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CHAPTER 22

Author: Emma Swan
last update Last Updated: 2021-09-27 07:11:51

“Lara…” he whispered. “Wait there… Don’t move…”

          An involuntarily moan escaped her and Christophe spun fluidly around. But by then Lara had already fled, her sole desire to escape. She raced down the steps that led into the gardens, her breath sobbing in her throat.

“Lara!” she heard Christophe’s voice calling.

          Powerful lights came on, illuminating the outdoors. But Lara kept on running blindly, heedless of the shrubs that tore at her. The heel of one of her shoes snapped when she stumbled. She kicked it off and then bent to rip off the other one.

          She headed for the steps that would take her to the beach, down and down and down again, far too fast for safety but truly not caring whether or not she fell and hurt herself.

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    His hands wrenched down the straps of her sleeveless dress and Lara glanced down, shocked to see her own bared breasts, helplessly shy of him and yet unbearably aroused by his impatience. With a groan, Christophe lifted her and suckled at an erect pink nipple and her hands clenched fiercely into his shoulders, an involuntary moan of excitement torn from her. Her head fell back as his tormenting mouth bit at her sensitive flesh with a knowing eroticism that drove her out of her mind with excitement. Lara was boneless in his grasp, a wanton creature drunk on sensation. A lean hand skimmed beneath the flimsy silken fabric of her gown, following the upward curve of a slender thigh and lingering there with devastating effect.“You drive me crazy, chérie…” Christophe groaned, sinking to his knees t

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  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 30

    “I’ll tell you what I don’t enjoy now. Your jealousy, chérie,” Christophe replied to her with blistering derision. “At least Meghan knows when to shut up and be feminine and warm...”“Seriously?” Lara went white, lowering her lashes over shocked and wounded eyes.“I can’t believe you just said this…” Christophe had turned on her with biting cruelty unfamiliar to her.“All I wanted tonight was the sweet oblivion of your body…”So that’s my mission tonight after you being away for so long… To provide sex,” Lara countered with a shudder of mingled rage and pain.“Why not? You’re my wife,” he slung back at her harshly. Dear God

  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 29

    Lara shivered in spite of the heat. Demis had left careful instructions for his burial and he had chosen to come back to Greece to the sunbaked hillside where his own parents had been laid to rest. The funeral was small, strictly family but the press was just beyond the graveyard, a sea of hungry wolves, restrained only by the strong police presence.“It’s time to go.” Francine briefly leaned on Lara’s extended arm for support and then straightened again. Lara felt deserted and superfluous to requirements. For days she had told herself not to be childish, not to be selfish, not to expect Christophe to find time for her when his every waking moment was filled with ceaseless demands for his attention. Lara had innocently expected to make

  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 28

    There was just one detail she needed to ask him about… something she had always wondered about…“Chris… What did you do with that shoe I left behind three years ago?” He looked at her and smiled.“Well, dear Cinderella… It’s somewhere safe.”“Oh…”“Did you think I might have had it dipped in pure gold and placed in a glass case?” Christophe teased her.“Until that day it was one of my favorite pairs of shoes.”“What did you do with the one you had left?”“Dumped it.”“There you are, then,” Christophe mocked. “I was more sentimental than you were.” Lara became serious once again.“I thought you’d laugh about

  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 27

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  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 25

    Christophe scanned the wildness in her sapphire eyes for a fulminating ten seconds, a muscle jerking tight at his hard jawline.“Listen, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re playing at but the wedding goes ahead tomorrow... Even if I have to drag you through it by the hair!”“I don’t think so! I refuse to be a part of this disgusting masquerade. You hear me?” Lara slung rawly. “No. Meghan told me why you had to get married! So go and find yourself another woman willing to play this game!”“Ah… Meghan… Alright, let’s hear why do I have to get married?” Christophe invited very softly. “I’m extremely curious about my real reasons behind this wedding.”“Stop it, Christophe! You know why… You lied to me,” Lara condemned fiercely. “Every single thing you told me was a lie..

  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 24

    His words came back in her mind, harsher and harder to digest than before. ‘Someday you will come to me on your knees and beg me to take you... and I will break you.’ Lara shivered, suddenly cold and scared. Just a few short days ago, Christophe had still been talking in the same vein. And though he had yet to discover it, he had already won. She was over the moon in love with him… the man she learned to hate for three long, excruciating years. Whatever happened, Lara knew she was going to be very badly hurt. But the heart wants what the heart wants and cancel her love for Christophe wasn’t an option anymore. Another knock sou

  • LIGHT AFTER DARK   CHAPTER 23

    His hands wrenched down the straps of her sleeveless dress and Lara glanced down, shocked to see her own bared breasts, helplessly shy of him and yet unbearably aroused by his impatience. With a groan, Christophe lifted her and suckled at an erect pink nipple and her hands clenched fiercely into his shoulders, an involuntary moan of excitement torn from her. Her head fell back as his tormenting mouth bit at her sensitive flesh with a knowing eroticism that drove her out of her mind with excitement. Lara was boneless in his grasp, a wanton creature drunk on sensation. A lean hand skimmed beneath the flimsy silken fabric of her gown, following the upward curve of a slender thigh and lingering there with devastating effect.“You drive me crazy, chérie…” Christophe groaned, sinking to his knees t

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