Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
It was strange being able to feel that, know that the water equaled the extra chill in the air.
She picked up on some phrases and words over the last few days, knew basic things, and realized that the language he spoke, although different from the Norwegian she studied, wasn’t completely foreign. Some of the words were different yet similar enough, and she pieced them together and figured out what he meant.
He had a few pieces of pork on a slab of metal and moved it over to the fire to place it on the flames. The scent of cooking meat, the aroma of bacon, filled her nose and had her belly twisting in hunger.
“I want to go outside, get some fresh air.” She pointed to the door. “Outside.” Then she pointed to herself. “Me, Agata.”
He didn’t respond, just continued to move the meat, cooking both sides, grabbing a few potatoes, and tossing them right on the flames.
She wracked her brain for the words she learned in the short time she’d been here. The vocabulary was very limited, but she finally remembered some of the words he’d understand.
“Sol. Uti.” Damn, was she even saying that right? She said, or meant to at least, “sun” and “outside”. She couldn’t put the words together, but she hoped he’d understand easily enough.
He set the small knife down and looked at her. For several seconds, he didn’t say anything, but then stood, unhooked the chain from her ankle, and grabbed her hand. He led her outside, and the sun, which was just starting to set, blinded her momentarily as it pierced through a space in the trees.
The air was cold, and she wrapped her arms around her waist. Stian pulled her close, had his arm around her shoulders, and his body heat engulfed her. The air felt nice on her face, and even if she’d felt it through the windows in the hut, there was something different about having it wash around her.
Glancing in each direction, she tried to seem like she was just looking around at the scenery, but in fact she was trying to remember which way she’d gone for the town.
The problem was she couldn’t remember because the feeling of his penetrating stare on her was unnerving. Rubbing her sweaty palms on her thighs, she glanced at him.
“Vat?” Water. She pointed into the trees and wracked her mind for the word for sea, but she couldn’t think. He didn’t move, didn’t even speak for several seconds, then tilted his chin toward the left, and she headed that way. He was close behind; she could feel him, sense him.
When the trees parted about five minutes after they started walking, she felt her eyes widen at the sight in front of her. Just down a small decline was the shore of a wondrous body of water.
Agata couldn’t see past the large mountains that lined either side and because the water curved toward the right, but she assumed this was a sea. The waves brushed along the rocky beach, and she took a step closer, only to be pulled back by Stian.
“Haksi vonki, konna.”
She understood the dangerous part, because in her time with him, he drilled that word into her. But she couldn’t understand the other section. Maybe there were animals, or even the villagers were dangerous? “I wish I knew what in the hell is going on, what you’re saying, and where I am.” Facing him again, she started to head back to the hut, knowing he’d follow. She just knew he’d always follow.
When they were back at his home, she looked around, really taking in everything, categorizing all the details that were out in the open. So the water was to her left, and presumably the village might be to her right, but she wasn’t sure about that.
This was going to be tricky, and getting away from Stian would be hard, but she had to try.
If she didn’t, she’d never know what the hell happened to her. She needed to leave this place, and surviving this situation was of utmost importance. This wasn’t her home, wasn’t where she was supposed to be, even if her body heated whenever Stian looked at her.
She moved back into the hut and went over to the pallet. They’d be sleeping soon, and although she hated knowing he made her sleep beside him, wrapped in his thickly corded and muscular body, there was also a part, maybe even a sick and deranged one, that liked the feeling of his big body holding her tight.
He wanted her, and that was clear by his actions and the fact that he always seemed to have a hard-on.
She spotted her purse tucked in the corner. She was pleased he grabbed it, and it was the first time she’d seen something familiar in this new world. Feeling this little bubble of elation fill her, she grabbed for it and opened the zipper.