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I managed to laugh, although images of his rescue floated into my mind. He’d risked his life so many times in order to save mine.
“You are one bad girl,” he muttered as he rolled me over, pushing up from the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
“What am I going to do with you?” He stared at me long and hard before easing back, taking several deep breaths then moving to his feet. “Damn it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do that shit again.”
“I won’t.” As he helped me to my feet, I could easily tell how concerned he’d been. An awkward moment settled between us.
“We should get back. The gales here are sudden and strong, but usually don’t last very long. We’ll return tomorrow and finish what we started,” he said quietly. Then his expression changed once again, becoming filthy and sinful.
His promise of more to come tingled all my senses. As he helped me to my feet, grabbing the towel, I took another quick glance at the waterfall and sighed. Yes, this was absolute paradise in a world full of darkness.
And lies.
CHAPTER11
Willow
Crack! Boom!
The storm was intense, the gale force winds howling through the trees. While the house he’d built could withstand a tropical storm, that didn’t mean the rolling thunder and flashes of lightning didn’t bother the hell out of both of us.
I could tell the storm troubled him for more reasons than just the possibility the house could be penetrated with water. When he’d talked about his scar, I’d sensed even that memory had brought up ugliness from whatever had occurred in the war. After he’d saved my life again, he’d retreated into the brooding man from the beginning, barely saying two words to me.
Except that I needed a spanking.
As I stood at the window, I almost laughed as I thought about how seriously he’d said the words. Maybe he was right.
“Come to bed,” he said from behind me.
“I’m too wired. I don’t like the storm.”
Santiago snorted. “Neither do I.”
“Would you really spank me for almost falling?”
“Not for falling but for disobeying me.”
His tone was even darker than before, the thrill of hearing the rich inflections driving tingling vibrations straight into my pussy. As soon as another flash of lightning jetted across the sky, I could tell he bristled. When he turned away from the window, I moved toward him, refusing to let him go without telling me what he’d gone through.
“Talk to me, Santiago. I might be nobody to you, but sometimes talking to a stranger helps.”
He took a deep breath, rubbing his jaw as the thunder rumbled in the distance. “It’s not a pretty story.”
“I don’t care. What I do care about is the fact the memory is eating you alive.”
“There are reasons.”
“Tell me. Trust me enough to do that.”
“It’s not about trust, Willow,” he said as he shifted around to face me. “It’s about allowing the memory to exist in the present.”
“Maybe that’s the only way to deal with them in order to finally let the past go.”
