The Forgotten by Marly Mathews Read Free Book Online

she backed up, attempting to put as much distance between them as possible.
    “I disagree. Perhaps you’re the one that needs to leave. This is after all my family’s Tavern.”
    Her mind raced. She couldn’t organize her thoughts well enough to actually give him an argument to dispute his statement.
    “Your mother willed me this establishment on her deathbed, so technically it’s rightfully mine. She didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands as the Wylde Family has run this place for hundreds of years, and she came to view me as her family.”
    He chuckled. “You expect me to believe that? I had hoped for more from you.”
    “I do not lie,” she said, looking away from him. She couldn’t allow herself to connect again with his hauntingly beautiful eyes.
    They would enthrall her and she’d be completely lost. She would drown in their deeply seductive depths.
    “Truly? I find that extremely hard to believe. Very few people in this world can be completely honest. There are times when telling a little white lie can be the difference between life and death.”
    She groaned and rolled her eyes. “I make a habit of always telling it how it is. Some do not like that practice, and it’s landed me in hot water on more than one occasion.”
    *****
    Lucan watched the beautiful woman in front of him as he intentionally riled her passions. She was like an ethereal creature. He’d seen lots of women, and none could compare to her beauty, none save for perhaps Ava.
    This woman was not only enchanting, she was enchanted. She had an air of the Otherworld about her and though she looked like a wispy creature with her small stature, her large eyes and pixie ears, she had steel inside of her. He could see that just by the cautionary glint in her eyes.
    She’d seen sorrow, and she’d suffered terrible hardships. Not only that but her heart had been broken, and he wanted to tear that devil of a man from limb to limb. He didn’t know why his heart reached out for her—perhaps this was the elusive love at first sight that many talked about.
    He never quite believed those romantic tales and now, now, he wished he hadn’t been such a bitter cynic.
    He wanted to see how she would react to him when she was fit to be tied, and right now, the way her cheeks were flushed and her hands trembled, told him that she possessed a conscience. She had a good heart.
    He could tell that just by the way the Tavern had been lovingly cared for. His bedchamber was basically unchanged. She hadn’t altered it too much to fit her feminine needs.
    Her bright sky blue eyes dazzled him right down to his core. He resisted the urge to close in on her and charm her right out of that fluffy towel she wore like a shield from his curious gaze. He wanted to take her to his bed, and enjoy the carnal delights that would await them in each other’s arms.
    They hadn’t yet formally introduced themselves, but she knew who he was and he was fairly certain that she was the mysteriously enigmatic Changeling, Nerienda Kyneswyth.
    “I take it you were the reason why my mother had such a respectable tombstone. I stopped there briefly just before I came here.”
    “Aye,” she said looking away from him. He could sense that the very mention of his mother had brought her emotions to a rioting peak. The fact that Elaine Wylde had someone like her to take care of her in her twilight hours made his heart glad.
    “I take it that Ava told you all about me,” he drawled, excited to watch her reaction.
    Curtly, she nodded her head and moved to her large feynwood wardrobe. The same wardrobe that had held his clothing when he’d been a boy. She reached inside of it, and pulled out a sheer lacy contraption that looked like it was midnight black. He wanted to see more of it, even though it looked as if she was determined to keep it from his prying eyes.
    She kept her back to him, and dropped her towel to the floor.
    His eyes razed over her bare backside. Her ass was unlike