© Copyright DIANA HUNTER, 2006.
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc
"Agree to write my story. Then I will help you."
"Youčre beginning to sound like a broken record." A gust of wind blew down her back. "Okay, look. It's getting cold and my ankle hurts. I'm tired and wet and want to go home. Hopping along by myself is going to take forever. Help me home and tell me your story on the way."
"No. You have to agree to write my story."
Kara snarled. "Okay, okay. I give. I'll write down your story, however absurd it may be. Now give me a hand."
Shivering in the light rain, Kara looked down to rebalance herself and saw his boots first. Worn, black leather boots that laced along the side of his leg almost to his knee. Not fashionable boots that a man might wear to play polo or some other civilized sport, but old-style work boots made for and used in hard labor.
Her eye continued upward. The boots didn't fit the rest of his clothing. Black jodhpurs of a material she couldn't fathom in the darkening light, a brocaded waistcoat of an indeterminate shade of something dark, a light-colored cravat tied in an intricate set of loops, all covered over with an open black greatcoat that flapped in a strong wind she did not feel.
But the strangeness of his clothing faded when her eyes reached his face. In fact, the entire world faded and for several seconds she didn't even breathe as her mind registered the details that set her heart pounding.
The strong, dimpled chin darkened by a five o'clock shadow gave way to a mouth that currently curled up on one side in a devilish smile. His aquiline nose spoke of an aristocratic ancestry, and the slight crook to it told her his education hadn't been confined to the drawing room. An incredible mane of long black hair would have curled around his face in a disordered frame had it not been for the wind blowing it back.
Yet each of those details registered only dimly in her mind as the intense darkness of his eyes captured her soul. Deep eyes that held thousands of secrets and answers to questions she hadn't even formed. Dark eyes that held more knowledge than a man could accumulate in one lifetime. Determined eyes that held the promise of...of...what? Kara's heart beat wildly and she almost panicked, suddenly realizing how vulnerable she really was, with her jeans soaked through and water streaming down her face. Her long-sleeve blouse clung to her body, her nipples standing out in sharp relief, leaving little room for imagination. Unconsciously covering herself with one hand, she stopped leaning against the pillar to assume a more defensive posture even as slow warmth crept through her veins at the look of command in his eyes.