Page 55 of Her Faithful Protector

Jack grinned. “Consider it done,” he said as he took his phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll be back with food and hopefully some information in less than an hour.”

Hell, if it was going to be that easy, Nic thought, maybe I should have had him track down Cami’s parents. What in the hell is taking them so long to get here?

* * *

“Cami, can you hear me?”

Only Nic had ever called her Cami and she loved it. It made her feel safe. Cherished.

“Baby, can you wake up?”

She didn’t want to wake up, this was a good dream. She’d been having really bad dreams, but this was a good one. There was no pain, and instead of angry voices, she was hearing Nic’s kind voice. No how, no sir, she didn’t want to wake up.

A butterfly landed on her cheek. Its wings brushed softly against her skin, back and forth. Camilla was afraid to disturb the butterfly but she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into the touch. She sighed with pleasure as the caress deepened.

“That’s it, feel me. Come back to me. I love you so damn much, and I want to see those gorgeous baby blues.”

Camilla smiled and thought about lifting her eyelids. It would be such a pleasure if she could actually see Nic again. It would be one of her dearest fantasies come to life.

“Please, Cami,” he coaxed.

She opened her eyes and saw Nic’s smile. She smiled back and her eyes started to overflow with tears. He was so beautiful.

“Hi, Nic.” That didn’t sound like her voice.

She coughed once, and then again. Soon she was coughing repeatedly.

“Careful, honey.” He brought a cup with a straw to her lips and she took a sip.

“Better?” Nic asked.

She took another sip.

“Now I’m better.” Her voice was rough and husky. She tried to stretch, then she winced. Looking down she saw that her arms were immobilized. One was in a cast, the other had bandages on it. She felt bandages around her chest. Her face hurt.

The jungle.

El Jefe.

Her eyes went wide. “You saved me, Nic. You’re a rescuer.”

He tenderly brushed the hair back from her face. “Something like that,” he agreed. “Are you remembering what happened?”

“We were kidnapped when we were on the bus.” She bit her lip, then let out a little cry at the sting. “Liz died. So did Haley.” Her tears started in earnest.

“It’s going to be all right,” he whispered.

“Michael and Larry died too.” Her tears were falling even faster.

“I so wish I could hold you, but if I did, I’d hurt you.” He cupped her cheeks and brushed kisses along her temple, her cheek, her jaw.

When her weeping seemed to have run its course, Nic found some tissues, wiped up her tears, and then pressed the tissue against her nose.

“Blow, honey.”

She did and she could breathe again. She relaxed her head back against the pillows and stared up at Nic. “I don’t understand, Nic. How is it possible that you were there to get us?”

Nic sat down in the chair next to her bed and moved it even closer. He kept one hand resting against her jaw.