Forever Mine Read Online Free PDF Page A

swimmer. If she swam to the opposite end of the pond, she might be able to escape. Self-preservation drove her forward, and she ran the last two steps to the water and dived in head first.
    Cold fire engulfed her the instant she hit the water. The shock of it sent her up to the surface with a loud gasp. The icy water sucked the air out of her forcing her to fight hard to draw air back into her lungs. The fire feeding on her skin was almost as intense as the pain she’d endured when she’d woken up in this terrible dream. She was a strong swimmer, but the frigid water stole every ounce of strength she had. Desperately she fought to breathe as her legs gave way, and she sank beneath the water.
    Come back to me .
    The whisper echoed in her head, and she recognized it. But from where? Victoria stretched her hand out toward the sound. Strong fingers gripped her hand and pulled her back from the brink. Air filled her lungs as she sputtered and coughed violently. A moment later, a steely grasp encircled her waist to pull her upright.
    Panic sailed through her again as she looked into a pair of green eyes, blazing with anger and something else. Although she was exhausted and horribly cold, she found the strength to struggle against his grasp.
    “Damn it to hell, Vicki. No one’s going to hurt you. Stop fighting me,” he growled as he swung her up into his arms and carried her out of the water.
    The sincerity in his voice pierced the fear twisting through her as his heat pushed its way into the icy cold layer of her skin. When they reached the shore, he set her down. Deprived of his warmth, a shudder whipped through her followed by another until she was shaking like a piece of paper dancing in the wind. A second later his riding coat covered her shoulders.
    “Come, Bessie will get you out of this wet garment,” he said.
    Before she could protest, he swung her up into his arms again and started back toward the cottage. She didn’t want to go back, but she was so damn cold. Worse, she didn’t know where to run to. Despite his warmth, she continued to shiver. The sound of his boots crunching against a small patch of snow on the trail made her wince.
    “Why is there…snow on…the ground?” she asked through her chattering teeth.
    “It’s not unusual for snow to fall in October, you know that.”
    “ October .” Victoria looked up at him in horror. Her teeth still clicking rapidly, she shook her head. “It can’t…be…October. It’s…May.”
    “I can assure you, my dear, it is October.”
    “The…date?”
    “I believe it’s the thirtieth.”
    “October… thir… thirtieth.” Something deep inside prompted her to ask what she didn’t want an answer to. “The…year?”
    “The year is eighteen ninety-seven, my dear,” he said quietly as he came to a halt.
    “Not…possible,” she chattered as shock rippled through her. Her stomach began to churn savagely, and she pushed at his shoulder. “Please…I’m…throw up.”
    Without hesitating he lowered her until her feet rested on his boots in an apparent attempt to keep her bare feet off the ground. Bile rose in her throat, and she violently twisted free of his grasp then stumbled into the snow-patched grass lining the path. A moment later, she threw up as if she’d been out drinking all night.
    Cool hands gently pulled her hair away from her face, holding it out of the way as she threw up whatever was in her stomach. As her heaves abated, he offered her a linen handkerchief lightly scented with the crisp odor of mint. Victoria wiped her mouth with the white square and closed her eyes.
    “It’s a dream. Just a really bad dream,” she mumbled to herself. Screw Einstein’s theory of relatively. It wasn’t possible to travel through time. “Wake up Victoria. It’s just a nightmare.”
    Victoria slowly opened her eyes and sucked in a quiet breath of despair. She was still here. Silently, she stared at the cottage in front of her. It looked so familiar,