Twisted by Bonnie M Hennessy

Author:Bonnie M Hennessy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, fairytale, snow white, rumpelstiltskin, cinderella, retelling, fantasy fable, beauty beast, reimagining
Publisher: Bonnie M Hennessy

Chapter 17

Patience

The warmth of the afternoon sun found its way through the thick walls of Aoife’s bedroom. As she stretched, Ronan wrapped his arms around her. Sleeping in her bed was becoming a habit for him the past month, one Aoife liked. She turned and kissed his cheeks, his nose, and finally his lips. He opened his eyes and propped himself up on one arm, flushed with an idea.

“Let’s go somewhere, Aoife. Let’s get far away from this place. I’ve seen so much of the world but never with you by my side. We can go wherever you want.”

Her heart sank. She wanted to say yes more than anything, but she knew that she could not go anywhere until she was done with the little man.

“It sounds so tempting, but I’m not so sure,” she said. “I mean, not now at least.”

“Why not?” Ronan replied, sitting up. “We have nothing holding us back. I’ve always hated this place. When I left, I swore I would never come back; it was only my father’s death that dragged me here, and since I returned, it is only you that keeps me.”

His honesty only amplified her guilt. She was beholden to two men, and there seemed no way to satisfy them both.

“I never felt happy,” Ronan continued, “until now. And I am very afraid of risking what we have by staying here. I am not one to talk about my past, but many memories I would rather remain in the past hover all around me here. I know I sound cryptic, but I do not want them catching up to me or tainting what we have.”

His love for her seemed so strong that she felt the truth rising in her throat. They had grown so much closer. She wondered if he might understand how it all happened, forgive her, and help her end the bargain with the little man. But if the truth angered Ronan, she knew the kind of retribution of which he was capable.

“Please say you will leave with me.”

“I wish I could make you understand, but I cannot,” replied Aoife. “There are things preventing me from leaving right now.”

“That’s all the more reason we should go.”

“No,” she replied. “You don’t understand. Since the day I agreed to marry you…”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“There are things that I have not told you,” she said.

All at once, the heat in her ring burned hot, too hot, and its grasp tightened dangerously around her finger. She pulled her hand away from Ronan. The burning and contracting of the ring, and the hurt in his eyes broke her confidence.

“What have you not told me?” Mistrust filled his voice and his gentleness faded.

“I didn’t mean that. Just that there are things I need to take care of before we leave,” she said, rethinking her honesty in light of the shift she could already see in him. Perhaps he was not ready for the entire story. “You and I are building something I never thought we could, and I don’t want to let that go.

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