Page 7 of Cruel Ice

She ramped up her smile a little more. Added a bit more friendly voltage.

His dark brows pulled together as he glowered at her.

“Uh, hi.” Marley cleared her throat. “Do you remember me?”

He stared back at her with the most intense, most absolutelydangerouseyes that she’d ever seen in her life. It should be impossible for a pair of eyes to be described as dangerous, but his were. A swirling hazel that gazed at her with fierce intent. Notgoodintent. More like…he’s going to pounce on me at any moment.

Maybe she should move off his hospital bed. Yes, good plan. She hopped up and started to flee toward the relative safety of the nearby chair. Only she never made it to the chair because his hand flew out and clamped around her wrist. Her pulse immediately skyrocketed as the impact of his touch flooded through her system.

Why do I react this way to him?Even last night, in the middle of hell and chaos, her reaction to him had been way, way off the charts. She’d tried to dismiss the reaction as stemming from adrenaline and nerves but…

Nope. I’m still reacting to him the same way.

“I remember you.” Gruff. Deep. Rumbling. And no longer slurring. The calluses on the edges of his fingertips raked lightly across her skin.

His words had been running together last night. Probably due to the drugs that he’d been given. The docs at the hospital had watched him like a hawk because Declan had been dead to the world when he came in on the ambulance.

Her breath expelled in a rush of relief because he seemed to be awake and aware and finally back with her.

“You were with me in hell,” he added.

Her eyebrows shot up. Okay. So perhaps he wasn’t quite so aware.

“The basement,” he clarified. “Hell.”

Yes, granted, she could see where he’d describe the place that way. It certainly hadn’t been heaven for her.

“You came back for me.” His thumb brushed along her inner wrist.

His touch makes me feel so strange.Not bad. Not necessarily good, either. Too aware. Too sensitive.

Declan shook his dark head. “You shouldn’t have done that. Major mistake on your part.” He released her wrist.

But even though he was no longer holding her, she didn’t flee to the safety of the chair. Instead, Marley turned back so that she faced him fully. “I shouldn’t have come back to save you?” Had the man wanted her to abandon him to whatever twisted fate waited in that horrible basement?

His eyes—that hazel seemed to peer into her very soul. Without blinking, he stared straight at her and nodded.

Her shoulders stiffened. “I wasn’t in the mood to leave a man to die.” She would never be in that mood. There were enough monsters in the world without her becoming one, too.

“I would have gotten away.”

Her jaw dropped. He couldn’t be serious. “You couldn’t evenwalk!”

“I would have gotten away.” Utter certainty.

“I untied you.” Maybe he had forgotten some important bits from the previous night. A refresher was clearly needed so he could be appropriately grateful. “You were tied to a chair when I cut you loose. Then I found a way for us to get out of that cabin. I even drove the getaway car.” All without a thank you. Someone had clearly never been taught how to express gratitude. Not that she was looking for a shiny medal or anything…

But I did save the man’s life.A little gratitude would not be too much to ask.

“You don’t know what you’ve done.” He shook his head. “Like I said, major mistake.” He sat up in the bed. Winced.

Immediately, her hands flew out and curled around his shoulders. “You should take it easy. I heard one of the doctors say it looked like you had some crazy drug cocktail mix in your blood.” Maybe she should call a nurse for him?

His head turned so that he was staring at her hand as it gripped his right shoulder. Slowly, his gaze slid back to her face. “Why are you here?”

Again, no gratitude. “Because you couldn’t stay on your own! You were unconscious! Defenseless!” So many reasons. “What if your abductors had come after you again?”

“In a hospital? You thought they’d come at me in a hospital?”

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