The Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

worse
than it is.”
    “Right…”
    “Just relax and get used to everything okay?”
    Eva bit down on her lip. “So that’s my room whilst I’m here?” she
confirmed, just to be sure. “And my uniform in the wardrobe?”
    “Yes everything in that room is for your own personal use.”
     Eva’s mind went straight to the food basket, followed by the
bath and then the huge bed. It’s freaking unbelievable. How the hell did I
get so lucky? She had a hundred questions she wanted to ask, most starting
with why, but Grace’s stern countenance stopped them dead. Why question your
good luck? Just go with the flow.
    “Now go and have some dinner,’ Grace added, giving a critical
once over again. “And afterwards you might want to think about exploring. The
gym and pool are in the basement.”
     
     

Chapter
Six
     
     
    It took Adam over an hour to reach Evie’s home on horseback and
he would be lying if he pretended he wasn’t nervous. The last time he’d visited
the cottage in the forest he’d been a young boy. His mother had been struck ill
following a difficult birth, the child, Adam’s younger brother, had died and
she seemed set to follow. Granny Hildegarde, Evie’s grandmother, had given his
father some herbs and they’d worked for a time, brought her a few extra months
to spend with her remaining child.
    Since that day the old Lord Winterwood had given them an interest
in the cottage for as long as they wanted it. Likely it would be passed to Evie
one day.
    The cottage was located at the foot of the forest, surrounded by
imposing oak trees and climbing vines it looked tiny—though Adam knew from
experience that it was spacious enough inside. Granny Hildegarde had tamed the
wilderness on the ground around the cottage to create a substantial herb garden
and a number of strange plants swayed in the slight afternoon breeze. Adam took
a deep breath, ignoring the myriad of odd smells around him and dismounted.
    “Are you okay?” he asked the girl. She’d sobbed gently the whole
ride and Adam had been at a loss for how to comfort her.
    “I’m cold,” she replied.
    Shock no doubt, but again Adam didn’t know what to do about it.
Brandy might help or some sweet tea, Granny Hildegarde would know surely. He
tethered Sirrah to a large oak, and as gently as he could, lifted Evie down.
She winced as her feet made contact with the ground and Adam held back a curse.
    She was so tiny, nothing much to her really. Barely tall enough
to reach his shoulder and as thin as a young colt Adam marveled that anyone
could mistake her for a woman. He brushed back the wild curls framing her face
and shuddered when he saw the extent of the bruising marring her pale skin.
    She looked like her grandmother, there was no doubt about that. The
same intent look in her eyes, the same light shading—like she spent too much
time indoors. Shivering next to him, he could see the now dried blood clinging
to her skirts and the marks on her neck becoming even angrier. Damn Felton.
I should have finished him off for good.
    “Yes, you should have.”
    Adam started and turned to the cottage, steadying Evie as he did
so. Had he spoken aloud?
    “Bring her to me.”
    Stood in the doorway Granny Hildegarde, Eve’s grandmother,
beckoned them forward. She was even older than Adam remembered, her skin
wrinkled and pale, her strange eyes peering out at him. Yet even now, who knew
how many years old, she exuded a vitality that Adam couldn’t help but recognize
and be slightly wary of.
    Adam swallowed, lifted the girl into his arms, and walked towards
the old woman. “I—”
    “Not now boy,” she said, fixing her odd eyes on him, before
taking Evie into her own arms. “I’ve to make her well first and here’s you be
hoping that I do.”
    * * * *
    Adam paced up and down the small kitchen, wafting smoke away from
his face as he did so. A number of pots and pans sat on the stove simmering
oddly, and Adam spied several forest creatures hopping or