Wedlocked

By Erin Aislinn

After ten years of giving Erani the protection of his name in marriage, Farhad must finally fulfill his promise and set her free. It is time for her to make her own decisions and take her rightful place in the world but she refuses to grant him a divorce until he gives her a real wedding night.

• Language: English
• Publisher: House of Erotica
• Release date: Feb 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781849895057

Book preview

Chapter One

The names on the screen blurred. Dates, numbers, amount. Farhad blinked, rubbed his eyes and refocused. He had to do this. He’d postponed it for a week already. For years, even though he had an accountant and a bookkeeper, he’d always kept tabs on the books. How many patients seen that month, how many procedures, how much material used, drug supplies. The software provided a variety of reports he could manipulate backward and forward, but as he followed the lines of data, none of it meant anything.

Erani was gone for good or she was about to be. She’d go off with her boyfriend to his parents’ summer house in Maine and that would be that.

This day had been coming. He’d known it last year. He’d known it for the last ten years, but somehow, he still had hope that something would keep the inevitable from happening. He could no longer deny it. He had to let her go.

Someone banged on the front door. He ignored it. The office closed an hour ago. Once the receptionist left, he never opened the door, to anyone. In an emergency, his cell would have beeped.

The banging resounded again. Farhad glanced at the neat lines of names and figures on the screen spreadsheet. Oh hell. What was the use? He couldn’t concentrate if he staked his last dollar on it. Persistent pounding rattled the door blinds.

I’m coming. I’m coming, he sighed, pushed away from the desk and walked into the corridor. Two exam rooms lined the south office wall. A supply room and two more offices occupied the north wall. He crossed into the reception area and froze.

Erani stood in front of the door. She smiled tentatively, but the smile faded before he could move. God, she was beautiful. The familiar churning weight resettled in his gut. Farhad stuffed it down as he neared the door. He took a deep breath before he unbolted the lock and swung the door open.

What are you doing here? he said. Her big, brown eyes made him the center of her world. He tightened his jaw.

I had to talk to you.

You couldn’t have used the phone? It was good enough for your boyfriend.

Her gaze darted behind him. May I come in?

He stepped aside, catching a whiff of perfume as she brushed past him. That was new. She used a softer scent before, but that was almost a year ago, before she’d left home to join the big, wide world as a freshman at Harvard.

In the middle of the reception area, standing between a sofa and the coffee table covered with neat rows of magazines, Erani faced him. He noticed his breath halt.

I thought you’d be in Maine by now, he accused.

Aunt Dorri told me you know everything. I didn’t know Damian would call her. I told him I wouldn’t do anything without her approval. I couldn’t very well tell him the real reason, could I, but I never would have gone without talking to you first.

You didn’t have to fly all the way from Boston for that.

The muscles in her cheeks twitched. A strange shadow filled her gaze. Yes, I did.

That sweet face. He’d seen it mature over the years under aunt Dorri’s generous care. Lucky for him Dorri hadn’t even flinched when he dropped a 10-year-old Erani at her doorstep and asked her to act as her guardian.

You look tired, Erani said.

Two emergency root canals today. It set me back.

She nodded, but her lips remained set, forming a line around her mouth. "What are you still doing here? I looked for