Read The Golden Desires Online
Authors: Ann M Pratley
The Golden Desires (24 page)
"
Adrian
?
What are you doing here? And who is that man?" she asked, her confusion
evident to everyone, and everyone found it to be real.
The
ancient walked forward until he stood directly before Kat, and before everyone
he closed his eyes and seemed to focus solely on her, trying to find any trace
of whatever it was that had consumed her.
Finally
he smiled at her and held out his hands to take hers in his.
"Kat,
I am Elder Rhys, and I am an ancient. You are feeling confused now but rest
assured, all is as it should be."
Kat
let the old man hold her hands and felt a level of trust emanate from him so
relaxed.
"Kat
will be well," he said, smiling as he walked away from all of them,
seemingly confident that there was nothing more to fear.
Trent
approached Isabella and put his arms around her
protectively, and she welcomed the feeling of safety that came from the action.
But she stood where she was and watched as
Adrian
slowly moved
forward, uncertain what had happened or where he stood with Kat now.
"
Adrian
.
I do not feel like myself at all and I do not think I am ready to go through
the pairing yet. I am sorry…" she started to say and Isabella saw a look
of relief come over him in realisation that she might not remember all that had
happened in the build up to this moment in time.
He
smiled at her fondly and moved to put his arms around her.
"Do
not speak of that now, Kat. I shall walk you home and you must rest," he
said softly and she nodded, the high level of confusion still greatly evident
on her face.
As
if understanding the same need to test, Adrian and Isabella walked toward each
other and put their arms around each other, holding each other tightly, before
looking at Kat to see if there was any reaction to it, but she only smiled
sadly at them, and Adrian placed his hand on her arm and led her out of the
temple.
Trent
turned Isabella around and held her firmly
against his chest. She felt exhausted all of a sudden, and leaned against him
happily.
Aware
that a feeling was missing, she placed her hand on her belly but felt nothing.
"It
is gone,
Trent
," she said sadly and immediately felt his
hand touch her also.
"It
was not our child, Isabella. It was something else - something wonderful inside
of you that was needed for you to save us."
"Yes.
But what of our child?" she asked, feeling a great sadness that registered
as a sense of loss, but he only smiled brilliantly at her.
"Well
now we have to keep on trying, don't we," he said with a very suggestive
grin on his face, and she laughed at him and kissed him.
"Take
me home," she whispered and he leaned into her ear.
"Gladly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To
be continued in
The
Golden Supremacy
(Book
2 in The Golden Desires Series)
Thank
you so much for reading my book, 'The Golden Desires'. I greatly enjoyed
writing this story and I appreciate your enthusiasm for reading it.
If you
enjoyed 'The Golden Desires', I hope you will consider taking a moment to place
a review in Amazon.
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interested in receiving up to date details of freebies, price drops and new
releases, please
contact me
via my website
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Thank
you,
(TOTAL
FREEDOM SERIES - BOOK #1)
By Ann M Pratley
The
Drabs, that's what we had been known as, as a band in our home town of
Dunedin
,
New Zealand
. We weren't the greatest band and only played a
couple of original songs, but we were happy doing what we were doing and over
time the crowds did seem to come to love us. That was back in the days of what
seemed to be equally the best and worst time of my life. Things have changed so
much since then.
When
I was 14 years old I attended high school like any other 14 year old, I dressed
like any other 14 year old, and I got abused like any other overweight 14 year
old - and like too many 14 year olds, I couldn't handle the abuse and as a
result I let myself go and believed every word of what I was told. No friends,
fat, ugly and totally useless - that's what I was told by people all around me
and that was what I became.
Even
as a teenager I was well aware of the concept of nutrition and weight
maintenance, but day after day everything just felt painful, like just getting
through each day was work for me. Like no matter how hard I searched, I just
couldn't find where or who I was meant to be. And I became used to using food
as my therapy - when I ate, I felt a comfort, like it was the one thing that
never hurt me.
Through
that period I fell into a comfort zone visiting a local café that sold a wide
plethora of foods - nutritious and not so nutritious, but I naturally veered
toward the latter. Friends were non-existent to me - in my universe I was a
nobody who no-one else ever even noticed.
But
one day, walking into my favourite café, something changed. Sitting in there
was someone who I noticed and who immediately captured my attention because
they were also alone, and looking like they were as miserable as I was day
after day. Immediately my feelings didn't seem quite so important - but his
did.
Approaching
him I didn't feel the usual nervousness or anxiety that I did when
contemplating saying hello to someone new. This person had such a look of
despair and unhappiness that it actually felt natural for me to approach him
and ask if I could sit with him. When he looked up he had such a look of
surprise, but stammered out a quiet 'okay'.
After
I sat down in front of him, I could see that he wasn't far away from my own
age, but I had never seen him before. He looked at me with such intensity in
his eyes, periodically removing his eyes from my gaze as if he were not only
shy but also extremely uncomfortable talking to people.
"Are
you okay?" I asked him, without even introducing myself. "You look …
unhappy."
He
looked utterly confused, like it was a completely new experience, having
someone ask him anything. But he then seemed to find some core strength as I
saw him take a deep breath, as if summoning a hidden inner confidence, and hold
out his hand.
"I'm
Craig," his quiet voice said with a level of doubt in it that made me
think that it was a natural thing for him to expect someone at this point to
turn and walk away.
I
held my hand out and shook his briefly, suddenly feeling strange at this new
thing happening - someone was shaking my hand? I couldn't remember when even
either of my parents had touched me.
"I'm
Debbie," I replied, embracing this moment of physical connection with
another human being, and not rushing to remove my hand.
We
looked at each other, not saying anything, perhaps both understanding in that
moment that we were enough alike - enough able to understand exactly where each
other was right in this moment in our thinking and our lives - that a
friendship was about to be formed. Something we both were so unfamiliar with.
UPCOMING RELEASE: TOTAL NEW
BEGINNINGS
(TOTAL
FREEDOM SERIES - BOOK #2)
By Ann M Pratley
She made a choice when she was young - a choice
that she went on to question throughout her adult life to date. Twenty years
on, the opportunity to revisit that decision appears before her and she is left
to consider what is right.
But in and around this opportunity for decision
review, she learns things about her husband that push her to question the
soundness of his mind, and wonder why he had ever married her.
A chance to start over, choosing this time to go
down the path previously unselected … if we could go back and do it over, would
we really make the different choice after all?
INTRODUCING:
CRUISING
THROUGH TO FULFILMENT
By Ann M Pratley
When a
young woman from a small town in
New
Zealand
travels to
Vancouver
to see the sights and go on a luxury cruise through the waters of
Alaska
,
all she wishes for is that - a holiday.
On
board the Glacial Sun, Tanya meets new friends, one of whom will become more,
using his charm and good looks to win her heart. But once on land the discovery
of a dead body close to her hotel will make her question the goodness of the
person she has let herself trust, and wonder if there is a darker side to him.
All
she wants is to find is long term love and life fulfilment. How hard can that
be?
INTRODUCING:
PAINFUL
DELIVERANCE
(PAINFUL
DELIVERANCE SERIES - BOOK #1)
By Ann M Pratley
She
just wasn't made to inflict pain.
She
knows it is nothing abnormal. She knows others enjoy it. But with every new
level of pain he directs her to deliver to him, Alexis feels another piece of
her soul die. He has wealth and he has power, and she knows he won't easily let
her go.
But
she has to leave. Escape. Move on. Forget. She has reached her limit of what
she can do. The plans are in place to get away. She just has to hope that
wherever she goes - whoever she meets - she won't find herself in exactly the
same situation again.
(PAINFUL
DELIVERANCE SERIES - BOOK #2)
By Ann M Pratley
She
thought he'd stopped looking. He hadn't.
She
got away from him to start a new life. She moved on. But in his mind, he still
loves her and needs her. He still believes that she loves him. That she is
meant to be his. That he is meant to be hers.
He
will not give up searching for her. He will not give up fighting for her. He
will pursue her and stop at nothing to get her back. But it will come at a cost
… a sacrifice much greater than he will see coming. A sacrifice that will
finally wake him up and bring him back to stark reality.
INTRODUCING:
FRIENDSHIP OF DESIRE
(PAINFUL
DELIVERANCE SERIES - BOOK #3)
By Ann M Pratley
Tom
and Samantha. Feisty friends from childhood who feel like they know each other
inside out, until the day comes when one of them suggests they go to a BDSM
club together, and become formal play partners. Pushing the limits of what each
of them can individually stand in their lifelong friendship, they attract and
repel like magnets, until the time comes when they must choose how they will relate
to one another - and what kind of relationship they will go on to have in the
future.
Whilst
on this journey of discovery, the two of them meet and make a new friend -
Alexis. A young woman with a hidden and secretive past, and a mystery
surrounding the relationship she has - or has had - with a renowned business
entrepreneur who begins to integrate himself into Samantha's life, unknown to
any of them whether he has done it for him, or for her … or for Alexis, being
the mysterious link from his past.
By Ann M Pratley
After
receiving news from her parents of a possible betrothal, Alessandra, an 18 year
old with an ingrained belief that no-one would ever wish to marry her, finds
herself in a love so great that at times she cannot breathe.
To
marry someone like herself - someone she can go on a sexual journey of learning
and exploration with, who also has no previous experience in such pleasures -
contributes to her finding a degree of emotional and physical love that she has
never before realized could exist.
But
that love will be tested by someone from her past with sinister intentions,
jealous of the physical love she shares with her husband. Someone set on doing
whatever he can do - whatever he
must
do - to have the woman he desires,
no matter the cost.
