Page 21 of Falling for her Guardian

Floating, almost.

She opened her eyes and squinted at the bright overhead light.

As her vision adjusted to the brightness in the room, she realized she wasn’t in the rock cell freezing to death anymore. But she didn’t know where she was.

She heard deep breathing and turned her head slowly to the right.

Storm!

His head was on his arm resting on the bed she lay on, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly parted. He looked even better than she remembered, and her whole body immediately ached, including her heart.

Okay, so he’d rescued her? But how? How had he known where she was and how had he found her?

Well, she kind of didn’t care. She was just so damn glad to see him again.

She was incredibly warm, which felt amazing after being so cold. Pulling her hand out from the blanket, she ran her fingers through his soft, dark hair and whispered his name.

He startled awake with a snort, his eyes flashing gold.

His brows rose high as he locked his golden gaze with hers.

“You’re awake!” he said. He bent over her and hugged her with a groan. “Holy shit, I was scared to death.”

“You saved me?”

“Of course,” he said. He straightened. The relief at seeing her was now replaced with fury. “What the hell were you thinking?”

She rose to her elbows and stared at him. “Excuse me?”

He growled. “I told you to stay in the breakroom, Seren. You could havediedout there, and not just because Jack Frost took you. And how the hell did that even happen? Did you just go running to him or something?”

“Hey! Stop yelling at me,” she said. “No, I didn’t go running to him. I don’t think so, anyway.” She rubbed her forehead as a headache started to bloom between her eyes. “I didn’t know it was an exterior door. I opened it and realized I’d made a mistake, but something made me go outside. The door shut and I couldn’t get back in, but I kept feeling like I should go somewhere, follow someone.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the cell and Jack told me that he was going to use me.”

Storm pressed his fists to the bed and leaned forward. “Tell me exactly what he said.”

“He said that I was useful because I was a human in Northernmost and I smelled like a shifter even though I wasn’t one. He said he was going to keep me alive, but I got the feeling it wasn’t going to be a long time.”

“He could have killed you, Seren.”

His eyes were still gold, and his fangs had elongated a little, peeking from his mouth when he talked.

She didnotfind that erotic in the least.

Okay, maybe a little.

She tilted her head slightly. “Why do you care so much?”

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then pushed off the bed with a loud grunt. “Because you’re my mate!”

“I’m human.”

“I’m aware,” he said dryly. “I don’t care. I’m trying to keep you safe, and you seem intent on doing everything in your power to go against that.”

“Look,” she said, sitting up and gripping the warm blankets to herself, aware that she was naked. “Thank you for saving me.”

“If you want to thank me, stop trying to get yourself killed.”

“Oh, okay, that’s not necessary,” she said. She swung her legs off the bed and fiddled with the blankets to keep herself covered. “You’re being an ass. I nearly died!”

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