Beneath a Midnight Moon - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,63
face him. In a distant corner of her mind, she wondered how long he’d been back. Long enough to bathe and change his clothes, she thought as her gaze moved over him. He was a study in black, from the top of his head to the snug black breeches riding low on his narrow hips. His eyes were shadowed, and a day’s growth of beard covered the lower half of his face.
Kylene stared at the thick black bristles on his jaw, at the long black hair that fell past his shoulders. Gradually, her gaze lowered to the mat of ebony-colored hair that covered his broad chest.
Wolf.
Hardane’s jaw clenched under her scrutiny.
“Aye, lady,” he said roughly, “a wolf stands before you in the guise of a man. Think you I’ll tear out your heart?”
“You have torn it, my lord wolf,” she retorted, unable to hide the resentment she felt. “Torn it until it bleeds with sorrow and remorse.”
Hardane took a deep, steadying breath. She had a right to be angry. He should have told her the truth before the wedding. He should have warned her, prepared her.
“I never meant to hurt you, or deceive you,” he said quietly, and wondered if she’d ever forgive him.
She looked skeptical. “Didn’t you?”
“I should have told you everything,” he admitted, his voice laced with regret.
“Yes.”
A hurt deeper than pain lanced his heart as he tried to prepare himself to live without her, though how he’d face the future without her was beyond all comprehension, so quickly had she taken root in his heart, his very soul.
His gaze moved over her, committing to memory the fire that danced in her deep red hair, the dark brown of her eyes. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, her cheeks as pink as rose petals, her lips as red as a pomegranate seed. Kylene . . .
His hands curled into tight fists as he summoned the courage to ask the one question he dreaded.
“Will you leave me, now that you know the truth?”
Will you leave me, now that you know the truth? She heard the pain in his voice and knew that her leaving would cut him deeply. And knew, just as certainly, that she’d rather die than live without him. Wolf or man, she loved him utterly, completely. To live without him would be no life at all.
“Kylene?” He stared into her eyes, his whole life hanging on her answer.
“I’ll not leave you, unless it is your wish.”
“You’ll stay?” he asked in disbelief. “In spite of the curse of my bloodline?”
Running across the room, Kylene threw herself into his arms. “A blessing, my lord wolf, not a curse.”
Hardane held her at arm’s length, wanting to make sure she understood that the Wolffan, like their wild cousins, mated for life.
“Are you certain, lady?” he asked, his gaze holding hers. “Once my seed is growing within you, there can be no turning back. Once our sons are born, I will never let you go.”
“Could you let me go now?”
Slowly, he shook his head. “No, lady, not even if it meant my life.”
“Then love me, Hardane,” she murmured. “I care not if you be wolf or man. Both or neither, only love me now.”
“As you wish, lady,” he replied, his voice husky with desire as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to their bed. “As you wish . . .”
And then, as gently as ever a man loved a woman, Hardane possessed her, and with every touch, with every caress, he reaffirmed his infinite love for her. And Kylene, listening with her heart, heard every unuttered vow as clearly as if he’d spoken his love aloud.
“I heard you in the night,” Kylene remarked a long time later.
She was lying in his arms, her head on his shoulder, her fingers lightly tracing a path through the hair on his chest.
“Did you? And what did you think?”
“I realized how deeply I had hurt you, and that, in so doing, I had hurt myself as well.”
Hardane wrapped a skein of her hair around his hand, admiring its softness as he brushed it against his cheek.
“I wasn’t going to come back, lady. I couldn’t face the thought of living here without you.”
“But this is your home,” Kylene exclaimed softly. “Where would you have gone?”
“There’s a wolf pack that hunts in the forest. For a time, I thought of joining them, of spending the rest of my life as a wolf.”
“You wouldn’t.”
A faint smile curved his lips. “I had decided I didn’t want