Out of Exile by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page A

“That’s all I had to discuss this evening.” He walked over to the bar and poured himself a jigger of brandy, signaling the end of his participation. Within moments the others began to visit with each other.
    â€œGot another one of those?” Lilly asked, coming to stand next to him.
    â€œCertainly.” He poured her a shot of brandy and handed it to her, trying not to notice the sweetly feminine floral scent of her that reached out to surround him.
    â€œCould I speak to you alone after everyone has left?” she asked, her gaze lingering on his face. “I have something I need to discuss with you.”
    â€œAll right,” he agreed, although he had no idea what she needed to talk about with him.
    She nodded, sipped her brandy, then walked back to where Clara was seated and crouched down next to the old woman to talk.
    Matthew watched her for a long moment, watching the animation of her features as she spoke to Clara. He’d intentionally made himself scarce that afternoon, feeling as if he needed some distance from her.
    He’d worked in one of the pastures, fixing fencing and expending enormous energy in an effort to still all the emotions that rolled around inside him.
    For some reason, since Lilly’s arrival, Matthew had been more on edge, more at odds than he could remember. Something about her appearance here had sparked a cataclysm of emotion that he had yet to be able to sort out.
    He turned his attention to his family. Things were changing. Things had changed. The death of their father and the terms of the will he’d left behind had somehow transformed his siblings into different people than they had been.
    Mark, who had always been the silent one, as if trying to be invisible, sat straight in his seat with a new sense of pride and self-identity.
    Luke, who’d been precariously close to becoming an alcoholic, was facing life sober and with a newsense of responsibility, thanks to his wife and children.
    And then there was Johnna, who Matthew had suspected had always been the strongest of them all. She’d managed to leave the ranch to go to college, then had returned to Inferno to build a law practice. It was only the terms of their father’s will that had brought her back to spending time on the ranch.
    They had all survived their childhood hell and had become thriving, loving people. It amazed him sometimes, the indomitable will of the human spirit.
    What angered him more than anything was the fact that their spirits had managed to survive just fine and he was afraid his had not.
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    He stood just outside the living room window, staring in at the scene inside. The night air that surrounded him was warm, but couldn’t compete with the heat inside him as he drank his fill of the sight of Lilly.
    Beautiful. Stunning. She looked as good as she had when she’d been sixteen. Even better. And he knew that if the window was open, he’d be able to smell her—a scent that he’d retained in his memory for years.
    His blood heated and surged through him, filling him with strength and purpose. She would be his. He knew it in his heart. He recognized it in his very soul.
    This afternoon she had stood so close to him he could have reached out his hand and touched her.He knew just how her skin would feel. He’d dreamed about touching her a thousand times.
    And, in the brief words they’d exchanged that afternoon, he’d seen the spark of something secret and knowing in her eyes.
    She knew they belonged together. They didn’t have to exchange a word. It was a knowledge both of them retained in their souls.
    His gaze narrowed as he watched Matthew Delaney pour Lilly a drink. Something in the way he looked at Lilly as he handed her the glass stirred a feeling of threat. For just a moment he thought he saw desire in Matthew’s eyes.
    â€œYou can’t have her,” he whispered, his gaze intent on the tall, handsome cowboy.