The Darkest Corner (Gravediggers #1)(101)

"You are more beautiful than all the treasures in my kingdom," he said, his gaze lingering on her full breasts, the lantern light reflecting off the diamond adornments that sent fractals of light glittering across the floor.

"I am your greatest treasure. Long will you remember me. Long will you love me."

He knew the words she spoke were truth. She knelt next to the bed and bowed her head, submitting herself to him. And then she said two words that made him rage at the injustice their positions had wrought.

"My king," she whispered.

"As you are my queen," he said, voice hoarse with sorrow and desire. "We could rule together, combine our lands."

She looked up at him, knowledge and wisdom in her eyes, and his hand moved to her cheek, stroking it softly. "Do you forget the lands between us?" she asked. "That which is ruled by another?"

"I do not forget," he said with a sigh. "And I know you are right. Those are lands not ours to take. To conquer would bring wars that we cannot fathom."

"Then tonight we will give our bodies to each other. And when dawn comes and I take my leave, you shall know you are well loved."

She took his hand and kissed it softly, and then she joined him on the bed, sliding the sheet from his body and moving over him, so she was poised to take him into her. Their hands clasped and their gazes met, and he knew this would be a spiritual experience, that they would truly meld-mind, body, and soul-with their union  .

His jaw clenched and sweat beaded on his skin as her heat enveloped him. And then her head fell back with a moan as she sank down on him. The world spun away as pleasure unlike he'd ever known surrounded him.

His vision dimmed and the incessant chime of a doorbell chimed in his ears.

"A doorbell?" Miller Darling said, shaking herself out of the scene she'd been writing. "What the hell?"

She narrowed her eyes and tried to put herself back into the world she'd created, but a familiar, atonal chime echoed through the house. She snarled and her head snapped up at the interruption. She was going to kill someone. No jury would convict her. The sign on the front door clearly said Do Not Disturb.

She hit save on her keyboard and headed out of her second-story office, stubbing her toe on a box of books she didn't remember putting directly in the walkway. The pain was fleeting. Her anger was too great.

Her footsteps pounded heavy against the stairs as she raced toward the front door and the unsuspecting victim who continued to ring the bell.

The click of the deadbolt seemed unusually loud as she unlocked it with indignant righteousness and jerked the door open, only to have it catch on the chain. She closed it again and undid the chain, muttering under her breath at the wasted opportunity to make a real impact on the intruder.



       
         
       
        

Miller stared into the startled eyes of the UPS man, ready to flay him alive. He was tall, thin, and pale, his sandy hair thinning on top, and his cheeks were red from the blistery wind and cold. He held a package and an electronic clipboard in his hands.

She was pretty sure she growled at him. The last week of a deadline was the wrong time to disobey the instructions on the door.

"Geez, lady," he said, eyes wide. He took a step back and beads of sweat broke out over his upper lip. "Are you sick or something?"

"Or something," she said, eyes narrowed.

She wasn't sure when she'd showered last, but she was pretty sure she'd been wearing the same clothes for at least three days. Maybe longer. Her gray sweats had coffee stains on them and what might have been a smear of jelly from a PB&J she'd slapped together-minus the peanut butter because she hadn't had time to go to the store.

She wasn't wearing a bra, but it was hardly noticeable beneath the fuzzy red bathrobe her best friend Tess had gotten her for Christmas about a dozen years before. There was a small package of Kleenex in one of the pockets of the robe and a mega-size box of Milk Duds in the other.

"The sign says Do Not Disturb," she said.

"You've got to sign for the package." He shrugged as if he hadn't just ruined her entire day, and then he held out the package and clipboard for her to sign.

She ignored the gesture and took a step forward. He took another step back. "I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying. I don't care if you're delivering gold bullion or the electric pencil sharpener I ordered three months ago and never received. The sign says Do Not Disturb. Do you know how long it's going to take me to get back in the mood?"

His eyebrows rose and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. "No?" he said, phrasing it like a question. He was starting to look scared. Good.