Page 8 of SEAL by Fate

“Everything will be okay. You’re safe here with me.” He felt the need to assure her, not even sure she could hear him, but he didn’t think it would hurt to soothe her.

He started humming as if the soft tune might calm her.

He thought back on the accident, wondering if he could have done something different. Maybe swerved the wheel to the right instead of the left. Maybe if he’d been going slower, or anything that would have kept the beauty from being frightened enough that she jumped into the ditch. If he wouldn’t have been on the road this wouldn’t have happened—but then again, if he hadn’t been there, would she have made it to the cabin? He didn’t think so.

What had her so bothered that she’d been willing to take the risk? Hell, if he really wanted to get away from something bad enough, he’d take a stroll across a plank over shark infested waters…in fact, he’d been in similar circumstances.

This told him several important things about the woman next to him. She was brave and determined. He admired those qualities, although she should have stayed in her vehicle.

The golden glow of the fire illuminated her skin. Her natural color had finally returned. He followed the circular edges of bruising on her forehead with the tip of his finger, careful not to hurt her. The blue mark didn’t deter from her beauty in any way. Her cheeks were high, and she had a delicate bone structure with a heart shaped face. Her lips were pale pink and impossibly lush with the bottom lip fuller. Inky smears of mascara surrounded her closed eyes and he was curious what color they were.

Threading his fingers in her hair he combed out some of the tangles and spread the white blonde mass over his arm. With the back of his knuckles he followed the slender line of her neck until he came to the hollow and checked her pulse. It was stable and strong. He watched the even rise and fall of her chest under the blanket, remembering how thick her erect nipples had been.

He relaxed his head into the pillow next to hers. He couldn’t allow his innocent intention to keep her warm turn into him admiring how soft and beautiful she was.

A whimper fell from her lips and she turned, cuddling against his chest and sliding her knee between his legs. She was only looking for warmth. “Come here,” he whispered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He kissed her on the forehead and temple and she sighed.

He allowed his mind to wander down impossible what ifs. What if he’d met her under different circumstances? Would they have connected? There was the possibility that fate had placed her in his path. Likely, she wouldn’t have made it very far dressed as she was and wearing strappy heels. Would she have fallen and met her demise? What started out as catching a criminal turned out to be something completely unexpected.

There would be other opportunities to catch Phantom. If the bastard was on this mountain as promised by the informant, he would be stuck too.

In the meantime, Gray would take care of the beauty who was depending upon him, whether she understood how much.

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