StarMyst: Forgiven

Description

StarMyst 2: Forgiven by Mary Winter
genre: erotic paranormal romance
length: novel
cover art by Winterheart Design

Reid Montano promised Edwin’s doctor he’d keep her secret and not reveal her sorcerer heritage…until he found her in bed with his brother.

After fleeing her over protective father, Dr. Laura Ingress found a haven with Edwin and the StarMyst Conclave. Though still officially a member of her father’s Conclave, the two men had an uneasy truce. But now the one man who could protect her from her father was dead, and her father’s henchmen are back in town, ready to claim her back into one of the most powerful Sorcerer Conclaves still in existence.

Laura is going to have to trust the one man she loves to keep her safe and Reid will have to convince her that all is forgiven.

Excerpt

Reid forced himself to stop several paces from her. “Your father’s men said if I didn’t claim you, they would. My control is hanging by a thread, baby. This isn’t the right time or the right place. And to be honest, I probably should clear it with Te first, though I know he’ll approve. What do you want me to do, Laura?” Asking that question had to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. He knew what he wanted to do, had known ever since he’d seen her. Not even the remembrance of finding her in bed with his brother dimmed his ardor. Not tonight. Not after feeling her fingers, her lips against his flesh and knowing just how fucking sweet they could be together.

He waited for her answer. Seconds ticked by like falling stars from the sky. Laura licked her lips. He watched the pink bud of her tongue swipe across a mouth he’d just kissed. Her taste blossomed with a reminder of shared passion.

In some ways, he suspected she should probably thank her father when they went to Brazos. Reid had no doubt he’d see the man face-to-face. After all, Laura had to confront him, especially if she wanted to stay at StarMyst. Without his overt manipulation, he and Laura might have continued dancing around their attraction and their past.

She stepped forward. Holding out her hand, she let the lussor flare. It washed over him like rain. “I’m yours, Reid. I’ve always been yours,” she whispered.

He rushed into her arms. Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe there wouldn’t be any regrets.

Cool night air wrapped around him as he pulled her tight against him. The blanket slid to a floor in a swish of fabric. Cupping the back of her head, Reid simply held her. He breathed in her scent, that honeysuckle fragrance he always associated with her. The silken strands of her hair tangled around his fingers, her curves pressed against the hard planes of his chest and legs.

His cock throbbed. Reid ignored it. Though it happened far too soon for his liking, he knew what they’d do tonight was inevitable. It had been from the moment Laura had arrived in their small corner of Illinois with her Texas twang and her easy smile. If Edwin were alive, he would have said it should have happened long ago, and perhaps, Reid thought with a pang of regret, if he’d acted on his desires then maybe Laura wouldn’t have had sex with his brother. Maybe her father’s men wouldn’t be here the day of Edwin’s funeral to bring her back to Brazos. Edwin would have been strong enough to keep her here. The need to make up for lost time had him cupping her cheek and tilting her face up to meet his.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” he whispered, his lips just millimeters from hers.

“Yeah, you should have. Kiss me, Reid.” She parted her lips in an invitation he couldn’t refuse.

Lights from inside the house shone through the curtains giving him just enough light to see the need in her eyes. She pressed against him, pushing him to the edge of the porch were the moonlight slanted over their bodies. If her father’s men were still out there, she wanted them to see this. Reid agreed with her. Let them watch. Let them want.

He kissed her, trying to hold back, wanting to make this last. The sweet taste of her mouth filled him with a longing to find out if she tasted as sweet in other places as well. Entwining his fingers in her hair, he slanted his lips across hers and deepened the kiss. His tongue traced her full, lower lip before drawing it into his mouth and suckling gently.

Her lips parted, releasing a needy moan that wrapped around him and squeezed. With his free hand, he skimmed her side until his fingers eventually rested on her buttocks, where he hauled her against the hard length of his erection. She shivered in his arms.

Reluctantly, he ended the kiss. “Let’s get you inside,” he whispered. Not even looking over his shoulder, though he felt her father’s men staring daggers into his back, he guided her over the wadded mess of her blanket and inside the front door.