Wrongfully Claimed

Chapter Nineteen

She could feel the warmth of his breath fanning her skin, the closer he held onto her, sending tremors down her spine before he told her to open her eyes and look at what was in front of her.

Once she did, time managed to stand still for Aurora at that moment, and nothing else mattered anymore. All her worldly worries seemed small and insignificant to her now and she was able to forget who was standing beside her and just take in this beauty all around her.

She found herself standing on the edge of a cliff with nothing but gorgeous panoramic views of picture-blue skies, lush green fields, and valleys that stretched up to as high as the mountain they were standing on, surrounding her.

Because they had been so far away from the ground, the air felt thinner than normal, and her breathing started to become laboured as she took in huge gasps of air.

Being kept in captivity for so long, cooped up in Ryder's house with very little reprieve from the four walls, he'd kept her confined to, had weakened her lungs greatly and she found it difficult to take in all this fresh air and nature around her.

Ryder noticed this right away and stepped towards her, his eyes locked on her like a magnet. He reached out, grabbing her hand as if he instinctively knew she was going to lose her balance, and coaxed her to sit down, which she did without hesitation.

She caught a glimpse of Sebastian out of her peripheral vision, pivoting around the trees, which brought her a sense of peace, despite how closely Ryder was holding her at this moment, and how terrible she was feeling right now. She blamed it on the pregnancy and started to become worried he would pick up on this and try to take her to a doctor.

The thought never occurred to her until now, but what if he did take her to go get checked out and the results came back positive? Naturally, she longed to know what was going on with her body, but the last thing she wanted was for Ryder to find out she had become pregnant with his child. He was never to get a sniff of this and she had to keep it that way.

"You don't look so good," Ryder stated, reaching out and placing his hand on her inner thigh, making her flinch without even realising it." Are you okay? You look very pale; maybe an early night will do you some good. After I get that ring adjusted for you tomorrow, we can always take the scenic route and go hikin' the trails tomorrow once you have had a good night's rest. But first, we need to find a place to sleep for the night before it gets too dark."

"I am fine," she assured him, squinting at the horizon as she took in her surroundings once more, her eyes finding difficulty in adjusting to the sun's harsh rays, piercing through her eyelids for the first time in so long.

Of course, she wasn't alright, but she didn't want to harp on the way she was feeling, so she stiffed up a lip, somberly shook her head, and lied to his face like she always did when she knew had to keep the peace with him.

"I feel fine," she answered him, trying to sound optimistic, so he didn't get the hell in and force them to go back home. How would she escape him then? "I think you are right; an early night will do me the world of good."

Aurora knew the chances of getting away from him in that house were zero to none. At least now that she was back in the outside world, she stood a chance of actually breaking away without him noticing and losing his shit like he always did once he found out, she was attempting to make a run for it.

Being out in the woods meant free roam; big, wide open spaces and plenty of places for her to hide and get away from him. Now all she had to do was wait until it was dark, take the meagre supplies she brought with her, and disappear while he was sleeping.

Before she left she'd remembered to pack a fresh change of clothes she'd brought along with her; a toothbrush and a few cans of peach ice tea that she had taken out of the cooler box, without Ryder even noticing.