Salvation's Kiss (Tales Of Mython Book 1) by Kathryn Jayne (ebooks that read to you .TXT) 📕

embrace, almost too much to bear. She pressed herself closer, seeking more of his heat, more of the protection his presence seemed to wrap around her. The cold wind howled through the house, its chill lost in the warmth of his arms, but then another thought surfaced. What if Liam was still outside, watching? What if he had witnessed her clinging onto this man with such desperate need?

A shiver ran through her as she recalled his words, ‘Kiss me like you would if I were Conrad.’ He knew about Conrad! Fear stole her breath, her throat swelling with terror. He knew too much, far too much about her, about everything she held dear. He had already threatened Tess if she didn’t cooperate, saying she would be found in possession of the exam papers from the tests she had aced. She would be shamed to the extent no one would think her sudden disappearance was unexpected. He was leveraging her friends against her, and even without his thrall she knew she would do whatever he asked. She would not risk them. But now he was showing her just how little control she really had. What would he do to Conrad, to her, if he understood how much she needed him, how he was her strength? If anything happened to him because of her—

“Hey, shh,” she heard Conrad whisper into her hair. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” It was only then she realised she was sobbing. Not just crying, but wailing in his arms.

Conrad placed the warm drink before Ashley as she sat on the sofa. Her racking sobs had become nothing more than small hiccups. He had intended to speak to her about today’s events as they were too important to ignore. One look at that injury at lunchtime had exposed her lie. If she had been letting, there would have been more than one mark. The crook of the elbow was generally only used if someone wanted to disguise what they were doing, since the small silver scars left were often unnoticeable against the fold of the elbow. He had known something was wrong, and her reaction on seeing him only served to confirm his suspicions.

He wished he could have come earlier, but he hadn’t known then what he did now. He had thought she’d be at work. Another lie. He, Tess, and Jack had watched a movie as planned. They had enjoyed a relaxing evening together and, with them parting ways so close to the time Ashley was due to finish, he had decided to surprise her and walk her home. It would have given them plenty of opportunity to discuss what was really going on.

He had stood under the nursing home’s eaves for half an hour, sheltering from the rain, when the matron had stepped outside, asking if he was in need of assistance. It was only then he discovered Ashley had still not been cleared for work. With his stomach churning and heart pounding, he sprinted to her home. He needed answers and he didn’t care if he had to drag her out of bed to get them. That mark had been distinctive. There was no denying the Y-shaped wound tied in with bloodletting, and yet Will’s story sat uneasily, because he knew Ashley would never risk doing something so stupid. Not after what his mother had told them.

When she had opened the door, his heart had stopped. Her eyes were red from tears, their almost black shade of grey stirring his own sorrow. All his fear, all his concerns and questions, were pushed aside the moment he saw her, and the only thing that had mattered, the most important thing in the world, became holding her and making her feel safe. He didn’t know how long he had stood there, grasping her firmly, enveloping her in his protection while his soaked clothes left a pool of water on the floor. He would have stood there all night, clinging to her as desperately as she did to him, but as her sobs calmed he lifted her in his arms, carrying her to the sofa before wrapping the blanket that hung across the back of the beaten leather chair around her. When she calmed, he lifted his arm from around her shoulders, hunting his way around the kitchen in order to make her a warm drink.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered between sniffles. As he placed the cup down he felt her trembling hand grasp his wrist, almost as if she was worried he would leave. The welling tears in her eyes caused his chest to ache to the point where he found himself subconsciously rubbing it. When he found out who had caused her to shed these tears, there wouldn’t be enough left of them to identify. He would tear them apart. It was a few moments before he trusted himself to talk.

“Does this have anything to do with what we saw at lunch?” he ventured. She nodded, her rust-coloured locks falling to hide her profile from his view. Stooping, he tucked her hair behind her ears, his hand cradling her cheeks as his thumbs wiped away the escaping tears. “Can you tell me about it?” She shook her head, her eyes shifting to look anywhere but upon him. “If I took you home, would you feel safe enough to tell me about it then?”

Her nod spurred a flurry of action. Pulling out his device he requested a cab, his vision panning the room until it fell upon the backpack she had left abandoned just inside the door. With a reassuring smile—he internally prayed it did not look like the snarl it felt like—he rushed upstairs to pack whatever she might need for an overnight stay. He stared at her laundry basket, filled with clean clothes next to her bedroom drawers and grabbed a few items before throwing in anything else he thought she might need. If he forgot something, he was sure his mother would be