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Hardane paced the floor as he waited for Kylene How could he spend the day with her, be near her, and not touch her? Thoughts of women often filled his meditations He had adued with such soul-wrenching desire as he was now He had only to look at Kylene to want her Her iht after night When the wanting got unbearable, he left the castle, running through the darkness until he was exhausted, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn&039;t outrun his desire

The sound of footsteps drew his attention, and he glanced up to see Kylene standing at the head of the stairs She earing a dark brown riding habit that would have been drab on any other woman, but the earthy color enhanced the red of Kylene&039;s hair and deepened the color of her eyes

Kylene smiled tentatively as she started down the stairs, unable to shake the feeling that Sharilyn had ainst his will

"We don&039;t have to go if you&039;d rather not," she said when she reached the bottom of the staircase "I kno busy you are"

Hardane shook his head, then held out his hand "The horses are waiting, lady"

Kylene placed her hand in his, noting how large his was, how dark the skin coers closed over hers and all thought fled her olden war her with sunshine

Her gaze darted to his face Did he feel it, too, that slow heat that sent shivers along her spine whenever he was near, whenever he touched her? She stared at hi, her whole body yearning toward that which she did not fully understand

Hardane sucked in a ragged breath He looked down at her hand, so small, so delicate, co through hiroin, hot and heavy

Wordlessly, he led Kylene outside and lifted her onto the back of her horse She was like a feather in his arht

Swinging aboard his own mount, Hardane headed toward a verdant valley a short distance behind the castle

Kylene held her horse back a little She needed sohts, to reations, her vows to the Sisterhood-especially the vow of chastity

She tried to concentrate on the beauty of the passing countryside, the lush grass, the flowers that grew in bright profusion on every peak and hill, the trees clothed in every shade of green iaze was drawn to Hardane-to the inco sun hts dance in his hair, the way he rode his horse, tall and straight and proud, like the warrior prince he was His sleeveless jerkin exposed his ars, clad in supple black leather, guided his horse with the ease of long practice

He was like a haild and free, master of his own life, his own fate, and she was like a wren, dull brown and ordinary, easy prey for cats and wolvesand hawks

She drew her gaze froan to mentally recite the rules of the Sisterhood, but, somehow, she couldn&039;t seem to concentrate on promises of obedience, poverty, chastity, and service to others They were promises she&039;d made when she was hardly more than a child, when she didn&039;t fully realize that there was a whole world waiting outside the walls of the Motherhouse, when she didn&039;t fully understand the implications of chastity She kne that itup all hope of a husband, a ho herself the pleasure of a man&039;s arms around her, a pleasure she had never conteht, she was hardly aware that he had corabbed her horse&039;s bridle, bringing the animal to a halt

She blinked up at hiaze as his eyes ray as thunderclouds and so

"We&039;re here," he said, and swinging from the saddle, he lifted her froround

For an endless azed at each other, a mere breath of space between them

She saw the sudden heat that flared in his eyes, the fine lines around his eyes, the steady beat of the pulse in his throat She hadn&039;t seen on had been plain, of no consequence Hardane&039;s friend Jared had been coh, but surely nobefore her

Hardane felt his body respond to Kylene&039;s perusal The touch of her golden brown eyes was like the touch of fire, snaking along his nerve endings, igniting the coals of desire until he thought he ree to bring her here He was a one, and yet he had no ed hotter and hotter, fueled by the faint hint of longing that sparked in Kylene&039;s eyes

Take her now

He clenched his fists to keep fro just that, but he didn&039;t turn away Fool that he was, he continued to stand close to the fla himself like a moth that knows sure destruction awaits but is drawn closer and closer to the fire

And then he heard hishio

Like a splash of cold water, it cooled the flah the spark still burned With an effort, he took a step back, putting distance between thery?" he asked

Kylene released a deep breath, feeling as though she had just been rescued froe of a precipice "Not yet"

"Thirsty, perhaps?"

She nodded, her gaze following his He filled one and handed it to her, then filled the second for hi to do with her hands She sipped the wine slowly, feeling it spread through her, war her

"It&039;s pretty here," she re women here often? hat she really wanted to know, but didn&039;t dare ask

He shrugged "This was my favorite place when I was a boy I used to spend hours here, walking through the woods, watching the waterfall yonder, fishing, dreaed at the corners of hisa princess from an evil wizard"

Selene The name slithered into the back of Kylene&039;s mind Selene was the princess he was destined to rescue

"And now your dreareat warrior And soon you&039;ll have your princess"

A shadow darkened Hardane&039;s eyes He had forgotten about Selene

"No doubt she&039;s very beautiful," Kylene said

"Perhaps," Hardane rely, he didn&039;t want her He wanted the girl standing before hi desire that he was tempted to turn his back on all that he was, to break the promise he&039;d made to his mother, just to possess her, if only for a day, an hour

Kylene stared at hioblet She could feel his desire reaching out to her, tangible, alive It should have frightened her; instead, for one brief ht her pretty It was a heady thought, one that filled her heart and soul with joy, and then guilt overshadowed her joy, re her that she had vowed to take her place in the Sisterhood, that pride was a sin, that the yearnings of the flesh were of the most wicked kind, for which she would have to do hours and hours of penance when she returned to the Motherhouse

A little seed of rebellion, nurtured by distance and watered by desire, suddenly sprouted in the back of her ht never return to the Motherhouse, that she ht never have the opportunity to take her final vows

And for the first tiht be like to live as other women lived, to love, to marry, to share her life with a man She tested it, tasted it, and found it sweet And then, like a bit of , it lost its flavor and she knew she was only deceiving herself Hardane was the only man she wanted, the only man she would ever want, and he was betrothed to another, just as she was betrothed to the church

Saddened, she turned away fro, Hardane stared after her, wondering at the play of emotions that had flitted across her face Her hips swayed seductively as she walked In any other woman, he would have said it was a deliberate ploy to entice him, a feminine art well practiced, but not in Kylene She was artlessly seductive, co an oath, he followed her down the path that led to the waterfall

He found her a short tie boulder that overlooked the river The sound of the falls was like thunder as the water rushed over the edge of a high rock-faced mountain to crash into the river below