Tormented by Darkness by Claire Ashgrove Page B

SUV. They had to be here. Should have been by now. With the sun setting, and the energy of the moon rising, she wouldn’t survive much more of Mick’s company. Nor would he survive hers.
    Mick tossed her a puzzled look. “I thought you said your brothers were coming?”
    “Ah. They are. They should have been here by now.” Pulling herself together, she smoothed her palms down her thighs and took a deep breath. “Can I use your phone? Maybe they stopped somewhere for dinner.”
    He grinned as he plucked his cell phone off his hip and glanced at it. “Signal’s weak.” He tossed it to her. “I’m thinking we should pitch this tent and do exactly that. I’m starved.”
    Rhiannon flipped open the phone, quickly punched in Dáire’s number. The line ran six times, then routed to his voicemail. She turned her back to Mick, sheltering her words. “Where are you? I need you here.”
    Hanging up, she tried Cian’s cell, and then Miranda’s—all with the same result. Likely they were in the mountains and out of signal. Mick’s phone only showed one bar. Still, the uneasy feeling she’d been abandoned refused to let loose. She turned her face to the sky and closed her eyes, using the stirring breeze to calm her churning spirit. Dáire wouldn’t leave her alone. Not when he knew how critical tonight had become. He’ll be here.
    “Rhiannon.”
    Mick’s low voice pulled her from her frantic thoughts. She slowly turned around to face him, struggling to hold on to a false smile. Arms folded across his chest, bags untouched at his feet, he leaned against a wide tree trunk. His predatory gaze seared through her sweatshirt, filling her head with fantastic images of the night they’d spent together and tightening her breasts until her nipples stood upright. Sweet goddess above.
    “Come here,” he beckoned quietly.
    She crossed the browning grass, dried leaves crunching beneath her hesitant footfalls. Like he controlled her with a draw string, his dominating presence drew her in. She didn’t know what had happened to the man who kept himself at an unreachable distance. Didn’t care. This one was watching her like he had every intention of bringing them as close as two people could be. And the dark intensity in his gaze held a magnetic appeal.
    When she stood before him, he fitted his hands at her waist and pulled her hips flush with his. Soft and enticing, his lips moved across her temple. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are with the wind in your hair?”
    “No,” she answered faintly. Her soul surged forward in a violent arc, darkness sensing satisfaction was a hairsbreadth away. She swayed in Mick’s steady grasp.
    His mouth dusted down her cheek, teased across her lips. His hands slipped to her bottom, and he pressed her forward against his confined erection. Pleasure swept through her veins. “Like an angel,” he murmured huskily.
    Her breath fell raggedly as a delicious shiver rolled down her spine. Somehow, she managed to push words through her closing throat. “I’m not…an angel.”
    “Mm.” He nipped at the sensitive skin alongside her neck, then soothed the painful pinch with a flick of his tongue. “In my book you are.” Another clench of his fingers, and his cock stroked the sensitive nub between her legs.
    Rhiannon’s knees threatened to buckle. To keep herself from falling, she braced her hands on his shoulders and curled her fingers into his cotton shirt. Her head tipped backward, and Mick’s mouth slid down her throat. Heat washed through her body in gentle, lulling waves.
    Keeping one hand against her bottom to hold her in place, Mick slipped the other beneath her sweatshirt. Calloused fingers scraped pleasantly up her waist, over her ribs, to the satin of her bra. He tugged the flimsy fabric down, releasing her swollen nipple. As his thumb swirled across the tight peak, a gasp tore free.
    “I can’t stop thinking about how good it feels to be inside you.” His words