Bonnie Dee & Laura Bacchi Butterfly Unpinned [Samhain] (pdf)

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taste her sweetness, lingering to delay the moment when he d have to go back outside and deal with death.
126 www.samhainpublishing.com
Chapter Fifteen
How good it was to be in the shelter of his arms again. She wished she could cling to him for a long
time, maybe find a soft bed to lie in and curl up together and just sleep. She was so very tired. Her life as
Butterfly seemed a world away from this place, and occasionally she experienced a flash of homesickness
for it. How horrible that the familiarity of her cell, her routine and seeing the same few people every day
had been a comfort as much as a curse.
She pulled away from Bryan s kiss and his embrace. All right now. Let s do what we have to do.
Your family needs you, and Wolf s thirsty.
His dark eyes shone as he gazed at her. You re a miracle, do you know that? So much stronger than
you think, and so concerned about others needs.
His praise set a warm glow burning in her and made her smile. It had been very rare in her life for
anyone to acknowledge her good points. She d mostly believed she didn t have any. But standing here
being admired wasn t getting Wolf watered or fed.
Go on. Keep moving, she ordered. Even though she was only teasing, she would never have
imagined a month ago she could dare talk to a man like that. Gary s indoctrination making her believe she
was a mere object for his sexual entertainment seemed ridiculous now. How could she have fallen under his
spell? The slave mentality of the past five years of her life was rapidly falling away like an outgrown
cocoon as she emerged stronger, braver and better than ever before. She owed everything to Bryan,
including her very life. Everything changing in her was due to him.
She watched his broad back as he left the house then looked through the cupboards for a bowl to use
for the dog s water. After filling an old metal mixing bowl from the tap, she walked to the door and
hesitated with her hand on the knob. She could do this. She d chased Wolf down the street and walked to
and from Bryan s truck numerous times. She d gone to his friends house, to public restrooms in gas
stations along the way and entered his family s house without more than a rapid racing of her heart and
sweaty palms. She d managed to travel hundreds of miles without a debilitating panic attack. She could
certainly go outside and give Wolf his water.
The metal knob turned beneath her palm, and once more she faced the eye-searing sun of the Arizona
desert and the wide-open land that both awed and frightened her. Across the yard, Bryan and his family
were clustered together in an open shed where a potting wheel stood. Wolf was with him, but when the dog
saw her, he raced toward the house. His tongue lolled as he frisked around her.
Butterfly Unpinned
Poor baby, you must be so thirsty with that heavy coat. Sylvia crouched beside him, and he nearly
knocked the bowl from her hands as she placed it on the ground. He lapped the water, pushing his muzzle
in too deeply and snorting.
She pushed her hand into his thick ruff, feeling muscle under the soft fur. She d left her sandals in the
house and her bare toes dug into the red dirt such a bright brick color it seemed like she was on Mars. The
dirt was hot. The sun on her head was hot. The very air she inhaled was like a dry sauna. Sweat beaded on
her forehead and trickled down her back.
Sylvia glanced up from the dog to the Lapahie family. Bryan s mom, Janice, seemed like a very nice
woman. She d introduced herself to Sylvia, dark eyes quickly assessing but not judging her, before she
invited her to help in the kitchen.
I know this is a very uncomfortable way for you to meet our family. She d smiled grimly. It would
be awkward under the best of circumstances since Bryan and I haven t really talked in years. I don t blame
him.
Bryan had only mentioned briefly that his mother s addictions left his grandparents to raise him. Now
it appeared Janice was ready to make peace with her son. She d confided to Sylvia that she d been clean for
almost two years, living with her parents for the last twelve months and making and selling beaded jewelry.
She wanted to build a new relationship with her son. But Sylvia had seen how Bryan rebuffed his mother s
embrace. Would he be able to forgive her?
Wolf looked up from the water and bounded away in pursuit of a scent. His nose stayed low to the
ground and Sylvia imagined he was tracking a prairie dog if they had prairie dogs here. The land looked
too inhospitable so support any life. A few twisted shrubs grew between the stones, and a lone tree pierced
the horizon where the grandfather s shrouded body lay, but mostly it was just rock and red soil.
A sharp cry came from above and she looked up. A hawk sailed high overhead. It was the first time
Sylvia had really taken in the vast blue canvas of sky. She was transfixed and horrified by it. She felt
vulnerable and exposed, as if that hawk might drop down a thousand feet and attack her. Her heart beat
faster.
Time to go in before the anxious feeling turned into a full blown panic attack. She retreated into the
safety of the small house and fought her racing pulse under control. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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