On Good Authority: A Novel of Suspense by McGuckin Briana Una

Author:McGuckin, Briana Una
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2022-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

But the heavy sleep I fell into that night was the one that brought a dream of Valentine.

He’d faced away from me, in a room so bright I could barely make him out—but I’d known it was him by the stiffness of his back, and by the way he clasped his fingers behind it. He wore a velvet waistcoat and a shirt with billowing sleeves. I reached out to grab him by the cuff. The fabric was slippery in my fingers.

He turned his head to glare at me, his eyes shining with malice. “Let go, Marian.”

“No,” I said, even as I shook.

One by one, he pried my fingers off his wrist. But his touch was thrilling, and there was that shameful, furtive feeling again, between my legs.

He bent and leveled his face with mine. “You’ll go mad if you don’t let go.”

I had been afraid of that, because of how I’d felt when we were together. That he would say it terrified me—as if it were plainly true that I was losing my mind because of him.

His gaze dropped, suddenly. Mine followed, and I saw my sooty hand—with its raw, red fingertips—on his crisp white shirtsleeve.

“Come on.” His voice was softer—deadlier. “Let go.”

But when I slackened my grip, his free hand clapped down upon it, holding me there.

I looked into his face. His eyes were dark, and his jaw was set.

“Do as I say.” Somewhere below, his fingers squeezed mine. The heat spread like water beneath me, and I trembled. My knees buckled, and I tumbled to the floor, holding on desperately to his hand. I expected this to make him angry, but Valentine stepped in toward me as I dropped, so my arms stretched toward him and we did not break apart.

His stare burned me, and he held me so tight I could not wriggle myself even an inch from him. His tongue struck against his teeth, like a match across the box. “Let go.”

The sick, swooping sensation in my stomach came again, strong enough to knock me down. I was tearing apart, stretched in multiple directions. It was torturous and exhilarating, and yes—yes, it was mad, like obeying the urge to leap from some high place.

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