Forever Kiss Read Free Page A

to do to herself.
    Beth shook her head. "I don't want to die," she reminded herself. She was in her position because of that. She'd wanted to take control of her life. To be strong and in charge of herself. How would killing herself prove any of that? No, that wasn't the kind of escape she wanted.
    Her eyes settled on the robe on the floor. Clothes. She needed clothes so she could get away. She could figure things out on her own, but she needed to get away first. She couldn't do that naked and dirty. Beth looked to the shower and she nodded. She'd get cleaned up, get dressed, and get the hell out of wherever she was. She'd figure the rest out later.
    Beth crawled to the shower and cranked the water on. The temperature didn't matter, she knew she wouldn't feel it. She stood up and stepped under the falling water. It was lukewarm, the same as the air around her. She sighed. Being a vampire sucked if it took all the little pleasures out of life.
    She turned and saw an old and dried up looking bar of soap in a soap dish. She scowled, but at least there weren't any hairs stuck to it. She grabbed it and lathered it up. She had a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. The sun was setting and she wanted to be away before Penny woke up.
     
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
    Wrapped in a  blanket and fighting the urge to run, Beth backed down the hallway one slow step at a time. She had to keep her feet covered by the blanket or she'd risk getting burned. That meant kicking the comforter back with each step or stepping on it and falling. The entire time the heat from the sunshine soaked through the blanket and made her back itch.
    She felt like she was boiling on the inside by the time she made it to the open doorway of the bedroom she'd been in. She stepped into it and let the comforter drop to the floor. Her body cooled as soon as she was out of the hallway but the way her heart and lungs were straining forced her to sit on the bed and struggle to catch her breath.
    After she recovered enough to move without fearing her heart would explode she rummaged through the dresser and found some things to put on. They were lacy and racy. Totally inappropriate for wearing for anything other than an attempt to turn on a man. Beth could see through the filmy material— all of it, there wasn't even liner in the crotch.
    She tried a few of the bras in the dresser but gave up when she realized none of them were large enough to fit her. Both her breasts and her chest were too large. Rather than waste time and what little energy she had, she moved on to the armoire and rummaged through the clothes looking for a suitable outfit she could wear without being arrested.
    Beth ended up in a black leather skirt that was too small for her. Even with her rapid weight loss the week before her hips stretched the material to its limits. She had to make a choice whether she exposed the top of her borrowed underwear or the bottom. She chose the top and tried to hide it beneath a sheer black peasant blouse that she was certain would hide nothing in a well-lit area. She tied a dark red corset around her midsection and did her best to shove her boobs into the too-small shelf bra that left the bottom of her stomach exposed.
    Beth looked down at herself and frowned. She needed a mirror to be sure. From her point of view, her outfit would be unacceptable in public. The only stockings in the dresser were thigh high and wouldn't reach the bottom of her skirt. She'd be advertising sex. In fact, if she bent over or tried to walk up or down some stairs she'd be doing more than advertising it, she'd be broadcasting it.
    She turned back to the armoire and pushed and pulled a few more pieces until she found a matching black lace bolero jacket. The long sleeved jacket was all but transparent, but by positioning it so that the solid black hems rested over her breasts it made her look almost decent. She stared down at herself a final time and sighed before grabbing her blanket and