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Category: Romance/Suspense/Thriller
Description: Basilyn hadn't expected to find herself desperately yearning for Dominque, the father of the child she'd been hired to carry, and she certainly had no clue that she'd made a pact with a devil that would turn her world into a nightmare and might well cost her her life. Sensuality:SENSUAL
eBook Publisher: New Concepts Publishing, 2010
eBookwise Release Date: July 2010

69 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [467 KB]
Words: 109149
Reading time: 311-436 min.

Chapter One

Basilyn lifted her head and tossed her dark hair back over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes against the late afternoon sun as she peered across the campus at her destination. The uncomfortable knot in her stomach tightened and her heart gave a couple of skips.

"There's no reason to be nervous. It's just an interview and if they don't want you..they just don't, that's all. No big deal," she admonished herself.

A couple sauntered past, arm in arm, and sent her a curious look. Basilyn bit her lip and dropped her eyes to the frayed toes of her tennis shoes once more, increasing her pace. The ragged knees of her faded blue jeans popped in and out of her vision as she walked, drawing her eyes to them. A sour smile touched her lips. It was a good thing ragged jeans were 'in' these days. Otherwise people might notice she was dirt poor.

Dismissing her appearance, she shifted her text books and glanced at her watch, trying to remember just how fast she'd set it. But, of course, she couldn't. She didn't know how fast she'd set it, because she'd given it a tiny twist without looking at it.

She knew she was definitely going to be late, however. It was already ten after five and she hadn't reached the Medical Center yet. By the time she reached Dr. Chaney's office on the second floor she was bound to be at least ten minutes late.

She was half tempted to just turn around and go home. She wasn't altogether certain she wanted to do this..In fact, she was fairly positive she didn't want to do it. Thing was, she didn't have a heck of a lot of choice. If she could've gotten that grant.... But she hadn't, so there was no point in dwelling on it.

She glanced at her watch again as she stepped off the curb and onto the drive that separated the Medical Center from the campus. What happened next happened so quickly she could never afterwards recall it with any clarity. She heard the roar of a car engine, was blinded by the sun's glare off its gleaming metallic hood and the next moment she had the air snatched from her lungs as something huge and dark flew at her and carried her to the ground. She was too stunned to move for several moments. The man, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere just as the car had, was apparently as stunned as she was by his tackle, for it was several moments before he rolled off her.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked sharply, coming up on his knee and bending over her in concern.

The sun was behind him, throwing him into dark relief. She stared up at him blindly for several moments, fighting to catch her breath, and finally managed a nod. "Yes, I'm alright. I'm not hurt," she got out with a faint grunt, trying to ignore the painful twinges of a dozen blossoming bruises and the burning cut on her tongue where her teeth had grazed it in her fall. She felt like a Mack truck had hit her, but she supposed she would've felt far worse if the car had hit her.

"You're certain?"

She nodded again, struggling upright and looking around worriedly for her books. To her relief she saw that, though they'd been scattered by her fall, they were not, apparently, damaged. "Yes. I'm alright. Thank you," she said a little absently, rolling over onto her knees and reaching to gather up her scattered belongings.

He got to his feet, brushing the grass and dirt from his clothing and finally bending to help her with her task. She snatched the last of her books up just as he reached for it. He straightened. "You're certain you're ok?"

She got to her feet, dusting her own clothes off now. She didn't look at him. "I'm fine, just fine."

His voice was tight with irritation when he spoke again. "You might consider watching where you're going next time."

Her head snapped up, but the sun was still in her eyes and she couldn't see him clearly. She noticed in a rather absent way, however, that he was dressed in a business suit that had probably cost as much as a quarter's tuition, with the text books thrown in. He most definitely wasn't a student. "That car came out of nowhere!" she said defensively.

"They've got a way of doing that on streets," he retorted dryly and glanced at his watch. "If you're certain you're ok ...?"

He scarcely waited for her to repeat herself before he turned and strode quickly towards the Medical Center. She stared after him, tight-lipped. "Thank you again," she called after him as it occurred to her that she'd hardly been gracious considering the man might well have just saved her life.