Night Beyond The Night by Joss Ware Page A

and her lungs filled, she didn’t move. She couldn’t.
    She didn’t want to.
    Holding her gaze with his own, the gentle smile lifting one side of his lips, Elliott drew her closer. The next thing she knew, his mouth descended, his arms enveloped her and crossed loosely over her back, fingers brushing the ends of her hair.
    She closed her eyes and took his kiss, lifting to him for a long, sleek swirl of lips and tongue. His mouth moved over hers, his tongue swiping deep and hot as though he needed to taste every bit of her. His body was strong and solid, warm and comforting as he gathered her closer. Desire shivered deep in her belly, flushing and curling down into her core.
    When had she ever felt like this before?
    His hands cupped the back of her skull, holding her there, kissing her as though he had all the time in the world. Long, slow, thorough . . . gentle, and yet edged with need. Somehow, her hands found their way, curling onto the tops of his shoulders, solid and square beneath the cotton shirt and she tasted him, feeling a long-submerged pleasure rush through her. She forgot to breathe, caught in the flush of awareness of this man, this mysterious stranger who made her feel weak and warm.
    “Jade,” he said against her mouth, urgent, breaking the kiss as he gasped for breath. His chest moved against hers as if he’d run miles, his arms banded more tightly around her, and for a moment she forgot where she was, who she was with . . . and panicked.
    She must have stiffened, must have done something to signal the sudden bolt of ice down her spine, for he pulled back and released her so suddenly that she staggered back a step.
    “That,” he said, his voice not quite as smooth as before, “is not supposed to happen between a doctor and his patient.” His eyes glittered dark, fastening on her for a moment before he turned away. “Which is why I’m very glad you’re not my patient anymore.”
    Fingers shaky, knees weak, Jade watched silently as he retrieved his boots and sat on the edge of the bed to draw them on. Her heart still raced crazily and her lips felt full and puffy, but it wasn’t a bad thing. She wouldn’t let it be. He’d thrown her off her game for a moment by kissing her, but she was back to business. “Lou’s waiting for us.”
    “My friends will want to be there,” Elliott said, the laces whipping through his fingers as he tied the boots.
    “Of course. I was going to get them too,” she said, her attention drawn from his slender, capable fingers by the question. “The only reason I came to you first was because your room was the easiest to get to.”
    “Is that so?” His eyes gleamed sharp and black, boring into her for a moment as he yanked the second lace into a knot.
    Jade swallowed, her heart pounding, and she was reminded suddenly how powerful this man was. How he’d beaten back
gangas
and pummeled them so thoroughly last night, then returned with hardly a mark on him. Yet, beneath the dark glitter there, she read anguish in his eyes, anguish and emptiness. And grief. Deep-seeded, heavy grief.
    What had happened to him?
    “Let’s go,” she said, turning away from that inscrutable gaze. “I don’t want Lou to worry.”
    “Worry? Sending you unescorted into a man’s room in the middle of the night? He
should
worry,” Elliott muttered. But he started for the door, leaving her to follow in his wake.
    “He didn’t send me,” she retorted, pushing past him so that she led the way down the hall. “I decided to come myself.”
    “And it was only convenience that had you breaking into my room first?”
    “I didn’t break in,” she began, but he frowned so darkly she clamped her lips shut and strode on ahead of him.
    He let her get all the way to the end of the hall before calling quietly after her. “Jade. My friends are down this way.”
    She spun and stalked back to the corridor that branched off. Just great. One kiss from this guy and she was all