Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“The blades of knives are notoriously filthy and covered in bacteria.”
“My little nurse. I’m lucky she takes such good care of me.” His tone caressed. His fingers touched bare skin, igniting flames, sending them racing through her bloodstream. It was as if he had already mapped out the large bruise, because he didn’t look away from her eyes, yet he traced the outside edges before skimming the pads of his fingers over the entire interior as if painting it with a healing balm.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re so worried about, Zale? I may be able to help.”
“It isn’t ever good to be involved in my business, Vienna, you know that.”
“I understand, but I am already. It isn’t as if I don’t know you’re working at the hotel undercover. You’ve told me agents have disappeared. You and Rainier were attacked once already. I get that we can’t be seen together and before coming to my room you have to do something to make the security cameras glitch. I’m a nurse, Zale, so I’m used to keeping confidences.”
“You could be killed if anyone connected us and knew I was talking to you.”
“I’m head of Search and Rescue in Inyo County. That means I rappel down a mountainside to a victim in a gorge with rushing water or jagged boulders below me. I could be killed there too, but I do it and would every time. You don’t have to tell me, Zale, but it seems to me I’m already in the know and you may as well bounce ideas off me.”
He leaned over her, so for the first time she lost his eyes as he bent his head to her stomach and the dark bruising there. His hair brushed against the undersides of her breasts, a sensual slide that made her catch her breath. She couldn’t help but bury her fingers in his hair as his lips skimmed over the vicious blue and purple colors spread across her ribs and belly.
She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of him there with her. It was so strange how she wasn’t afraid to hike alone on trails in the wilderness, where the territory belonged to predators such as bears and mountain lions. She was confident climbing steep mountains and rappelling off them, or skiing down slopes others would never consider, but relationships terrified her.
“Zale, are we really doing this?” Vienna was really asking him if he was going to do his best to stay. She knew there were no promises. No one could do that, but she could ask for his best. She needed reassurances.
“We’re really doing this, Vienna.” He turned his head to one side and laid it gently on her lap, circling her hips with his arms. “I don’t want to be alone now that I know what having you is like. I have to have you in my life. I want you to feel the same way about me. We can make it work, even when I’m away, working in the field. I know there’s a way we can make it work.”
Vienna waited until the small moment of panic in her had subsided. She brushed caresses into his hair. He seemed tired and worn when he was always so vibrant. “I told Stella about us right away, but today I told Shabina. Just in case someone might be listening in, I said I was having a thing with Sam’s best man.”
She felt his smile against her bare skin.
“A thing?” he echoed.
“I wasn’t sure what to call us. It isn’t like we’re dating. What do people call what we’re doing? We’re not hooking up.” She said that decisively. She hoped they weren’t.
“We’re not hooking up. You’re my woman. I’m your man. We’re exclusive. We’re going into this with the idea that we have a future together.” He took her left hand and kissed her finger. “I could put a ring here if it would make you feel more secure.”
Vienna panicked all over again, nearly jerking her hand away from him. “I think it’s way too soon for that, Zale. How about we walk before we try to run?”
He laughed softly and pressed a kiss into her belly button. “You’re so courageous in so many ways and such a chicken when it comes to our relationship.”
“You left me without a word and broke my heart.” She wasn’t going to pretend it hadn’t happened.
He sobered immediately. “I know I did, Snowflake. I didn’t know what to do to protect you. I had to think about it and figure out the best way for us.”
She considered pulling his hair out by the roots. “Communication is always a good skill to have, Zale. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it in your business.”
“Communication in my business gets you dead very fast, Vienna. Have we put this issue to bed, or do we need to keep talking about it? I’m willing. I want you to feel secure with me. I didn’t just walk out on you. You never left my mind, not for a minute.”