Runes Read Online Free PDF Page B

forward, and Sean’s boot caught him squarely in the mouth. It exploded with streamers of blood and teeth. Sean picked him up by the shoulder and thigh and hurled him into the concrete. His head bounced sickeningly.
    “Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops. Go on. Crawl if you have to,” Sean commanded, nudging him with several small kicks.
    Evangeline crunched into a ball, just as she’d done when her father struck her. She clapped her hands over her ears, but the sound of her attacker dragging himself toward the door reached her.
    Sean bellowed at him, his face purple with rage, his eyes glittering savagely. A strand of his shoulder-length hair caught on his lips, and Evangeline’s foggy mind zeroed in on its movement as he yelled.
    Her attacker dragged himself arm over arm to the door. Sean reached down and swiped the keys to his apartment from his fist.
    “I can’t believe I once called you friend,” he said in a deadly tone, and then hurled him out into the night. The doors slammed with four deafening crashes, and then Sean stomped across the floor to Evangeline and lifted her.
    “Oh, my God. My God. Evangeline, are you okay? You’re safe. He’s gone, and believe me, he’ll never return. Jesus Christ. Look what that bastard did to your face. And your mouth is bleeding. Oh, baby, hold on.” He lifted her against his chest, and went down the hall to the bedroom. He tried to lower her to the bed, but she clung to him. Her lip was a ragged mess, and her head whirred. She still felt the invasion of her almost rapist’s finger, and bile swelled in the back of her throat.
    “Evangeline. How hurt are you? Did he rape you?” Sean’s fingers traveled all over her body, lightly probing. His eyes loomed before her, but inside her mind she saw Will Cochran’s burning eyes, which were dark brown, too.
    Sean left her for a moment, and she crumpled into a ball, her knees digging painfully into her chest. Her arms ached. Her chest shook with sobs.
    Sean’s heavy, comforting weight jarred her as he gathered her into his arms again. A frigid, wet cloth against her cut lip made her suck in her breath.
    “Motherfucker. How could he do this to you? Dammit. Why did I leave you alone tonight? I felt uneasy from the minute you said you weren’t coming. I never should have gone.”
    “S. . . sean,” she whispered. He leaned in to hear. “Let me sleep here with you tonight. C . . cover me with your body and c. . . chase away his memory.”
    He stretched out atop her, kissing her tears, silencing her tremors. But he could not quiet the man inside her head who chanted, " Don’t fall in love with him. You’re mine, Evangeline Mayer, and I’m coming for you".
    * * * *
    Morning light streamed through the high windows of Sean’s apartment. Evangeline’s fingers rippled over the strings of her acoustic guitar. A song rose in her mind, and she gave herself up to it, releasing it to the still apartment. Singing eased her pain, and gave her an escape.
    As the final words died on the air, Sean appeared, quietly applauding. His eyes glowed.
    “I didn’t have any idea you could hear the sound that far way.” She ducked her head, strumming the guitar once.
    “Did you write it?”
    “Yes,” she said, blushing to the roots of her hair. “It’s a song about my first lover.”
    He made a sound deep in his chest. In a flurry, he knelt at her feet, took the guitar from her arms and crushed her against him.
    In the deep hours of the night, she’d awakened to find herself alone in his bed. Blinking into the darkness, she’d seen his shadow emerging from the bathroom.
    “I’m sorry I woke you,” he said, crawling back into bed clad in only boxer shorts. His consideration for her, along with the familiar look of him, comforted her. Tenderly, he took her into his arms. His breath trailed over her bare arm and upward to her throat. She angled her head, offering him the place she most wanted touched. Her