Heirs to Darkisle
Darkisle 1

A pair of French doors opened onto a small patio overlooking the rock-strewn beach. Noticing her interest, Sebastian pushed them open and motioned her outside. Briana headed straight for the sand. He caught up to her as she made her way toward the water.

Finally, things were falling into place tonight. They were alone. The Morgans’ private beach was quiet and romantic. Even the weather was cooperating. The moon was glowing a vibrant amber, and the wind was blowing off the ocean, strong but pleasant.

Sebastian tilted his face and let the salty gusts tousle his hair. “Storm’s coming. I can feel it.”

Briana nodded. “Well, we get a lot of those in the spring. One of the bird-watchers at the motel told me the winds can get strong enough to blow tropical birds up here. Amazing, isn’t it? You might wake up to find a flamingo on your roof.”

“Unlikely, though appealing.” He smiled, but looked back as if to make sure. “So how do you like Morgan House, with or without rare ornithological specimens?”

“Makes me realize how small my own place is. I’d be embarrassed to show you around the way you just did for me.”

“Not at all. I would be delighted to be your guest.”

“You know…I feel I should do something for you, considering all you’ve done for Todd. I’m not much of a cook—my idea of a big meal is a frozen pizza—so I don’t quite dare to invite you for dinner.”

“A meal would not be necessary. I’d enjoy your company without any food at all.”

 “That’s nice of you to say. Have you met many people since you got here?”

“Your brother and Ami were the first. Aside from you, though, none have been as memorable.”

Briana hoped the darkness obscured her hot blush. “This probably isn’t the easiest place to start over. Darkisle is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else, as the old saying goes. If you haven’t lived here all your life, it can be tricky to fit in. Boredom is another issue. Fall and winter get pretty dreary, believe me.”

“Yet you choose to stay,” Sebastian observed.

“Mostly because I don’t know any other way of life. My family has lived here for generations, just like yours.” She paused as a sudden thought came to her. “I wonder if they knew each other, way back when.”

“An intriguing possibility.”

“I doubt my great-grandparents traveled in the same circles as yours. Still, it’s an amusing thought.”

“Quite.”

They had strayed close to the waves. The sand here felt wet and hard.

“I’m going to take off my shoes,” she said. “The water will destroy them.”

Sebastian watched her pull off her boots and socks and toss them as far as she could onto dry land. With a murmur of pleasure, she thrust her bare toes into the sand and burrowed them in deep.

“Do you like the water?” she asked Sebastian.

“I’m afraid not. I prefer to observe from a distance.”

“I can deal with boats as long as the waves aren’t too rough. But you’re right. Looking at it from here is perfectly fine.”

He murmured noncommittally and slid his hands into his pockets. Briana casually swung her gaze along the water and ended up staring right at him. There was no question which view pleased her more.

“You probably won’t mind spending the winter here. I get the feeling the isolation won’t bother you at all.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you always seem so content, so self-assured. Like now. You look like someone who prefers being alone.”

He removed his hands from his pockets and gingerly stepped through the rocks, making his way cautiously toward her. He settled himself beside her, careful not to submerge his feet the way she had. “It may look that way because I am so used to being alone.”

“Then I’m wrong?”

“Not entirely. I admit I’ve spent most of my…existence…on my own. With solitude comes safety. You’ve probably discovered that for yourself.”

Briana nodded. “To some extent.”

“I won’t deny my interest in self-preservation. At times, it has become an obsession. I have desired it above everything else—money, position, even love. That particular door closed for me long ago. I made a conscious decision never to pry it open.”

“Why?”

He turned his face to the night sky, and Briana took the opportunity to study his profile. By now, everything about him had begun to arouse her: the firm, aristocratic planes of his cheekbones, the graceful way he moved, the controlled rhythms of his speech. He was utterly unlike any man she had ever met.

“Over the years, I’ve come up with a number of reasons. Perhaps I should call them justifications. No doubt some seemed legitimate, at least at the time. Strangely enough, at the moment I can’t remember a single one.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Suddenly, he fixed his eyes directly on hers. That she felt herself drawn into those mysterious, dark green depths came as no surprise. What she did find inexplicable was the giddiness that crept over her, the slight blurring of her own vision that accompanied his interest. She felt grateful for the solid rock beneath them.

“Sebastian,” she whispered. Her voice grew husky with need.

 “Shh.”

She fell silent. The longer his gaze held hers, the more lightheaded she became. She didn’t move as his right hand came to rest on her shoulder, fingers stroking the side of her neck. The contact only intensified the need that swept through her with the force of a wave swamping the rock they perched on.

ADULT EXCERPT

Extending his fingers, Sebastian ran his hands over the length of her, like an artist smoothing his sculpture or a dreamer testing the reality of his vision. Overcome with the urge to devour him whole, she tilted her head to lick at his nipples.

Her tongue bathed the hard, blunt tip and nipped at the dark hairs curling around it. The rain had chilled him to the bone. His skin remained cool and tight against her lips. The sensation struck her as startling but pleasant, like a splash of cologne after a hot shower.

“Wait,” he commanded. His hands circled her shoulders, encircled her arms, and slid to her wrists. Suddenly he pushed forward and pressed her flat on the desk. The movement brought her knees higher around his waist. Briana gasped when she felt his swollen erection touch the tender spot between her legs. Sebastian leaned over her, flattening his body against hers, pinning her beneath his weight. Being completely at his mercy felt delicious. “Stay still,” he rumbled from deep in his chest. The tremors massaged her bare breasts. “Let me please you.”

“Yes.” Briana closed her eyes and luxuriated in the unfamiliar concept of someone taking care of her for a change. She knew she wouldn’t be disappointed. “Yes, I will.”

Sebastian’s palms cupped her hips and pulled her forward. Her legs opened wider as she balanced herself on the edge of the desk, her thighs bracketing his as he moved closer to her circle of warmth. She’d never felt more exposed. Or more safe.

She found his skin’s continued frostiness a little strange, considering how long they’d been inside and the fact that she herself  teetered on the brink of  bursting into flames.

“You’re so cold,” she whispered.

“Then warm me,” he pleaded.

Briana examined his face with new interest: his lips swollen and parted, his eyes wild. What secret did she need to know about him? The answer seemed so close, as though it should be obvious to her in this most intimate situation. Yet for some reason her mind couldn’t wrap itself around the truth long enough to make sense of his constant allusions to the threat their attraction posed.

She sucked in a breath as his cool, rigid shaft nudged the shallow folds of her hot center.  He made no move to enter her, though. Instead, he let the underside of his cock skate over her supple crease, the chubby crown tilted up and away from the part of her that craved it most. As badly as she wanted to buck her hips up and force him inside, she remembered that, for the moment, this was his show to manage. She wasn’t at all surprised to find that he was more than capable of managing both it and her.

He rocked lightly against her, wedging his hips between her thighs. His raw shaft, thick and textured with vein and muscle, swept the length of her crease, and then slowly dragged away again, leaving her gaping and wet with need. Ignoring her desperation, he pushed forward once more in the same calculated manner, pulling back just as deliberately. Soon her free-flowing nectar coated the circumference of his organ. With each pass of his hips he painted her with her own slickness. Slowly, she became his work of art, opening herself to him by degrees, both physically and emotionally.

Sebastian continued this languid sawing motion for a few minutes until she could barely control the tremors raking her body. Her midriff had turned into one heavy ache. Briana’s legs squeezed his in lusty convulsions, trying to force him inside. At one point, she heard him hiss, perhaps with the strain of holding himself back while her need grew even more obvious. Finally, his muscles seemed to tense and then loosen in a sort of surrender. He relaxed his balance and let her draw him into position. His stiff tip stroked her open, as if parting a flower’s delicate petals. His self-control amazed her, though hers had slipped almost into oblivion. He was resting fully against her now, no more than a tiny shove away from full immersion in her roiling center. Her most intimate muscles constricted, trying again to pull him in closer and deeper. Still he held himself in position, tormenting her. The pressure of her ankles around his waist didn’t hurry him at all.

“Come inside,” she begged. “I can’t hold out much longer.”