Man of Her Dreams by Debra Webb (good ebook reader txt) 📕

I didn’t know they had created us to be together.

Aidan had been right. They had been created to be together. That’s why the bond…the connection was so intense. Why she’d never been able to feel complete with anyone else.

“He’s here somewhere,” she admitted, knowing Galen would spot a lie. “I suggest we make whatever exit you had planned right now.”

“I agree.” He motioned for her to come to him. “Let’s not waste any time.”

She moved toward him, taking her time, keeping her gaze glued to his. “Why me?”

He smiled and she had to repress a shudder.

“I took special care with you and Aidan. None of the others are as special as you.”

“Really, and how is that?”

She doubted this son of a bitch was capable of anything special.

“I was the sperm donor in your case,” he told her bluntly. “You’re my child. Of course, you would have to be special.”

Revulsion crawled over her skin. “You’re nothing,” she lashed out. “And I’m definitely nothing to you. The only thing I want is to see you dead,” she snarled.

His smile dimmed. “That will change in time.” He cocked an eyebrow. “If you want to live.”

She strode straight up to him then. “I’d rather die than be a party to your evil machinations.”

“Don’t make any decisions you’ll regret, Eve,” he warned.

Eve. The name echoed through her soul. A dozen vivid flashes of memory jarred her mind. She’d been called Eve…back then. The first female. The only female.

Galen grabbed her by the arm and tugged her closer. “It’s time to go.”

“Not just yet.”

Darby’s attention snapped to the right at the sound of Aidan’s voice.

He approached slowly, deliberately from behind a stack of crates.

Her heart stumbled as her brain assimilated what she saw. He was unarmed. He moved toward where they stood one calculated step at a time, held his arms out so that his enemy could see he was unarmed…nothing hidden under his duster.

“Come any closer and I’ll kill her.” Galen pulled Darby against him, one arm around her throat, her body positioned to shield his.

Coward. She hated him.

The dream rushed over her senses again, reminding her of what lay in store for Aidan.

“Don’t come any closer, Aidan,” she cried, her urgency ringing in her ears. “Please, just go.”

“I’d take her advice if I were you. I can feel her pulse fluttering wildly. It would be so simple to stop it completely.”

“And what about me?” Aidan asked, his face giving away nothing of his thoughts. “You don’t want me? The perfect seer you created? I’m sure I would serve your purposes far better than she.”

He was going to sacrifice himself for her. She had to stop it.

“Ah, but I can’t control you, dear Aidan. You’re far too powerful. She’s your only weakness. My only hope of escaping. I’m certain O’Riley and his men aren’t far away.”

Aidan smiled. The sinister expression made Darby shiver. He wasn’t going to back off…wasn’t going to stop for anything.

“Do you really hope to escape?” Blatant amusement colored Aidan’s tone. “You’ve failed, Galen. It’s over.”

His face red with rage, Galen shoved her aside…something slid free of his sleeve.

Aidan lunged for him.

“Miss Darby!”

Penny.

Darby swiveled toward the sound of the child’s voice.

“I can’t find my way out,” she cried.

“Run away, Penny!” Darby screamed before jerking her attention back to Aidan. But it was too late…the child’s abrupt distraction had prevented her from changing the events she’d foreseen in her dreams.

The world slowed to a crawl. Through a slow-motion lens that narrowed to the point that her vision encompassed only Galen and Aidan, she watched her dream come true.

Aidan was pinned to the wall, his gaze focused on her, the two-foot steel rod protruding from the center of his chest.

He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t. Tried to reach for her but couldn’t perform the necessary function.

Darby started toward him, Galen held her back.

“Don’t touch him. If he moves even a fraction of an inch, it’ll be over.”

Arrogantly, Galen moved closer to Aidan, dragging a trembling Darby with him.

She couldn’t catch her breath…couldn’t stop the rush of tears flooding from her eyes. She wanted to touch him…to tell him how much she loved him…how wrong she’d been.

“Even now, your left lung has deflated,” Galen explained in that tone that lacked any sense of human compassion. “Deep shock will set in soon. Spontaneous breathing will stop. All because of that tiny rupture in the pericardium. Blood will fill it and the heart will be compressed. Full cardiac arrest will follow.” He smiled with evil pleasure. “Not even a genetically superior Enforcer can survive without oxygen.”

Darby pulled free of Galen and reached out to Aidan, not daring to touch him. “Don’t you die on me, Aidan.” Galen grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. “Don’t let him win.”

She heard the storm of boots and knew help was descending upon the warehouse. She prayed they wouldn’t be too late to save Aidan.

“You failed after all, you bastard,” she hurled at Galen. “Aidan called his friends.”

Galen didn’t bother with a response, instead he lifted a section of the wooden floor where they’d been standing moments ago. Darby tried to make sense of his intent, but her gaze kept going back to Aidan. Pain wrenched her soul…she couldn’t leave him like that. She had to help him.

The opening in the floor dropped to the water beneath. The sound of an engine revving to life shook her. The pier and warehouses had been built over the water. This was his getaway vehicle.

He was going to escape again.

She had to stop him. She reached toward the nearby cart, her fingers grappling for a weapon. He’d killed Aidan. She wasn’t about to let him get away with it.

Her fingers wrapped around a small, cold metal object just as Galen jerked her toward the escape hatch he’d devised.

They went down together.

Hit the icy water in a violent splash.

She struggled to free herself. He held her tighter. She gripped the weapon in her right hand and fought to free that arm…had