Love Unmasked by Pamela Griffin

Author:Pamela Griffin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

nine

Christopher rubbed the dry rag along the barrel of his gun, feeling as if he lived in a tempest of confusion.

One minute he followed the accepted course of wisdom, keeping his distance from Erica as he should, as he must.

The next, he followed his foolish heart, wishing for something that could never happen.

Even if he didn’t now have a face that could frighten little children into having nightmares for the rest of their young lives and cause them to run screaming the other way, he was still an outlaw in the eyes of the populace. Erica’s relationship with her father had become tenuous at best, due to her shock in finding out she wasn’t his blood-born daughter, and Christopher wanted no part in straining that bond further by making her choose sides. Which she would have to do if she continued to see him. She couldn’t be a loyal daughter and keep Christopher secret at the same time.

So he had told her they couldn’t see each other anymore. But not before giving in to the need that burned inside him to kiss her. Her clear acceptance and concern had pushed him over that unstable brink. He had reached out for her in joyful relief to find someone who believed in him—and to have that someone be Erica. More than a year was a long time to go without a hug, a gentle word, any form of affection, and he had carried the kiss far beyond what he should have. It had been a mistake to kiss her at all. And the hurt confusion in her voice when she called out after him once he’d fled from her side only made the guilt sting worse.

He had kissed her as a man would kiss his wife.

He grimaced at his foolishness. No matter his circumstances, any chance to initiate something more with Erica was doomed. If he had come out unscathed from the fire and retained his old face, he would still be on the run because of the bounty on his head. And if he was no longer a hunted man, he would still have this wretched face.

Either way, he could not win. Either way, he must let her go. Because either way, she would come to loathe him.

Christopher paused in his task and closed his eyes. Prudent wisdom might avert more heartache for both of them, but it didn’t stop him from missing her. How could she impact his life so strongly when he had known her such a short time?

Often at night, when the world lay peaceful, the crackling fire and the occasional hoot of an owl or distant howl of a wolf the chief sounds heard, inside his mind he would remember her voice, her beautiful songs of comfort and hope. And his soul would long to find that peace again. . .

❧

“Mama, why are those people crying?”

His mother held his hand as they walked down the road and past a group of women dressed in black. She nodded to them and waited until they were out of earshot before she answered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.