Page 53 of Silk Shadow

She sighed. "I think we're past that, don't you?"

He didn't respond, just gazed at her, deep and blue.

She put a hand on his chest. His heart beat slow and steady, not racing like hers. "Please call me Izzy." He had done so in the jungle, when it had meant something.

A flicker of a smile. Another tiny nod. He reached into his pocket. "This belongs to you."

She gasped. "My necklace! How did you?—?"

"I picked it up off the deck of the yacht," he said. "The night you were taken."

"Thank you." She took the pendant and stared at it. "I can't believe you found it."

"You're welcome." He turned away.

Still in a daze, Izzy took herself off to the bathroom. When she got back, Viper was standing topless in the middle of the room, his shirt discarded on the floor. She gazed at his sculpted, godlike torso, unable to peel her eyes away.

"It was covered in blood," he said, by way of explanation.

She nodded and walked past him to the bed. She wore a fluffy robe she'd found hanging behind the bathroom door. It felt blissful after her damp, dirty clothes. "I don't have anything to wear." She gestured to the robe.

"We'll sort something out tomorrow." He strode toward the bathroom, hardly looking at her.

She sighed. This took awkward to a new level.

But what was she supposed to do? She was terrified of being alone. He'd made her feel so safe on the boat, holding her in his muscular arms, warming her with his powerful body. She wanted to feel that again.

Pulling back the covers, she climbed into bed. Her whole life she'd been on her own. Her mother had passed away when she was in her teens, and after that, her workaholic father had put her in boarding school. She'd seen him on holidays, but he'd always been in some exotic corner of the world, and soon she'd opted to stay with friends rather than travel to Mexico to see him. It had been her against the world.

Then Viper had appeared, and while she didn’t want a bodyguard, she had to admit, it felt good knowing he was always there, looking out for her. She'd never had that before.

Then, that moment on the boat. For the first time in her life, she'd felt well and truly protected. Safe. Like nothing could touch her. It was addictive.

Viper emerged from the bathroom in the second robe, part of his tattoo visible where the material met over his chest, a puff of steam billowing out behind him. With his hair slicked back, his rugged, tanned face and piercing aquamarine eyes that looked everywhere but at her, he was Neptune incarnate.

"I'll sleep on the floor," he said gruffly.

"Don't be silly. This bed is big enough for the both of us. It's only for a few hours, then we're going to go home, right?" He hesitated. She could tell he was on the point of refusing.

"Please, I feel bad letting you sleep on the floor after all you've done for me. I wouldn't have gotten us one room if I'd known you were going to do that."

He gave in and sat down on the bed, his back to her.

She smiled.

"You should call Robert," he muttered. "He'll be worried."

"Shoot, I forgot. You're right. They'll be frantic."

Viper didn't reply.

She picked up the hotel phone and dialed a number from memory.

Nothing between them. Yeah, right.

"Robert, it's me."

"Izzy, thank God. I've been so worried. We all have. Are you okay? Where the hell are you? Tell me, I'll send someone to get you."

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