Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
His nod was severe.
Oh, that was good. That was great.
But…
My head throbbed so bad I whimpered. The urge to throw up right there, but I’d already thrown up everything I had in me. I couldn’t even summon tears now, I was so dehydrated. But the part that concerned me the most was that I wasn’t hungry or thirsty either.
“Tell me something,” The Defender said quietly.
I made a noise to tell him to go ahead.
It seemed like it took him a second to pick out his words. “Why would you risk your life to save me? Why didn’t you leave like you said you would?”
Oh. He remembered. I tried to shrug but closed my eyes instead. “I only said I’d leave if someone was coming for you. I’ve never wanted anyone to get hurt because of me. I’m not going to let you suffer for it.” It was that easy.
There was a huff, and if I hadn’t been so tired, I might have peeked at him.
“Go back to sleep. Stop being sick,” he demanded after a moment in that gruff, bossy voice that still hinted at irritation.
Oh how the tables had turned.
I needed to stop feeling so bad, sure, but I had a feeling I was running out of time.
We both were.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
I groaned at the feel of something damp touching my forehead.
More than touching it, pressing down on it.
Moaning, I peered up at the frown hovering above me. I must have fallen asleep at some point. The last thing I remembered was gagging after telling him I wasn’t feeling well.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, my voice hoarse as hell. Just when I’d thought I couldn’t possibly feel worse, my body said check this shit out.
And I was checking it out. I was checking it out big-time.
The superbeing rolled his eyes. “Trying to cool you down. What does it look like?”
If I’d been worried he’d been body snatched, I could live at peace now.
“I don’t know. It isn’t every day I wake up to someone in my face.” Honestly though, for one microsecond, I’d thought he was planning on playing tonsil hockey in revenge.
The gorgeous man still hovering over me huffed. “I’m trying to keep you alive.”
When he put it like that, I felt like a jerk. “Thank you.” I winced at how much my swallow burned. “I’m not trying to be ungrateful. I just feel so shitty, and you surprised me.” I sniffled. “You keep surprising me.” That was the understatement of the century.
That perfect face went a little funny.
I tried to smile at him, but my cheeks felt like they’d been pinched to hell. “Thank you,” I repeated, “for trying to help me.”
He blinked. His gaze moved from my eyes to my chin and lingered on my shirt. On the shirt I’d given him, the one with Hello Kitty on it. Then, just as slowly, those purple eyes swept their way back up, and I don’t think I imagined that his voice got a little quieter as he said, totally serious, “I’ve never taken care of anything.”
Oh.
“I’ve never been around anyone this sick,” he admitted just as low.
But here he was.
Moving my hand from where I’d had it on my stomach, I set it between my breasts. The shirt was damp. I was sticky.
“You’re still running a fever.” The Defender kept staring at me with those intense, incredible eyes. “Is this the right thing to do to bring it down?”
“Mm-hmm,” I answered with a wince.
A notch formed between two thick, dark eyebrows. “How do you feel?”
I tried to laugh and automatically regretted it. “Like shit.”
The Defender sighed and got up, walking… normal.
He’d gotten up effortlessly, no huffing, no puffing, no struggling at all. I kept watching as he headed to the sink and turned it on. I was only a little surprised when he turned around, hands cupped together, and made his way back, pausing right beside me. He raised an eyebrow, and somehow, I knew exactly what he wanted.
I opened my mouth, and he poured the small amount of water into it.
I licked my lips, my mouth so damn dry.
He blinked, and I watched his lips go tight before he bent over and…
“What are you doing?” I croaked just as he slipped an arm under my knees and another across my shoulder blades, lifting me effortlessly. “Don’t hurt your back!”
The Defender didn’t look at me as he said, “It’s fine now.”
It was?
He walked us over to the sink, the side of my body pressed against the front of his, and slowly lowered me to my feet, keeping an arm around my lower back as he turned the tap on with his other hand. “Drink,” he ordered. “I’ve got you.”
He… did?
I coughed and ducked down, sticking my mouth right beside the sink. I ignored the way my heart started beating faster at the idea of that water touching more than just my mouth and how bad my legs were shaking. I drank as much as I could, until my throat hurt even more than it already did.