Author's note: This is my first story, so I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments or rate it. I'd love to write more. Also, all characters in this story are 18 or older.
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He can see her from the shadows. Moonlight shines in onto pale, delicate skin. The rich scent of flowers perfumes the air. Silky brown hair cascades down her back, ebbing and flowing with her every movement. His eyes devour the sight of her in the night, and longing spreads within him. Blue eyes watch their prey as she slips between smooth sheets while wearing nothing more than a flimsy slip. Slender fingers slide against silk, and her curves twist and turn in the quest for sleep. At last, the shady form becomes still, lost in the realm of dreams. However, all is not still.
Barely stirring the air, he breathes, still hidden in the darkness. His body is still with the exception of his chest expanding with ragged breaths. He craves her. His whole body is taut, waiting on the verge to strike like a great jungle cat. He wants it, but he holds back and grits his teeth with the effort.
Time passes by unnoticed as the blue curtain of night prevails. Still he watches, waiting and torn. A sound from the bed causes the hair on his nape to rise. His vision hones in on her sleeping form. Her head tosses from side to side; her hands grab at fistfuls of sheet. Fragile whimpers echo in the silence of the room. A nightmare grips the sleeping gypsy, and her face contorts with the angruish of the dream. The hidden predator watches, wanting to go to her but remembering his plan to slip back out of her world without a whisper. A brief battle wages within him, but his mind is soon decided.
After evaluating the room once more, he strides across the room to her bed, stopping mere inches from her sleep-warmed body. Slowly, he reaches out to gently brush a curl back from her cheek. Another whimper slips from her soft lips at his touch, but he moves closer yet. With careful movements, he climbs into the bed with her. He wraps his strong arms around her and tenderly pulls her into his body. He murmurs soft words into her ear and attempts to soothe her troubled mind. His lips move against her soft hair, and his eyes close on a tight wave of pleasure. Her tense body quiets and settles loosely into him.
He tries to retain some measure of distance, but he can't. Now that he's touched her, he knows he can't just leave. Her soft body is too tempting for him to leave now. Even with his military training, he doesn't have the willpower to resist this sleeping woman. He loves her, and always has. She doesn't know, couldn't know; he made sure of that. He didn't want her to know she had the power to hurt him. There had always been a soft spot in his stony heart for her. It was more than her tempting curves and warm body; it was the way she smiled in the sunlight, how sweet she was to even the coldest stranger. He wanted to protect her. He wanted her for himself. He wanted her mind, body, and soul more than he had ever wanted anything else.