the floor. Aidan came down on top of her gently, bracing his hands on either side of her body, blanketing her with hard muscle and electric fervor, his lips never deserting hers.
    Beth gripped his back and entwined their legs to pull him