Shades of Silver

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An Excerpt From: SHADES OF SILVER

Copyright ? NATHALIE GRAY, 2007

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.

Audrey wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. And when
the man across from her raised his, palm extended toward her cheek,
offering comfort and a shoulder to lean on, Audrey Pullman, for the first
time in her life, instead of going it alone and showing everyone she had a
spine, goddammit, took the offer.

She leaned her cheekbone against the obelisk. Touched
the surface.

The sharp little prick of an electrical spark caught her
by surprise. A tiny blue arc passed from the tips of his fingers to her
skin. She gasped more in shock than in pain. But the heat of his palm
proved so good she didn?t pull back.

?Is this not so much better?? Echion
whispered, his strange eyes trapping her in their violet midst. His voice
sounded so real.

Wow, she?d created her hallucination with an accent.
Weird.

?Yeah, tell me about it.? She fought the urge to
sniffle. She was a sad case, but not that bad. And hot damn, his
skin was soft. Like smooth, warm, pliable glass. Molten crystal. And his
lips so wet-looking, that perfect nose, the hair so shiny it resembled
strands of purple silk. Audrey was caught. She knew it as surely as the
insanity tickling the back of her head, as acute as a physical punch to the
gut. She wasn?t only caught. She was lost.

?Do not fear us,? he whispered very close to her face.
His breath smelled of nothing. It barely touched her face at all. ?We would
never cause you harm.? His eyelids lowered by
increments equal to the diminishing space between his mouth and hers. He
was going to kiss her.

Audrey knew she wouldn?t stop him.

?I?m not afraid of you,? she murmured against his mouth.
Barely an inch from her own now. Heat reached her, spread to her face.

?We know.?

?You do??

A half smile played on Echion?s
lips, curved his angular cheekbone. ?We know much about you. This, first
and foremost.?

His lips pressed against hers.

Had anyone ever told her she?d go from Audrey Pullman to
weak-kneed, brain-oozing-out-the-ears, drowning-in-estrogen bimbo?without
the good looks?she never would?ve believed them. But she would now. As soon
as Echion?s mouth touched hers, her mental
faculties traveled in direct and opposite direction to her libido, which
soared to dizzying heights she had no idea existed. She wanted things she
couldn?t even envision, let alone voice. She yearned for the kind of
lovemaking no man could give, in ways no one would dare. Urges spread
through her. To kiss him and be kissed in return. To fill her hands with
his hair, yank him down and crush his face against her. Squeeze her legs on
either side of his narrow hips. The urge to wrap her arms around him and
never let go reigned supreme. A simple kiss could do that?

?Whew,? she breathed.

?And yet we have only just begun.?

?There?s going to be more??

?Yes.?

Never had so simple a word created such vivid visions.