Haven 3: Forgotten Sins Read Online Free PDF Page A

his head. “Should it? I recognized my house and the grounds, and even the road that led us here, but I don’t remember this pond. I’m sorry, Jonas. I think you’re wrong about this place. It obviously doesn’t hold any emotional value for me.” Well, that hurt. Though he knew he shouldn’t take it personally, Nicholas’s indifference to a place that meant so much to him was a hard pill to swallow and tainted some of the magic he’d always felt there.
    “I’m sorry, too, Nicky. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have brought you here.” Instead of creating a wonderful moment for his mate, all he’d done was depress himself and tarnish the few good memories he had of them together.
    “Why did you?” Nicholas asked quietly. “Why is this place so important to you? Why did you think it would be important to me?”
    Jonas didn’t want to travel that road yet. “My reasons are my own. It was stupid to think that you’d feel the same way. Let’s just go. It’s a long way to Nevada.” They’d only just begun their journey, and already Jonas was willing to give up. He’d do absolutely anything for Nicholas, but he’d been fooling himself by believing he could make the man love him.
    “Wait.” Nicholas reached out and touched Jonas’s arm before he could move. “I’m not trying to be an asshole. I want to know. Please, tell me why you brought me here. Tell me what I’m supposed to remember.”
    Shaking his head, Jonas smiled sadly and stepped closer to his mate. “It’s not something I can tell you, Nicky.” Hope blossomed when Nicholas didn’t immediately pull away from him. “You see that tree over there?”
    Nicholas looked over his shoulder and nodded. “You mean the one that hangs over the water?”
    “It was under that tree when you kissed me for the first time. I guess we were about eighteen, and I was so nervous, but you knew exactly what to do.”
    Nicholas licked his lips and swallowed audibly. “The first time? So, it was more than once? Did we…” He trailed off and looked away, unable or unwilling to continue his line of thinking.
    Jonas had no trouble following along, though. It probably would have given him a lot of satisfaction to answer the unspoken question in the affirmative, but he held his tongue. He didn’t want to put too much strain on Nicholas’s poor, confused brain at once. “We should probably get going.”
    Gliding forward through the water, Jonas didn’t expect Nicholas to step in front of him and block his way. Nor did he expect the hand that landed on the side of his neck. Nicholas’s thumb smoothed up and down the column of his throat, right over the vein that was jumping with the rapidness of his pulse.
    “Right here,” Nicholas whispered, pressing his thumb more firmly against Jonas’s neck. “This is where it happened. This is where you were stabbed.”

    * * * *
    A glint of gold in the moonlight flashed through his mind, followed by an image of flowing crimson. Nicholas couldn’t see the face of the attacker, but it happened here in this small clearing, just by the edge of the pond.
    “You were laughing at something I’d said.” He closed his eyes and tried to pull the memory closer. “It was a full moon.” A ghost of a smile twitched at his lips. “You were nude.” Jonas’s breathing accelerated, rushing out to fan over Nicholas’s face. His heart pounded so hard, Nicholas could feel the beat of it in the man’s neck. “I wasn’t the only one naked.” Chuckling under his breath, Nicholas found himself leaning forward, closer to Jonas. “Right. We’d been swimming. It was still warm, but the leaves were beginning to change.” His heartbeat picked up in tempo, galloping inside his chest to match the pace of Jonas’s.
    Keeping his eyes closed, he watched the memory play out, saw himself smiling as he bent forward and pressed his lips to Jonas’s. “I kissed you.”
    “Yes,” Jonas confirmed breathlessly.
    He could almost feel