Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
I squinted at the approaching car.
The SUV slammed to a stop, and the driver’s side door opened. I watched as a big figure jumped out and stopped in place for a second before starting to move again. Forward.
I locked my doors, then squinted again and realized… I knew that body. I recognized those shoulders. That chest. The cap on what was definitely a man’s head.
It was Rhodes.
I wouldn’t remember throwing my own door open, then reaching to grab my shoes and slipping them halfway on before sliding out of my car. But I’d remember hobbling forward with my boots barely hanging on by my toes and watching Rhodes make his way toward me too.
His face was… he looked furious. Why did that make me want to cry?
“Hi,” I called out weakly. Relief shot straight through me. My voice broke in half, and I said the last thing I would have wanted to. “I was so scared—”
Those big, muscular arms wrapped around me, the only thing holding me up, one hand going to palm the back of my head. My hair was wet with sweat—that shit wasn’t rain—but the entire length of his body pressed against mine. There and comforting, and everything I needed then and more.
That entire beefy, hunky body trembled lightly, I faintly noticed. “No more hiking by yourself,” he whispered roughly, so hoarse it scared me. “No more.”
“No more,” I agreed weakly. I shivered once in his arms, supported nearly completely by his frame. “It rained so much, and I don’t know where the fuck those clouds came from, but they were shitheads, and I had to hunker down.”
“I know. I thought something happened.” I was pretty sure he stroked the curve of my head. “I thought you got hurt.”
“I’m okay. Everything hurts, but just because I’m tired and these boots suck. I’m sorry.”
I felt him nod against me. “I came up here as fast as I could when your text came through. I had to go to Aztec and didn’t get service. Amos called me flipping out. He wanted to come, but I made him stay, and now he’s pissed off. I got here as fast as I could.” The hand on the back of my head swept down my spine, palming the small of my back, and there was no way I was imagining the fact he hugged me tight. “Don’t ever do that again, Aurora. Do you hear me? I know you can do this all by yourself, but don’t.”
At this point, I was never going hiking again. Ever. Another shiver shook through my body. “I’m so happy to see you, you have no idea. It was so dark, and I got really scared there for a while,” I admitted, feeling my own body start to tremble.
The hand on my head stroked down, pulling me in so close, I felt like if he could have put me inside of him, he would have.
“You’re fine though? You’re not hurt?” he asked.
“Nothing I won’t get over. Not like last time.” I pressed my cheek against his chest, savoring his warmth. His steadiness. I was fine. I was safe. “Thank you for coming.” I pulled back a little and gave him a small, sheepish smile. “Even though it’d be you they’d send in if I didn’t make it back, huh?”
Rhodes’s face was serious, his pupils wide, as he stared down at me, taking in my features with dark eyes. “I didn’t come because it’s my job.”
Then, before I could react, those arms were around me again, swallowing me up completely. A human cocoon I could have lived in for the rest of my life.
I didn’t imagine the faint tremble that shot through those hard muscles.
And I definitely didn’t imagine the fierce expression he shot me when he pulled back again. His hands moved to settle low on my back. “Are you fine to drive?”
I nodded.
One of those hands moved to squeeze my hip in a way I wasn’t even sure he knew he was doing it as his gaze roamed my face. “Buddy?”
“Hmm?”
“I want you to know… Amos is going to want to kill you.”
That was probably the only thing that could have made me laugh then, and I did. Then I told him the absolute truth. “That’s okay. I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
Chapter 22
Everything hurt.
Literally, every single part of my body ached in some way. From my poor toes that felt like they were bleeding, to my calves that were traumatized, to my exhausted thighs and butt cheeks. If I focused hard enough, my nipples probably hurt too. But it was my hands and forearms that suffered the most on the drive home.
Those one hundred and twenty minutes were spent with me clutching the steering wheel for dear life, holding my breath more often than not.