Embrace the Night

Page 55



"Are you ready?"

She looked up with a start, the blush in her cheeks deepening as her eyes met his. "Yes."

He paid the bill, helped her with her cloak, took her hand. The night wrapped around them, dark and intimate, as they walked along a narrow, tree-lined path through the gardens. The fragrance of a hundred flowers rose up all around them, perfuming the air, but it was Sara's scent that filled Gabriel's senses, her nearness that made his heart pound in his chest. She looked like an angel in the light of the moon. A wealth of golden hair framed her delicate face, her skin glowed, her eyes were like shadowed blue pools.

The twin talons of need and hunger rose up within him, their claws piercing the darkness of his heart, his empty soul. It would be so easy to take her, to enfold her in his arms and feast upon her sweetness.

So easy.

He paused before a low stone bench. "Shall we sit awhile?"

"All right." She sat down, the folds of her pink gown spreading around her like the petals of a rose. "Where were you today?"

"I'm afraid I must ask you not to pry into my personal life."

"I didn't mean to pry," Sara said quickly, hoping to conceal the hurt caused by his censure, "I just wondered… never mind."

"Wondered what?"

"Where you spend your days. What kind of work you do."
"I don't work."

"You don't?"

"No. Not only am I a very private person, but a very wealthy one, as well." "Oh."

"So," he said, forcing a smile, "how did you spend your day?"

"Trying on clothes." She placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you, Gabriel. The dresses are lovely. I adore the book, and the candy, and everything else. You've been so generous."

"My pleasure."

"I went exploring today."

She felt his hand stiffen beneath hers. "Did you?"

Sara nodded. "I was looking for a mirror," she confessed, wondering if he would think her vain. "The dresses are so pretty. I wanted to see how I looked…"