Tall, Silent & Lethal

Page 21

  That is until she’d met Aidan. In the beginning he'd been great, fun, kind and unbelievably great in bed. He hadn't seemed to mind her scars. In fact, they’d actually seemed to turn him on. At first she’d thought it was sweet, but soon after they began sleeping together it started to creep her out just a little bit. When she tried to pull away and end things he became possessive and she hated to admit this, but he actually started to scare her a little bit.

  Not too long after she’d ended things with him the late night phone calls began. When she spotted him when she left the house she was a little weirded out, but didn't think much of it. It wasn't until she’d noticed that she couldn't even go out to grab the mail without seeing him that she realized that she had a little problem on her hands and decided to cut her losses and get out of Florida.

  It had been past time to go anyway. She never stayed anywhere for very long and she’d already stayed in Florida a year longer than planned. So she’d contacted the agency that she worked for and looked into what they had available before she’d decided to give New England a try.

  Now she was living in a house with a man, who admittedly pissed her off a lot and amused her, but one that for some strange reason actually mattered. He could be a real jerk sometimes, well most of the time, but the thought of him looking at her with revulsion had her stomach churning. She didn't know why it mattered. It really shouldn't, but it did.

  If she were going to be honest with herself then she'd admit that she liked the way he looked at her when he didn't think anyone was watching, but she always knew. It didn't matter what she was doing, the moment his eyes landed on her she sensed it.

  The way he watched her made her feel desirable and beautiful. She knew that she was being ridiculous and that nothing would ever happen between them. His sister was her employer and that made him a complication. Not to mention Aidan. After dealing with him, she needed a break from men, but that didn't mean that she wanted him to suddenly look at her with anything close to pity or disgust.

  Still shivering, she shut the water off and stepped out of the bathtub. Why couldn't she get warm? She reached for one of the folded towels she kept stacked on the corner of the sink counter and ended up knocking the small pile onto the floor with a trembling hand.

  With an annoyed sigh, she knelt on the floor to pick the towels up. Her hands only trembled more violently when she tried to grab them. She needed to get it together and stop freaking out. Nothing happened. She was fine. It had been a horrible experience, but she'd had worse, much worse.

  A towel was suddenly draped over her shoulders, startling her and she reacted. She swung back, barely registering the grunt of pain as she pulled her fist back to do it again. She kept on swinging until she found herself pinned against the tiled wall, panting hard as her body shivered violently.

  “Calm down!” Christofer snapped and it was then that she realized that she was still fighting him. “It's okay, Cloe. Shhhh, it's okay,” he said soothingly as he released his hold on her arms to gently cup her face in his hands. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

  She almost snorted at that. Right now she was so far from okay that it wasn't even funny. He'd surprised her, scared her and any other day she probably would have been able to laugh it off, but not today. Not when old memories were threatening to take over and suffocate her.

  “Don't sneak up on me!” she snapped, shoving him back, surprised when he complied.

  He held his hands up as he took a step back. “I didn't mean to scare you,” he said softly. She noted the red marks on his face and the blood dripping from a small cut on his lip, but if he noticed it didn't show. As badly as she felt about hurting him, she wouldn't apologize. He'd scared the hell out of her by sneaking up behind her and she'd reacted like any other woman would when a man who had no business being in her bathroom startled her.

  “You didn't scare me. You surprised me,” she snapped, snatching one of the towels off the floor and wrapping it around herself. She was relieved when he didn't follow the movement with his eyes. The last thing she needed right now was one of his smoldering looks that usually set her body on fire. Right now it would make her feel too damn vulnerable and she didn't need that. She needed to get it together and push through this.

  He frowned down at her. “You're still shivering,” he said on a sigh as he headed for the door. “Get some clothes on and I'll see if I can find another blanket for you. ”

  “I'm fine!” she yelled after him. She was fine, more than fine. Everything was fine. The important thing was that she was alive and no longer stuck in that old musty shed. As soon as she was able to stop shivering she’d be better than fine.

  Ignoring her trembling legs, she walked into her room and quickly pulled on a long-sleeved t-shirt, a pair of sweatpants and a pair of socks all while keeping an eye on the door. When she was done and didn't feel even an ounce of additional warmth, she crawled in bed, pausing only long enough to turn on the lamp by her bed to brighten the already bright room up a little more, and then snuggled beneath the covers.

  Why couldn't she get warm? She was wearing clothes and there was a mountain of blankets on top of her, but it felt as though she was only covered by a thin layer of tissue. She was so damn cold, she thought miserably as another shiver rocked her body.

  “I found another quilt and a blanket,” Christofer announced as he walked back into the room. Without another word, he placed the blankets over her.

  “T-thank you, Christofer,” she stammered, closing her eyes as she willed her body to stop shivering. “I'm fine now. Thank you,” she said, hoping that he would leave. She just needed a little time to pull it together. By morning she'd be as good as new. She just needed to get warm first.

  “We'll see if that helps,” he said just as her mind registered the sound of wood creaking. She opened her eyes to find him sitting in the old wood rocking chair in the corner of her small room, watching her.

  “You can go now, Christofer. I'm fine,” she promised him even as another tremor tore through her body, leaving her with no choice but to grind her teeth against the pain racing up and down her muscles.

  She heard him sigh heavily and looked up in time to see him pull off his shoes and the t-shirt he’d pulled back on at some point, leaving him bare from the waist up. If she hadn’t been shivering so damn violently or trying to calm her nerves she'd probably take a moment to simply enjoy the sight before her.

  Had she ever seen anything more beautiful? She really didn't think so. Her eyes quickly took in his tanned muscular chest, ropes of muscle and perfectly sculpted abs. Okay, so maybe she took a moment between tremors to appreciate the sight before her. She was human after all. Thankfully another tremor tore through her body, helping her to focus.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, hating the way her voice shook.

  “Body heat,” was all he said as he pulled back the covers of the small double bed and climbed in beside her.

  It took her a moment to register what he’d said and when it did she was moving to climb off the bed. Unfortunately for her, he was a lot faster than her and had her yanked back into his arms before she could put up a proper fight. Of course, once she felt the delicious heat that he was giving off she didn't want to fight it anymore.