Years ago, Penn's lover was attacked in the woods, and most think Penn is to blame ... including Penn. Ever since, he's been a prisoner in his home and his mind. When world renowned architect Ewan Parish arrives to construct a secure, enclosed walkway through those woods, Penn is surprised, suspicious, and also fearful.<br><br>Ewan is intrigued by the mysterious, reclusive Penn, his journals, and the beautiful artwork he's drawn, which Ewan recreates in the walkway's iron scrollwork. Determined to free Penn, Ewan sets out to unravel the mystery that has resulted in Penn's imprisonment by his family and conscience all these years.

Penn's Woodland

What should I do? What could I? I heard the yew scrape the fa?ade of the house and figured he was shoving it aside. It all took less time to happen than to tell, and though I went to stand, to hide, I stumbled on legs weak and prickly from arousal and being bent in odd positions. I fell to my knees, my buttocks once again pointed high, this time bare, with my breeches, the only garment I had put on so far that day, more than partway down my legs. I inhaled short and deeply as I imagined for the most fleeting moment Ewan’s bare, positioned just the same. I shook my head wildly, something needed to focus, and when I stopped, when I opened my eyes, there were Ewan’s, staring straight at me.


I held his gaze barely half a second and then I fell backwards, clanging against a porcelain bowl and pitcher, the sound loud enough, I was certain, to be heard throughout the house. The cold of it stayed on my bare back even as I scuttled to rest against the foot of my bed.


Chapter 10