Capturing Caroline Read Online Free PDF Page B

it had made growing up with their stepmother Susan
very turbulent. They’d been made to feel unwelcome in their home,
made to feel her displeasure at their existence every single
day.
    It was only in
adulthood that any of them had managed to find common ground and
have a semi-civil relationship with her. Finally, all of them had
made their peace with her.
    Caroline
couldn’t speak for her sisters, but she still resented her father
for marrying Susan. Wasn’t a parent always supposed to put their
kids first? He’d sacrificed their childhoods for his selfishness.
Caroline was probably the most resentful of him and it had leaked
into her romantic relationships. She never wanted to pick a partner
anything like her father, so she’d had fewer boyfriends than her
sisters, owing to her pickiness and caution. Always she’d been the
one to dump, rather than be dumped. Overcautious was her middle
name.
    Then there was
this man.
    Torrent…he was
an entirely different animal—no pun intended. From the first moment
she’d touched his hand back in the prison, she’d felt compelled to
have confidence in him. It made her almost believe in that whole
“soul mate” thing.
    Whatever it was
that lay between them— physically that was only some pesky
fabric —it was deep and she trusted it. Not only did he waken
her emotionally, but sexually too. Resting here next to him, her
body had ignited to a slow burn. Moving her hand up to smooth
across his upper arm, she found a pleasing mixture of warm, soft
skin covering muscle. In the past her boyfriends had all been
brainy, non-jock types—as far from her father as she could get.
Touching Torrent was an entirely new experience for her.
    Biting her
lower lip and closing her eyes to more fully enjoy the sensation,
she ran her palm along his shoulder and down his back, exploring
every smooth plane and ridge of him that she could reach. Finally,
she cupped his incredible, lovely ass. Paradise.
    Sighing with
pleasure, she opened her eyes and found herself looking straight
into his hungry, dark gaze. His arm, circling her waist, tightened
a bit. Suddenly she felt like a little kid sneaking a cookie. “Uh,
sorry,” she whispered.
    “You never need
to be sorry for touching me.” His voice sounded scratchy and a
little raw.
    She frowned at
him. “Are you getting sick?”
    His focus on
her sharpened. “No. I’m struggling not pounce on you like a
starving animal, that’s all.”
    A little jolt
of awareness went through her. She could cause a reaction like that in a man like him? Of course, considering the
state of affairs in this reality, it was likely he hadn’t had sex
in a long time.
    Well, neither
had she.
    Caroline never
slept with a man until they’d had many dates. And, owing to her
pickiness, there weren’t many men who’d made it that far with her.
The thought of engaging in such an intimate act with someone after
a mere week of knowing him would normally be inconceivable.
    But, again, all
the rules seemed to be different with Torrent.
    “For years I
knew you existed, had brief glimpses of you through the veil.
Knowing my fate, I prayed you would never be pulled through, so I
never dared imagine having you in my arms.” He paused and his gaze
grew fierce. “Now that you’re here I can’t believe I didn’t wish
for this every second of my life.”
    He sounded so
sincere, so loving. Never had a man said anything even so remotely
romantic to her. From any other man’s lips she would have suspected
it a lie to get between her legs, but not from this man.
    Caroline’s lips
parted and her eyes widened, but she’d been rendered speechless. It
didn’t matter; Torrent seemed to know what to do. Moving over her
body, he slid her beneath him, then slipped his hand to her nape
and slanted his mouth across hers.
    His lips
explored hers slowly, raising goose bumps all over her body. She
shivered and his tightened his embrace, crushing his lips to her
mouth and gently coaxing her