Shield's Lady

careful advance. In another step or two, he could touch her. He wanted that. Wanted it very badly.
    “I’m not afraid of you, Gryph.”
    He smiled faintly, pleased by the words. “I think it would take a lot to frighten you. A nervous little coward would not have made the voyage to the western provinces when things went wrong at home.”
    Sariana shook her head slightly, her mouth trembling between a smile and uncertainty. “I didn’t have much choice.”
    “You had a choice. You took the one that held the most promise, but also the one that held the most risk. With a temperament like that, you might be more at home here in Serendipity than you would be in Rendezvous. Have you ever thought of that?”
    “No,” she said flatly, “I haven’t.”
    Gryph took a chance. He put out his hand and touched the fold of her robe where it fell just below her shoulder. The soft thrust of her breasts was only a few centimeters from his palm. He sensed her catching her breath and he sought desperately for a way to calm her again.
    “You’re a woman who’s not afraid to take risks,” he whispered, his voice rough and husky with need. His fingers trembled on the fabric of her robe. “Will you take a risk with me?”
    “I don’t know what you mean. I’m already taking a tremendous risk just by hiring you.”
    He brushed that aside, impatient with her small attempt to sidestep the issue. “I’m talking about another kind of risk and I think you know it.”
    A frantic protest mingled with anger leaped into her wide eyes. “You ask too much, Shield!”
    “And I overstep myself, don’t I?” he taunted gently. “I go too far, reach too high, dare too much, demand more than I have any right to expect”
    “I see you understand your situation perfectly,” she muttered. Her lashes came down to veil her eyes. “Gryph, please, it’s very late. You must leave. Don’t embarrass both of us by going any farther with this.”
    “I can give you a little time, Sariana. Not much, but a little. Would that help? I want to do this right.”
    She trembled. He could feel the small shiver that went through her and he knew with absolute certainty that it was caused by excitement as well as feminine wariness. He could make her want him. He was sure of it. He just had to give her time.
    “Time?” she breathed. Her eyes were luminous pools. Emotions moved just beneath the surface of those pools, sending tremors through her whole body.
    “Would that make it easier for you?”
    “I don’t know,” she gasped. “I don’t know. Please, Gryph I can’t think.”
    “I want you.”
    “You hardly know me.” Her eyes were pleading with him now, pleading for understanding and reassurance. But he saw the passionate curiosity in them, too, and he aimed for that.
    “I know you better than you think.” He leaned down to brush her mouth with his own. Relief and triumph swept through him when she didn’t instantly pull away.
    Deliberately he kept the kiss gentle and undemanding. He would not make the mistake of overwhelming her as he had the last time he had kissed her. He didn’t want her to be frightened of him. His whole body was clamoring for release, but he could control himself tonight. He would give Sariana the time she needed.
    Sariana stood very still beneath his kiss. Then her lips parted slightly. Gryph took the invitation at once, sliding his tongue deeply into her warm mouth. His hand moved down from her shoulder to the curve of her breast. When he felt her nipple hardening beneath the fabric of her robe he thought he would go out of his mind. He held the kiss as long as he dared, held it until he felt the stirring of a new kind of tension in her and then he reluctantly broke the intimate contact.
    “Sariana, Sariana,” he muttered against her lips. “Tell me that all you need is time. I can wait if I must.”
    “I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered. “What are you doing to me?”
    “There’s no point in fighting it. I don’t think either of us has much choice.” He brought his other hand up to cup her face between his palms. Somehow he had to impress upon her the inevitability of their union. It would be simpler and far less difficult for her to accept that union if she came of her own volition to understand there was no real choice. “I’ll try not to rush you.”
    “Gryph…
    “I’ll give you some time, just as I promised. But please, for both our sakes, don’t make me wait too