Page 266 of Sins of the Heart

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and another.

He looked up and caught her watching him. “Ran

out of lollipops,” he said, and she thought that was the

most bizarre thing she’d ever heard.

Tipping back his head, he bared the strong column

of his throat, and she watched the movements as he

swallowed, downing the glass of sugar water, cloudy

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white. Her teeth hurt just watching him. She wanted to

ask him why he was doing that but, again, her thoughts

faded to black.

The next time she roused, she climbed out of the

dream as though she were hauling herself out of a

sucking bog, the last tendrils clinging to her, refusing

to let her go. A final surge and she opened her eyes and

knew exactly where she was: in her bed, in her room,

cream walls and rich, warm-honey wood floors, and

her own pillows, fluffy and full.

The curtains were drawn, the air stale.

She wanted light. She wanted a breeze and the smell

of the outdoors.

She wanted to know what the hell had happened and

how long she’d been out of it.

“You’re awake.”

She turned her head and found him lounging in the

doorway, one shoulder propped against the frame, arms

crossed over his chest. His hair was loose, damp,

falling around his shoulders.

Faded jeans rode low on his hips. He wasn’t wearing

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