The Vow Read Online Free

plate.
    The rest of the meal passed uneventfully, though Hannah could feel Nate’s narrowed, watchful eyes boring into her, like a snake just waiting to strike.

    Hannah flung open the window in the cramped attic room that had become her refuge, hoping to coax a breeze out of the still summer night. She sat there for a moment, ignoring her own bone weariness, to appreciate the beauty of the hazy full moon hanging high in the star-strewn sky, and the silence.
    She savored every precious second of silence because it was so rare these days. No Aunt Naomi nagging. No Nate and his brothers taunting. Just silence.
    Hannah rose and pulled away the thin batiste night shift where it stuck in patches to her damp body, then padded silently on bare feet to her hard, narrow bed, where she collapsed against the cool sheets. She was so exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
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    The Vow
    Moments—hours?—later, something tugged at her consciousness, screaming for her to wake. Rising from the depths of sleep, she sensed danger.
    She felt something heavy kneading her breast, squeezing her nipple through the night shift’s thin fabric, arousing an unfamiliar feeling of heat deep inside.
    Then she smelled the sour, acrid odor of a rutting pig, and her eyes flew open to find Nate sitting on the side of her bed.
    For a moment Hannah was paralyzed by fear. All she could do was stare helplessly at his face, faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the window. Lust gleamed in the depths of his eyes. He licked his lips as he grasped her other breast.
    “You like this, don’t you, Hannah?” he whispered, squeezing her harder.
    “Let’s get this off you”—he reached for the hem of her shift—“and old Nate’ll make you feel real good.”
    Hannah felt the trapped animal’s surge of strength burst through every muscle and bone. She pushed his hand away and rolled across the bed before he could stop her, landing on her feet on the other side and quickly scrambling out of his reach.
    “Get out of here before I scream this house down!” Her hammering heart felt as though it would burst out of her chest.
    Nate chuckled softly as he rose and loomed before her, only the bed separating them. The dark hair matting his massive bare chest made him look more like a hairy beast than a man, for he wore only his trousers. “I wouldn’t do that, if I was you,” he whispered. “’Cause Ezra gave me leave to be here.”
    “You’re lying! Even he wouldn’t—”
    Nate lunged, reaching for Hannah across the narrow width of the bed, and she screamed, the terrified sound abrading and affronting the silence. She felt his

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    21

    Lindsay Chase
    clutching fingers miss her by inches as they swiped by, and her eyes darted around the attic, desperately seeking anything she could use as a weapon.
    “That was real stupid,” Nate growled.
    Hannah’s frightened gaze fell on the heavy pewter candlestick sitting on her nightstand, and she reached for it, her arm outstretched. Without warning, Nate sprung as lithely as a cat for a man his size, diving headfirst across the bed before Hannah could blink. When his feet touched the floor on the other side, he rose and made another grab for her.
    Hannah felt a band of steel wrap itself around her waist and pull her away from the candlestick just as her fingers were about to close around it. She screamed again and clawed at his arm.
    “Nate doesn’t like being scratched.” He grabbed Hannah’s long braid and pulled. Hard.
    The searing fire spreading along her scalp made her gasp and her eyes water as Nate pulled her body against his and forced her head back against his naked shoulder. She could feel his arousal insistent against her hip, smell the sickening sweat in her nostrils, clinging to her cheek where it pressed against his neck.
    “Let me go!” She pushed ineffectually at his arm, not daring to scratch