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

sensed a new wildness. As though now she’d revealed her
nakedness, the last wall between them crumbled.
    Calista became lost in a dark forest of sensation. Of
soft sighs and stroking hands and pleasure she’d never imagined in
all her twenty-five years. When he touched her between the legs,
she jerked on a strangled moan of shocked delight. Desire became a
molten weight in the pit of her belly. She clung to his shoulders
and instinct made her lean forward and bite him on the chest. His
gasp conveyed astonished appreciation, then the world whirled as he
swung her up in his arms and carried her the few steps to the
Chinese bed.
    For the first time in her life, she listened to a man
undressing. The whispering slide of fabric on skin was almost
unbearably erotic. She snatched at another breath. Henwit she was,
she kept forgetting to breathe.
    This new universe of physical pleasure left her
floundering. How she wanted to be brave, spirited, reckless, but
shyness overcame her and she closed her eyes.
    When she found the courage to look at him again,
Miles came down over her, blocking the moonlight. He supported
himself on his arms and he seemed large and powerful and resonating
with an alien masculinity. For the space of a second, arousal faded
and old fears stirred.
    “You make me feel too much,” she whispered.
    The fierceness faded from his eyes and his smile made
her feel cherished. “I love you,” he murmured.
    Calista wanted to tell him that she loved him too,
but the declaration jammed unspoken in her throat. She was too
conscious of his nakedness, of his barely leashed passion. While
she reveled in his passion, it daunted her, too.
    A low keening sound escaped her and she ran an
unsteady hand through the soft hair that flopped forward over his
high forehead. The overflowing tenderness in her heart made it
impossible to hide her quaking vulnerability.
    The shadows and his position braced over her meant
she could no longer see his expression. But as her hand drifted
down his face, she felt him smile. He sucked in a deep, shuddering
breath and bent to kiss her, with a return of reverence.
    “You drive me mad, Calista.”
    Her nervousness leached away, leaving only love and
need. She arched toward him in unmistakable invitation. Fear found
no place in this incandescent moment. Her voice was firmer than it
had been since she’d entered the room. “Make me yours, Miles.”
    “My darling.”
    Carefully he parted her legs and slid between them
until she cradled him against her body. His hand found once again
that place that set her quivering with pleasure. By the time he
angled his hips forward, her breath emerged in ragged gasps and her
body tightened, striving to reach an unimagined destination.
    “I’m afraid,” she admitted. Not just because of what
he was about to do, but because this joining would make her forever
his, whatever anguish lay ahead.
    “Trust me, Calista,” he said again and pressed into
her body.
    However much she wanted this, the experience was odd,
disagreeable. She tensed against the invasion. He felt impossibly
big, as though he’d tear her in two if he continued.
    He kissed her deeply, hungrily. For a fleeting
moment, she forgot that seeking pressure between her legs in the
hot delight of his mouth exploring hers. She whimpered a protest
when he raised his head to stare down at her through the
shadows.
    “I want you, Calista. I want you as I’ve never wanted
another woman.” His voice was raw with sincerity.
    In this precise moment, she had no doubt that he was
hers completely, whatever challenges the world flung at them in the
future. That flash of perception gave her the courage to tilt up
toward him. “I want you, Miles. Don’t stop.”
    He made a low sound of satisfaction, but still he was
gentle as he inched further inside her. Gradually she became
accustomed to his size and weight. Then just as she wondered if
perhaps there was hope of pleasure, he moved more purposefully.
    The