๋ก๊ทธ์ธ๊ณต์
Forty Nine
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ:
2024-07-13 03:05:10
๊ด๋ จ ์ฑํฐ
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty
It isnโt until he brushes a tear from under my eye that I realize why he wouldnโt. โI wish I could take all your pain from you,โ he says in a sober voice. โI think, even if you told me not to, Iโd do it anyway because I never want you to be in pain.โโI think thatโs love,โ I admit. โYes, so do I.โโI think Iโve decided.โ โOn what?โโWhere I want us to make love.โHis eyes darken. โReally? And where is that?โโHere, beside the stream.โ I lean up and kiss him. โAnd then in the stream.โ I kiss him again. โAnd thenโโHe raises an eyebrow. โYouโre thinking Iโm capable of far more than I am.โMy smile fades. โNo, Iโm not. And Iโve decided, that as Luna, Iโm going to be as demanding as you.โHe grins. โIs that so?โI nod. โYes, but only in bed. Like you.โโWell, Iโd better get to work giving my Luna what she wants,โ he murmurs as he lowers his head to mine.His next kiss is full of heat and desire, but itโs also tempered with the tenderness that is, and always will be, Mack.At first, we mov
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty One
After giving me a boyish grin, he lowers his head to give me a hard kiss. But then he hesitates and the doubt in his eyes is clear to see. โI donโt know how I feel about leaving you here.โโEveryone is back at the house, so that means Iโll be okay.โWhen his expression shifts, I know he understands what Iโm implying. โMy da is there; he wonโt hurt you.โIโm hoping Faith is too because I still havenโt told Mack about that tree. But I need to. Soon.โThen Iโll be fine. Go. The walk back will give me a chance to prepare for a hard conversation I have to have with my father before he leaves.โWhen the last of his doubt falls away, he presses his cell phone into my hand. โIโll call as soon as I get back. Donโt go anywhere until I do, okay? I wouldnโt want you getting lost in the forest and a hiker taking a kiss that belongs to me.โI grin. โThey all belong to you. Now go.โAfter one last grin, he sits back on his haunches, and as I watch, he smoothly, easily shifts into a sleek gray-brown
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Two
The guilt flooding through me is nearly overwhelming because no one deserves to have their mind broken. โI didnโtโthat wasnโtโโThe venom in Breeโs gaze silences my stuttering apology because itโs clear thereโs no point. Iโve made myself her enemy and nothing I say or do will change that. Itโs all right there in her gold-eyed glare.โHis wolf attacked me. Nearly killed me,โ she says, in a deceptively mild voice, as her eyes burn with rage. โMe. His mate.โI donโt speak. I donโt have the words to say a thing.โHe says your name in the night. Sometimes he talks about the baby. He pretends not to remember, says he was just talking nonsense, but I know he does.โ Breeโs next laugh is brittle. โHis father had to come and save me. Oh, he had such fun rubbing it in my face that Shane would always view you as his mate. That his wolf would never let him forget he walked away from his child.โI shake my head as I will her to understand. โNo, Shane didnโt want the child. He saidโโโIt doesnโt mat
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Three
When I feel my muscles waking up, I move to sit up. As I do, I realize that, despite Bree dragging me into this, none of this has anything to do with me. Not anymore.My movement attracts both of their attention. Shane turns to me with eyes filled with anguish that I can feel across the distance separating us.He treated me terribly. He was cruel and abusive. But I know he loved his father. Itโs impossible for me not to pity him, even after everything he did to me. โAerin.โHe says my name in a way he never has before, just as heโs looking at me as if heโs seeing me for the first time. โYouโve gained weight.โI nod.Probably has to do with all the bacon Mack has been determined to feed me the last couple of months.His eyes continue to sweep over me before settling on my rounded belly.When his gaze doesnโt move, I curve a hand protectively over myself, remembering what he said about my baby, and remembering that Iโm still far closer than I ever want to be to the cliff at my back.He
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty four
After Iโve spent several seconds working on my breathing and quieting my panic, I glance up at Mack, because before I start climbing, an act that could still end in my death, I have to look at him again. We lock gazes. โI love you.โHe narrows his eyes. โThis isnโt you saying goodbye, is it?โI smile. โNo. Telling youโhearing you say you love meโseems to give me strength.โ His eyes soften. โI love you too.โAfter swallowing hard, I force myself to release the death grip I have on the protruding piece of rock and reach for the first place to put my hand. I take a second to reassure myself that I have a secure grip, and then I move my left hand.I pull myself up, grateful beyond measure that I have the benefit of being naturally strong because of what I am. If I were a regular human and forced to rely on my upper body strength, Iโd have been at the bottom of the cliff before I knew what was happening.Although it feels like it takes an eternity, I find some grooves to rest my toes, easi
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Five
Although Iโm not able to control my gift yet, one day I will be. I let her see there is a strength in me that she could never hope to destroy. That my mind is stronger than my body and I can flatten her with mine. She looks away.Thatโs when I turn back to Mack. โIโm ready now.โHe takes my hand and we walk away, Bennett, still in his wolf shape, trailing us.We stop at the clearing near the stream long enough for Mack to dress in the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing before, and slip the rucksack of food containers on his back.On the way to the house, Mack tells me he and Bennett shifted to wolf to come after me when I didnโt return or answer the phone. Since Bree did nothing to hide her tracks, it was easy for him to follow the drag marks through the forest and to the clearing.I fill Mack in on everything that happened, including my mistaken belief that Faith or his father tried to bring a tree down on my head. He listens in silence, and then he scoops me into his arms and refus
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-13FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Six
โOur pack here is smallโtiny compared to the Boones and the Dacres. But itโs a pack with a Luna who happens to be the most powerful omega of her generation. I might be wrong, but Iโm sure a lot of shifters would be happy to live in a place with an alpha who will cook breakfast for them and care about every single one of them. And we have a child on the way. We can grow and keep on growing. We have a future. Youโre walking away from yours. So, when our child asks where they came from, I will tell them the truth. Nothing. Because no pack, however strong, however big, can stand long without a future. Just look at the Raleighs.โThis time itโs me turning and walking away from him. I donโt make it far.โWhat are you offering? An heir for the Boones?โI stop and peer over my shoulder. โIโm not offering you anything for something I should already know. A child should know who their mother was and where she came from. Iโm not paying for that information. Iโm just telling you what will happen
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-31FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Seven
โI know this because while I was frying bacon, she turned up at the front door wanting to know if my father had left yet. She also warned me that my father was intent on pushing you and Faith together, something sheโd been trying to get me alone to tell me, but never could.โMackโs expression is unreadable. โSo, sheโs staying?โI shrug. โI donโt know. I told Bennett to talk to her, that Iโd be okay.โ A thought suddenly occurs to me. โThe Lonergan pack. I forgot to askโโโAdela hadnโt heard of them and neither have I. She has a lot of friends, so Iโm sure sheโll know more in the next couple of days.โI nod. โItโs so strange that I have a name now, but it means nothing to me. I thought I knew most of the packs, but Iโve never heard of the Lonergans.โโWeโre a tiny pack,โ Mack says as he cards his fingers through my hair, โand no one has ever heard of us. You hadnโt heard of us before. But a name is a good place to start.โโBut you werenโt the Winter Lake pack before. What if theyโve ch
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-07-31
์ต์ ์ฑํฐ
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Six
โWhy not?โ Sylvie had questioned curiously, her adoring teenage heart thumping frantically at the thought of being married to Ran, of being his wife, of sharing his life, his bedโฆ A delicious shiver of anticipatory pleasure had run through her as sheโd willed her stepbrother to say that there was a mysterious someone in Ranโs life, far too young for him as yet, a special someone...herselfโฆBut instead, disappointingly, prosaically, Alex had told her, โAn estate managerโs salary and tied accommodation in a small cottage are hardly up to the standard or style of living that the women Ran dates are used to, and heโs far too proud to want to live off his wife...โโThe women...?โ Sylvie had flared unhappily, whilst her mother, who had been listening to their conversation, had chipped in disparagingly.โRan would be far better off marrying some farmerโs daughter, a girl whoโs been brought up for that kind of lifestyle...โSylvie remembered how Alexโs eyebrows had risen at this display of s
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty Five
It was several seconds before Ran bothered to respond to her unrehearsed but determinedly distancing little speech, and for a moment Sylvie thought that he was actually going to ignore what she had said, but then he turned towards her and said, โSo what youโre saying is that itโs to be purely business between us, is that it?โIt took every ounce of courage that Sylvie possessed, and then some, for her to be able to meet the look he was giving her full-on, but somehow or other she managed to do so, even if the effort left her perilously short of breath and with her heart pounding almost as painfully as her head, She agreed coolly, โYes.โRan was the one to look away first, his face hardening as he glanced briefly at her mouth before doing so.โWell, if thatโs what you want, so be it,โ he told her crisply, returning his attention to his driving.His response, instead of making her feel relieved, left her feeling... What?Disappointed that he hadnโt challenged her, hadnโt given her the o
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty Four
The next thing she knew, Ran was taking her very firmly by the arm and propelling her towards the door, ignoring her protests to leave her alone.At the top of the stairs, to her infuriated chagrin, he turned round and swung her up into his arms, telling her through gritted teeth, โIf youโre going to faint on me, Sylvie, then hereโs the best place to do it.โShe wanted to tell him that fainting was the last thing she intended to do, but her face was pressed against the warm flesh of his throat and if she tried to speak her lips would be touching his skin and thenโฆSwallowing hard, Sylvie tried to concentrate on banishing the agonizing pain in her head but it was something that she couldnโt just will away. As she knew from past experience, the only way of getting rid of it was for her to go to bed and sleep it off.They were downstairs now and Ran was crossing the hallway, thrusting open the door and carrying her out into the fresh air.โWhat are you doing?โ she demanded as he walked p
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty Three
They were supposed to be confined to the park area surrounding the house and not cropping the grazing he needed for his sheep. There must be a break in the fence somewhereโthe new fence which he had just severely depleted his carefully hoarded bank balance to buyโwhich meantโฆThere had been rumors about rustlers being in the area; other farmers had reported break-ins and losses.Once he had seen Sylvie settled at the house he would have to come back out and check the fencing.Sylvie winced as the Land Rover hit a rut in the road, sitting up and just about managing to suppress a sharp cry of painโor at least she thought she had suppressed it until she heard Ran asking her curtly, โWhat is it? Whatโs wrong?โโNothing... Iโve got a headache, thatโs all,โ she stressed offhandedly, but her face flushed as she saw the look he was giving her and she realized that he wasnโt deceived.โA headache?โ he queried dryly. โIt looks more like a migraine to me. Have you got some medication for it
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty Two
Haverton Hallโs rooms might not possess quite the vastness of the palazzoโs marble-floored rooms, nor the fading grandeur of the Prague palace, but Sylvie had already lost count of the number of salons and ante-chambers they had walked through on the lower floor. The gallery felt as though it stretched for miles, and as she studied the dusty wooden floor of the ballroom her heart sank at the thought of inspecting its lofty plasterwork ceiling and its elegantly inlaid paneling. And they still had the upper floors to go over! But she couldnโt afford to show any weakness in front of Ran and have him crowing over her. No way. And so, ignoring the warning beginnings of a throbbing headache, she took a deep breath and began to inspect the paneling.โThe first thing weโre going to need to do is to get a report on the extent of the dry rot,โ she told Ran in a firmly businesslike voice.He stopped her. โThat wonโt be necessary.โ Sylvie paused and turned to look angrily at him.โRan, thereโ
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty One
The shaming fact was that, no matter how she tried to convince herself otherwise, she had done exactly what she had promised herself she would not do and allowed him to take the upper hand. And worse than that...far worse...she had... Quickly she swallowed the frighteningly familiar and painful lump of aching emptiness she could feel blocking the back of her throat. No way... She was not going down that road again...not for a kingโs ransom. The arrogant, selfish, almost cruel way Ran had just behaved towards her proved everything she had ever learned about him. She was under no illusions about why he had kissed her like that... It was his way of reminding her not just of the past, but also of his superiority...of telling her that, whilst she might be the one who was in charge of the project they were going to be working on together, he still had the power to control her...to control her and to hurt her.Sylvie turned swiftly on her heel, not waiting for him to see the emotions she
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Sixty
FIVE miles or so before her ultimate destination Sylvie pulled the car she had hired at the airport over to the side of the road and switched off the engineโnot because she was unsure of where she was going, not even because she wanted to absorb the beauty of the Derbyshire countryside around her, magnificent though it was as it basked warmly in the mid-afternoon sunshine, devoid of any sign of human occupation apart from her own.No, the reason she had stopped was that she had been tellingly aware for the last few miles not just of the slight dampness of her hands on the steering wheel but, even more betraying, of the increasing turmoil of her thoughts and the nervous butterflies churning her stomach.When she finally met...confronted...Ran, she wanted to be calm and in control of both herself and the situation. She was not, she reminded herself sternly, meeting him as an idealistic teenager who had fallen so disastrously and desperately in love with him, but as a woman, a woman who
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Nine
โJust wait until you see it, though, Sylvie. Youโll love it. Itโs a perfect example of...โ โWeโre already very close to the limit of this yearโs budget,โ Sylvie warned him sternly, โandโโ โSo what? Weโll just have to increase this yearโs funding,โ Lloyd told her with typical laid-back geniality.โLloyd,โ Sylvie protested, โyouโre talking about an increase of heaven alone knows how many million dollars... The Trust...โโI am the Trust,โ Lloyd reminded her gently, and Sylvie had to acknowledge that he spoke the truth. Even so, she gave him an ironic look to which he responded by informing her loftily, โIโm just doing what I know the old man would have wanted me to do...โโBy buying a decaying neoclassical pile in the middle of Derbyshire?โ Sylvie asked him dryly.And she was still shaking her head as Lloyd told her winningly, โYouโll love it, Sylvie...I promise you!โCravenly Sylvie was tempted to tell him that she was far too busy and that he would have to find someone else to take ch
FATED ESCAPE ย ย ย Fifty Eight
โYOUโRE not serious...โSylvie frowned as she studied the synopsis pinned to the front of the file her employer had just handed her.Lloyd Kelmer the fourth was the kind of eccentric billionaire who, by rights, only ought to have existed in fairy storiesโas a particularly genial and indulgent godfather, Sylvie thought. She had been introduced to him at a party to which she had been invited by some acquaintances of her stepbrotherโs. She had only gone to the party because she had been feeling particularly lost and insignificant, having only recently left her American college and moved to New York. They had got chatting and Lloyd had begun to tell her about the trials and traumas he had experienced in running the huge wealthy Trust set up by his grandfather.โThe old man had this thing about stately homes, I guess I kinda feel the same.He owned a fair handful of the things himself, so he kinda had a taste for them, if you know what I mean. There was the plantation down in Carolina an
