Read Blaine, Destiny - Roping in Forever [Forever 1] (Siren Publishing Allure) for Free Online

tiptoed to the corner and peered around the large drawing tablet. “Look at this,” he whispered, realizing, too, that no one was there to peek over his shoulder. He was taken aback by what he saw.
    Staring at a life-size portrait of himself, he sat on the stool, and flipped through several pages. To his surprise, as he turned one page over and then another, his life unfolded before his very eyes. The history he shared with Bella was documented in living color.

    * * * *

    Bella was floating. She drifted over the ocean like a swan, graceful in her moves and quite at peace, too. Deliberately, she swept lower and then darted higher, completely out of sight. Next, she was running, gasping for her next breath but unable to slow down. She needed to get somewhere and she needed to arrive there fast, but where and why? She seemingly drifted right to the edge of consciousness before slipping back into the confines of sleep. Suddenly, she jerked. She was aware of the danger and desperate to escape.
    Choking, she sat up all at once, coming out of a deep sleep and so woozy she thought she might fall against the bed again. “Corbin?” she screeched, looking around her room, tossing her head from side to side and wondering how she’d ended up there.
    He walked toward her. “I’m here.”
    “I see that,” she muttered, swallowing tightly and resting the back of her hand on her forehead. “But why?”
    “You don’t remember anything?”
    She glanced down at what she wore. She immediately looked back up, thoroughly confused. “What the hell am I doing wearing this…this god-awful outfit?”
    “Uncomfortable?” he asked, sitting next to her casually. “I could’ve helped you change, but I was pretty certain you’d slug me once you regained consciousness.”
    She narrowed her gaze. She wasn’t amused in the least and for some reason, Corbin hadn’t stopped smiling since she awoke. “What time is it?”
    “Almost five.”
    “What happened to me?”
    “Benson slipped you a couple of pills, and you drank a few drinks.”
    “And then I what—hit some slut over the head and demanded her clothes?”
    “The dress looks nice on you.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah.”
    “No, I mean, you’re telling me I look nice rather than explaining why I’m wearing something straight from the streets of Amsterdam !”
    “Don’t knock the life, baby,” he drawled. “Hate the designer if ya gotta, but I still think you look hot.”
    She pursed her dry lips. She’d kill for a glass of water, not that she could make it downstairs to fetch one.
    Trying to move, she noticed how sore she was. Her body felt like one large bruise. When she tried to leave the bed, her head spun.
    Corbin placed a gentle hand on her wrist. “Are you all right?”
    Trembling, she studied her hands and tried to steady them. “What time did you bring me home?”
    “Around ten.”
    A long silence distanced them. Then, she cleared her throat. “Corbin, can I ask you something?”
    “Sure, anything,” he assured her, touching her cheek. This was not the Corbin she knew. What had happened to her? Did he know what she’d done? And if so, was that why he was being so sweet?
    Raising her gaze to meet his, she said, “Did Benson…”
    Corbin’s face flared red, and he immediately balled his fists. “Why? Do you feel like something happened?”
    She cleared her throat. “Not like that but…” She stopped talking and then rubbed her arms. “I’m still disoriented. I feel like I’ve lost time. But I’d know, right?”
    “Well, I can’t say how you’d feel from personal experience, but yeah, I think you’d know.”
    “How?”
    “Well, there’d be some uh…well, I would think you’d be sore— real, real sore,” he said, probably exaggerating the fact so she’d fear sex from that day forward. “Assuming it would’ve been your first time.”
    Bella immediately lowered her eyes. She felt her skin heat. God, could she be any more embarrassed than