Flame Thrower Read Free Page A

her much needed slumber.
    Flashes of her dream danced across her mind while it descended into the darkness of sleep. Each time Tillian slept, she relived her torment again and again. She feared to close her eyes for she knew what awaited. Tillian didn’t want to go back to sleep, but couldn’t resist the exhaustion. On some conscious level, she knew she faced having to endure reliving their attentions and there wasn’t anything she could do to avoid it. She was tired of the memories, tired of the pain.
    For too long she’d been held in their custody while they repeatedly used her, sometimes all three at the same time. That in combination with the drugs they put in her water, caused her to experience a new level of arousal that brought on great shame. Tillian hated what she became but there was a small part of her, a very small part that craved the glorious feelings they generated. Obviously, she’d been freed from that, however. For whatever reason, they’d discarded her at long last once they tired of her sport and escaped back to Folkyn without her.
    Tillian’s last thoughts before sleep claimed her were of her brother Gareth. He should have come for her; he should have been there to make sure she wasn’t harmed.
So, where was Gareth in all this? Why was he not here?
    Ryan looked down in worry when she mumbled something like a moan. Her face pinched briefly before she once more settled into a heavy weight on his chest. Content she was well and good caught in sleep, he decided to follow and closed his eyes. He drifted off to the howling sounds and the even rhythm of her breathing.

    * * * *
    Pain was the first thing she registered before Tillian felt the warmth and comfort of a well made wool cloak. Her memory was foggy and she couldn’t explain where she was or how she came to be wrapped in strange clothing that carried a rich scent. Her mind tried to place it, like it belonged to someone with enough money to spend on spiced cologne.
    Slowly, snippets of a wonderful man came to mind and of lying in his arms near a fire. He must have moved her back to the floor because she was no longer in his arms. Tillian moved in a motion to rise, but felt a strong hand on her shoulder hold her down.
    “Please don’t move,” Ryan said. He gently restrained her, concerned it would aggravate her injuries. With her gashes on her body that still bled if she moved too quickly to her pale complexion, she looked frail. He was afraid she’d bring herself more harm by rushing, so detained her.
    Tillian’s eyes sprang open and she looked around wildly before centering on his face. “Where am I?” Confusion caused her voice to shake with a violent lurch. What she couldn’t see was the slight pinch of his brows when he heard her question. Her hand came to her head, massaging her temples from the throbbing pain that made it very difficult to think clearly. For a moment, she honestly couldn’t recall why she was in so much pain. Nothing at all came to mind and a panic grew within her stomach because she never experienced such memory loss before.
    In the next instant the light from the room blinded her and she cried out, pinching her eyes shut. The throbbing in her head intensified, bringing with it a new level of agony. “Ow!” She clutched at her head when the headache began to pound more violently with each beat of her heart. “What happened to me?”
    Ryan leaned forward curiously. “That, I was hoping you could tell me.”
    Tillian slowly opened her eyes again to look at the handsome man who squatted before her. The moment she did, her heart lurched in recognition. This was the man who found her…found her alongside the road
.
Tillian closed her eyes in humiliation.
Oh God, I was discarded after being used
. Her memory flashed back to the three men who abused her for the past month and she shuddered.
    When she paled, the man before her flinched from her reaction and frowned before he reluctantly moved away.
    She watched his