The House of Crimson & Clover Volumes I-IV by Sarah M. Cradit

Author:Sarah M. Cradit [Cradit, Sarah M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sarah M. Cradit

3- Nicolas

Nicolas’ instructions to the agent had been very explicit.

That in mind, his first thought was he must be seeing things. He was the only one with authorization to board the ferry, and had confirmed all the rentals had checked out before his arrival.

But no, there she was. A woman. On his beach, at eventide.

Confusion gave way to being more than a little pissed off. Nicolas set the gun on the railing and went to handle the situation.

He marched through the sand, calling out to her as soon as he was in shouting range. The woman was about a quarter mile down the beach, not far from one of the smaller rentals on the island, huddled along the shoreline.

She didn’t acknowledge him. She instead sat calmly, knees drawn to her chest, gazing off into the water. As his shouts went unanswered, Nicolas came raging down the beach, angry, violated, and ready to tear apart whatever excuses she’d have for being there illegally.

“Is there a reason you’re ignoring me?” Nicolas called once he was a few feet from her.

Still, she didn’t look up. As he drew even closer, his anger shifted to a vague but growing concern.

“Lady?” he asked, moving slower now, no longer charging around like an angry bull. A lump caught in his throat as he wondered, for one terrible moment, if she was dead, and had washed up this way.

He knelt cautiously before her, and the relief was immediate. Alive. Her chest moved up and down in slow, rhythmic motions, though her expression remained vacant, jagged lines of tears rolling down her face the only evidence of activity within. Her mouth hung slightly open, breathing shallow breaths as her shaking hands struggled to keep purchase on her wet knees.

“Hey,” Nicolas tried again. “Lady,” he repeated, when she didn’t look up. He snapped his fingers. Still nothing. He wasn’t sure if she was catatonic, or just rude. Maybe deaf? This was definitely not his area of expertise, and it was the absolute last thing he wanted to be dealing with.

A small sob from her startled him out of his confusion. Reluctantly, Nicolas eased down beside her in the sand.

Her chest heaved as she cried silent tears. She hadn’t acknowledged him yet, but her gaze pulled more to the right now, a sign something had changed. That seemed like progress.

Nicolas folded one hand atop hers. She gasped and drew her body upright, snapping her mouth closed. Now, she did look at him, fresh tears pooling.

He lost his own breath for a moment as he took her in. She was beautiful. And vulnerable. And very likely fucking insane. Briefly, he wondered if she’d dog-paddled from a mental hospital on the mainland.

The unanswered questions piled up fast.

“Lady,” he tried again, this time gentler. She seemed harmless. Of questionable sanity, but harmless. He grabbed her hand more firmly this time. “It’s okay,” he encouraged.

Her mouth tried to form words, but nothing coherent emerged, only a jumbled mess of sounds. The trembling escalated, and he worried she might be on the verge of a seizure.

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