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)
I watch him for a minute. The way his chest rises and falls, I’m sure he’s asleep. If I go there, he’ll never know. I just have to move before he gets up.
That won’t be hard. I just won’t close my eyes. Making sure I don’t make a sound, I stand from where I’m sitting and head over. I step over it, redistributing my weight so as not to wake him, and take a seat closest to the fire. It feels so good. Much better than the other location. My teeth stop chattering, and I want to inhale deeply, but don’t dare.
That’s when I hear it.
A chuckle.
A chuckle coming from what I thought was a sleeping Alaric.
Goddammit, he tricked me.
I go to stand, but then I feel it. His hand touching my skin. The pads of his fingers warm on my flesh.
“Don’t,” he says, and I look down to where he touches me, a million goosebumps erupting at the contact. “Just sleep.”
I should move, but with the warmth emanating, I can’t help but obey.
24
Alaric
It’s official. She is the most stubborn woman I have ever met in my life. Without a doubt, she is probably the most stubborn person in the world.
Which, if you really think about it, is kind of admirable. To be the best at something. Even if it’s the most annoying thing in the world.
When I opened my eyes this morning, she had moved from her spot on the opposite side of the raft to right beside me. She had curled up next to me. While asleep, her body must have sought my heat. I watch as she dreams, her breathing soft and peaceful.
She looks gorgeous in the morning. Not that she’s not always beautiful, but now, in a deep sleep, her face is peaceful. There are no frowns and scowls present.
When I look at her, I don’t see hate, anger, and the many ways she wants to kill me.
I see a girl I have never seen before. A girl in another life. If we were different people, I might be interested in getting to know her.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. She’s my enemy’s daughter, sent in to infiltrate my life.
Not a woman I can mess around with.
But as my eyes skate across the distance, I realize I can’t think of her as that here on this island. Here, we have to be allies. If we ever collect enough supplies to leave, we have to work together.
I’m still hopeful someone will find us, but with each day that passes, that hope diminishes more and more. There is no denying the reality of our situation.
Revenge doesn’t seem nearly as important as it once did.
Instead of waking her, I decide to slowly move from where our bodies are touching to start my day.
I’ll let her rest.
My movements, however, have the opposite effect because she jumps up, eyes wild as she takes in her proximity to me.
Leg still entwined with mine, she sits up and moves away.
“Morning,” I say. She scowls at me, but it just makes me chuckle. Sleeping, her body found mine, but now with her mind awake, she’s backpedaling.
“Comfy?” I jest. “You slept well, wrapped in my arms.”
I’m not sure why teasing her is so entertaining, but when there’s not much else to do, I guess we have to get our excitement somewhere.
She stands abruptly and leaves our makeshift raft bed. I watch as a furious Phoenix rifles through the bag to get the toothpaste, all while glaring at me.
I want to laugh at how absurd this is, but something tells me she will throw that container in my face. Literally.
“Brush your teeth and do your business. We leave once you’re done.”
“What’s on the agenda today? Fancy lunch?” she mocks.
“One, we hunt for food. Two, we are going to look for anything edible.”
As it is, we won’t last much longer without an alternative food source.
“What about the raft?” she asks, her cheeks pinched in.
“In order for us to get on the raft, we need to have at least enough food and water to last a week. We also need to find wood to make oars. Without a way to push past the tide, we will get nowhere fast.”
She takes a deep, lengthy breath. “Do we really have any chance?”
“There’s always a chance. But we need to get ahead of it while we still have the protein bars. Right now, that’s our only source of energy. We won’t be able to hunt and gather once it’s gone.”
“Then let’s get to it,” I hear her say, and then she’s behind a tree doing what she needs to do.
Unlike her, I don’t need to hide behind a tree to do my business. Instead, like the asshole I am, I whip my shit out and pee on the palm tree.
“Wow. Seriously?”
She sounds annoyed. Which I kind of understand, since I did pee on her tree. “You couldn’t hide that shit.”