the sensations screaming through her. She wanted her
obedience. She wanted her on her knees, bound to—
What the hell? Stop it. Stop all of that. She couldn’t
remember a thing about her own fiancée except that she was
beautiful, with sad, haunted eyes, and here she was thinking
absolutely black thoughts about what she’d like to do to her
later. It wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right. Still, the attraction
remained, the pull, the sizzling force of something in the air
surrounding them.
“We don’t have to get married tonight if you don’t want to.
I’m sorry I rushed things. I just really did want to make up for
all the time I’ve lost. All the time I’ve spent being so silly. I
don’t know what I was doing. I literally don’t know because I
can’t remember. But this is a shitty time. I didn’t even think
about your dad. I’m…” She pointed to her head. “Everything
is just a mess in here. I can’t think clearly. This isn’t right.
You’re right. I’ll go tell Carol that we’re not going to be doing
this after all.”
She turned, but this time it was Coralyn, flying over the
marble in her bare feet. “No.” She blocked Giana’s path. “No,
it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m a mess too.”
Her face still wasn’t kind. Her jaw was clenched in that
same determined set. Giana felt, deep down, that this was what
she wanted. The only thing she might actually want in the
world. To love and be loved. Why was that so hard for her to
admit before? Had she ever said it out loud?
A tug, deep in her belly. Something painful. A memory. A
blackness. Something she didn’t want to recall, she knew it,
and she banished it before it could take shape, even though she
was desperate for shards of her past. Her other life, or