Shield's Lady

decisions.”
    “You,” Gryph informed her, voice blurred but no less resolute for that, “are no longer in charge. I am.”
    Sariana stared up at him. “Never. Why would you want to be in charge, anyway? You’ve never been particularly enthused about the task of getting back the cutter.”
    “Things have changed.”
    “What’s changed?” She pushed open a side door and guided Gryph into the hall that led to his suite.
    “I’ll explain it all later. Right now I just want some sleep. Do me a favor, Sariana, stop snapping at me and put me to bed. Please.”
    She gave up and did exactly that.

    Three hours later when Gryph awoke from a restless sleep he was immediately aware of three things. The first was that his shoulder ached. The second was that the chamber seemed much too warm.
    The third was that he was not alone in the darkened room. Sariana was curled up in the depths of an armchair beside the bed, sound asleep. It was the first time he had ever seen her in repose. There was a gentle vulnerability about her that made him want to reach out and gather her into the protection of his arms. It had stopped raining and a watery golden moonlight revealed the green satin slippers on the floor beneath the suspended chair. The frothy skirts of her gown formed a pool of gilded green on the cushions. The toes of her stockinged feet poked out from beneath a fold.
    An overwhelming wave of desire and longing swept through Gryph. He was in no condition tonight to control it.
    Sariana’s lashes stirred and lifted as she sensed his awakening. Her eyes met his and Gryph’s body sang an ancient song as he saw the shy, tremulous, sleepy desire in her gaze. She wanted him.
    Without a word he held out his hand. If she came to him now she would be his. He knew that with a triumphant certainty.
    Sariana’s gaze drifted down to the hand he had extended across the quilt and then lifted again to his face. He saw the questions and the uncertainty and the feminine caution in her. All his instincts urged him not to hesitate. He should reach out and take hold of her before she lost her nerve and turned to flee.
    But another part of him said that all he had to do was wait. It was like catching a scarlet-toe. The victim was her own worst enemy. Sariana was not going to run from him tonight.
    Sariana uncurled herself slowly and it was easy to see that she was poised between the urge to flee and the need to stay and learn the secrets of the attraction she was experiencing. Then she got to her feet and walked slowly over to the bed. She reached down and touched Gryph’s fingers wonderingly.
    He closed his hand around hers and tugged her down onto the gently swinging bed.

Chapter
    6

    SARIANA had made her decision as she sat watching him sleep. Gryph was sprawled on top of the rheenfeather quilt, his smoothly muscled body bare from the waist up. Earlier, when she had helped him into bed, Sariana had tried to persuade him to slide beneath the covers but he had refused. He had stripped off his jacket and shirt and dropped, clearly exhausted, on top of the bed.
    She had sat watching him until she, too, had fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure what had awakened her a moment ago, but she had been vibrantly aware that she had reached her decision.
    Now Sariana allowed herself to be pulled down onto the gently swinging bed without a murmur of protest. This was what she wanted. She knew it in the depths of her being. She was going to take Lady Avylyn’s advice and fling herself headlong into an experience that would be unlike anything she had ever known. Sariana was excited and shocked at her own recklessness, but the reaction only served to heighten her awareness.
    Gryph’s eyes were holding hers with unrelenting intensity as he pulled her down to lie beside him. The gleam of moonlight was reflected in his blue-green gaze, creating a thousand tiny shards of light between his black lashes. There was a compelling promise in that gaze, one Sariana could no longer ignore.
    This was the man with whom she would explore the boundaries of her own sexuality. She wanted to learn what it would be like to please him and to be pleased in return. She had waited long enough. It was time.
    Her senses were filled with wonder and excitement and delight as he settled her beside him on top of the quilt. She was lightheaded with the thrill of it all. Only one thing worried her now.
    “Gryph, your shoulder. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
    “Forget my