NINE
Sounds, thick and heavy, like they were wrapped up in thunder, rumbled in the distance, slowly, ever so slowly sharpening until I realized I was hearing two men talking.
“—you told me not to hurt her doing it, so I used chloroform,” one man said.
“Where the hell did you get chloroform?”
I frowned to myself. I knew that voice. It resonated within me. Through the dense fog in my brain, an image rose.
Ben! It was Ben.
Francesca?
The floor beneath me rocked. I cracked an eye open to see what was going on, and found myself held in Ben’s arms. “You got your cross back,” was the first thing I said, touching the Celtic cross he wore.
He smiled, his eyes so beautiful, so warm and sexy I just wanted to lick them.
That sounds uncomfortable, but I appreciate the sentiment. You’re still a
