Sword of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

given and not taken. Kiss me, Seren, and let me judge the value of your gift.”
    Seren swallowed at his words, petrified and yet oddly intrigued. There was something about the knight that appealed to her even though he scared her beyond reason.
    Why would he be pacified by a single kiss?
    “I have never kissed a man before.”
    He scowled at her. “You’ve never kissed. Never tasted a man’s body? How old are you?”
    “A score and four.”
    He tsked. “A woman full-grown. How is it you have remained so chaste in a world of hungry men?”
    “By choice, my lord. By my choice.”
    He snorted at that. “And now I give you another choice, little mouse. A kiss or your body. So what’s it to be?”
    Seren shivered as she wondered if a kiss would truly sate this powerful man. “And what if I don’t kiss you correctly? Will my actions be for naught?”
    His gaze was blank, cold. “You ask a liar for the truth? Are you that trusting or that foolish?”
    “Then how do I know you won’t take my body after my kiss?”
    “You don’t.”
    Seren breathed deeply at his dispassionate words. At least he was being honest. But then she had no real choice in this situation. No matter how much she hated the thought of it, she was at his utter mercy and they both knew it. “Then I shall trust you to be a man of your word. I pray you, don’t disappoint me, my lord. I have had quite enough of disappointments this day.”
    Before Kerrigan could ask her anything more, she laid a chaste kiss to his lips. His body fired at the innocence he tasted, at the knowledge that no other man had ever tread upon this mouth before him.
    His heart pounding, he nudged her lips apart with his and swept his tongue deep inside her sweet, decadent mouth to taste the first innocent kiss he’d ever known. It washed over him in waves of desire, making his groin hard and aching. Aye, she was much more than she’d seemed at first. An odd surprise of innocent hunger.
    Seren moaned at the taste of her dark knight. His skin was cold as ice, as his tongue danced through her mouth, licking and teasing her. She’d never experienced anything like it before.
    He pulled her roughly into his arms and held her close as he deepened his kiss even more. She felt him bulging against her hip and knew exactly how much he wanted to take her.
    He left her mouth to trail his kisses over her cheek, then down to her neck where he buried his cold lips against her throat. Her breasts tightened as desire pooled itself to the center of her body. Chills swept the full length of her body.
    She’d never known desire before, but she felt the heat of it stinging her now. A foreign, frightening part of her wouldn’t even mind if he pressed her for more…
    “Aye, Seren,” he breathed against her ear in a ragged tone that sent chills the length of her body. “A kiss freely given is most sweet indeed.”
    Seren felt his hand against her back lift the hem of her gown. She went ramrod stiff in fear of what he was about to do.
    Kerrigan’s body was molten. All he could think of was tasting more of her virgin flesh. Of spreading her creamy thighs wide and driving himself deep inside her wet heat over and over again until he was fully spent.
    But she had trusted him.
    No one had ever given him trust before. No one.
    And she had kissed him of her own free will.
    His body screaming out in protest, he let loose her dress and forced himself to step away from her. Even so, his cold lips still burned from the taste of hers.
    And he wanted more. He craved it with a ferocity that stunned him.
    Seren watched him carefully, half afraid that he would rape her after all.
    He didn’t. But there was something painful in his eyes. Something so deeply tormented that it made her chest ache for him, and she didn’t understand why.
    He cleared his throat. “Are you hungry, little mouse?”
    She nodded.
    “I shall have food prepared for you.” He paused at the door and looked back at her.
    “Aye,” he