Chapter 499

• Hila came awake slowly, feeling as though her entire body was wracked with pain. She had been delirious, sobbing, screaming, and every time, she felt warm arms enclosing her, holding her and smoothing her hair, whispering softly, soothing her. Her eyes fluttered open and with a sinking feeling, she realized that she was in a familiar place. The place where Piers Delano had kept her imprisoned, the Delano Town House.
• Her throat was dry and she tried to call out weakly, but then, a figure rose from a corner of the room, and Pies Delano appeared in the circle of lamplight beside her head. He looked as handsome as ever, she thought, her body reacting to him immediately, and the dark growth of beard on his handsome face only made him look …sexier? A yearning grew in her, to see this man every day of her life but she clamped down on it hard.
• He moved to her, a glass of water in his hands, and gently lifted her head. The straw in the glass made it easier for her to drink and she inhaled the scent of him, this man she loved so achingly, She closed her eyes and sipped. Then he gently lowered her head and she met his eyes, her own filling with tears at his tenderness.