Beyond Temptation by Mary Reed McCall

Author:Mary Reed McCall [McCall, Mary Reed]
Language: nld
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

backs of her fingers that was all the more searing for its

chaste sweetness. Then giving her a soft smile, he straight-

ened, turned, and walked back to the house, leaving her with

the muddle of her feelings, and the beauty of morning un-

furling all around her.

Richard stood in the shadows just beyond the door to the

kitchen and looked back toward Meg, watching her. She

hadn’t moved since he’d walked away; from his position he

could see her in profile, elegant and bathed in the pearly

dawn light. At least she did not appear as tense as she had in

those moments after he first came upon her in the garden,

when she’d thought his hodmedod was actually a stranger

skulking around the house.

Oh, very good, he thought ruefully; his confession of feel-

ings hadn’t unleashed in her the same kind of fear that the

thought of an imminent attack had.

God help him, but he must be desperate to take hope in

such trifles. A wry smile pulled at his lips. Aye, he was in a

bad way, all right. For a moment there he hadn’t even been

182

MARY REED MCCALL

sure he could walk away from her. It had, in truth, been one

of the most difficult things he could remember doing in re-

cent memory. They had stood so close that he had felt her

warmth, teasing him through the breath of distance between

them. Like a honeybee besotted in a field full of blossoms,

he’d drawn in the gentle, sweet fragrance that seemed woven

into the silk of her hair; and when he’d leaned in even closer

to her, wanting to taste her, yearning to pull her into his

arms . . .

Stifling a groan, he shifted in the cool dark of the kitchen,

cursing his thoughts for the way they affected the part of him

that still burned and ached, heavy with need for her. It was

humiliating to react so to Meg’s nearness, but much as he

tried to remain in control of his baser yearnings, he was

nearly helpless to keep his desire for her hidden.

He hadn’t lied to her; never in all his years as a Templar

had he been tempted in this way, and it wasn’t for lack of op-

portunity. In truth, he’d been approached by countless

women in his travels for the Brotherhood, most offering

themselves freely, drawn to his group of elite warriors with-

out care for whether they were supposed to be men dedicated

to God’s service. But he’d never wavered from his vows. Oh,

he’d felt the stirrings of desire—aye, he was a man like any

other, and his body had yearned for the kind of intimacy and

physical completion that had been denied him so long. But he

had always been able to suppress his need with meditation or

the rigors of training and battle.

With Meg, such diversion wasn’t possible. He thought

about her constantly, relived each moment they spent pri-

vately together until he believed he would go mad from the

play of images in his mind.

And today he’d finally told her something of what he was

BEYOND TEMPTATION

183

feeling, his pride be damned. Though he’d had to use every

ounce of his will to keep from kissing her again at that mo-

ment, he knew he would eventually, and sooner rather than

later if he could manage it.

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