Read Online 9781618850676UnchainedMelodyHunter by Unknown - Free Book Online

touched herself often enough thinking about Ethan when the nights
grew long and her bed seemed to double in size.
    She
fantasized about him. After the rape, her father had supported the physical
help she received—the surgeries and the skin grafts. What he had not supported
was psychological support. He told her to pull herself up by her bootstraps and
be strong. That had been nearly impossible.
    Dr.
Sanderson, one of her surgeons, had told her to write. Write everything down. Write
her fears and frustrations. Write her dismay and disillusionment. Write her
fantasies. Ethan had been her fantasy. So from one doctor’s sage advice her
career had been born.
    She
had been able to deal with her mental anguish and keep the memory of her time
with Ethan alive. He was the hero in every book she wrote. The main male
character always possessed his face and his body. Every erotic word or gesture
he had made to her found its way into the pages of her novels. And when she had
run out of actual memories of him, she had dreamed up new ones—imagining—weaving
scenes of love that filled the pages of her books. Every word she composed was
a tribute to the precious hours they had spent together.
    Grimly,
she bent the knee of one leg and opened her thighs—just enough, so the mirror
reflected her greatest shame. The ridges weren’t as prominent or as red as they
once were, now they were muted and pink. Still, the place where she had once
cherished Ethan—the place where she had proven her desire for him—it was now
marred and ugly. Annalise turned from the mirror and stepped into the shower. Tears
mingled with the warm water as she let the gentle spray wash away her hopes and
dreams.
    After
showering, she dressed in another cotton sundress, this time a deep purple. She
carefully applied her makeup, attempting to eradicate the evidence of her pity
party. Checking the clock by her bed, she realized it was still too early to
show up at their door.
    Waiting
for the time of her invitation to arrive, she lay on the bed and relived one of
her sweetest remembrances.
     
    * * * *
     
    From the first time she had seen Ethan Stewart she
had been totally smitten. Annalise recalled it in those quaint terms, because
she had been so innocent and naive. She had come to UT from a small, East
Texas, sawmill town—the oldest daughter of a laborer who thought taking his
family to church was all the social excitement they needed. When she had come
to Austin, she tried hard to fit in. No one was overtly cruel to her, but she
had been relegated to her proper place by the more beautiful, more popular,
ruling set of social butterflies. Being smart had been her key to fame at the
small high school she had come from, but here everybody was smart.
    UT had earned the label of being a public, ivy-league
school that attracted the cosmopolitan, the self-assured and the physically
perfect. It wasn’t the comfortable, homey-type school like its country cousin,
Texas A&M. Here, at The University of Texas, you walked next to the
brightest and the best the world had to offer.
    She had seen Ethan Stewart around campus. He, on
the other hand, had not noticed her. Ethan was always in the company of Tri- Delts or Thetas, tall, thin, elegant women who drove small,
expensive sports cars and wore designer clothes to class.
    When she had applied to be an Orientation Adviser,
Annalise had been totally surprised to find Ethan was the senior sponsor. He
was kind and supportive of everyone and showed no favoritism. Annalise had
worked her heart out for him, never questioning a directive or a request.
Several times she had met his eye and it seemed the glances she intercepted
were admiring ones. Nothing probably would have materialized had it not been
for the incident on the pier when Annalise pushed Ethan to safety after he had
nearly been hit in the face by a sharp fishing hook. She had not been so lucky,
but the experience of Ethan caring for her as he removed the sharp hooks