Fall From Grace (Slater #1) Read Online Free

her fingers casually pulling at the grass around them. He tucked himself back into his pants and put his shirt on.  As he stood Laura looked up at him, her eyes were unreadable, but there seemed to be something there that was trying to speak to him.  Porter reached out a hand to her and she slowly stood and her was hand warm in his as she placed her breasts back into her bodice.  He turned her and swiftly did the lace ribbons back up to hold her dress tight again.
    “Thank you Porter” Laura smiled as she turned back to him.  He smiled, trying not to look into her eyes. 
    He wanted to tell her that they couldn’t keep seeing each other, but he didn’t have it in him to break her heart.  He was too much of a coward to speak such words to such a beautiful angel.
    “I should go” he said.
    He took the risk to look into her eyes and read hurt, before they flashed in steely determination.  Laura nodded and turned on her heel, she headed back towards the wooded path to her home.  Porter wanted to follow her, he wanted to tell her that they could run away, that they could elope, but the cowardice in him screamed louder than all the brash decisions he could make.
    Chapter Five
    Laura.
    Laura had left before she said something she would regret.  She wanted to tell Porter that she was in love with him.  She knew that it was ridiculous, she couldn’t love a man after only officially knowing him for two days, but she had known him for so much longer.  And she was sure of her feelings.  But she knew that he would never see her the same way.  Laura’s father had left her and her mother when Laura was only five years old.  Not many people knew the truth that he was in gaol.  He was a good man, in a bad situation. His family had meant everything to him. 
    Laura was playing in the woods behind her home, when a man who she didn’t know approached her. He was the biggest man she had ever seen and wore a big beard that hung down to the middle of his rounded belly.  Laura looked up at him, as he cast a shadow over where she chained flowers together in the sun.
    “Hello little one” he said in a whisper barely audible.
    Laura had been told not to speak with strangers, so she just smiled politely, expecting her father, who was cutting wood at the side of the house, to come and check on her at any time.  The big man stuck out a fat hand towards Laura, she looked down at it and then up at him. He smiled widely at her, his front teeth were missing and his tongue flicked out to touch his bottom lip.  Laura looked around to see where her father was.  The big man must have realised what she was looking for as he clucked his tongue at her and shook his head.  With a big meaty fist he pushed one finger to her lips.  Laura felt her stomach begin to knot, she didn’t understand what was about to happen, but something inside her told her that this man meant bad news and she shouldn’t go with him. 
    He continued to stand with his hand out to her. Laura stood and shook her head slowly. She was too slow to run away, the meaty hand that was held out to her, grabbed around her wrist while the other clamped over her mouth.  She could smell his fingers, the odour made her stomach churn.  Tears began to slip from the corner of her eyes as the man hoisted Laura’s little body to his side.  She felt helpless wondering if she would ever see her family ever again.  The man began to head towards the woods that surrounded her home, Laura wriggled against him, but it did no good, the man held onto her tighter, pinching her stomach against his own.  She began to whimper a muffled sob behind the man’s big hand, she cried out for her father to come, for her mother to come, but it was no good, the big man’s hand held her mouth too tight and her sounds couldn’t be heard.
    As they cleared the first part of the woods, the man swung her body like a rag doll in front of him.  He lifted her face so that it was in front of his.
    “You