Prince of Desire Read Free Page A

he stayed near her cottage and followed her into the small town. He would take no chances with her life now, not after finally finding her.
    His stomach growled, and with the hours ahead until she left the tavern, he knew he needed to eat. A slow smile spread across his face as he tied off Elad and walked toward the tavern.
    The anticipation of seeing Isabelle again made his hands shake as he reached for the door. He pushed it open and stepped inside to the heavenly smell of roasting meat, ale, and fresh baked bread. A quick glance showed the brightly lit room to have a few men at the bar drinking while others sat at the tables eating and conversing.
    Lucian found an empty table near the door and slid into the seat. His eyes raked the room until he spotted Isabelle walk from the back, her arms laden with trenchers of food. She smiled easily to the patrons and even joked with a few.
    He knew the moment she spotted him. Her body jerked slightly, and her midnight blue eyes softened in welcome.   He gave her his most charming smile as she finished setting down the mug of ale she and walked toward him.
    “Good evening,” he said.
    She swallowed and licked her lips, luscious kissable lips that he’d dreamed of sliding over his cock. “I never expected to see you again.”
    Lucian had to forcibly move his gaze from her lovely mouth to her beautiful midnight eyes. “I told you last night that I’d see you again.”
    “I know, I just didn't think you meant it.”
    Her words, spoken so softly, hit him right in the chest.   He leaned back in the chair and regarded his mate carefully.   She had an easy smile and kind eyes, but if he looked deeper, he could see there was a hurt, deep and profound, that she kept only to herself.   He wanted to know what it was.   More than that, he wanted her to trust him.   “Are you still frightened of me?”
    She started to deny it, then promptly closed her mouth. She stared at him a moment before she said, “I am. Strangers always make me nervous.”
    “Yet we are no longer strangers.”
    The smile was slow, with just a hint of sensuality, telling him she had no idea of her allure. “You’re so proper. We don't have much of that around here.”
    He loved how her eyes sparkled mischievously when she teased. “I'm no’ so proper.   Shall I show you?”
    Lucian prayed she said yes.   He wanted so much to wind his fingers in her long hair and pull her against him.   He craved to place his lips on hers and taste her, to hold her.   He yearned to know his mate fully.
    And claim her for his own.
     
    * * * *
     
    Isabelle stared at the man before her.   Even without seeing his entire face the night before, she’d known it was him instantly.   It was his black clothes and the way he held himself.   And the way he watched her.  
    His black gaze fairly smoldered.   It sent her stomach fluttering to have such a look directed at her.
    To say he was handsome would be an understatement. His thick, wavy black hair stopped just below his shoulders, with a lock falling near his right temple. A regal nose and forehead went along with his noble stance. A strong jaw line and chin, just a shadow of a beard and wide, thin lips finished off a face a sculptor could only dream of. He had eyes as black as his hair, fringed with long lashes that would have made a lesser man look feminine.  
    Those wide shoulders she’d glimpsed the night before in the darkness didn’t prepare her for them in the cold light of day.   Thick sinew corded those broad shoulders and neck.   His tunic stretched tight over solid arms.   And how she wished his jerkin was gone so she could get a look at his chest.
    Isabelle was shocked at her reaction to him, but it was visceral, primitive.   Primal.   This need, this hunger that besieged her ever since she’d first caught sight of Lucian atop his huge horse.
    Whoever he was, she wanted to know more of it.
    Silence grew between them until she cleared her throat,