Heart of Darkness Read Free Page A

back arched upwards, so
powerful was the strike. Breathlessly, she tried to shrug off his
hand, but he wouldn't let her and Isabeau cried, "Let me go!"
     
    "Your glamor is of no use to me, fair
lady."
     
    A sudden slash of moon light pierced through
the canopy of trees and seemed to bathe them both in its pure
luminescence. She stared up at him, saw the almost satanic darkness
of his features and closed her eyes in terror, certain she was
about to be raped or worse, murdered.
     
    His dark black hair appeared almost as
stygian as the stone in her ring and it hung untidily about his
face. A queue tied the majority of his hair back but the recent
tussles with her on the forest floor had added a disheveled edge to
his appearance. His eyes were hidden from sight by the night, but
she just knew that they would be black. Devil's eyes.
     
    There was no gentleness in his face, no
kindness, nothing that gave her hope of her safety and she slowly
fluttered her eyelids open to face what was about to happen to her.
She was no coward.
     
    The four years without her parents had been
difficult, the most difficult of her life, but she had grown up,
become an adult and she had learned to face whatever adversity life
threw at her with bravery and courage.
     
    There was a lingering emotion in her
eyes, did she but know it. It was pain from his continual touch of
the onyx ring. She had never understood its powers and even to this
day did not entirely comprehend how it aided her. But now, this
stinging burn was enough to drive her mad. Sharp, gasping breaths
escaped her lungs as it seemed to singe her flesh until finally he
released her hand and subsequently the ring.
     
    Wheezing in relief, she licked her lips and
turned her face away from him.
     
    "To deny the world your allure was an
intelligent move, but during your stay at my stronghold, you will
not deny me the pleasure of your beauty, sweet Venus."
     
    She resented the order, fiercely and glared
up at him. "My talents are mine to command and not at your
fingertips. You may think you have captured me, Night Rider," she
spat. "But you are entirely incorrect in your pitiful
assumptions!"
     
    "Ah," he said, and sighed musingly and
seemingly ignored the rest of her tirade. "I notice your choice of
the plural. Talents. What other tricks and sorcery do you have
hidden then, I wonder?"
     
    "Enough to curse you!" she spat and struggled
against his hold.
     
    "You must join the ranks, fair maid. You are
not the first to wish me cursed and not the last to be satisfied at
my current state. But you, on the other hand, dear lady, are the
answer to my prayers."
     
    "Then you shall have to pray to the Goddess
until your knees bleed! I shall never help you! Never!"

Chapter Two
    With her teeth gritted and her jaw tensed
against the anger that had her blood boiling, Isabeau clung to
Wolfe Sinclair's body unwillingly as the thirteen horses tore
through the forest at a speed that had her stomach churning
nauseously.
     
    Off the side of the horse hung a huge
crossbow, and if she’d only had the strength to lift and notch a
bolt, she would have taken the weapon and shot him to gain her
freedom.
     
    For what had felt like endless moments at the
start of her journey atop the horse, Isabeau had shifted
uncomfortably as she'd tried to absorb the jolting and swift canter
of the horse's gait. Hating the feel of him against her, she had
wanted nothing more than to put distance between them, but on a
horse's saddle, it was rather impossible to place any space between
them at all. As it was, she had been perched rather delicately
against the leather seat. The cantle had dug deep into the fleshy
mounds of her buttocks and had caused an ache all of its very
own.
     
    When he had first tossed her into the saddle,
Wolfe had hoisted himself up and sat in front of her, with the
pommel at the apex of his thighs. As they had ripped through the
woods with indecent haste, Isabeau had plotted and schemed as