Once Upon a Castle - Jill Gregory [87]
“Permitted?”
“I am forbidden by the Fates to interfere in the affairs of this world.”
She could hear the emotion in his voice, could see the pain in his eyes. At last she understood. “Your powers are limited?”
“Powers.” He spoke the word with venom. “My…powers, such as they are, are useless to help those I love.”
“But you are permitted to love?”
“Love is not a favor granted.” His eyes narrowed with feeling. “Love is an emotion so strong, so powerful, it transcends time and place. Love…” He turned away, but not before she saw the raw passion in his eyes. “Love is pain as well as pleasure.”
“I’m sorry, Gareth. I know about Cara and the fact that you were forced to choose duty and honor over love.”
“Forced?” He whirled to face her. “Nay. In life, one makes choices. I chose to consider the lives of many over the life of one, even though that one life meant more to me than anything in this world.”
“Oh, Gareth.” Seeing his bleak look, she reached out to touch his arm. At once he stepped back.
Instead of drawing away, she took a step closer and boldly curled her fingers into his flesh. “You’ve suffered far too much for your choice.”
He stared down at her hand, and for a moment she thought he would draw away from her. She was startled when he gently lifted her hand to his lips. Against her knuckles, he murmured, “Did you know, little happy face, that you are the first woman since Cara that I have touched? Or permitted to touch me?”
“I knew it was you who caught me on the stairs.”
“Aye, and the touch of you was my undoing.” With a tenderness she would not have believed possible, he lifted her hand to his cheek. “You not only touch me, you touch my heart.”
“Gareth…”
“Shhh.” Though he didn’t move or alter his position, she felt hands on her shoulders drawing her fractionally closer, until their lips were inches apart. Heat shimmered and pulsed around them, but neither seemed to notice. “Since we have already broken the rules, I must break another. I need to taste your lips.”
She thought about protesting. Even as the thought formed, she dismissed it. She wanted what he wanted. She leaned into him, and, though he didn’t move, his lips skimmed over hers.
The hunger was so sharp, so painful, that they both stepped back from it. Those dark, piercing eyes looked into hers, as though reading her soul. She was lost. With a sigh she offered her lips for another intoxicating kiss. This time the press of his hands was rougher as he pulled her against him. On a moan he seemed to devour her as his mouth crushed hers.
This was more than hunger. More than passion. The need was so powerful, so compelling, it could not be satisfied. No kiss or touch could quench this thirst. The heat was so intense now, they could feel sparks igniting wherever they touched.
And oh! They touched. His hands molded her hips to his, then slid along her back, kneading her waist, the slope of her shoulders, the soft curve of her neck. He touched with a hunger that spoke of centuries of loneliness.
Her arms encircled his waist, clinging as if to life itself. Her hands moved up his chest, her fingers curling into the folds of his shirt. Finally, with a sigh, she wound her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the pleasure.
It was a pleasure akin to pain. He wanted her. Wanted her with a desperation that bordered on madness. Here. Now.
He knew he had crossed a line. Knew, also, that it no longer mattered. He could no more stop than he could call down the thunder. There was a limit to his powers. And right now, all his powers were concentrated on the woman in his arms. A flesh-and-blood woman. Warm. Willing. Lovely.
Innocent.
That knowledge, and that alone, stopped him. Calling on all his willpower, he lifted his head and took a step back. At once he felt bereft. His heart ached with need.
What was worse, he felt all his strength draining from him. It was the price he would have to pay for his indulgence. After all, he knew the rules that governed the spirit