CHAPTER: 36


    And as he remained there, fixed, he heard a female voice call Adira''s name from another room. Adira''s


    head turned toward its summons. She briefly nced toward the window again, and perhaps had a


    slight smile on her lips. And then she rose from the water like a goddess, and Damien felt himself burn.


    Rivulets streamed down her body. She gleamed in the golden light of the candles. She gleamed and


    shone as she delicately stepped from the tub onto the folded rug beside it. She showed no shyness as


    she dried herself with a small cloth. Nor should she feel shy, for she was truly magnificent to behold.


    Sensuality surrounded her like a halo, her every movement graceful. And he was aroused, tempted as


    he had never been before. His loins were on fire as he watched her. She was, at that moment, the very


    temptress he had been warned against.


    But unwittingly she was innocent. She couldn''t know he was watching. And in fact, it was he who was


    to me for the fire burning in his soul right then. For he had no business peering through the woman''s


    window. And yet it was as if he had been drawn there by some power beyond his will. And then held


    there by the force of her gaze.


    She moved like a seductress, every inch of her body exposed to him as she turned and reached for a


    robe. And then she pulled it on, covering her feminine curves and her full, ripe breasts. And finally, she


    moved out of the room, toward the sound of her aunt, calling her name once again.


    "Is she as beautiful as you thought she would be?"


    Damien went rigid as the feminine voice came from behind him, and he whirled to face a small, fair


    woman he had never seen before. "I... that is, I was only..."


    "You are the preacher, aren''t you?" she asked.


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    "Yeah. Damien Walter, mistress." He fought to regain his control.


    "Well, Damien Walter, if I thought she would mind your snooping, I would kill you right here. Lucky for


    you I happen to know she would not mind. Not at all."


    He felt his face heating and lowered his head. "I was not snooping as you put it, mistress. My attention


    was drawn to her singing, and..."


    "Like a songbird," the women interrupted. Then she turned toward the door and pulled it open. "Well,


    Damien ufortable at being caught looking at Adira, and yet sensing somehow the small woman


    beside him held no judgment over him, stepped inside.


    "Adira," the woman called. "You have a guest."


    "Oh?" She stepped from the small bedroom, then went still as she met Damien''s eyes. "Oh," she


    whispered.


    Was she embarrassed? Did she realize he might have heard the words of her song? His name floating


    from her lips with such longing? At that moment he battled the urge to sweep her into his arms, even


    though knowing how inappropriate that would be. They barely knew each other. And yet it felt very


    much as if they did.


    "I see you have met Allison," Adira said as if searching for something to say.


    "She did not tell me her name," Damien replied.


    "I got the distinct impression you could not care less about my name, Reverend," Allison said. "Adira,


    take the man out for a moonlight walk. Show him the gardens, introduce him to Onyx, for heaven''s


    sake."


    "I... all right. If you want to, Damien."


    He nodded. "Yeah, I would like very much to walk with you, Adira. We have much to talk about."


    Nodding, she took a dark cloak lined with fur from a peg on the wall, and Damien immediately stepped


    forward, taking it from her hands. Moving behind her, he gently draped it over her shoulders. His fingers


    brushed the flesh of her neck before moving away. God, how he wanted to touch her.


    "Th-thank you," Adira whispered.


    His hands settled there on her shoulders for a moment. He did not want to take them away. But he had


    to, or she would surely know the direction his thoughts were taking.


    He opened the door and let her lead him outside. Her hair was still wet, and as he walked close behind


    her he could smell the scent of honeysuckle clinging to her skin.


    She did not show him the gardens or introduce him to anyone named ''Onyx.'' Instead, she led him out


    to the very edge of the cliffs. The wind gusted there, lifting her wet hair from her shoulders and


    snapping it like a whip. She faced the sea, staring out over the churning water, ncing down at the


    sheer drop to the rocks below.


    "This is my favorite ce," she said. "I love the sea."


    It struck Damien that he was also thinking the same thing, as he had been walking out here. That he


    loved the sea.


    "There is a small ind out there, not far from the shore. It sits all alone. No one ever seems to go


    near. I have felt like that... alone. Isted from the rest of thend and surrounded by an element very


    different from me," Adira said.


    "I have often felt that way myself," he told her. "As if I do not quite fit in with the rest of mankind. I do not


    know the way their minds work. I cannot make sense of them."


    She nodded and was still for a moment. "Why did youe?" She asked the question of him, but she


    did not face him.


    He stood beside her, staring out over the water just as she did. "I do not know," he told her. "I was


    She nodded.


    "I have not been able to forget you after that cold dawn in the square. But I have told you that," he said.


    "Yes." She turned to face him. "I believe a bond was formed between us on the gallows, Damien. Easy


    enough to understand, really. You were the only man there who seemed to care."


    "I did care," he said. And he sped her shoulders now, stepping closer to her, staring down into her


    eyes.


    A/N: To be continued...