These Haunted Hearts: A Regency Ghost Story Read Online Free PDF

not.”
    She waited in an agony of pleasurable suspense for
him to seize her, ravish her into delight so that she had no chance
to remember the dictates of propriety. But he approached slowly, as
though afraid if he moved too abruptly, she might vanish. By the
time he stopped in front of her, she trembled with apprehension and
desire. Her body felt too small a vessel to contain the storm of
emotions raging inside her.
    He reached out to smooth her hair away from her face.
His touch always turned her knees to custard. Now, when the bed and
all it portended filled the shadows behind him, the glance of his
hand set her burning. If such a seemingly innocent touch had this
effect, she’d most likely combust into ashes before they were done
tonight.
    Calista bit her lip and stood in shaking stillness as
he trailed his hand across her neck and shoulders. His touch felt
like a discovery rather than a seduction. Although of course she
was seduced. Her heart thundered and her breasts tightened against
the thin lawn of her nightdress. He glanced down and her blush
heightened as she realized he saw her beaded nipples pressing
against the fine white material.
    “Beautiful,” he whispered, running his hand down her
side then up again.
    A tremulous sigh escaped her. This tender wooing
lured her deeper and deeper into the turbulent waters of desire.
She should move, speak, do something to encourage him. But his
touch was so delicious, she found herself unable to do anything
beyond accept this worship. His scent was spicy, clean. Familiar,
yet with a musky tinge that awakened her senses.
    Through the haze of pleasure enveloping her, she
managed to send up a silent prayer. That the reverence she read in
his face would last. That he’d still love her after he’d taken her
to bed. That he’d look at her like this in the morning when she
stepped inside the Marston parish church to pledge herself to him
for the rest of her life.
    Finally after what felt like an eon of teasing
touches, Miles cupped her breast in his large, capable palm. His
thumb brushed her nipple and she sagged as sensation roared through
her. At last, at last he bent his head and kissed her with a
ravenous ardour that outstripped anything she’d experienced before.
She sighed and gave herself up to pleasure. The doubts that harried
her drowned in a torrent of passion.
    Clumsily, trying not to break the kiss, he tugged off
his shirt. They both laughed breathlessly. Then laughter died and
heat shuddered through her as she flattened her hand on the bare
skin of his chest. They’d snatched occasional moments of privacy,
but never before had she been free to learn the mysteries of his
body at her leisure.
    She moved closer, pressing her hips into his. He was
hard and ready. He’d wanted her this afternoon. Now even the most
innocent woman would know that he wanted her to the point of
madness. She had the evidence of his erection against the softness
of her belly. There was his jagged, rasping breath and the shaking
need he betrayed as he fondled her through the nightgown. Soon even
that frail barrier became unbearable. Roughly he wrenched it over
her head and flung it away.
    The daze of sensual pleasure receded. For the first
time, Calista was naked with a man. Self-consciousness rose like a
tide of icy water. The night wasn’t cold, but the air chilled her
skin.
    Awkwardly she broke away, but Miles caught her hand
and stopped her retreat. Gently but inexorably, he turned her
toward the moonlight flooding through the window.
    “Exquisite,” he breathed.
    She wanted to argue. To insist that she was too tall,
too thin, that her breasts were too small. But the veneration in
his face held her quiet and, for once, she poised on the verge of
believing that a man could find her lovely.
    He reached out to trace the outline of her body. The
subtle curves and planes. This time there was nothing between her
skin and his seeking, gliding fingers. This time when he kissed
her, she