Bound By Desire (The Acadian Curse) Read Free Page A

muscles
bulged and grew. His shoulders and hips widened, and his clothes
began to split under the strain.
    He had one shoe off. He tried for a moment to
kick off the second, but it wouldn’t budge.
    “Boot,” he barked at her, as he raced to the
wall. He wriggled his wrists into the massive iron bands. They
barely fit.
    He continued to try to scrape his boots off
on the floor as she stared at him. His eyes met hers—the same
drop-dead gorgeous chocolate brown eyes that had floored her the
moment that she’d stepped out of the truck.
    She might not have any idea what was going
on, but she did know that inside that creature was a person. A
creature who needed her help.
    Sarah stripped off her gloves and grabbed
hold of his boot. She had to dig her heels into the floor to get
enough leverage to dislodge it. She wrenched the shackle up his
ankle, wincing as she felt it scrape against his raw skin.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, hoping Grant could
still hear her.
    His body went completely still under her
touch. A change came over the stall. The air felt heavier, thicker.
Sarah was suddenly very aware of her position lying prostrate at
his feet. She drew in a shaky breath, then another. Finally, she
gathered enough courage to look up.
    A stranger’s face, hard and powerful, stared
down at her.
    Sarah scooted backward as fast as she could.
Hay and dust flew out behind her. She didn't stop until her back
hit the hard wood of the stable door. She sucked in breaths in
giant gulps, so fast that they burned her lungs. The sound of her
blood rushing in her ears blocked out all other sounds as she
looked up at the monster that was before her.
    No, monster wasn’t the right word. The thing
tied to wall with leather and metal was very much a man, just not
the one who she had put there. This one was a wall of muscle. His
chest and limbs had grown large enough to rip away the clothes that
had covered Grant. His face had changed as well, there was still
the same ruffled dark hair, the same stubble-line jaw but it too
had grown bigger and wider. Then there were those eyes—bright
green, the color of damn Irish grass, for God’s sake. She had never
seen those color eyes before, not on anyone or anything.
    He stared at her long and hard. She knew the
look—focused, determined and hungry. So damn hungry. It was a
predator's gaze. She clenched her eyes shut and turned her head
away.
    She knew she should get up. She should run
like hell to the truck. She should drive through the night until
she was back home, and never come back. With enough time, she might
be able to convince herself that none of this had happened—that it
had all been nothing more than a dream, a stress induced
delusion.
    "You don't want to run.”
    Sarah’s eyes popped open.
    He could still talk. And he didn’t sound like
a monster. No snarling. No growling. Instead his voice was low and
confident. It rumbled with all the bass that she would expect of a
creature of his size, but behind it was a calm control that made
goose bumps run down her arms.
    She lifted her head and dared another look.
The longer she looked the more her fear began to subside. Curiosity
took its place. What had happened to Grant? Was he still in there
somewhere? How had the transformation taken place? Would he change
back? Her mind swam with questions.
    He was right. She didn’t want to run, not
really. She wanted answers. Besides, how dangerous could this thing
really be?
    Exceedingly , her better judgment
screamed at her.
    Maybe, but he was restrained—chained to the
wall. She had looked after aggressive animals before. If he started
to get agitated, she had enough tranquilizers back in her bag to
put this whole stable under.
    Sarah tried to stand but her legs wobbled
beneath her. Apparently there was still a good amount of adrenaline
rushing around in her system. She leaned against the wall for
support.
    He smiled. The sight nearly knocked the
resolve right out her.
    "I knew you didn’t want