Read Online Bound By Fate: A Novel of the Strong by Amy Knickerbocker - Free Book Online

me?”
    At the terror in her voice, a twinge of guilt nudged his conscience.
    He ignored it.
    Upon reaching his destination, Toran kicked open the door and pushed her inside before slamming it shut behind them.
    They stood facing each other, the faine’s eyes big with fright, his glossy with near panic.
    Toran had no idea what to do next.
    He was rescued by a cat’s meow.
    Looking down, he found the faine’s creature winding its scraggly body around their ankles. It was busy voicing its opinion on their sudden arrival.  
    As the cat grazed the bare skin of her calf, the faine gazed up at him with a look Toran had never before seen in his life.  
    What is that look?
    “My cat,” she said. “You brought me my cat.”  
    “Yes,” Toran answered. Overcome with guilty angst at what might have happened had he left it alone, Toran had brought the cat to Venn Dom along with her clothes.
    Reaching down, the faine scooped the creature up and pressed it to her breast.  
    “Thank you,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.  
    Tears?  
    “What the hell is wrong with you, faine?” He jumped a little at the harshness in his voice.
    Walking backwards until she bumped against the bed, the faine sat and pulled the creature closer.  
    Her eyes, still awash in that look, never left his own.
    Fucking hell, what is that look?
    “Oh my gods, he’s so soft,” she whispered. The cat struggled against her caresses, eventually slipping from her hold and jumping to the floor. The neckline of his tee gaped, revealing her breasts.
    “Cover yourself, female,” he bit out, his gaze darting away, his cheeks heating red as irritation––and a healthy dose of lust––rose within him.  
    Unbidden, his eyes returned to watch as she was quick to obey. Lunging forward, she pulled a knitted blanket from the foot of the bed. Clutching the fabric tight at her chest, she returned a trembling gaze to his.
    Toran swallowed thickly as he finally had a moment to take her in.
    Awake, the faine was even more stunning than before. The thick black lashes that had lain against her perfect skin now framed smoky green eyes, eyes that were very much alive, open, and soulful… and watching him.
    He couldn’t take it.  
    Turning away, he busied himself hauling the duffel bag he’d brought from Vegas onto the bed.  
    “Here are some clothes from the mortal plane. Dress yourself and then come downstairs to my office.” Toran jerked his head towards the door on the opposite side of the room. “It’s that way.”
    Breaking her stare, she leaned to look around his body to eye the now hidden door through which they had just come. Then she shifted to study the obviously newly installed door on the wall behind her.
    As she turned back to face him, her expressive eyes held just a touch of… hope?
    “Never mind that, faine,” he growled. “Come to me after you’re settled. Then I will tell you how this is to work between us.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    For a long time after Toran left, Liv sat in stunned silence, her fingers stroking Wolfgang’s fur as he purred pressed up against her leg.
    At last, she swallowed past her nerves and glanced around, forcing herself to take in the room to which she’d been brought.  
    Though she had been too young to have been fully immersed in her studies before leaving Venn Dom, Liv knew exactly where she was.
    She was in the chamber of the faine.
    The room was small. A single window, tall but twice as narrow as the width of her body, shed dreary light on the aged wood floors, a small hearth providing the room’s only warmth. Gray stone walls held up a ceiling made of wood and enormous metal beams––beams that shimmered with magic.
    To keep me inside.
    At the thought, a shiver of fear sliced through her. No, she was quick to reason, turning to face the new entrance cut into the thick stone wall, he doesn’t mean to use me like that.  
    Just like my mother promised.
    Blinking back a certain hopeful apprehension,