Read Online If You Were Mine by Rebecca King - Free Book Online

hand. He wondered
what she had endured during her time away. Her long, tapered
fingers were calloused and marked. Slowly, he trailed the sharp
protrusion of the bones, following the blue veins upwards toward
her wrist. No lady should have been put into the position she had.
Nobody, male or female, should ever feel so desperate in their
situation that life on the streets was the only way out.
    Carefully lifting her hand off the sheet, he slid his fingers
between hers, holding her hand palm to palm. Placing a soft kiss on
the soft skin of the back of her hand, he placed their entwined
hands back on the bed before him. Gently, he lay his head down next
to them and allowed exhaustion to claim him.
    She was
alive. Now all he had to do was keep her that way.
     
     

CHAPTER
FOUR
     
     
    Isobel
slowly became aware of wonderful softness beneath her fingertips.
The soft, fine silk captured her fingers in its gentle snare, and
tickled her fingertips. All of her senses locked onto the feeling
as she slowly moved her fingers, feeling the silken mass swirl and
shimmer in response.
    “ Isobel?” Suddenly, the silk was gone causing Isobel to break
out of her reverie. She slowly dragged her eyes open, astonished at
the sheer effort such a small movement could take.
    “ Dominic?” she swallowed harshly at the scratchy burning in
her throat. “What? Where?” She tried to pick her head up off the
pillow, only to find the energy she thought she had, evaporate like
a puff of smoke.
    Her
chest ached, and breathing seemed such hard work.
    “ You are at Havistock Hall, my darling,” Dominic replied
softly, giving her a gentle smile of reassurance. Quickly, he rose
and tugged on the bell pull beside the bed before returning to her
side. “You are perfectly safe now.”
    He
fought hard to control the sheer relief that surged through him,
and carefully eased her off the pillows high enough to hold a cup
of water to her lips. He watched as she drank greedily.
    “ Safe?” Isobel croaked hoarsely, wincing as the throbbing
headache increased in strength. “Why does my head hurt so?” Her
throat felt raw and hot.
    “ Because you haven’t eaten enough, and are quite poorly,”
Dominic’s voice was sterner with the stark memory of the last few
hours. “You must eat and rest if you are to get well
again.”
    Isobel
took advantage of her elevated position to study the room around
them. Entirely masculine in design, the dark oak panelling gleamed
in the firelight. Decorated in reds, browns and golds, it was
clearly Dominic’s room. Isobel frowned as she eyed the heavy
marbled fireplace, and solid furniture adorning the
walls.
    “ Do you have any idea how worried we have been for you?” His
eyes scanned her pale features, tenderly tracing each new curve and
hollow. Even with her hair cut unfashionably short, with her
startling blue eyes she had an ensnaring beauty about her that made
him wonder how she had succeeded in fooling anyone into thinking
she was a boy.
    “ Worried?” Isobel queried, turning her gaze back to his. She
had so many questions to ask; so many things she wanted to say, but
at that moment couldn’t form the words.
    Suddenly, she realised where she was. “I should not be here,
I must leave at once,” she gritted her teeth, and tried desperately
to raise herself from the bed only to have Dominic immediately push
her back down, a fierce glint of reproach in his eyes.
    “ You are not going anywhere,” his voice was firm. “Where would
you expect to go anyway?” He was curious, but determined that she
wouldn’t be leaving the bed anytime soon, at least until she got
her strength back.
    “ I don’t know,” she whispered feeling tears begin to well.
“But I cannot stay.”
    Misery
swamped her. It was so wonderful to be close to the man whose
memory was now burned into her very soul, but the joy was marred by
the pain of being so close to someone who could never be
hers.
    “ Why not?” Dominic asked, gently sitting