Love Letters by Lori Brighton

eyes for the first time. “When you’re near…I can’t…think…I can’t breathe.” It was the truth. Not the truth from Helen, but from her.
    His jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring slightly. “Tell me you want me.”
    A long paused separated them. Her heart hammered recklessly. She could play demure, or she could speak her mind for once in her life. “I do. I want you Gabriel, more than you could ever know.”
    Something lit his eyes. Something lovely. Something dangerous. His hands cupped her shoulders and he jerked her forward, crushing his mouth to hers. She didn’t resist. Cynthia could do nothing more than sink into his hard body. Shock quickly gave way to pure happiness. He was finally kissing her!
    When his tongue boldly slid across her lips, she eagerly opened for him, couldn’t get enough of him. Vaguely, she was aware that this was wrong…so incredibly wrong. But she didn’t care. Didn’t give a damn. For one brief moment he was hers, and she’d dreamt of this moment since she received that first letter.
    His strong hands moved to her backside, cupping her bottom and pulling her intimately against him. Flames licked at her lower belly. Something hard pressed against her thighs, throbbing with an intensity that should have frightened her. Eagerly her body responded, insisting she move closer, rub against him in a rocking motion that made him groan.
    It was wrong, so wrong, yet she couldn’t stop her body from reacting. Cynthia slid her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe. His mouth, lord, his mouth tore from hers, moving to her jaw line, lower, to her sensitive neck. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples hardened and begged for his touch. How she wanted him! Desire flooded her body. That pulse between her legs flared to life… aching, beating with need.
    “Dear God, Helen, you’re so sweet.”
    The name sent a cold chill through her. Horrified, she shoved against his hard chest. “No!”
    He released his hold and she stumbled back. For one long moment he merely stared at her, a stunned look upon his face. The surprise quickly gave way something else, an anger that moved across his features in a frightening wave. His jaw clenched, his body actually quivering with outrage.
    “Damn you,” he snapped, startling Cynthia.
    She resisted the urge to move back. There was a dangerous air about him that she’d never seen before, an air that worried her more than she wanted to admit. “I’m sorry—”
    “No, you’re not.” He stepped closer, towering over her.
    Before she could move, he gripped her upper arms, his hold tight. “No more. No more will you play this game. If what you say is true, then show me you want me. Show me now.”
     
    ********
    She merely looked at him; a beautiful, seductive tease. Did she have any idea how her breath sent her breasts higher, threatening to spill from her low neckline? He swallowed hard and refused to drop his gaze, but continued to look directly at her, daring her with his silence.
    Anger mixed with need. A need so intense, so inexplicable it left him weak. He’d never wanted her this much, but then never had she responded to him with such passion. Here, for one brief moment, he thought she’d wanted him. And now…damn her, now she was back to playing her silly games.
    He’d heard the rumors, knew she was a flirt. He even questioned whether she was still a virgin. If not for that blasted promise he’d made to his father to marry her ten years ago, he would have broken the engagement himself.
    Well no more. His father was dead and his promise buried with him. If she wanted to marry him, she’d show him how much she cared. He tightened his grip on her upper arms and jerked her forward, ignoring her gasp.
    “Show me,” he demanded.
    “H…how?”
    “By not pulling away. By not flinching under my touch. By responding. By kissing me.”
    He wanted to draw the lush curve of her lower lip into his mouth. To taste her. Have her completely. She hesitated,