In the Mists of Time Read Online Free

More than that, she was appalled by what that might tell him about her loneliness, her desperation for a man. Any man.
    On the other hand, the guilty memory was exciting and sweet, and the dark, bold part of her wanted it to be real. That part of her wished she were more like that girl in the mist, a girl who could have no-strings fun, a temptress.
    Of course, the other reason for the incident to be merely an erotic dream was the fact that they’d used no protection whatsoever. And there was no excuse for that. Louise was not that stupid and never had been, not before this.
    Six o’clock. Time to get up and get breakfast on. There were two guests staying at the B&B. A solitary fisherman had taken the self-catering flat, although he sometimes came in for breakfast. And Kev, one of her regular lorry drivers, had his usual room on the first floor. Kev had an early start.
    Crossing the bedroom, she shrugged out of her pyjama top and caught sight of herself in the mirror. She paused, staring, then walked closer to the mirror. Her left breast had a faint red graze across it, just above the nipple. As if she’d fallen awkwardly. Or rubbed against a rock while getting fucked from behind.
    Heat flamed. It was real. It had to be real. The heavy, slightly stinging discomfort between her legs was nothing to do with period pain—her period had ended only a couple of days ago, which was just as well in the circumstances—but with being deliciously and furiously screwed. Twice.
    â€œOh God,” she whispered, dragging her robe from the back of the door and leaving the room, heading for the family bathroom like an automaton. How could she ever hold up her head again? What if he’d told everyone? What if Glenn and Izzy and Chrissy knew? Her brother, Aidan, would hear and accuse both Louise and her lover, whose name she didn’t even know, of God knew what. He’d be right too. She really had indulged in a moment of madness, had unprotected sex with a stranger, an ex-con.
    Shit, she’d need to do something about this, get tested…
    But she couldn’t think about it right now. She needed to forget about it and start her day. At least he would realize she was Aidan’s sister—he had seemed to recognize her name—and keep his mouth shut. And for Izzy’s sake, surely Glenn himself would frown at any such gossip…? Damn, if she were really that wicked good-time temptress she’d thought she was when she was screwing a stranger in the mist, she wouldn’t care about gossip, would she?
    In Ardknocken, you had to care about gossip if you wanted to live here.
    * * * * *
    The morning rush helped. She checked on her parents, took them tea, then set the guest dining room table and cooked Kev his favourite fry-up. While he ate it, she caught up on all the latest doings of Mrs. Kev and the little Kevs. Ron from the top flat hadn’t come in by the time Kev left, so she dumped the dirty dishes for later and went to help her parents get up.
    This was much easier now that a carer came to help, particularly with her father. His dementia was deteriorating rapidly, and he needed to be lifted out of bed and to the stairlift, and then into his chair for the day. Occasionally he still tried to get out of the chair by himself, but, mostly, he couldn’t really be bothered.
    She and her parents had had breakfast together and she’d just settled them in the living room when the doorbell rang.
    â€œMust be Cerys,” Louise said. “Bright and early!”
    Cerys was the girl from the village who ostensibly came to help Louise with the housework, but whose first priority was really to look after her parents so that Louise could concentrate on other things—like the business and shopping and sanity. Only eighteen years old, Cerys was a breath of fresh air: full of life and fun, and yet caring and sensible. In the last three months, Louise had come to value her hugely, and, more