Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
She glanced up at his face. Ordinarily, when Draden spoke, he sounded matter-of-fact. Casual even, no matter the subject. Without him being aware, animation had slipped in. His face lit up. That face that was unbelievably handsome was even more so.
“You obviously love the swamp.”
He nodded. “I have real freedom there. I can run when I have to, and I can just take a boat on the river and there’s peace, Shylah. Such peace. I could see us there. A house, the pier. Right on the river. Which means we’d have to contend with flooding, but every day we’d have that beauty.”
Her heart turned over. He’d included her, and he didn’t make a thing of it. He just made her feel like she was that important to him.
“What’s the weather like there?”
“Like this, actually. Hot and humid. Thunderstorms. Wild lightning. The occasional hurricane.” He grinned down at her, and for the first time, he looked very young. A mischievous boy up to no good, inviting her to participate with him.
“I do like storms. And hot and humid. I’ve never actually been near a hurricane and I think I’d prefer to keep it that way. I’m going to make a run for it if one comes our way.” She entered into the fun of sharing his world. She’d never be there in person, but she’d have this with him. It would have to be enough. She refused to feel sorry for herself when she’d made the choice.
They walked up the stairs to the ranger’s cabin together. Brushing up against Draden as he lifted his foot to take the next stair, she felt a tremor run through his body. It was barely there, but she was acutely tuned to him, aware of his every movement, his every response.
She slipped her arm around his waist. She didn’t look it, but she was incredibly strong, strong enough to lend a little of that strength to him without being obvious about it. She did it casually and leaned into him just a little, gripping his belt as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. Draden did small things that tipped her off to the fact that he was protective of her. He wouldn’t like her to see weakness in him.
“I know what you’re doing.”
She burst out laughing. “So much for being sneaky. And I thought I was so clever.” But she didn’t let go of his belt and she didn’t pull away.
He tugged open the door and indicated for her to go ahead of him. She did what she always did. She scented the air and checked to make certain the few lines of silk hadn’t been broken. She had them at each window, the front door and back. Those were her alarms. No one would notice a few random spiderwebs.
While she ascertained the webs were intact, she took advantage of the genetic code of a large cat Whitney had edited into her DNA to ensure no one had gotten past her first alarm. The fine hairs on her body read the air, sending her information the way the whiskers on a cat would. It was habit to check and recheck. That was what kept her alive. She used every sense to try to discover an enemy. Only when she was positive no one had entered the ranger’s cabin in their absence, did she step inside and help him over to the bed.
Draden sank down onto it. “Thanks. My head is hurting like a son of a bitch.”
Shylah frowned. “What does that mean? ‘Hurting like a son of a bitch.’ I don’t understand. That’s like saying ‘break a leg’ to someone about to perform. It doesn’t make sense.” Her frown instantly turned to laughter. “I drove Whitney so crazy when he would try to explain that kind of thing to me. If it didn’t make sense, there was no explanation.” She tried hard not to see that he was running a temperature. She didn’t want him to be sick.
Draden started to untie his boots, and Shylah, heart pounding, crouched down to do it for him. She ignored his resistance and kept talking, acting like they were an old married couple and she’d been taking his boots on and off for years.
“When I realized it made him nuts that I couldn’t get it when he used idiotic sayings, I really refused to understand them. He goes ballistic if you challenge him. I did on more than one occasion.”
Draden gave up trying to push her hands away. He sat straight and stared down at her. His blue eyes were vivid and seemed to see right through her. She kept her head down after the initial glance up. She was feeling too warm. Her body not quite her own. That made her uneasy and very nervous. She could handle any enemy, no matter what form it might take, but the things she felt for Draden were new and unsettling.