Free Daughter Trilogy Bundle by C.M. Owens

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    "Why they let her have me back is beyond me.  Thankfully, she handed me over to people who wanted to care for a child instead of dumping me in another basement.  The point is, I can't even think about a hospital without feeling the weight of the world crushing on my chest.  Please … just drop it."
    He tightens his lips, letting my heavy bomb settle in.  I shouldn't have told him that.  That was so stupid.
    "I'm sorry.  That's horrible," he says through his own emotional rattle.
    More pity falls free from his swirling blues, and I do my best to pull myself together before continuing.
    "It's just the way things are.  I learned to cope with the reality a long time ago.  I don't remember her or even what she looked like.  All I remember is being cold, hungry, and absolutely terrified for what seemed like much longer than five days.  The whispering pipes of a basement along with the building groans can offer quite the nightmarish terrors to a child.  I won't step into a hospital, at least not willingly," I murmur.
    He hugs me tighter.  His velvety soft lips stroke my forehead to bring my anxiety down just slightly.
    I feel so inexplicably connected to him.  His lips find mine once more in a soft, reassuring manner.  The kiss deepens, and currents crash through me as though I've just stepped in water while holding a live wire.
    I jerk back, grabbing my throbbing lips while my wide eyes stare into his.  He touches his as well with curiosity plaguing his face.
    "That was odd," he mumbles with a hint of a distracted tone.
    "Yeah," I whisper, but then I feel my body weakening again.
    I feel the sickness overwhelming me, and I can't hold my heavy eyes open another moment.

Chapter 4
     
    A Damn Boyfriend
     
    I wake up to the odd, floral room with scratched antique furniture I instantly recognize.  Shit .  I can't believe he's staying here.  He lives in a frigging penthouse.  Why is he staying in a heinously decorated room at the local inn?
    Though the sickness I suffered the night before has passed, now I feel sick for a whole new set of reasons.
    He had to take care of me all night.  This is humiliating.
    "Hey," his soft voice whispers as my groggy eyes finally find his alert ones.
    "Hey," I return with a parched, throaty rasp.
    He quickly hands me a bottle of water, and I begin to sip it slowly while looking away from him.  I clutch my aching head, and he sits up to join me.
    "What time is it?" I mumble.
    "You've got plenty of time before the wedding.  How do you feel?"
    "Like hell met ice," I jokingly interject.  "I need to… oh no.  It's eight o' clock," I panic out loud when I see the woodland inspired theme clock.
    His look is puzzled.  "The wedding isn't until two.  You don't have to go to work do you?"
    I start scrambling to situate my wrinkled dress that I ended up sleeping in, and Devin casually climbs free from the bed to join me at my side.
    "No.  I don't have work.  I have a father who's going to kill me if he sees me staying in a room with a guy he's never met.  He'll be here any minute now."
    Devin starts laughing, his worry completely replaced by humor, as he grabs my purse and hands it to me.  "We can hide out in here until the wedding, and then you can make your father think you showed up with the rest of the guests."
    I roll my eyes at his scandalous offer - though it would be nice to just curl up in bed with him all day as opposed to dealing with all the craziness today has in store.
    "My dress, makeup, hair supplies… everything I need is at my apartment."
    "Then I'll drive you there."
    His soft smile is so enticing.  How does he look this good when he first wakes up?  That's so not fair.
    "Thanks, but you don't have to," I mumble with a touch of embarrassment.
    I've spent the night curled up in his arms like a sick child, and I barely know him.  He drove all the way from New York to enjoy my company in a far different way.  I feel so stupid.
    "You rode with Clara