9.
In her panic her feet slipped on the ice as she tried to navigate the pathways back up to the lodge. The darkness seemed thicker and as her heart raced, her hands shook and her mind became clouded with confusion. She was in such a rush she realized that suddenly she didn’t recognize the path, and the forest seemed thicker and appeared to be looming over her. She heard the snap of a twig behind her and she shivered as she realized that she must have taken a wrong turn… she definitely wasn’t on the right path back to the lodge.
She was about to go back and try to find the right way when suddenly out of the darkness ahead of her, she was aware of a figure emerging… a flashlight clasped in their hands which they shone up into her eyes.
“Chloe,” the voice said sternly… and it sent a chill right down her spine.
She would know that voice anywhere…
It was Damon.
Chloe brought her hands up to shield her eyes and blinked as she tried to see past the harsh glare of the flashlight, but as soon as she was able to focus, she immediately wished that she hadn’t… because in his hand, Damon was holding a gun. And he had it pointed right at her.
Her whole body was frozen to the spot and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Damon was there… and he was going to harm her. She felt her body tremble and she wanted to speak, but she couldn’t find the words.
“Hold your hands up,” Damon said coldly. “Hold them out in front of you and cross them at the wrists. In a minute I’m going to tie them and then you’re going to come with me.”
“Damon…” she stammered, “What is happening? What are you doing?”
“Oh for God’s sake Chlo,” he spat, “Isn’t it obvious?”
Her mind raced to try and make sense of it all, but she was coming up with nothing.
“You didn’t think I was with you because I was into you did you?” he snorted. “As if… I was only with you to get information about your father and his businesses… and now I know a hell of a lot that I can use to my advantage.”
None of it made any sense.
“Your dad’s not really away on business you fool!” he laughed. “He got wind of my little plan to kidnap you and use you for ransom… so he sent you here thinking I wouldn’t be able to get to you… Ha! How he underestimated me.”
Chloe’s mind almost exploded… Damon had used her… and was going to kidnap her to extort money…? This was almost too unbelievable for words.
“So get down on the ground and hold up your hands, I have a van waiting and I’m already half frozen!” He spat.
Trembling, Chloe got onto her knees and just when she was about to resign herself to whatever fate Damon had in store for her, she looked up into his eyes and realized he had a look of sheer terror spreading out across his face.
He was looking at something behind her and she could tell that he was frightened. When she turned to look around, roaming proudly and fiercely out of the snowcapped trees behind them was the biggest and purest white bear she had ever seen.
It stood up on its haunches and lunged forward in a snarl of teeth and claws. Chloe screamed and covered her eyes, but couldn’t help but peek through her fingers as she watched the majestic beast launch itself at Damon and pin him to the ground.
The bear was huge… she had never seen anything so incredible, but also so out of place. It was like a polar bear, something so beautiful and unique in that little resort in Colorado… none of it made sense!
The bear clamped its jaws around Damon’s leg and began to drag him ferociously into the woods and out of sight. Chloe couldn’t see what was happening, but she could guess from the wailing and snarling that it wasn’t going to be anything good. She got to her feet and went to run but then was aware of a silence that pierced through the forest.
The screaming had stopped.
She turned on her heel and peered behind her, into the darkness, and she could see the outline of the great hulking bear coming slowly towards her. She was rooted to the spot with fear and as she shook with terror she made a silent prayer that it wouldn’t harm her.
Please, she thought, please don’t hurt me.
The bear came towards her and stopped about two feet away from her. It looked at her deep in the eyes and she felt herself falling into a trance. The eyes were so familiar… she knew she had looked into them before. Her heart started to pound as she realized what was happening… She knew who’s eyes they were…
They were Finn’s.
“Finn?” she whispered as she moved closer to the bear and held out her hand.
The bear rose onto its hind legs and roared up towards the moon. It was so deafening she clamped her hands down over her ears and whimpered with fear. But when she looked up the bear was looking at her tenderly and she knew in that moment that she was right.
In a flash of white fur and rippling muscle, the beast in front of her turned from majestic animal to handsome human, and as Finn stood in front of her, completely naked and covered in sweat and streaks of blood and snow she felt something trigger inside of her that she had never felt before.
She was speechless… but all she wanted was for him to come for her and to strip her naked. She held her breath and watched the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath.
“Take me,” she whispered.
Finn lunged at her through the dark and pulled her close to him. As he tore at her clothes she had never been at someone’s mercy so much in her entire life, but it had never felt so right. This man, this beast, this powerful creature, had chosen her. He had protected her and saved her from Damon, and now she had seen him shift back to his incredible human form and he was going to devour her in his own way right there on the forest floor, in the snow and under the moon.
As he thrust his powerful unsheathed cock inside of her warm folds Chloe moaned with ecstasy and gripped onto him with all of the strength she had. She wrapped her legs around him and opened up fully to him as he pumped in and out of her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on for long before she unraveled in a wave of pleasure.
As she came she screamed up at the stars, savoring every second of a pleasure she had longed for and needed for so very long. As Finn felt her pussy quiver around him he too exploded and emptied his hot, thick load inside of her and collapsed down onto her chest.
She had been claimed. She was now his and she wanted to be his mate for life. She knew in that moment that she would do anything for him. She wanted to give Finn everything.
He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She shivered but it wasn’t because of the cold. The reality of what had happened with Damon came flooding back and the panic set in.
“My mom!” she said as she sat up and grabbed at her clothes, pulling them around her.
“It’s okay,” Finn soothed. “She’s safe.”
Chloe looked down at him as he traced his rough hands across her soft, smooth, plump skin.
“How do you know?” Chloe was so confused.
“Because…” Finn began… “I was sent here to protect you…”
She looked down at him and took his hand in hers.
“Your father sent you here like Damon said… but he’s no fool Chloe… he hired me to make sure you and your family were safe.”
“What?” she couldn’t believe it.
“My military background… special ops… He hired me to take care of any problems should they arise and keep an eye on you all… And good job, hey?” he winked.
Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He’d been hired?
“So this?” she said as she wrapped her coat around her chest… “I take it this was part of the job description?”
Finn laughed and shook his head.
“Chloe, the last thing I bargained for when I took this job was that I’d fall for the girl I’m supposed to be protecting.”
All of the anger and confusion she had started to feel quickly evaporated. Finn was falling for her. And s
he certainly knew that she had fallen for him.
“White bears, Polars, shifters… whatever you want to call us… we know when we find the one,” he smiled.
He took Chloe’s hand in his and kissed it softly.
She had never been so happy in her entire life.
“Come on,” he said as he helped her get dressed and then began his walk back to the woods to find his clothes. “I better get you back to the lodge, your father is on his way.”
As they left the woods and walked back across the mountain Chloe couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the space of a few days. She had lost one boyfriend, but gained something much more… she had found her mate for life. There were only a few days to go until the holidays and now she had Finn she knew it was going to be the most special Christmas she had ever had. What could be more incredible than spending it out at their log cabin in Colorado with her wonderful family and the man of her dreams?
They held hands and walked into the night, as the moon shone brightly above and the sky seemed to jingle with stars…
Happy Holidays, Chloe thought.
THE END
Touched Through Time
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Table of Contents
1.
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3.
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6.
7.
1.
The clock on the nightstand ticked loudly in time with Ryan’s snoring. Miranda closed her eyes and tried to breathe through it, determined, somehow, no matter what, that she would relax and get to sleep. It was nearing 4:00am and this was now the sixth night in a row that she had lay awake worrying about the future and she was sick of letting it beat her. Life was really kicking her ass and now it was starting to ooze out of her pores. The stress was overpowering and she felt full of adrenaline and fear constantly.
She turned to stare at Ryan and her heart sank. Even when he was asleep and in the most vulnerable position possible, he still looked dangerous and mean. She rolled over as quietly as she could, trying to not move the mattress too much for fear of waking him. If she did, she knew what it meant. Another black eye or shouting down. She didn’t dare breathe until she was sure she had gotten away with it and then relaxed down onto her pillow and exhaled. The clock read 4:06… It had been a long night.
It hadn’t always been this way. Only months before, Miranda had been blissfully happy. She was late twenties, happy in her career and starting a relationship with a guy who was not only gorgeous, but seemed to adore her. He’d been impossible to resist when she had finally given in and accepted the opportunity to go out on a date with him, but as time passed and Ryan’s hold got stronger, the charm disappeared and made way for possessiveness, insecurity and ultimately mental abuse. Miranda was crushed, but after being the strong and confident woman she had been, she found herself slipping inside herself and becoming more and more isolated. Her friends seemed to have forgotten she existed and she found herself relying more on Ryan when really she should have been pushing him away. When he eventually turned around in the middle of an argument and socked her in the eye, it wasn’t much of a surprise. She had been expecting it and hated herself intensely for being so weak. She’d let him get away with it all and now she was stuck with him. He had moved into her apartment, and she was too scared to ask him to leave. She didn’t even know how she would broach the subject, and now, here she was tossing and turning all night, terrified of waking him because she didn’t have to nerve to evict him and move on with her life.
The job had been the last straw. She didn’t even know how it had happened, but she was on disciplinary leave from her office for misconduct. She was an assistant at a law firm and although she knew it hadn’t been her who had spoken to the press and leaked details of a certain high profile case, she was somehow in the firing line as the secretary of the acting partner… and now she had been suspended without pay whilst the investigation was ongoing. There had been no warning. She had simply been called into the boss’s office and told that she had to take her things and go home. They didn’t even ask her if she had done it or not, they just informed her that someone had provided evidence that it had been her. She still couldn’t think of who it could be, and she began to think that she had been picked at random just to take the fall for whoever was really guilty. Maybe she was just the easiest target. The day she had come home in tears and told Ryan what had happened had been one of the worst of her life. All she wanted was some guidance, support and someone to listen to how unjustly she had been treated, but Ryan snarled at her and called her a stupid bitch. She was devastated and had gone to bed crying, just wishing she was somewhere else entirely.
She knew she wasn’t going to get out of the situation by lying awake and worrying about it, but she couldn’t help it. Miranda had always been a dreamer who thought the best in everyone, and now here she was with a boyfriend who bordered on evil and someone in her midst at work who was trying to set her up and get her fired. She had always worked so hard at doing the right thing and respecting and treating people well that she thought everyone else was like her… how wrong could she get?
Ryan let out a loud snore and Miranda jumped. As he stirred, she bit her lip in fear and clamped her eyes closed tight. The last thing she could handle when she was that sleep deprived was him waking up and yelling at her.
She peeked towards the doorway and thought about the spare bedroom down the hall. Did she dare try to climb out of bed, creep down the hallway and climb into it? Maybe she would be able to switch off easier if she was alone in there… but she knew it would only lead to an argument in the morning.
You’ve really gone and got yourself in a shitty situation, she thought. Put up and shut up. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes again. There was no point in worrying. And after thinking over the disciplinary and investigation at work again she decided that when her alarm sounded the following morning, she would get up, get dressed and make her way down there to set the record straight. She had been too timid to make a fuss before now, but she was sick of being walked all over and if it was one thing she didn’t want to mess up, it was her career.
Tomorrow, she thought, tomorrow I’ll tell them they’ve got it wrong. Tomorrow, everything will be better.
2.
Ryan woke early, dressed, and left her in peace. She was glad she didn’t have to spend the morning being pleasant with him when she really just wanted him to get out of her house. She had debated on a few occasions over just changing the locks while he was out at work, but now she didn’t have an income, and she needed him there to help pay the bills. She had squandered her savings on a series of lavish vacations with her friends a year before when she was single and with no responsibilities, but now she was regretting that decision because she was trapped. Financial freedom would have meant being able to get rid of Ryan, but she found herself dependent and it hurt her pride more than ever.
She pulled on a tight suit dress and a little black jacket, slipped her feet into her black court shoes and pinned one half of her hair back over her shoulder with a little silver clip. She looked groomed and elegant and she was sure that after spending the past three years of her life working at the firm, at least one of the partners would listen to her when she told them that none of it was true. She applied her lipstick and blotted it before making her way towards the door. “No more moping around,” she said aloud, “It’s time to take back control of your life.”
One of the downfalls of living and working in a small town was that everyone seemed to know your business. As Miranda crossed the street outside of her building and made her way down towards Main Street, she saw at least five frien
dly faces who all seemed to want to talk to her about what had happened at work.
“So are they clearing it all up for you, Sweetheart?” one of her neighbors, Mrs. Paver asked her, “I mean of course you didn’t do it… They must know that?”
“Well, I would hope so,” she said confidently. “I’m actually just on my way over there now to discuss a few things.”
“Terrible business,” Mrs. Paver said as she shook her head, “I’m sure they will catch whoever is responsible.”
“Well, as long as they accept that it wasn’t me,” Miranda smiled hopefully. “Have a good day Mrs. Paver.”
She trotted off down the street, hoping she wouldn’t have another run-in with a nosy neighbor. Even though most of them were harmless, after everything that had happened with her job, she couldn’t help but feel sometimes that they were more interested in the gossip surrounding her than her actual feelings.
Her heart began to beat faster as she approached the tall modern building on the corner of Main Street. Blake & Fox Law had stood tall and proud there since they had razed and rebuilt the building in 2009. Miranda started there in 2011 and had been a dedicated and valued member of the team up until the press ran a story about one of their most notorious clients. The journalist cited a source close to the firm who had provided them with the details that were not only confidential but also unknown to many people in the firm. Sure, quite a few people would have been able to view the information about the case, especially the PAs who were working on the correspondence and providing admin support, but with Miranda being the acting partners’ number one, the blame seemed to instantly fall on her.
“You viewed all of the documents more than anyone else,” Mr. Blake had said when he’d called her into his office, “We have no choice but to suspend you without pay pending an investigation.”
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