Page 49 of Her Eternal Warrior

He pulled her close. And wasn’t that just the nicest thing? Brax kept his steps short so that she could keep up as they walked through the lobby. It was just one of the many, many considerate things he did for her. Before she knew it she was getting out her hotel key to open her room.

When she opened the door, she stopped short and grabbed Brax’s forearm. She’d left all the lights on before leaving, but now she could only see the glow of the bedroom light.

“Honey? What is it?”

“The lights are off. They were on when I left.”

“Wait in the hall, and I’ll look through your suite, okay?”

“Okay.” Jenny couldn’t stop the shivers racing through her body.

“You’re going to have to let go of me,” he whispered.

She looked up into his brown eyes. “I can’t, Brax.”

“Sure you can, sweetheart. You’re brave, remember?”

She shook her head hard enough that strands of brown-blonde hair whipped across her face. “No, I’m not.”

“Okay, come with me. But stand behind me, okay?” He pulled her hand off his forearm and gripped her hand. She nodded.

Jenny gasped as she watched him pull out a gun. Where had he been hiding that?

She kept a tight grasp on his hand and followed close behind him as he walked toward the open bedroom door.

He turned to her and put his mouth down to her ear. In a voice that she could barely hear, he said, “I need to find out if there is anyone behind the door. Let go for a moment.”

She nodded and released his hand.

Jenny watched as Brax pulled the door almost all the way closed, then slammed it open into the wall. Nothing. He was across the room and into the bathroom before she could even blink.

Then he walked back out. “It’s clear.”

That’s when Jenny noticed that her bed had been turned down and there was a piece of chocolate wrapped in gold foil lying on her pillow. She felt herself begin to tremble as she pointed at it.

“I’m so sorry.” She felt like she was going to cry. “I made a mountain out of a molehill.”

He walked over to her and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her head, tucking her close to his chest. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Jenny, being on a knife’s edge is understandable.”

“But I’m sick of it. I’m sick of who I am.”

“I’m not.”

“How can you not be? You’ve been babysitting me ever since you got back to the States, and you don’t even know me…” She let her voice trail off.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“No, tell me, baby. I want to know.”

“Nobody knows me. It’s what I realized in that goddamned shack. I’ve never let anybody know me.”

Brax didn’t say anything. Instead, he stroked his hand from the top of her head down the line of her back.

Up and down.

Up and down. It felt so good, she was sure her bones were going to melt and she would dissolve into him.