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nst the smooth surface. A wave of dizziness washed over her, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps.
Her stepsister, Chloe, had approached her. Eleanora had recognized
her voice dripping with honeyed condescens
reminder of their mother's brief, regrettable second marriage. Eleanora was furniture. A burden they tolerated because
r stomach clench. It wasn't a sister's conce
betrayed. By
door beeped, the indicator light flashing from red to green. A sound she had learned
llywood heavyweight known for his artistic films and his even more infamous appetites. She had been introduced to him earlier that evening, had felt the way his ha
with a click of finality. The heavy thu
datory rumble. "Your family knows how to be practical. A role in
She was just a
bit the inside of her cheek, hard, the copp
a stubborn streak a mile wide. Said you've got more fire in you than anyone she's ever met." He let
hing. Chloe had handed he
hands flew out desperately, scrambling across the polished surface. Her fing
ashtray clattered to the floor. Then his other hand was in her hair, yanking her head back, and she felt the cold preshissed. "Chloe said you'd be diffic
y gasped for breath, he sprayed. A fine, sweet-tasting mist flooded her mouth and throa
The heat was already starting. A slow, creeping warmth that sprea
in his voice. "That's better. In a few minutes, you w
ve him the satisfaction. Her hand swept desperately across the floor, searchin
every ounce of strength s
roared in pain, staggering backward, his grip on her wrist finally break
rifying sec
t. Pained. He wa
idn't wait
e, her outstretched hands finding the wood. She fumbled for
t. His voice, thick with rage and pain, echoed
She had memorized the hotel layout earlier that day. Her cane had mapped the turns, her f
dn't g
filled with wet sand. Her lungs burned. The corridor seemed to stretch and warp around her, her int
y from her in both directions, vast and silent and utterly unknowable. Somewhere behind her, Pierce wa
doorframe, an alcove, anything that might offer shelter. Her fingers
Right unde
ing woman clutching at anything solid. T
r swung
ifting as she pitched into the dark space beyo
y, they met somet
ing plane of a man's bare chest.
or purchase, catching the edge of the bathrobe draped loosely over his shoulders. The robe was untied, hanging open, and her desperate grip pulled it further apart. Her palm
cent of cedarwood
breathless heartbea
ove her. Low. Controlled.
e hell
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