บททั้งหมดของ Solid Heart (Unseen Enemy 7): บทที่ 81 - บทที่ 90

The next night, Mark was standing in Francine’s living room, looking out the window anxiously. He paced back and forth, looked out the window some more, checked his watch. He was a wreck, and he damn well knew it.When her car finally pulled up outside, he launched himself at the door, threw it open. He watched as she walked up the front path to him and Mark’s green eyes just raked over her, not missing a thing. Looking for a sign how she was doing.The second she crossed the threshold, he had her in his arms.“Um, hi?” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “Hi,” he said gruffly, not letting up his grip. “You OK?”“Besides almost suffocating here? Yeah. I’m good.”Mark relaxed his vise-like hold. Like, barely, but still. He eased up. Kind of. “Really?”“Really.”He set her loose now, helped her take off her coat. Then he took Francine by the hand, led her over to the sofa, deposited her there. “So.” He sat, his whole massive frame rigid with worry. “Tell me how it went.”“G

The truth was, that he saw it almost every second of every day. The truth was, that he never stopped seeing it.The other truth was that he imagined everything that she’d gone through, and he imagined it over and over again. Things that he hadn’t seen with his own eyes, but which he saw in front of his eyes constantly.Things which she’d suffered because he’d failed to protect her.“What about him?” Mark said now.“He’s – he’s between us.”“He’s not.”“He is, Mark.” Her eyes were so damn serious as she spoke. “He is, and don’t argue with me.”“How is he between us?”“He’s the last man to have touched me in… in certain ways. He’s the last man to have kissed my throat, and to have stroked my thighs, and to have been naked on top of me. All of that puts him smack between us, Mark.”Mark tensed, his mind back in that cabin again.“I hate that he’s the last man to have touched me like that,” she said vehemently. “I hate that his hands were the last ones that were all over me. I hate that h

Jim stood back and watched Beth holding Frankie. He’d been worried about how she’d be around the baby, worried that she’d feel hurt or loss. And maybe she did, somewhere inside, but it was clear that her primary emotion was happiness for her friends.She’d come such a long way since Foxburg Falls, she’d just faced down and conquered so much. Her nightmares were almost totally gone, and Beth had a sense of peace that he’d never seen in her before. She’d done it, really done it, and her healing was both humbling and astounding to witness.Seeing her heal and grow had made Jim want things with her, for her. For them. He wanted something specific now, wanted it badly, but he’d held off asking her for it. He’d wanted to see her with the baby, needed to see how she handled that situation after the horrific and heartbreaking loss of her own child. He had to be sure that she was OK before he went on ahead and asked. Looking at her now, holding that baby so sweet and close, he knew that he wa

The car ride to Mark’s house was quiet, but that was OK. It was an easy silence, a silence between people who had worked some things out, and who were comfortable with each other after it all. People who had found their way back to each other, through a dark mountain forest. As soon as they had their coats off in the house, Francine turned, tucked herself up against him. Tight, hot, close. Mark was surprised, but without even one second of thought, his arms went around her. Yet again, for about the thousandth time, he closed his eyes, and just felt her. When she was right there like that, all soft curves and sweet heat, she was all he thought about. His mind had no room for darkness, or worry, or anger. He forgot his hatred for Henri Delacroix, and he forgot Francine’s beaten, battered body. When he held Francine like this, he saw and felt nothing but her.All he knew was her.From her side, Francine was experiencing a new sensation while being held. For the first time since Henri h

Her hands moved again, moved down. His breath caught, then started up again double-time when she touched his hardness. She stroked him, pressed her palm against him, teased him. When she finally lowered his boxers and released him, it felt just so damn good to be pressed up against her skin, Mark actually sighed. He needed more; he needed everything.He needed for nothing to be between them.“Sugar,” he murmured, his hands moving to undo her bra. “Yes?”“You know it's a 'yes', mon loup,” she whispered against his mouth. “It's all a 'yes'.”Muttering a curse, muttering a prayer that he lasted, he unsnapped her bra, let it fall to the floor next to the clothing already scattered around there. His large hands slid down her body, slid under her underwear, kept right on going. The silky material just slid off her legs perfectly, as quick and easy as water gliding down her luscious curves, and her panties joined the pile on the floor.Francine pulled away, just a bit, and Mark stared down a