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)
Icy tendrils of fear fill my body as I realize I’m much farther away than I imagined.
The water has been pulling me out to sea.
In my haste to get away, I have done just that.
I start to swim, kicking strongly, but no matter how much I kick, it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I kick harder and harder. But no matter how much I do, it’s as if I’m stuck.
Adrenaline floods through my veins at the precarious situation I’ve placed myself in.
What am I going to do?
As my arms work to push me forward, an endless stream of what ifs plague my brain, making me panic.
I can’t freak out.
I have to push these morbid thoughts away.
They won’t help me now.
I could call for Alaric, scream for help, but it’s no use. He’s too far.
He’s not here to save you this time.
No, I’ll need to save myself.
It wasn’t that long ago that I had found myself in a similar position, but a world of change has happened since then.
I don’t want to give up.
I don’t want to die.
With all the strength I can muster, I push past the riptide. I kick and thrash, and soon, the shore is approaching. By the time my feet hit the sand, I’m done.
My breath comes out in sharp bursts, chest rising frantically to inflate.
I hear the sound of his screams first, but my eyes are closed from the exertion. My naked body now lies on the sand. Strong arms lift me, cradle me to a firm, warm chest.
I should be cold, but the hands touching me set me ablaze.
“What the hell were you doing out there? Are you insane? I told you yesterday not to go into the ocean alone.”
I don’t answer, too tired from the fight to make it back to shore.
I know I should tell him to put me down, but I don’t. I allow him to hold me. To keep me warm and safe.
He sits by the fire, and I’m happy it’s still lit from before.
My teeth chatter, more from nerves than anything.
When he starts to rock me, I can feel the tears forming behind my eyelids.
He’s comforting me. This strange and beautiful man, who I should hate and who should hate me in return, is picking up the pieces I broke on the beach and putting them back together.
“You’re okay,” he says, and I let out the sob lodged in my throat. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re safe.”
More tears pour out of me. This isn’t about the water or the riptide. It’s about the island, the fear. I haven’t allowed myself to stop. Pushing to find food. Pushing to survive. But when it all sinks in, I feel like I’m drowning in my own grief.
“I have you.”
“But who’s got you?” I ask, tipping my head up for our eyes to meet.
“I was hoping you,” he responds, but this time, there is no humor in his tone. I continue to look at him, searching for something, but all I see is loneliness. Fear. Feelings that mirror my own.
Neither one of us speaks as my body dries. Not even when it becomes painfully obvious that I’m naked in his arms.
Not when he places a soft and gentle kiss on my forehead and then on the lids of my eyes that have now closed.
“Rest. I have you.”
28
Alaric
Once she’s asleep, I continue to hold her in my arms.
I wait for her breathing to level out, so I know she won’t wake up.
With careful precision, I lay her flat on the raft before I stand to get her clothes from the grass beside the sand. When I make my way back over to her, I realize just how hard dressing her will be.
Instead of even trying, I lift my own shirt over my head and move to place that on her body. Because of the size and how tiny she is in comparison, it’s easy to maneuver it on her. Then I place the blanket on top of her. She’s been difficult about using my blanket, but now, deep in slumber, she has no choice. She can no longer be stubborn.
With her body covered, I take the spot beside her. I spend the next few hours staring out into the horizon and thinking. My thoughts are of the past and what the future will bring. If I’ll even have a future.
Before long the sun sets, and when the sky turns dark, I recline back and look up to the stars.
When I saw her, I thought she was hurt again.
But unlike the previous time, my heart stopped.
I don’t know when she did it, but Phoenix flew right into my chest, making a nest for herself.
I’m not sure when that happened, but I care about her. It would be easy to say it’s just lust. Because let’s be honest, she’s gorgeous, but it’s more than that.