S.A. Price Read Online Free Page B

at Elise who nodded.
    "Yes, I have seen to the lunch and dinner menu for tonight and breakfast and lunch for tomorrow.
    Nothing formal, Ramona, but it should be a sit down meal for both, as is respectful. Lunch will be in an hour or so, so please, do what you must, and it will be served in the solarium, so that we might take advantage of the warmth of the day." She turned to Myra and then to Geraldine, who was standing and clasped her hand, then let go after a small kiss on the cheek, and walked around the couch, careful to not go near Merrick.
    He, on the other hand wanted nothing more than to go to her. Having her so close yet so far away tore at him, yet he and Kira would have to leave now. His girl had done well but not so well that he trusted her to sit in a room full of Archons and expect her to hold her own. That fully in mind he stepped up behind her and whispered in her ear that they should go. Giggling lightly she leaned back into him for a second and then cleared her throat, politely excusing herself but leaving no doubt in any of the Archon's minds as to where they were going.
    He avoided Elise's hurt gaze as they left. He could always make things up to her later. He would have to. While it was all for show, he knew it still hurt. He knew her well enough that her schooled expression hid a wealth of emotion, emotion he hated to know she had because of him.
    They left the room and headed back up to their suite, they only had an hour to brief before they had to come back and repeat the performance again.
    ~15~

    THREE

    John Merrick was here. The same John Merrick that professed his adoration for her not fifteen years before, the same man she thought was dead. The only man that had her heart was here with another woman, a goddamn hatchling, and obviously didn’t give a fig about promises made once upon a time. He’d been alive all this time, and he hadn’t contacted her, and she was the fool that locked her heart and body away from the world because of her love for him.
    The last she had heard from him was a little over a decade ago, when he was going south to check out rumor that there was a nest thriving in Argentina. At the time, females were scarce, and while most didn’t leave their mates, or intended mates, Merrick was sent by his mother, the Archon of the only European nest, the Edinburgh nest, to investigate. News came soon after that Merrick had gone missing, then found dead in the nest in Argentina, his belongings there as well as his shifted body.
    Elise mourned him, still did up until about twenty five minutes ago, when she saw him walk in with the young girl claming to be an Archon, standing proudly behind her, whispering in her ear like the lover he apparently was to her. Seeing him, her heart shattered, splintered, her chest was a torrent of pain as he moved through the room with her, not even sparing Elise a glance as he wrapped himself around his new loves’ body.
    Not that her looks to him had been kind, but you don’t have a mate waiting for you and then not tell them you’re alive. She was sure news of his death had reached him, if it wasn’t actually facilitated by him, and she had hoped for a long time that it was false, and that he would show up on her doorstep one night, to pick up where they left off. Apparently he didn’t care about any of it.
    She looked down at her left hand, to the smooth bone ring that fit snugly on her ring finger, his last gift to her all those years ago. It was a symbol of his nest, the ring passed down to the eldest son in hopes that he was strong enough to catch and marry an Archon, and hold his position. Well Merrick was all man, always was, and it appeared that he really didn’t care for the one Archon that his family had approved of as his mate to start a nest with, the nest Elise was now in charge of. His nest, since his disappearance and apparent untimely death had dwindled, and Elise had crossed the sea last year for the funereal of his mother,