Move Heaven and Earth Read Online Free PDF

“I’ll see you at the house.”
    Raw fury and fear bludgeoned him. “I’ll see you in hell.”
    “I already know that territory.” She nodded congenially. “If we must meet in hell, I’ll run circles around you there, too.”
    He stared as she walked away. Walked away! His only consolation was the clear outline of her buttocks, molded by the wind, as she strode toward the house, and even that was no solace—or shouldn’t have been. Without wanting to, he appreciated that trim outline.
    And why not? If he did what must be done, it would be his last memory.
    Turning himself again, he gazed at the sea.
    After all, what better place to put an end to the one and only madman the Malkin family had ever produced?

2
    Rand’s gaze burned through Sylvan’s gown as he used the assistance of the wind to see what should be hidden. She knew it was so, although she refused to look back. Instead, she whipped up her anger at his incredible rudeness. Rand had to learn, and immediately, that he couldn’t treat her so offensively. No relationship could exist between them until respect prevailed, and she had seized the first opportunity to teach it to him. This wasn’t cruelty, it was instruction.
    But what if he really couldn’t get up the slope?
    She pressed her hands to her mouth.
    What if he were so far gone he refused the challenge? What if he slipped backward and plunged…
    She slowed and almost turned back, but she could still feel his animosity lapping at her. He was angry and hostile but surely not suicidal. No, she was doing the right thing. She strode into the sparse growth of trees on the manor house lawn.
    She knew when Rand lost sight of her. The heat of his regard disappeared, and in its place the wind chilled her. She’d left her pelisse behind, and she hesitated. That would be a good excuse to return and check on him.
    That would ruin all her progress thus far.
    “Sylvan!”
    She looked up with a frown and found Rand loping toward her.
    Rand? No, Garth. She placed a hand on her suddenly thumping heart. She hadn’t realized how much the brothers resembled each other.
    Yet they didn’t. Their height appeared to be much the same, but Garth sported a slight paunch which Rand, even with his forced inactivity, had avoided. Their features were almost identical, but Garth’s brown eyes watched those around him placidly.
    It had been that quality that convinced Sylvan to come to Clairmont Court. She’d never met a man who’d set her at ease so immediately, or who so intuitively saw her dilemma at home.
    “Sylvan, I’ve been watching for you. Where’s Rand? It’s all uphill from the cliff. Weren’t you able to push him back? I’ll just go after him.”
    He chatted, this man who had impressed her with his quiet stolidity, and she realized his anxiety for his brother. Quickly, she moved to intercept him.
    “I left him on the cliff.”
    “You what?” His slow smile faded. “You left him…on purpose?”
    “He was rude and surly.” She tucked his hand into the crook of her arm and tried to drag him forward. “He’s got to learn he can’t insult me.”
    Hanging back, he glanced down the path as if expectingto see Rand. “He’s always rude and surly since his injury. I did warn you—”
    “No, you didn’t.” Looking him in the eye, she said, “You said he was a broken man, totally overcome by his injury.”
    His smile curved his lips just enough to be smug, and he pointed out, “I didn’t exactly say that. You jumped to that conclusion, and I didn’t correct you.”
    Remembering the interview between the two of them, she grudgingly conceded he was right. He had insinuated much and said little, leaving her imagination to do the rest. These were intelligent men, these Clairmonts, and she would do well to remember it in her dealings with them. “Very well. I jumped to conclusions, and you did likewise. You want your brother to overcome his bitterness, I think, and I will do what I can to return him