Page 21 of Undercover Redemption
She was numb, her mind begging to float away, but she tried to stay in the moment. She nodded, trembling in his arms. His hands were careful as he peeled away her clothes, wet layers of cotton peeling like her sanity. He used the clean parts of the fabric to wipe her feet, kneeling before her like a worshipper to a savior.
He really is taking care of me, her muddled brain thought.
The cream blanket he wrapped her in was coarse as he tucked it under her arms like a makeshift dress, but it felt glorious. He left her standing, feet unsteady on the tarp of their bedroom floor.
“I’m going outside to undress.”
“Don’t …” she started, her eyes meeting his. “Don’t leave.” She hated how vulnerable she sounded, but he was the only thing of normalcy she knew. He hesitated, then nodded, peeling away his own clothes quickly. She averted her eyes.
She heard him shuffle, and she glanced over to see what he was doing. Bare-chested, his tattoo moved like liquid against his skin. Her mouth turned dry as her eyes trailed down the trail that laid between the deep V of muscles only to be stopped by a coarse blanket wrapped tight around his waist.
“Your mouth is open again,” he teased.
Gabriella sputtered despite how awful she felt. “It was not, you narcissistic ass.”
“Me? A narcissistic ass? I’d take your word on it since you’d know best.” He sat with his back against a tree.
She couldn’t believe her ears. “Did you just—really? I didn’t confess my life story to be used against me.”
Heat was building in her chest, warming her limbs.
“I was merely pointing out that you can recognize the red flags enough now to know I amtrouble.” The corners of his lips tilted, revealing an almost boyish grin.
How could he tease her when they were in a situation like this? Regardless, she found herself responding to him, releasing unspent anger and anxiety that he seemed to enjoy redirecting to him.
Is he trying to help me feel better?
The thought crossed her mind just as quickly as she banished it. Despite her better judgement, she let a truth slip out. Just one, otherwise she feared his ego would fill the tent and they would have to sleep outside. “You’re nothing like Justin.”
“That pleases me more than you know.” He smiled up to her and patted the space between his legs. “Come here then,” he said and, after a pause that felt like a question, drew her gently down so that her back was to his chest. He was so warm. She couldn’t help how she melted into him.
“Better?” He chuckled.
She nodded as his breath tickled her hair, and suddenly she was self-conscious. Despite the rain soaking her, she hadn’t had a real shower in nearly a day. “I probably stink.”
“I wouldn’t be able to tell over my own stench.”
That made her laugh. “True.” She took a breath in, inhaling his scent. Moss and stone. A masculine scent that had her core clenching. She tried to ignore it.
“Why the tattoo?” she asked, trying to distract herself.
He stiffened behind her and she heard his inhale of breath. “Is this truth or dare? Are you trying to get to know me?”
She bristled at how smug he sounded. “Don’t answer if you don’t want to.”
“I got the tattoo because it reminded me of you,” he said.
Oh. Then does that mean …it was clearly over his heart. There’s no way it meant what she thought.
“So you like turtles?” she asked lamely, not sure where her brain was trying to run to. She was trapped, closely wrapped in his arms with nowhere to go. Trying to keep her breath steady despite how her heart beat in her ears.
“Sure. I like turtles.” His tone was wry with something unspoken.
“I don’t hate them,” she confessed, not sure where it came from other than maybe her panic and internal screaming at what seemed like his confession. “The bugs …” she clarified.
“Why the fear then?” he asked. Strong fingers brushed up her arms, long soothing touches that seemed to melt her more into him.
“When I was nine, I fell on an ant hill. Turns out, I was allergic to that specific breed without realizing it.”
