Page 338 of A Matter of Time

So I told her about the kidnapper’s car I had parked out front and all about Caleb and me and how worried I was about him.

She nodded and smiled, used a very soft voice when she talked to me, and had several blankets brought for me. She was very concerned about my body temperature and how big my pupils were and the fact that I was talking a mile a minute.

“I am?” I asked her.

“You are,” she assured me.

When she suggested that I go to the hospital with her, I agreed, since I wanted to make her happy. I told her I was only doing it for her.

“Thank you, love.” She smiled at me, then looked at the other two men with her, moving me toward the door, her cell phone in her hand.

“Are you calling Sam?”

“Yes, honey.”

I nodded. “Will you call Dane and tell him to meet me at the hospital?”

“I’ll have Sam do that for me.”

That seemed reasonable. “Is Aja okay? I saw her running, but I just⁠—”

“Aja’s just fine. You’re the one we were worried about.”

“I was worried about her and Caleb. I tried to⁠—”

“Jory, everybody’s been looking for you. You’re the one we were worried about as Caleb was recovered earlier. We weren’t sure if you were hurt or⁠—”

“I’m a little scraped up but…will you tell Sam I’m sorry?”

She nodded, steering me toward the door. “Of course. Now stay with me, okay? Open your eyes for me.”

I was closing my eyes?

“Jory…sweetie…”

But my legs went out from under me, and even her calling my name didn’t help. I couldn’t see anything at all.

I woke up at the hospital, and even though Chloe wanted me to go in on a gurney, I wouldn’t. The wheelchair was out of the question as well. I shuffled along beside her, unsure of my feet, and when I looked up and saw him at the emergency room entrance, I smiled.

I saw his chest constrict, heard his sharp intake of breath as he stood there, frozen, taking me in, absorbing me with his gaze. His eyes were ravaged, and I felt terrible, standing there knowing that I was the cause.

“I didn’t mean to get kidnapped,” I said when I was close enough for Sam to hear me.

He charged across the remaining few feet that separated us, and I got my arms up in time to receive him as he crushed me to him, his face buried in my shoulder. He took deep breaths as he clutched me tight.

“Jory.” He shivered hard.

“Sam,” I sighed, listening to his heart hammering in his chest, drawing the heat from his body and pulling it into mine. He was so solid and strong, I just wanted to lean and be held. “Say something good.”

“I love you.” He kissed the side of my neck, my shoulder, slipped his hands up under the back of my sweater to caress my bare skin.

The warmth of his voice, the tenderness of his touch sent heat racing through my body. The man didn’t just love me—I was his home. He couldn’t do without me.

Once we were inside the hospital, Sam insisted I ride in a wheelchair or be carried. I opted to be pushed.

“Why didn’t you fuckin’ call me?” he growled as he followed a nurse through the maze that was the emergency room.

“I didn’t have a phone,” I said by way of an explanation. “I went where I thought you’d be. That was smart, wasn’t it?”