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Authors: Claire Ashgrove
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think he was stuck in a different time. “Don’t be absurd, Farran. I’m not going anywhere but home.”
His glower silenced her protests. He took four purposeful strides and opened her door. “Ready yourself to travel. Whether you wish it or not, you are mine. Lord knows I do not want you, but the choice is not mine.”
The door clanged shut with an angry shudder. Stunned, Noelle sat in the middle of the bed. As the understanding she’d just been kidnapped slowly filtered into her consciousness, she made a mad lunge for her purse. She hauled it onto the bed and dumped out the meager contents. Lipstick, tampons, car keys, canister … but no cell phone. She’d left it on her nightstand, plugged in. Despair crashed into her.
She hurled the empty bag across the room with a frustrated scream. This wasn’t happening. She hadn’t been run off the road and taken to some house she didn’t know. Gabriel’s guard hadn’t turned out to be some psychotic veteran who’d decided to take her prisoner. And she hadn’t just been kissed senseless, only to have the stark reminder of her innocence thrown into her face. He preferred whores. Then what the hell did he want her for when she evidently couldn’t get a single kiss right?
She dismissed the displaced thought and gnawed on a short fingernail. She’d been kidnapped. Now wasn’t the time to lament her inadequacies with men. She had to find a way out of here. And if Farran’s twisted convictions started with this damn torc, she’d begin by getting rid of it.
She tugged her arm out of sweatshirt and pushed on the brass adornment.
To her complete horror, it refused to move.
Swallowing another frustrated howl, Noelle grabbed her glasses off the nightstand and raced to the window.
CHAPTER 6
Farran braced his hands on the kitchen countertop and dragged in deep lungfuls of air. Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed the trembling in his body to subside. God’s teeth, that wench provoked something deep inside him. A feeling so buried in his darkened soul he thought he had snuffed the life out of it centuries ago. ’Twas not just desire the brush of her lips stirred, but a sensation far more damning. The gentle sweep of her mouth against his scar carried compassion. Tenderness he had once believed in. Tenderness he learned ’twas naught more than deception.
Noelle knew men. And like the black-hearted Brighid he had sworn his life to, Noelle knew well how to manipulate him. ’Twas evident in the readiness of her mouth, the willingness of her body. If he had not come to his senses, he would now have her splayed beneath him, and she would have wrenched his vow of loyalty free.
He would give her the oath to bind them, but he would never pledge himself to her. No matter how comely she was, no matter how she might attempt to coerce him, he would resist. Once had nearly destroyed him. The loss of his wife, his son, his kinsmen’s respect … He would never make that mistake again.
“Sir Farran?”
Louise’s voice intruded on his thoughts. He pulled in another haggard breath and lifted his head. “Aye?”
She crossed to the large window that overlooked the backside of her expansive lawn. Leaning a hip against the counter, she cocked her head and looked up toward the overhanging gables. “How are your climbing skills?”
His brows furrowed into a tight line. He did not have time to retrieve her cat. With two days between Louise’s adytum and the temple in Missouri, he must get to the halfway point whilst he still possessed the energy to travel. Still, after all she had done for Noelle, he owed Louise the courtesy of his aid. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m afraid you have a little problem.”
The hairs on the back of his neck lifted in alarm. Noelle. He knew it before Louise ever answered. Grinding his teeth together, he strode to the window. “Where is she?”
Louise pointed a bony finger toward the white eave. “There. On the trellis outside her window. I
His glower silenced her protests. He took four purposeful strides and opened her door. “Ready yourself to travel. Whether you wish it or not, you are mine. Lord knows I do not want you, but the choice is not mine.”
The door clanged shut with an angry shudder. Stunned, Noelle sat in the middle of the bed. As the understanding she’d just been kidnapped slowly filtered into her consciousness, she made a mad lunge for her purse. She hauled it onto the bed and dumped out the meager contents. Lipstick, tampons, car keys, canister … but no cell phone. She’d left it on her nightstand, plugged in. Despair crashed into her.
She hurled the empty bag across the room with a frustrated scream. This wasn’t happening. She hadn’t been run off the road and taken to some house she didn’t know. Gabriel’s guard hadn’t turned out to be some psychotic veteran who’d decided to take her prisoner. And she hadn’t just been kissed senseless, only to have the stark reminder of her innocence thrown into her face. He preferred whores. Then what the hell did he want her for when she evidently couldn’t get a single kiss right?
She dismissed the displaced thought and gnawed on a short fingernail. She’d been kidnapped. Now wasn’t the time to lament her inadequacies with men. She had to find a way out of here. And if Farran’s twisted convictions started with this damn torc, she’d begin by getting rid of it.
She tugged her arm out of sweatshirt and pushed on the brass adornment.
To her complete horror, it refused to move.
Swallowing another frustrated howl, Noelle grabbed her glasses off the nightstand and raced to the window.
CHAPTER 6
Farran braced his hands on the kitchen countertop and dragged in deep lungfuls of air. Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed the trembling in his body to subside. God’s teeth, that wench provoked something deep inside him. A feeling so buried in his darkened soul he thought he had snuffed the life out of it centuries ago. ’Twas not just desire the brush of her lips stirred, but a sensation far more damning. The gentle sweep of her mouth against his scar carried compassion. Tenderness he had once believed in. Tenderness he learned ’twas naught more than deception.
Noelle knew men. And like the black-hearted Brighid he had sworn his life to, Noelle knew well how to manipulate him. ’Twas evident in the readiness of her mouth, the willingness of her body. If he had not come to his senses, he would now have her splayed beneath him, and she would have wrenched his vow of loyalty free.
He would give her the oath to bind them, but he would never pledge himself to her. No matter how comely she was, no matter how she might attempt to coerce him, he would resist. Once had nearly destroyed him. The loss of his wife, his son, his kinsmen’s respect … He would never make that mistake again.
“Sir Farran?”
Louise’s voice intruded on his thoughts. He pulled in another haggard breath and lifted his head. “Aye?”
She crossed to the large window that overlooked the backside of her expansive lawn. Leaning a hip against the counter, she cocked her head and looked up toward the overhanging gables. “How are your climbing skills?”
His brows furrowed into a tight line. He did not have time to retrieve her cat. With two days between Louise’s adytum and the temple in Missouri, he must get to the halfway point whilst he still possessed the energy to travel. Still, after all she had done for Noelle, he owed Louise the courtesy of his aid. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m afraid you have a little problem.”
The hairs on the back of his neck lifted in alarm. Noelle. He knew it before Louise ever answered. Grinding his teeth together, he strode to the window. “Where is she?”
Louise pointed a bony finger toward the white eave. “There. On the trellis outside her window. I
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