Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

213. Olivia - Gifts IV

My eyes fill with tears.

Mother and daughter finally reunited.

The two horses almost look alike. If not for the white spots all over Speckles' back, she would be identical to her filly, who is all black.

"Can I?" I ask, wanting to get close to the stall.

"Just a few more steps. The filly arrived today and Speckles might be a bit overprotective with her."

I nod. "I understand. I would be the same if... I was... in her position." Looking at Ansel, I ask, "How did you find her?"

"Through the family of her old owner. But the fucking bastards didn't want to let her go without a substantial amount of money, so I had Rin help me convince them to give her to us without much fuss."

Ansel means that he and Rin tortured that poor family. Typical of the Lords. But on the other hand, it made Speckles happy. "I hope you did pay them something."

"They are lucky we let them conserve their lives after they took pleasure in abusing animals. Speckles wasn't the only one," Ansel lets me know.

the right thing." While I would love to spend hours in here watching the horses,

thing," Ansel says.

goes to Mose, then to Jasper, and lastly, it stops on Ansel's face. "Mine?" I surely heard him wrong. Who in their right mind would give me something so... so... so...

expensive gift, but when it comes to horses, I can't say no.

you, we would not have known about the filly. I still don't understand how

I'm about to cry and I throw myself into Ansel's arms. I still can't

to know I brought some joy to your

wrong. I do

want to enjoy simple things before I die? Not that a filly is a

sure to spend time with her as

feelings, yet seconds pass, and nothing happens. Could the bond with Ansel protect me? But when he made love to me, we were already bonded, and the pain was so intense I fainted. Could it be that the bond was too fresh? So many questions swarm inside my head, but I have no one to ask

kiss Ansel before hugging Jasper. "You will have to show me how

when he embraces me, he always ends up lifting me up from the ground.

little,"

to me, you are,"

my arms around him. "I thought the perfect surprise didn't exist. Until now." Mose grabs my face between his palms, his brown eyes staring into mine. "Jasper was right. You do have stars in your eyes." What

keep my eyes open I want to give Jasper and Mose what they want a bond. It might not be something that I want, but them doing such a nice gesture to me deserves to be rewarded. It's more than a nice gesture.