Embrace the Night

Page 134



of her heart, and try as she might, she would never make it so.
"Gabriel." His name was a sob on her lips.

"Cara."

She whirled around, her heart climbing into her throat at the sound of his voice, at the world of tenderness in his endearment for her.

"Gabriel!" She stared at him, unable to believe he was there, that she hadn't conjured his image from the depths of her aching heart.

He wore black breeches, black boots, and a dark green shirt. His cloak fell from shoulders even broader than she remembered. His hair was the color of ebony, his eyes the dark gray of storm-tossed clouds.

The silence stretched between them.

She longed to run into his arms, to lay her head on his chest and cry out all the unhappiness of the past three months.

He yearned to hold her close, to assure himself that she was well.
But she was afraid of being rejected.

And he was afraid that if he touched her again, he would never, ever let her go.

And then she saw the aching loneliness in the depths of his eyes and knew she would risk anything, even the pain of rejection, to comfort him, if only for a moment.

And he knew that he had been fighting a losing battle since the moment he first held her.
"Cara."

Just that one word. That was all he said. But it broke the barrier between them. In less than a heartbeat, she was enfolded in his arms, tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. And he was murmuring her name over and over again, his loneliness banished forever by the sight of her tears—tears of love, of happiness, of acceptance.

He held her close for a long moment, feeling as though he had come home at last, and then he bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. And she melted into him, her arms stealing around his waist, holding him as if she would never let him go.

He kissed her again, more deeply this time, letting himself absorb her warmth, her sweetness. "Ah, cara," he murmured, "if you only knew how much I've missed you."
"No more than I missed you." She gazed into his eyes. "I tried to call you with my mind." Gabriel nodded. "I heard you."