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Darkness Therein Excerpt from Darkness Therein by Kate Hill

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Her guest stood shirtless by the stove, heating her longest carving knife over one of the burners. Though lean, with every bone and muscle showing beneath smooth skin, he was exquisitely proportioned with sculpted arms, shoulders, chest, and back. His narrow waist tapered to snake-like hips and a tightly muscled buttocks curving sensuously beneath his black silk pants. The outline of a his sizeable cock poked against the crotch.

Heat radiated from the knife's blade. She winced as he pressed the scorching metal to the key cut creating a pool of blood on the tile floor. The reek of charred flesh gagged her. An eternity passed while he held the knife in place and listened to the sound of his skin frying before he rinsed the blade under cold water and dropped it in a barrel by the sink. He glanced at her, his skin even paler under the kitchen light and in contrast with the dark patches of drying blood. He took an unsteady step. How the hell was he even standing?

Dropping the first aid supplies on the countertop, she brought him a chair.

"Not that it's any of my business, but I think you really need a doctor."

"I'll be fine. Honestly. I'm sorry about the mess I’m making, and I appreciate your help more than you know."

God, she loved the sound of his voice! It was so quiet, patient, strong, the sort of voice she would trust to guide her through a dark, unknown tunnel.

"I should be apologizing, and thanking you." She brought him the towels and antiseptic. "Maybe if your approach hadn't scared the hell out of me, I wouldn't have acted so…"

"Masterfully?" he supplied. The carefully chosen, if archaic, word sounded natural coming from him.

"Violently."

For the next few moments, neither spoke as he finished bandaging his arm. Once he'd cleaned the blood from his face, she saw him clearly for the first time. Though not conventionally handsome, he possessed an attractive, timeless quality. His dark, wide-set eyes gazed from above a long but well-shaped nose. His slim lips were almost feminine in form and looked so incredibly kissable. She hoped when he felt better he'd allow her to paint him. When his gaze suddenly fixed on her, embarrassment washed over her, as if he'd caught her peeping at him through a crack in a door.










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