Fiery Fate by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

to accomplish had failed miserably. Was it so wrong to want a day or two alone? How was she to know that Garick would set off immediately for Greenbriar without waiting for her return?
    How could Trista have manipulated them so? What was her sister’s intent? She shook her head, knowing she shouldn’t have trusted the little minx. Trista had offered her help, had told her to go to the forests and think while she tried to come up with a plan to prevent Solara’s marriage to Braedon.
    How easily she had grasped the opportunity to escape her fate.
    How foolish she had been to think that her destiny could be changed.
    Or that Roarke would care enough to be glad she remained behind.

Chapter Five
    Solara’s reunion with her sisters was bittersweet. Noele, Elise and Mina cried and hugged her, relief showing on their tear-streaked, smiling faces.
    Guilt pounded away at her, the ache in her belly remaining long after she’d been fed. Having bathed and slipped on a warm gown, she paced the confining chamber, wishing she could have a single moment of peace.
    But peace would not come. She remained unsettled despite her days spent in the forest thinking over her fate. Resigned to the fact that nothing would change, she would simply have to wait out the days until Garick returned so she could then be taken to Greenbriar.
    The time for feeling sorry for herself was over. Marrying Braedon was her destiny, her duty, and she would follow through no matter where her heart lay.
    What a terrible day this had been.
    Once she and Roarke had met up with the guards, they had ridden silently back to Winterland. Solara had been forced to sit with him on his horse, her body painfully aware of his broad chest and muscular thighs as she rode in front of him. With every jolt, her buttocks had rocked against his groin.
    Despite his obvious irritation, he had hardened, but she refused to turn around and look at him, fearing what she might see there.
    Or not see.
    After they had returned to the castle, Roarke had presented her to Noele, then turned on his heel and strode out of the hall without another word. She had not seen him at dinner that night, either.
    Whatever attraction she felt for Roarke would have to be tamped down during the two weeks she awaited Garick’s return. It was time to think of her new life as the Queen of Greenbriar. She would spend time with her sisters, knowing it would be a long while before she could see them again.
    A soft knock sounded at her door. She called entrance, and Noele stepped in, closing the door gently behind her.
    “Are you still hungry?”
    Solara shook her head.
    “Are you comfortable?”
    “Aye.” She and her sisters did not sit on formality. “What is on your mind, Noele?” Noele sat on the couch near the hearth, patting a cushion next to her. Solara took her place at her sister’s side and waited for the questions.
    “Why, Solara?”
    Now she felt like the foolish child that Roarke had called her. She laced her fingers together and contemplated her lap. “I wish I knew. The night before we were to leave…something happened.”
    “What happened?”
    How much should she tell Noele? Could she confide in her sister about her feelings for Roarke? If she told Noele about what happened between her and Roarke, Noele would have to tell Garick. Or lie to him to protect Solara and Roarke. That, she would not ask her sister to do.
    “I simply had a feeling that my betrothal to Braedon was not right, was not my destiny.” She looked up and met Noele’s blue eyes. “I wrote the note and gave it to Trista. She swore to me that she would deliver it to you that morning.”
    Noele pursed her lips. “Ah, I see our little sister is up to her old tricks.”
    “I had no idea she would hide the note from you. You must believe I would never intentionally worry you so.”
    Noele took her hands and held them. “I believe you. I know how difficult this has been for you, betrothed to a man you have never met.