As I Fade (One Breath at a Time: Book 1) (10 page)

My eyes bee-lined along the dingy yellowing cord that dangled from the monitor and then snaked twice around the bed rail. Overall, it was the most minimalist hospital room I’d ever seen.

I wondered again what had happened that landed me in the hospital. I lay back, exhausted, searching my memory for a clue...

-6-

Sinfully Taken!

The door where the doctor exited reopened slowly. A shadowy figure crossed the threshold, and then paused, his tall build backlit by the dim hall light. I casually studied his perfect lines. His silhouette suggested a proud posture and a refined profile.

He was far more muscular and taller than the doctor. He had remarkably broad shoulders that practically filled the doorway. Dark, wavy hair framed his chiseled face and neatly tucked behind his ears while the ends drifted against his collar. His presence brought me fully aware.

“
Hello?” I breathed aloud.

“
I will get you out of here soon,” he whispered with strong conviction. “Don’t let them erase your memory. Hang on.”

What was he talking about? I tried to absorb what he was saying, but the glory of his physical presence proved too distracting. His voice was mesmerizing: deep, smooth, confident and compelling. It reminded me of musk, patchouli and jungle drums on a hot steamy night. It took my breath away.

“What? Who are you,” I replied nervously. “Do I know you?” When his dark gaze locked with mine, the air whooshed from my lungs. He was magnificently that stunning.

“
This morning I was here...we—” was the last thing I heard him say. Undoubtedly, he had mistaken me for someone else. Of course, that was just my luck. Too bad he wasn’t my visitor.

I wasn’t sure exactly what happened next. I may have blinked too long and subsequently he vanished. Or perhaps he simply left when a painful twinge traveled up my spine, along my neck and into my brain so intensely that I passed out.

I supposed it didn’t matter what came first...as in the chicken or the egg. Regardless, he was gone and I had blacked out, which should have been my main concern.

* * *

To my chagrin, moments later, the handsome intruder stood feet from my bedside. Immediately, I perked up to his presence and intense scrutiny. He patiently stared down at me. How long had he been watching me?

Because his tall frame went on forever, I had to lift my head to see his full image. God, he was breathtaking! I swallowed back the lump that caught in my throat.

His outstanding gray eyes clouded with a look of scorching desire. Before I could speak, his strong masculine body loomed over mine. He wanted to devour me; there was no denying that. Urgency stirred in his eyes, something I could not place my finger on—a look of life and death lingered in his eyes, radiating a thin line of uncertainty. He leaned into me. His face was inches from my eyes.

“
Wait, don’t...who are you?” Guarding the space between us, I braced my palm against his chest.

“
Kiss me, and then you will know the truth.” His deep voice, low and raw, annihilated my ability to think straight.

“
Tell me,” I hesitantly commanded, holding my breath.

“
I want to...more, than you know. If I tell you who I am, I fear it will change everything between us. I can’t take that risk. You must remember on your own.” He touched all corners of me with his eyes. I felt motionless, unable to move. He leaned into me, again, breaking my hold. My mind raced. It all happened so fast, I could hardly find the words to slow him down.

Without warning his lips pressed onto mine. Beneath the pressure of his firm delicious mouth, I tried to speak. He hushed me...kissing me into silence. There was no stopping his advance. He was in control. He did not violate me. As a matter of fact, he was tender, so passionate and seemed so familiar.

“Brielle, sweet darling,” he breathily whispered. He knew my name. My heart leaped in my chest...I wanted to remember him.

“
You know my name?” I murmured beneath his touch.

He pulled back, stroking the strands of my hair and simply nodded, yes, as his response. I stared into his hooded eyes with a fierce intensity. Such beautiful eyes he had. My thoughts struggled to evoke a memory of him. “What’s the risk you mentioned? Please tell me,” I begged as he continued to swallow my protest with soft kisses.

His mouth. His lips. His touch. All of him whet my appetite. I relented to his fervency. The feathering of his fingertips caressed over my body, stealing my breath and any thoughts of resisting fled.

There was no hesitation in claiming what he wanted, needed, and hungered for. His eyes rose to mine then flickered downward, slightly. There was a need behind his eyes that burned into me. A need rose in me too, one I could not harness, and that I could not resist. He slowly removed my thin gown, worshipping my nakedness with his ardent eyes.

His hands moved patiently around the space of my body as I watched him place my gown over the footboard of the bed. He handled it with such gentleness and delicacy. The heat that radiated from him swallowed and consumed every fiber of my being. My senses were reeling.

“
The doctor! He is returning.” My breath quickened, turning to panic, despite the ebb and flow of my desire.

“
No one can enter into the fission of our two worlds.”

“
But—”

He put two fingers against my lips. “Shh, be still. Let me into your heart.” I believe he wanted more than my heart. He wanted all of me.

I was exposed to him in every way. So bare and so open...a heat crept over my face, dipping my head, feeling shy and overwhelmed by his gaze. I reacted by pulling the blanket up over myself.

“
I wish I could remember you,” I whimpered, my pulse beat out of my chest as my breath picked up, ragged and tight. What the hell was I doing?

“
My God, you are even more beautiful than before,” he whispered. His eyes landed on the corner of my right eye. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

I assumed it was a bruise he referred to. His fingers slightly touched the edge of my cheek. The sensation caused a small dull pain amongst pleasure, making me gasp inwardly.

“Not so much,” I replied.

He softly kissed the tender spot near my eye. His lips traveled along my hairline, down to my earlobe, causing tingles to trace over me. As his lips washed over me, my body gave into the idea of letting him have his way with me, but my mind and heart were at polar opposites. A forewarning against giving in completely registered when I caught in his eyes a painful longing, the same woebegone longing that I understood all too well, and knew I had felt somewhere in time before these moments. I ignored it and surrendered to him, without equivocation. It was then I lost all of what little self-control I had left.

The hospital room environment seemed to vanish; everything in the moment escaped me, all but the man who held me in his arms against his well-defined chest, enveloping me in his heat. I could feel the rise and fall of his breath increasing with mine. His scent taunted me. A touch of spice, rugged, cool and sophisticated notes danced in the air between us.

A feeling of strong want soared in me. His lips brushed over my shoulders and traced down my neck to the swell of my breasts. He kissed my pink nipples, tantalizing them with small scraping bites. I coiled into the pleasure-inducing aphrodisiac created by the skin of his teeth. The delicate pain transcended into bliss.

He peppered soft kisses down the length of my stomach, around my navel and between my thighs to that sweet spot. Moisture released from within me as he teased, taunted, and relished all of me. His tantalizing touches stimulated sensations that traveled to my heart and back to the heat of me. I curled my fingers into his flesh, never breaking physical contact with him. From beneath his dark lashes, his eyes intermittently flashed into mine.

The pleasure grew to the point where I was in absolute need of him. I needed to see the look in his eyes. My hands reached down to his face, drawing him up to mine. I held him steady. Eye-to-eye. Face-to-face.

His eyes spoke to me. I recognized behind his soulful eyes he was a man of honorable intentions. But who was he? Did I say honorable? Questioning my own behavior, it was far from ladylike. Having sex with a man I didn’t know anything about might not have been considered honorable, more like a dichotomy of two extremes—dangerous and exciting. What did he want other than to seduce me? Then again, in that moment it didn’t matter. Any lingering doubts I had shattered like glass.

The words ‘trust me’ flashed in my mind. He had silently summoned me to believe. Instantly, I trusted him with my heart, my body, and I moaned cravingly, “I need you.”

Our lips met on his silence caveat. At first he tasted me with gentle movements. Nibbling the fullness of my lips with the graze of his teeth, his tongue followed with a sensual lap and softly kissed the bow of my mouth. He pushed back the hair from my eyes, tenderly. His touch was as passionate as sin.

“
I have wanted you for so long. Completely,” he said in a raspy tone. I knew what that meant. The mere thought of giving myself completely made my eyes water.

“
Yes,” I managed to say. The tremor in my voice caused me to sound edgy although I wasn’t on edge. I sighed in reverence to the unknown force in the room. It was he. The force was this beautiful man.

Once again, his mouth came crashing into mine. His lips were soft, firm, and contrasted with the unshaven stubble on his face that brushed against my flushed cheeks.

His tongue parted my lips, pushing inward, probing every inch of my mouth as his fingers moved in sync with the rasp of his tongue, raising the intensity of my longing. He pulled me hard into him. His tongue glided over mine, playfully licking the roof of my mouth, swirling together in a perfect dance. He possessed me with a kiss. Not just a kiss, but also a perfectly flawless kiss.

I allowed myself to completely melt into the pleasure, twisting my fingers into his thick black waves. Our naked bodies entangled, drenched in our pheromones. Bare flesh glistened with passion. Funny thing was, I had not noticed when he undressed. I’m not sure how I missed the chance to see him fully exposed, naked, with all the glory of his hard muscles revealed. He must have had me preoccupied in the throes of passion. He unquestionably did. His body was lithe, like that of a soccer player, not bulked up with muscles like some heavyweight linebackers are in football, but lean, agile and fierce.

Against my belly, I could certainly feel every inch of him come to life. I was keenly aware of every one of his touches, memorizing every detail of his face and the scent that emanated off his skin. The sound of his heartbeat, next to mine, pulsed with the rhythm of the rain.

My body wantonly responded, reaching for all corners of him. I flung my arms around the broad span of his back, embracing him tightly. I couldn’t get close enough to him. My fingertips wisped down his back and around to his flat, washboard abs that sinfully melted into the most defined V-cut that I had ever seen on a man. Hesitantly, I allowed my fingers to coil around his well-endowed hardness. I almost fainted when realizing I couldn’t close my hand around the size of him. Beneath my touch, he moaned sounds that were not human.

I leaned forward and touched my lips to his chest, devotedly kissing him. The scent of his skin drove me wild with anticipation. I could barely contain myself. The passion was too much. He held my arms over my head, his weight against me, forcing me to do nothing but enjoy the pleasure of his touch. I felt him growing harder up against my pelvis. He did not enter me...not yet.

He kissed me, lovingly. His tongue brushed along the outline of my lips, sensually, parting me...and entered my mouth as his hips pressed into mine, slowly breaching my warm entrance, filling me inch by inch beyond measure. The pressure of him was great, stretching me in a painful delicious way.

“Look at me. Look into my eyes,” he seductively commanded. His baritone smoldering voice feeding the fire that burned in me. In his eyes a fierce light glimmered, one that I could not interpret fully. It was a look of pleasure, pure pleasure and perhaps the intangible look of love.

I shuddered inside myself, uncontrollably panting, writhing against his powerful movements. The sensations came in waves, in and out as the ecstasy heightened, pleasing every nerve-ending deep within me. Our fingers laced together as one.

The pleasure he masterfully evoked made me cry out as I unraveled, ebbing into him. He cradled his arms around my hips, drawing me closer, laying his head against my forehead. I wished to hear his thoughts.

“
Look into my eyes. Say my name,” he ordered ever so softly.

His eyes. Beautiful, translucent ominous heather gray eyes, with the darkest pupils, drew me in. I could barely look at him afraid he would be disappointed with me.

“I can’t remember,” I whispered, barely audible. The shame of not knowing his name must have radiated in my eyes. I turned my face away.

He shook his head, tilting my chin, turning me toward his gaze. Willingly he made any shame I felt his own...