The Fugitive by Nichole Severn

Author:Nichole Severn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-08T19:12:14+00:00

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SHE TRACED THE OUTLINE of the gauze taped to his shoulder through the soft T-shirt he’d borrowed. His chest rose and fell in easy rhythms as morning sunlight pierced through the edges of the curtains. Nothing like before when she’d found him unconscious in that barn fighting for breath. He was warm and rough, and she didn’t dare stir for fear of ruining this perfect moment. They’d survived. Somehow. He’d protected her when every second leading up to right now she’d doubted his promise, doubted he would keep his word, but he’d been there. Made sure they’d made it off that ranch alive.

Grazing his split bottom lip with her thumb, she gave in to the explosive memories of that gut-wrenching kiss they’d shared before the bullets had started flying. She could still taste him. His underlying flavor of peppermint and wildness, but that kiss had been more than pure physical desire. It’d been a hit to the invisible barriers she’d been building all her life, the distance she’d put between her and everyone around her. The cracks had started spreading when they’d been together for those short few months, but after her arrest they had filled with a clear ice she hadn’t let anyone break through. Only now... Now for the first time, she felt herself trying to break down that barrier, break through the distrust and hurt. He might’ve originally defended her as some part of that moral code of his or out of obligation to their baby, but he’d still saved her life. He’d still kept his word to be there for her, even when he’d had the chance to leave her behind, and the numbness from that destructive black hole inside that’d always felt unwanted—unloved—eased a bit. Her insides warmed as she settled her chin against his uninjured shoulder and studied the movement behind his closed eyelids. “How long have you been pretending to be asleep?”

Piercing blue eyes matched the smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. He slid his hand over hers, positioned directly over his heart. The rhythmic beat pulsed through her, ensured this wasn’t just some dream. He was here. He was real. “Who says I’m pretending?”

“You never were a good liar.” A laugh bubbled up her throat as she leveraged her elbow into the mattress to see his face better, something that seemed to come easier the longer he was around. The stitches in her side stretched but stayed in place. “So do you make it a requirement of your friends to store extra bags of blood, or is that part of Reed thinking he’s a superhero?”

“The shirts.” His chest shook with a laugh, followed by a groan as he clutched the wound in his shoulder. “Yeah, don’t ask me why, but there’s not a single shirt in his possession that doesn’t have some kind of superhero logo on it. The guy’s obsessed.”

“That was clear while he was stitching you up. Kept telling me all about one of the movies he saw last week.

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