Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Tomas didn’t so much as rock back. She could feel them all staring at her. She decided her only out was to test him. “I have to go into the other room for some alone time. I really, really need you to let me do that.”
His palm cupped the side of her face gently. Too gently. The first tear spilled over before she could stop it. Instantly, he swung his body completely in front of hers, blocking the sight of her from the others as if he knew she would despise them seeing her cry. One thumb slid over her cheekbone, erasing the wet mark.
“If you need to lie down for a little while, you should do that. I can feel how tired you are.” Don’t be distressed. We’ll work this out the way we’ve been doing for years. His lips brushed the top of her head, and he walked with her, using his body as a shield to keep the others from seeing her face.
“Did you know when we wrote letters that you were connected to me?” She whispered the question because suddenly his answer was very important. Had she been lured to the rainforest? Had Luiz conspired against her?
You insist on thinking the worst of me, little cousin. If Tomas makes you miserable or ever raises his hand to you, I will kill him. It wouldn’t be easy, and his brothers would retaliate, but I would never allow my family—and that’s who you are to me—to be abused in any way.
She’d gotten to Luiz. Gotten under his skin. At least she meant something to him. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t come to her defense and stopped whatever Tomas had done before she was bound to him, but at least now, she knew she mattered to Luiz.
“I didn’t know we had a connection,” Tomas answered her question. “Having said that, the longer we wrote to each other, the more I felt a connection. I was a hunter incapable of emotion, yet I looked forward to every single letter.”
He took her elbow and gently steered her through Luiz’s open floor plan to the bedroom behind the screen. The hammock looked inviting. She suddenly needed to lie down more than anything. She was exhausted.
Sarika sank down onto the hammock, and Tomas crouched in front of her, lifting her right foot to remove her shoe. Once he’d pulled off the right shoe and sock, he massaged her foot, his strong fingers bringing instant relief to her sore muscles.
“I have never been a man to be jealous. It is a very unseemly emotion and quite an ugly trait in a man.”
Her gaze flew to his face. He raised his eyes to hers as he placed her foot on the floor and lifted her left foot to remove the shoe and sock. There was no levity on his face. None. What he was saying meant something. Was important. She got the impression it was difficult for him to say this to her, and that both intrigued her and made her like him more. Admitting a character trait in himself he didn’t like made him appear vulnerable to her.
“I am struggling with new emotions. They come in waves and are difficult to process when it comes to my feelings for you. I did not expect them to be so strong. And they are, Sarika. Stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. I’m going to make mistakes with you because this is all new to me. I have never felt these emotions for a woman, not in all the centuries of my existence.”
Her heart skipped a beat. He was crouched at her feet, his strong fingers massaging aching, tired muscles while he made his confession. It had to be said; she thought him devastatingly beautiful.
“Part of the problem is that we aren’t settled yet. I’m intelligent enough to know that and to know the fault lies with me. Unfortunately, I am a very dangerous man.”
He didn’t have to spell that out for her; she knew. Anyone looking at him knew. She had a difficult time equating this man with the letters he’d written to her. She understood why there were no photographs of him. Aside from the years he’d lived, if anyone saw his picture, they would question what they knew of T. Smolnycki Jr.
“I know I have no right to ask favors of you, not after claiming you without your consent, but perhaps our past interactions might earn me one.” His hand slipped into her hair, fingers caressing her scalp.
“Tell me what you need from me.” She had no idea why she’d blurted that out. She was exhausted. Scared. Angry. Holding back the need to dissolve into a little puddle of self-pity. Still, her heart reacted to his confession.
He gave her that brief smile. This time it lit up his eyes. Only a small flash, but it was there. “You have a tremendous amount of compassion in you. You’re soft inside, sivamet. That will be something I’ll bend over backward to protect.”