Deceptions & Dreams by Debra Dier

Author:Debra Dier
Language: ron
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

"Don't worry, Sarah." Austin stroked Sarah's cheek with his open palm. Since Roxanne had ceased

welcoming him when he came to see her stepdaughter, Austin had been waiting for Sarah in the hall with

Emerson. He had heard the sisters, Clarissa's cruel tone carrying in the large entry hall. He had seen the

anger in Clarissa's face, watched as that anger lashed out at Sarah, and he had been helpless to save her.

He stood, lifting Sarah in his arms, careful to avoid jarring her broken arm. Was that her most serious

injury? "Where is her room?"

"I'll show you," Clarissa said.

Sarah's hair had come undone, the thick golden brown waves spilling over his arm, swaying against

his leg as Austin climbed the stairs with Sarah cradled in his arms. He followed Clarissa to Sarah's room.

Roxanne marched beside her daughter, stiff and angry, as though Sarah had tumbled down the stairs to

spite her.

Sunlight flooded Sarah's bedroom, streaking across the intricate flowers stitched in shades of peach

and gold and white in the Aubusson carpet. Her bed stood near the far wall, four posts of delicately carved

rosewood lifting a canopy of peach silk brocade. He laid Sarah on the peach silk counterpane, cringing

inwardly when a soft moan escaped her lips.

"We were just talking at the top of the stairs. I suppose I must have bumped her." Clarissa stood by

the bed, staring down at her sister. "Isn't that right, Sarah?"

"It was an accident, Clarissa," Sarah whispered. "It will be all right."

"Why, of course it was an accident," Roxanne said. "How could anyone believe otherwise?"

Austin didn't spare the woman standing beside him a glance. He placed his hand on Sarah's left arm,

feeling the break, the heat of her pain. He couldn't afford to allow anyone to notice her arm was broken.

"Clarissa, dear, you must be terribly shaken over this," Roxanne said.

Austin clenched his jaw as he glanced at the woman and her spawn. "I'll stay with Sarah while you

wait for the doctor downstairs."

Roxanne nodded, leaving the room with her arm around Clarissa's shoulders. A cat had more

concern for her kitten than that woman had for Sarah.

As if to prove his silent admonition correct, Merlin pounced on the foot of the bed and sauntered

across the peach silk. He rubbed his head against Sarah's shoulder before flopping to his side on one of the

pillows beside her, where he filled the air with his deep-throated purr.

"Don't think badly of her," Sarah said, her voice scraped raw by pain. "She didn't mean to hurt me."

"She pushed you down a flight of stairs."

"She did it without thinking." Sarah held him in her steady, clear gaze. "Please, let it remain an

accident."

"What if she tries to hurt you again?"

"She won't."

"For you, Sarah." Austin cupped her cheek in his hand, her skin smooth and warm against his skin.

"Only for you will I protect that spoiled little girl."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you."

He smoothed her hair against the peach silk covering her pillow. She would protect her family, even

after they had hurt her in ways both seen and unseen. What would she do to protect a brother she adored?

Austin wouldn't think of that now.

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