Coldhearted Protector by Juno Wells

Author:Juno Wells [Wells, Juno]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Sarah was unsure how long she slept or, initially, what roused her. She only knew it wasn’t a nightmare for once—a nice change of pace from what usually happened.

Though, once she realized the cause, she might have preferred it. At least that she knew how to handle. This all-over shiver as intense cold seeped into her bones was something she hadn’t dealt with before. Even burrowed beneath a blanket and comforter, she couldn’t seem to get warm. Her body shook violently, her teeth chattering. She’d been chilly when she closed her eyes, but this was something else entirely.

A sound of misery trembled from her lips and she heard quick footsteps, felt the presence of blissful warmth so near, yet so far. Pulling the blanket back from her head, she looked up to see Khalux standing over her.

“What’s wrong?”

She saw recognition flare to life in his eyes as he looked down at her, but she voiced it nonetheless.

“C-c-cold.”

She’d never been this cold in her life. Either her own temperature had dropped significantly after she lay down, or whatever heat was left in the cabin had evaporated. She suspected it was a combination of the two, and she envied the fact that Khalux seemed largely unaffected beyond wearing the second blanket he’d found around his shoulders like a cape.

It was almost dashing, a thought that made Sarah realize there was apparently such a thing as cold-weather delirium.

“Here,” he said, removing said cape and tucking it around her.

It was warm and it smelled of him, something she found extremely comforting, but it wasn’t enough. Her inhibitions pushed aside in favor of survival, she reached to Khalux and grabbed his arm before he could pull away.

“Stay,” she begged him.

His expression was unreadable but, in that moment, Sarah didn’t care what he thought of her. She was freezing, he was warm, and she had no qualms over asking him for this.

Thankfully, he resolved whatever personal crisis he was having. As he drew closer to her, climbing into the bed, she could feel the heat radiation from his body. It was heavenly, like her own personal space heater so near. She shuddered at the sudden shift in temperature, something more primal taking over as she curled close to him and slid her arms as far around his large body as they would go, pulling herself flush with him.

He went perfectly still, long enough that some awareness began to slowly reach her mind. But then, he was wrapping his arms around her in turn and Sarah could feel absolutely no shame in burrowing against him. He was warm, solid, and he smelled surprisingly good considering they’d been trapped on this ship for days.

It didn’t take long for her to drift back to sleep, caught up in his embrace, her mind reaching for kinder thoughts than those that usually came with such contact.

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