Page 76 of Freeing Lark

His expression hardened. “Lark.”

“What?”

“You jumped into a flooding river after me with your hands tied?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds reckless.”

“It was reckless.”

She couldn’t help giving him a weak smile, every muscle in her body ached. Yeah, it’d been a reckless move. But what else was she supposed to do? “You’re welcome.”

His eyes narrowed, but the anger didn’t last. His gaze dropped to her wrists, where angry red marks circled both of them. Then he noticed the bruises forming along her arms and legs. His jaw tightened. “They did that to you?”

“The zip ties did most of it.”

He reached for her wrist, then stopped just short of touching it, as though afraid he’d hurt her. “Fuck, that looks bad.”

“I’m okay.”

His blue eyes snapped back to hers. “Don’t.”

Her eyes flickered. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t tell me you’re okay when you’re clearly not.”

The words were quiet, but something in them made her chest ache. “You’re the one who got shot,” she fired back.

“That’s not the point.”

“It is to me.”

He stared at her for a long moment. Then his expression softened. “You shouldn’t have jumped.”

“I couldn’t let you drown.”

“You could’ve died.”

“So could you.”

His jaw worked. “Lark...”

She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Neither of us died.”

His fingers closed around hers. “You’re a hell of a lot braver than you have any business being,” he murmured.

“Look on the bright side. If I hadn’t jumped in after you, I’d still be their prisoner.”

“So your defense is that nearly drowning was the better option?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds terrible.” She gave him a small smile. “But yes. Between being their prisoner and rescuing you, I think I made the right choice.”

“Fuck. Fair enough.”

With a grunt, he attempted to sit up once more. She immediately shoved him back down. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re still bleeding.”