Lori Foster The Winston Brothers & Visitation 7 of 12 Fantasy

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and it would be over with. Somehow, from the beginning, Sebastian had been able to reach inside her to draw out
emotions and feelings she hadn't known still existed. If he was going to take those feelings away, it would be easier
now than later.
She pasted on a false smile, but she couldn't quite bring herself to look at him. She would hurry through this, get it
over with,then accept the consequences.
"My family and I were aboard a cruise ship in theCaribbean the last vacation I've taken until now. It was
supposed to be fun. I was feeling very grown�up I'd just turned eighteen almost a woman, so I flirted.With the
wrong men. It was exciting, at least until I started to get tired. I left my parents and Shay at a party on the upper
deck and went back to our state�room. I didn't know it then, but the men had followed me. And because I thought
Shay would be the only one coming in, I hadn't checked the door. One of my shoes was in the way and it hadn't
closed tight. The men didn't even have to knock."
It was getting harder and harder, and it had been so long since she'd rehashed the details. Her chest hurt and her
throat felt ready to close. She became aware that Sebastian was stroking her again. She felt his strength and, at the
moment, she needed it.
Everything was blurred and she realized that in spite of her resolve, tears had welled in her eyes.
"I yelled and yelled, but they'd slipped in while I was asleep, and I didn't wake up until the door was closed tight
behind them. No one heard me screaming. And they were already on me. They...they called me names. And they
slapped me, because I wouldn't stop crying and screaming."
Sebastian lifted her hand to his mouth and held it there against his parted lips. She could feel his teeth, the
quickness of his breath. He remained silent, though, and she waited.Waited for questions, for sus�picions. There
were none.
"No one knew what had happened till the next day. Shay and I were sharing the cabin, but when she came in, I
couldn't quite bring myself to tell her about it. I should have. It was so stupid of me to just lie there. But I felt
numb, almost dead.And so ashamed and dirty and embarrassed. It felt easier to pretend it hadn't hap�pened. Shay
assumed I was sleeping. And very early the next day, when we stopped in a port, the men got off. I never saw them
again."
Sebastian tapped her knuckles against his mouth, his grip on her hand almost bruising. When at last she looked at
him, his eyes were closed, his head bent slightly forward. The muscles in his neck and shoul�ders were taut,
straining. His nostrils flared with every breath he took. But he held still, her hand wrapped se�curely in his. Her
body was bathed in his warmth as he cradled her close on his lap.
It wasn't quite as hard talking to him about it as she'd thought it would be, and she realized with a start that having
Sebastian holding her had made all the dif�ference. It wasn't like explaining to the authorities, who had bombarded
her with questions while they paced around the room. Or the therapist, who sat there in her chair, looking so cold
and detached, despite her sympathetic expression, waiting for Brandi to give away an emotional revelation so she
could dissect it and find acure.Even her parents and Shay hadn't been able to just listen. Always they came up with
unneces�sary apologies and guilt. They'd look at each other, their expressions wounded. She'd always ended up
feeling guilty for making them so unhappy.
"At first, my parents were kind of shocked, then so angry. Not at me, but they didn't understand why I hadn't told
them what happened. They wanted the men really bad. Thinking back on it, I've decided it was the only reaction
they could have had. They made de�mands of the captain, who asked around and found out I'd been flirting with
the men. He didn't accuse me, but he told my parents that I had to learn to be more careful, that you couldn't trust
anyone anymore. And he was right. I shouldn't have flirted with strangers. And I should have spoken up right
away but at the time, Ijust...couldn't.Besides, we were in internationalwaters, there was nothing anyone could
do."
"Brandi."
There was a wealth of tenderness in the way he spoke her name, but his jaw was rigid, his eyes cold and hard. He
looked the same as her parents had dis�traught, disgusted. She tried to pull her hand free, but he again pressed it
to his mouth, leaving the touch of a hot kiss on her wrist.
Feeling as if she might crumple up and fall away, she asked with a touch of sheltering sarcasm, "Are you happy
now that you know it all?"
He wiped a lingering tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you told me, yes. But I'm not happy. I'm probably the most
miserable bastard alive."
"Because you're stuck on this vacation with me?No one says we have to spend the time together."
"Oh, Brandi."He shook his head at her in a chiding way. "That's not what I meant."
"No?" Her whole body trembling, she pulled her hand free to wrap her arms around her middle. It was an old
habit, one she'd broken herself of, but she fell back on it instinctively. In this situation it was ludi�crous, given she
was sitting on Sebastian's firm lap. Suddenly she felt cold from the inside out. "I made all the wrong choices, one
mistake after another. You must think I'm an idiot."
He ran a hand over her hair, then down her back, moving her just a tiny bit closer to his bare chest. His look was
tender and direct and filled with emotion. "The truth, remember?"
She said, "Of course," even though she didn't know if she could bear the truth.
His eyes were sad, but he gave her a small, sweet smile. "What I think is,you're the most incredible woman I've
ever met."
6
Embarrassed bythe ridiculous compliment, Brandi snorted and said, "You must be awfully easy to im�press."
He chuckled."Actually, no. I'm damn hard to get around, and because of my background, I'm too critical of other
people. But after all you've beenthrough, you're still sweet and gentle, not bitter. I think that con�stitutes a small
miracle."
"I may not be bitter, but I'll never be a normal woman again, either."
Sebastian pretended to study her face. "You look fine to me." Then he kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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