Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“Are all storms at sea this bad?” I asked in a small voice as he helped me along the deck, stopping to brace as the boat pitched.
Somehow, he heard me above the crashing waves. “Some, but not all,” he said, and I welcomed his unflinching truthfulness. “The captain has been through worse, as have I. He’s going to steer us around it. It’ll add a little more time to the journey, but it’ll be safer. We’ll be okay.”
I bathed in his unyielding confidence as we made it to our cabin. He ushered me inside. He closed the door behind us before grabbing a large cloth and tossing it on the bed.
“We need to get you out of those clothes before you catch your death of cold,” he said, wasting no time in stripping off my shirt. It wasn’t even remotely sexual. He wasn’t turned on; he was taking care of me.
Heat warmed my heart even as my teeth chattered in the chill of the room.
“What about you?” I asked as he pushed down my pants, and I noticed his wet clothes plastered to his delicious display of muscle.
He wrapped the large towel around my nude body, rubbing away the moisture.
“Don’t worry about me. Here, hold this and I’ll grab more towels.”
I did as he said, drying the damp ends of my hair as I watched him hang up my wet clothes along the pegboard and grab more towels from the chest before returning to me. I shivered as he worked at my legs, blotting between my thighs and around to my butt without lingering. I found myself wishing he would.
“How do you feel?” he asked, peeling the towel away from my upper body just enough to see the continued bruising on my ribs. I closed my eyes as his fingertips gently glanced against my flesh.
“Much better,” I murmured. “The elixir really helped.”
He pulled his hand away and headed to the closet to grab some nightclothes.
“What if we need to swim for it, though?” I asked as he made ready to help me into them. I didn’t mention that I had no idea where we’d swim to.
“We won’t.” There was zero concern in his voice. “We’ll need to brave the rocking of the ship, that’s all. It’ll be a rough afternoon, but if we can hold on to our stomachs, we’ll get through.”
Gods, that confidence was so sexy. Fear still pinged along my nerves with each crashing wave, with each drop of the angry, pelting rain against our small windows.
He tucked me into my soft nightclothes, and I found myself wanting to say I was sorry. Or maybe just cry? Maybe scream. It felt like the storm was shaking something loose, as did the way he so selflessly cared for me right now. It was stripping away the numbness I’d wrapped myself in.
“Thank you,” I said instead, slipping under the covers for a little warmth.
“My pleasure,” he said, and meant it.
He pulled off his shirt and quickly slipped out of his pants. I could see the raised bumps along his skin, showing his chill. He dried himself quickly and shrugged into dry clothes before hanging up his wet items.
“The rest of the pack has already been seen to,” he said. “Now all I have to do is wait it out like everyone else.”
He approached the side of the bed, all business, before slipping in. He didn’t scoot close, respectful of the distance I’d implemented these past few nights. And while I might need it again as I worked through the part he had played in all of this, right now, as my world tilted around me both literally and figuratively, I needed a strong body to hold on to.
Specifically, his strong body.
“My mom crossed an ocean,” I said, reaching for him. I scooted a little closer.
He closed the distance quickly, pulling me onto his chest and breathing me in. His arms wrapped around me tightly, and I issued a sigh of relief, melting against him. Fuck, this felt so good. He felt so good. I hated that we had a muddy history between us. I hated that my mind and body always seemed to be at odds where he was concerned.
“That’s right, I remember you saying that.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest. Even though the ship tilted ever more to the right, the room now at an angle and my heart crawling into my throat, his heartbeat was strong and sure. He, somehow, was not worried. It made me feel a little better.
“She never mentioned a storm, though.” I laid my hand against his warm neck. “She didn’t say much about it at all. I think if I were to tell someone about my crossing, this would be the first thing I mentioned.”
I tilted my face up, grazing my lips against his skin.