Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“Scared, little dove?”
My eyelids jolt open. “Don’t call me that.”
“But it’s what you are.” He smirks.
“You’re annoying. You know that?”
“I might be annoying, but I’m also the guy who has soap.”
He lifts his hand out of the water, and a bar of soap sits in his hand.
“Seriously, is that soap on a rope?”
“What else did you expect in a survival kit?”
“I am in prison, so it makes sense,” I gripe.
He motions his hand around us. “I would hardly call this prison.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Look around you. I have been to prison, and this is not it. This is paradise. Maybe you wouldn’t choose to be here with me, but …”
I lift my brow. “You think.”
“I’m not that bad.”
I shake my head adamantly. “You most certainly are.”
“Admit it, I’m at least easy on the eyes.” Cue the smirk. That damn smirk.
The first time I saw it, I knew it would be a problem, but now? Now, I realize just how big a problem it will be. He’s smirking at me like that when we’re both naked underneath the water. How easy would it be to just cross the divide and lose myself for a bit? To pretend I’m here on vacation with someone I want and desire. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and he is not that person for me. No matter how good-looking he is.
“See? Case in point, the arrogance.”
“At least I’ll keep things interesting on this island.”
“Just give me the soap.”
“Say please.”
This man. If I didn’t want the soap so badly, I’d splash him. Or drown him or something. But, alas, I do need that soap. “You’re intolerable.”
“But at least I’m clean.” He chuckles, and just as I’m about to close the distance and throttle him, he reaches his hand out.
I take the soap before he can change his mind.
Then I wipe off the past few days. With each pass, I feel cleaner.
But as he stares at me, hair slicked back, tattoos showing, I fight the urge to bite my lip.
There is no amount of soap to wash away the impure thoughts running through my mind right now.
And that will be a problem.
It isn’t long until we are back at the beach. I’m not sure if we’ll camp out here again, or if we’ll set up camp further inland.
Alaric must read my mind because he unties the raft.
“It’s too heavy to drag it.”
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“If you help me, we can drag it further away.”
“To do what?”
“Sleep on it.”
“You want us to sleep in that … together?”
“I know I should have thought of it last night, but I was too tired. But seeing as we don’t have any other option, I figured there’s no reason for us to sleep on the sand again.”
I look at him and then at the tree where I rested yesterday.
But as much I want to say okay, I can’t. My damn pride is still getting the best of me.
“I’m okay over here.”
He lifts a brow. “You sure? The wind is picking up. You might get cold.”
“And I’ll be warmed by you?”
His lip tips up. “Body heat. Plus, I do have the blanket,” he teases.
“I’m sure that’s what you tell all the girls you want to lie with on a tiny raft.”
“It’s hardly tiny. It can comfortably fit six.”
“Whatever you say, dude.”
“If you aren’t going to sit with me, then at least take this.” He throws a protein bar at me. By my calculations, we will run out of these bad boys by tomorrow.
As if reading my mind, he opens his mouth. “I’m going to fish tomorrow.”
“You know how to fish?”
He gives me a look that says, Are you kidding me?
“Of course, you know how to fish. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t get you to shut up.”
“Ass.”
At that insult, I turn from him and eat the protein bar. This time, I take tiny bites while drinking the remaining water to get fuller faster.
It’s not long before I hear the familiar sound of a fire crackling and the smell filters around me. I wrap my arms tighter around myself. He was right; the temperature is dipping and rather fast. It will be fine. Sooner rather than later, I’ll fall asleep, and I won’t notice the cold. Or at least that’s what I hope as I close my eyes and will myself to bed.
Time must pass, but I’m having no such luck on the sleeping front. I’m still wide-awake and freezing my ass off. I turn toward Alaric, the still roaring fire a foot from where he’s lying on the raft. He wasn’t lying when he said it wasn’t tiny. It’s actually pretty big, and I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought to sleep in it. If I went over there, he’d probably never know. Maybe I could just sit there long enough to get warm, and then once I am, I can find another tree, maybe one a little closer to sleep under.