Dark Awakening Read Free Page B

said.
    This time she picked up on the lilting Scottish accent in a voice that was soft and deep but with a slightly rough edge.
    He extended a hand to her. “I’m Tynan. MacGillivray.”
    Yeah, it didn’t get any more Scottish than that. Lily hesitated for a split second, but her deeply ingrained sense of politeness refused to let her keep her hand in her pocket. Tentatively, she slid her hand into his and watched as his long, slim fingers closed around it.
    “I’m Lily. Lily Quinn,” she said, surprised by the sensation of cool, silken skin against her own. But at the point ofcontact, warmth quickly bloomed, matching the heat that began to course through her system as she finally noticed that Tynan MacGillivray was incredibly good-looking.
    Not handsome, she thought. That was the wrong word for what he was, though some people might have used it anyway. He was more… compelling. She let herself take in the sharp-featured, angular face with a long blade of a nose and dark, slashing brows. His mouth held the only hint of softness, with an invitingly full lower lip that caught her attention far more than it should have, under the circumstances. His skin was so fair as to make him pale, though for some reason it only enhanced his strange appeal, and was set off further by the slightly shaggy, overlong crop of deep brown hair that he’d pushed away from his face.
    It was his eyes, though, that Lily couldn’t seem to avoid. Light gray, with a silvery cast from the moonlight, they watched her steadily, unblinking. She wanted to believe he meant her no harm. But there was an intensity in the way he looked at her that kept her off balance.
I should get moving, get out of here
, Lily thought, feeling like a deer that has picked up the scent of a predator.
    But she was caught by those eyes, unable to look away. She shuddered in a soft breath as he stepped in closer, never letting go of her hand.
    No
, she thought, her eyes locked with his, her legs refusing to move. But then, right on the heels of that:
Yes.
    “Lily,” he said, his voice little more than a sensual growl. “Now, that’s a pretty name. Fitting.”
    No one had ever said her name quite like that before, savoring it, as though they were tasting it. Desire, unexpected, unwanted, but undeniable all the same, unfurleddeep in her belly. She tried to think of something to say, something that would break this odd spell she was falling under, but nothing sprang to mind. There was only this dark stranger. Everything else seemed to fade away, unimportant.
    “You’re shivering,” he remarked. “You shouldn’t be out here in the cold all alone.”
    “No, I… I guess not,” she murmured, mildly surprised that though she was shivering, she hadn’t even noticed. She certainly wasn’t cold anymore. And for some reason it was difficult to hang on to her thoughts long enough to form a coherent sentence. “I was… just going to my car.”
    His eyes
, she thought, caught up in a hazy rush of desire that flooded her from head to toe, banishing any awareness of the temperature of the air. His eyes
were
silver, she realized as they grew closer. Silver, and glowing like the moon. Strange, beautiful eyes.
    “Why don’t you let me walk you?” he asked.
    The words barely penetrated her consciousness. After struggling to make sense of them, she found herself nodding. Car. Walk. Yes. Probably a good thing. “Yeah. That would be great.”
    Tynan smiled, a lazy, sensual lift of his lips. It seemed the most natural thing in the world that, despite what each of them had said, neither of them made a move to go. Instead, he trailed his free hand down her cheek, cool marble against her warm flesh, and rubbed his thumb slowly across her lower lip.
    Lily’s lips parted in answer, and her eyes slipped shut as a soft sigh escaped her. She’d never felt such pleasure from such a light touch, but all she could think of, all she wanted, was for it to continue.
    “Lily,” he purred