Page 78 of Captive Bride

She stirs as I sit on the bed beside her.

“Tristan?” she asks. “What are you doing?”

“Just making some calls,” I say in a whisper. “Go back to sleep.”

A contented moan escapes her lips, working its way into my cloudy mind. Her presence is a relief, a balm for my aching heart. I lay beside her, scooping her close to me in a fierce embrace.

“What are we doing today?” she asks, clearly wide-awake.

“Anything you want.” I say seriously.

“I just want to be with you.”

“Done.”

I know my worries are founded because I know her father. He’s my bitterest enemy, and I know he’ll stop at nothing to get her back.

I spend the day with her, showing her around, and making sure she’s happy. Her father’s predominantly on my mind. I wonder about his plan and what angle he’ll take against us.

Dusk finds us back in my room. We lay on the bed, my fingers running the length of her spine as music washes over us in a gentle caress.

I hear the cars before she does—there’s too many of them.

It’s time. The crunch of tires on gravel warns me of their approach, the roar of their engines confirming my every worry.

We sit up as one, fear etched deeply into her face.

“Tristan...” she says.

“Go,” I tell her. “Go lock yourself in your room.”

She opens her mouth to argue.

“Now!” I scream, jumping to my feet and pulling her along with me.

Emotions war across her face, her refusal to leave me chief among them. I take her hand, pulling her quickly down the hall and to her bedroom. Her thin white nightgown flows behind as she runs.

She’s a picture of perfect purity in the darkened hall.

I yank her roughly through the door.

“You have to stay here, Isobel,” I tell her. “Please listen to me and stay here.”

I can’t remember the last time I used the word. Pleading has been absent from my vocabulary for longer than I can remember. Now though, staring into her frightened eyes, fear bubbling in my own chest, I feel ready to beg.

I can’t lose her.

“Okay,” she agrees, voice trembling on the word.

I pull her to me, my mouth crashing against hers in a kiss. I put my every dream into it, my every hope.

“What if I never see you again?” she asks the moment I pull back.

“You will,” I say, sounding much more certain than I feel.

She nods, clearly unconvinced. Tears trail down her cheeks, falling gently onto her chest.

I see her in the rain the first night we met. I see her on the balcony, trembling in fear.

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