Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
My heart leaps into my throat. I stop breathing.
"What kind of situation?"
"Trauma patient," the voice calls back over the radio. "He fell down a ravine. It's not looking good."
No. God, no.
"Fuck," Deputy Hendrickson says, switching off the radio as I collapse to my knees. He jumps to his feet, rushing toward me as my world caves in around me, threatening to destroy me entirely.
"Atlas," I sob, choking on his name. Choking for air, and on shame, guilt, and regret. They swarm me from all sides, freezing the blood in my veins. Threatening to freeze me from the inside out.
This is all my fault. All of it.
"Gabbi!"
I curl in on myself, grasping for memories of Atlas, anything to sustain me. Anything to keep me from having to face reality.
"Temptation!"
I hear his voice echoing in my mind. See his little boy smirk dancing behind my eyes.
"Temptation!"
"What the fuck?" Deputy Hendrickson says from beside me, threatening to pull me back into reality.
I squeeze my eyes closed, reaching deeper for memories of Atlas.
"Temptation, where are you?"
His voice grows stronger in my mind as I sink deeper into some place only he can reach.
"Who the fuck is Temptation?" Hendrickson asks.
I snap my eyes open to tell him to stop talking and leave me alone. My mouth is open to spit the venomous words at him when what he said sinks in. He heard the same thing I did.
"Atlas?" I scramble to my feet, afraid to hope. Afraid to breathe. "Atlas?"
"Temptation!"
The shards of ice freezing in my veins crack and fall away.
"Atlas!" I yell, already racing toward the sound of his voice. "Atlas, I'm here!"
"Gabbi!"
I fly out onto the road, praying I'm not imagining things. That he really is out there, shouting for me.
As soon as I catch sight of him stumbling up the road, I know this isn't my imagination. That Atlas is naked, firelight a nimbus around him as he hovers over me exactly like last night. This one is sweat and pale, one side of his face covered in dried blood.
He's really here.
I race toward him, sobbing as he roars my name, relief coloring his tone this time. My feet fly across the ground, bringing me closer to the man of my dreams and my future.
I barely stop in front of him before he's got his arms around me, dragging me up against his chest.
"Thank you, God," he breathes, crushing me against him as a tremor works its way through him. "Thank you, God."
"You're here," I sob, clinging to him, crying all over him. "You're really here."
"You're damn right I'm here," he growls. "Not a fucking thing on this earth is taking me from you, Temptation. Not one."
I burrow into him, bawling like a freaking baby. "I love you. I love you. I'm never letting you go ahead."
He tips my head back with a finger beneath my chin, his eyes meeting mine. "So does this mean you're marrying me then?"
Chapter Fourteen
Atlas
Getting knocked out by a collapsing porch isn't an event I care to repeat. It's not one I recommend either. But having my sweet little Temptation nursing me back to health almost makes it worth it.
CTs at the hospital show a minor brain bleed. It's serious enough for the doctor to refuse to release me. I spend the night in the most uncomfortable bed with Gabbi by my side. By mid afternoon the next day, Jordan has us on a flight back to Silver Spoon Falls and the hospital there.
Gabbi doesn't even go home. She refuses to budge from my room until I do. We spend three days in the hospital before Doc Jessup is comfortable enough to release me.
My little Temptation frets over the fact that the season is officially over for me. She feels guilty, as if it's somehow her fault. But I don't give a flying fuck about the season. I spent an afternoon in hell, terrified I'd lose her.
After facing that, giving up hockey for a while is a small thing. The team tries to visit me, but Gabbi ends up kicking them out after half an hour when I try to climb from the bed to strangle Colter.
She's a fierce little dragon. They file out, suitably chastised for acting up in a hospital.
"Marry her," Colter hisses at me on the way out the door. "She's a bad ass."
As if I need him to tell me that. I know exactly how strong she is. She saved my life out there, and risked her own to ensure I had every chance to live. I saw the rubble from the porch. I saw the litter she made. I know exactly how hard she fought for me.
I'll spend every day of the rest of my life worshipping at her feet because of it. Because this sweet little Temptation loved me enough to risk everything for me. I'm still mad as hell about that. Her life and safety always come before my own. But I'm grateful as hell too.