Page 39 of Dark Embrace

His anger crashed against her. “I like the darkness,” he said flatly. “I like being alone…an’ I dinna yearn fer love.”

She wasn’t going to win this argument—not just then, Brie thought.

“But we both ken ye yearn fer love, Brianna. Ye yearn fer my love,” he mocked.

She was finally angry, and hurt. “Not fair. You can’t keep reading my mind whenever you choose! And I am not so foolish as to want you to love me!” But her heart ached even more now.

He faced her, arms folded, his expression one of smug male skepticism. “But ye’ve loved me since we first met.”

She felt crimson. “It was a crush. Women have crushes all the time. A crush isn’t love. It’s harmless, like a dream.”

His mouth curled. “Like a virgin’s dreams?”

Brie almost gasped. He knew. He knew she dreamed and fantasized about him sexually. “I have been nothing but kind to you,” she said hoarsely. “Do you want to humiliate me? Because I am humiliated now!”

His mouth firmed and their gazes clashed. “Ye need a real man, not foolish dreams.”

Brie went still.

“Why are ye a virgin still?”

She was aghast. “That’s a very private matter.”

“Is it? ’Cause ye think about sex all the time.”

She knew she was even redder than before. “I don’t want a relationship.” In case he misunderstood, she continued. “My mother was a very wild woman. She had many lovers, but she didn’t have any gifts. I don’t want to be like her. I am really busy using my gifts to help others.” She glared. “Like I am trying to help you now.”

His gaze was narrow and unwavering upon her. “So ye want to be ugly.”

She breathed hard. “I am not interested in flaunting my body, my hair or anything else!”

He made a harsh sound. “Ye can hide all ye want, but ye have pretty eyes an’ nice hair. Only a blind man wouldna notice.”

Brie was certain she’d mistaken his meaning. “You think I’m pretty?”

His mouth curved. “Brianna, I think yer pretty, but it doesna matter. In the dark o’ night, I never look at a woman’s face. I only use her body.”

Brie turned her back on him, shaken. She took a deep breath and said, “I don’t believe you.”

He laughed at her.

She dared to face him, and watched him drinking his wine. Suddenly she believed him. He really didn’t care who he was with—it was about sex, only sex. It wasn’t about attraction or anything else.

Her grandmother’s ring began pinching, hard.

Brie imagined her, and Grandma Sarah wasn’t smiling now. She was stern, as if telling Brie to get focused and remember why she was in the past. She didn’t want to think about her grandmother now. This was too important. “Don’t you miss holding someone in the middle of the night—someone you love?”

He whirled, spilling his wine. “Are ye mad?”

Brie shook her head. “I’m sad.”

He stared, and his anger burst forth. “No one holds ye in the middle of the night, Brianna!”

“But I have a life, with family and friends who love me, and I love them.”

“Good! When ye go home, ye can share a joyous, lovin’ reunion!”

Grandma’s ring hurt her finger now. Brie looked at it, and it almost looked as though the garnet was glowing. “What do you want?” she muttered. Then, realizing she’d spoken aloud, she noticed Aidan watching her with interest.