Apparently a man could kiss a woman anywhere.

But he did more than just kiss her. She felt his tongue stroking, and then a suckling... ah, the man did wicked things with his mouth. Cecily began to pant, grabbed the coverlet beneath her palms and caught it up in her fists, pulling against the cloth as her body strove toward something. Just. Beyond. Her grasp...

She tossed her head. She squirmed. She bucked. What was he doing to her? She wanted to ask him but had no thought for speech, for her entire body and soul concentrated on this sudden new feeling.

A shiver ran through her. Cecily's body fragmented into a thousand scintillating parts as a rush of indescribable pleasure ripped through her body, making her cry out Giles's name in wonder and delight. She rode that wave for a long while before her body settled back to earth again.

He left her. It took Cecily a few minutes before she finally had the sense to sit up to see where he had gone.

She blinked.

He stood across the room, having discarded most of his clothing-including his drawers, for he wore nothing but his white cotton shirt, which he had already unb.u.t.toned and was in the process of pulling down his arms. Cecily had seen parts of him, his backside on the beach, his naked torso as he worked the bellows at the forge, flashes of his body while they had journeyed. But the entirety of him standing before her... All that golden naked flesh stunned her.

Cecily had felt the shape of him through his breeches on that day she'd boldly fondled him. But it had not prepared her for the sight of it now.

He let his shirt fall and tossed the hair off his shoulders.

She would not say it. He was too arrogant by half already. She would not... "You are beautiful."

He grinned and strode to the bed, lifting her wrinkled chemise over her head, and pulled her into his arms.

"If you had any idea," he murmured, "how delightful you look right now, with your lips swollen from my kisses and your glorious eyes bright with remembered pleasure..." He kissed her, his lips sweeping across hers. "A day hasn't gone by that I have not been struck by your beauty, Cecily. Not a single day."

Her heart turned in her chest. She stroked the muscles of his arms, reveled in the feel of his strong shoulders. "What did you do to me?"

He kissed her cheek, traveled a path to her ear, making her shiver when he spoke. "That was but one pleasure. To prepare you for the greater one."

She raised her brows in disbelief and he laughed, scooping her up in one graceful move and laying her on the bed. His gaze traveled from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, and she realized she lay before him wantonly naked.

She sighed.

He leaned down and caught it with a kiss. His hair tumbled over his shoulders, tickling her throat, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She curled her hands in the length of it and held on as he ravished her mouth, a slow burn starting inside of her again. She tried to stop him when he pulled away but he did not allow her any control. His mouth moved to the base of her throat, down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and she wondered. She hoped.

Ah. He kissed the bud of one nipple, then the other. He stroked them with his tongue until she groaned, and then he suckled.

He had an extraordinarily talented mouth.

Within moments he had her squirming again, but this time she felt a longing for something entirely different. She wanted to be a part of him. For him to make himself a part of her.

"Giles..."

He slid into the bed beside her, the full length of his hot skin touching hers. And it felt so right. As if she'd felt him against her before and would forever more.

He gathered her close, his hands stroking her back, the curve of her bottom. And then he rolled until she lay beneath him, his chest propped above hers, his pale hair hanging wildly about his face, the muscles in his arms and shoulders rippling as he maneuvered his legs between her own.

Cecily watched him. She still remembered the look on his face when she had seen him with that other woman. She wanted to make sure she caused that same exalted expression when he lay with her. No, she wanted to surpa.s.s it. She wanted to bring him more pleasure than any other woman ever had before.

Cecily trembled.

"Are you afraid now?" he whispered.

"No."

"Lift your legs."

She immediately complied, her thighs rubbing against his hips. Giles shifted. Something soft and hard touched her wet opening.

"Now?"

"No. And no and no-"

He kissed her again, much to her delight. Cecily put her hands against his broad chest, traveling the breadth of it with curiosity. How could a man be so soft and firm all at the same time? His skin felt like satin, the muscles beneath like the hardest stone. Her fingers stroked the thin layer of hair on his upper chest, tickled the path of it down to his abdomen, where his skin pressed against hers. She swept her palms upward again, across the two large muscles and over the small peaks of his brown nipples.

He shuddered and deepened the kiss, his tongue moving in and out of her mouth.

So, Giles's nipples were sensitive as well. Ah, how she would love to see if her kisses could be as wicked as his. But that would have to wait for another time, for Cecily felt his urgency, his need to claim her. And she wanted it as dearly as he did.

He shifted again. She felt the stretch of her muscles and wondered how she would manage to fit all of him inside of her. But determination made her grasp his bottom... oh, fiddle. More satiny skin, more taut muscle beneath. She explored this new part of him, staring wonderingly up into his eyes.

Giles gritted his teeth.

Cecily pushed him down against her, her strength equal to his when she applied her full elven vigor, which he'd apparently forgotten, judging by the look of surprise that crossed his features. A brief stinging pain accompanied her gesture and she gasped.

Giles frowned and studied her face. "You must let me continue to lead in this."

She nodded.

He locked his arms and waited until she squirmed a bit. Then he penetrated her more deeply, this time only a slight ache accompanying the gesture. Giles then pulled slowly out of her, and slowly back in again.

This time it didn't hurt at all. Cecily smiled.

He repeated the movement, but went a bit deeper the second time. And even deeper the third, until she wondered when she would reach the end of him. But his movements became faster and she got caught up in the rhythm, in the sensation that again he stoked some fire as he had earlier. One that would result in another blazing inferno sundering her body.

Cecily had always imagined his pleasure when she fantasized about making love to him. She had never thought of her own.

Giles threw back his head, a moan low in his throat as he continued to rock faster and faster. No. She wanted to see his face. She grabbed his hair and yanked his head back down and their gazes met as the fire built between them.

Cecily pulled her legs nearly beside her ears as she fought to take him into her deeper. But Giles held back. Instead he increased his tempo, his muscles bulging, his eyes intense as he stared into her own. And then he shuddered, an expression of pure rapture delineating his handsome features, making him nearly glow with a matching inner beauty.

Cecily's body responded to his pleasure, the feeling that spread through her this time not a sundering, but rather a deeper flare that enfolded him inside of her and throbbed in time with him.

Giles watched her until she stilled. "I have dreamed of your face beneath me for so very long."

Her heart swelled. He could not have made any other declaration that sounded as sweet to her ears as that one.

She expected him to roll over and hold her for a time, but he left the bed and she heard the splash of water from the washstand, then he returned with a wet cloth and carefully wiped her. Despite his even more intimate ministrations but a few moments ago, his attention made her blush.

"Are you tender?" he asked.

"A bit."

"It will fade." Giles tossed aside the cloth and knelt by the edge of the bed in all his dazzling nudity, clasping one of her hands within his own and rolling her over to meet his gaze.

"I love you," he whispered. "Will you marry me?"

Nine.

The darling girl looked up at him with those faceted blue eyes and said, "Yes."

His heart soared. She had spoken truly, then, when she said she didn't care about the differences in their circ.u.mstances. He did not know how he would deal with her social set without being forced to knock a few heads together, but he would try.

"But," she continued, "we shall have to wait."

He dropped her hand and rose, sat on the edge of the bed next to her, raking up the bedding and gently covering her body. The sight of her rosy skin proved too much of a distraction for him to focus on their conversation. And it appeared it would require his full attention.

"Why?" Giles dragged his fingers through his hair. When she had disappeared under that mountain, he had come to terms with himself. Even if it meant giving up his dreams of becoming a true spy for the Rebellion, even if he must go live among the gentry or in a hovel by the ocean, he could not live without the lady. "My dear Cecily, I have been waiting nigh onto ten years now, and the past few weeks have been a sheer torture of indecision."

"I know." For a moment, he thought he saw tears glistening in her eyes. "But we do not have time to wed. We must leave as soon as we are able."

"You found something in that mountain. What is it?"

"I saw Thomas."

"Wait." He held up his hand, sat back on the edge of the bed. "Start from the beginning."

She nodded and sat up, hugging the covers to her chest, thank the devil. He had never seen such a beautiful pair of- "The river did provide a way into the interior of the crystal. I surfaced within a cavern and found my way out to a hallway, of sorts. Open to the sky and flanked by crystal columns. Such a beautiful place-"

"Please, Cecily, just get to the important parts."

"I found Sebastian's tomb-at least, I think it was his. The coffin had been cracked open, along with several statues of rather fierce-looking guardians. But I couldn't find a ring. And then I heard... do you know how the crystal sings? I thought I heard my name in that song. I thought I heard my father's voice."

Giles reached out and touched her cheek. He did not doubt that Thomas had found a way to reach her again. "What did he say?"

"He told me where to find him. He's... Giles, he's trapped... or imprisoned... in the last place we saw a vision of him. That place of wild magic."

"Seven Corners?"

"Aye. And I must go find him."

Giles glanced over at his sword belt, close to hand on a side table, the plain hilt of his devil-blade winking at him from the scabbard. He had feared an attachment to Cecily would end his ambitions, and yet she brought him more excitement and adventure than he could ever have hoped for. "We will go find him."

She huffed. "Giles, you heard what the professor said. No human has ever come out of that forest alive... or unchanged."

"No one with your level of magic has ever ventured within before, either. And I have my blade, Cecily." He could not dampen the excitement from his voice. "I will protect you."

"Me? I do not want to see you turned into a monster."

He laughed. "I will not allow it." She gave him such a look of disgruntlement that he could not resist leaning forward and wrapping his arms about her. "My dear, Thomas must have something very important to tell you if he's asked you to follow him there."

"That's what I'm afraid of." His chest m.u.f.fled her voice. "I will not feel guilty for stealing this time with you. It might be the very last-"

"Cecily, quit this foolishness. We will have our whole lives to spend together. But you are right-our marriage must wait. We must leave for Seven Corners at once."

She sighed, her breath hot against his naked chest. He lifted her chin and kissed her, loving the way she tasted, the way she responded to his touch with no artifice whatsoever. He would never allow anything to harm her. Marriage or no, he would be her protector, now and for always.

For the first time since losing his brother and father, Giles felt whole. He had not realized he missed having a family, but now that he knew Cecily had become a part of him, the emptiness he had carried inside of him suddenly eased. Perhaps he hadn't been looking for vengeance after all. Perhaps he had only been looking for someone to love again.

Giles pressed their mounts hard on the journey back to Oxfordshire, again waiting until Cecily looked to be falling from her saddle before he called a halt for the night. She did not complain, and despite her words, he thought she might carry some guilt for not coming to Thomas at once. Giles a.s.sured her that an hour would not have made any difference to Thomas's situation when he had been missing for months.

For his part, Giles would not feel guilty for those stolen hours. Indeed, he thought it would always remain in his memory as the happiest moment of his life.

Although he ached for her even more fiercely than he had before. He'd had a taste of heaven and he longed for more, but could only comfort himself with their closer relationship. He did not need to concoct any reason to sleep with her in his arms.

When they reached that strange forest, it looked exactly the same, much to Giles's wonder and Cecily's obvious dismay.

"We still do not have a plan," she said.

Giles shrugged. "How can we make a proper plan when we do not know what we will be facing?" He leaped from the saddle and patted Apollo's neck to calm him. Cecily always liked to map things out, for it gave her the illusion she was in control. "We will improvise as we go along."

"That doesn't sound very rea.s.suring." She dismounted as well, then hugged the little mare. "Belle will not go in there."

Giles nodded at both their shivering horses. "I didn't expect she would." He started removing Apollo's saddle. "We will leave them in the meadow. Apollo will wait for me and Belle will not leave his side."

Cecily nodded and began removing her own tack. She had learned to be quite proficient at it. "I can call the water from the nearby river to place a shield around us."

Giles placed his saddle under a leafy bush, the only shelter outside of those woods. "Then how will we see where we are going?" He placed Belle's tack beside Apollo's and covered it up with a blanket. Giles handed Cecily the smaller bag of their supplies and tied the heaver sack to his belt.

"You have a point," she replied, tying her own sack to her girdle. "But I will not go in there unprotected-no offense to your devil-blade."

Giles stared into the woods, trying to penetrate the shadows and the darkness. "I wonder how often it erupts into black flame? Or was that caused by Thomas's appearance?"

She waved a trembling hand at the woods. "Who knows? There's nothing within but chaos!"

Giles reached out and dragged her into his arms. "Wait for me here."

She felt as stiff as steel. "We have already discussed this."

He grinned. "I had to try."

Giles bent down and kissed her until she stopped trembling.