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Lips that he touched with his, and I wasn’t even conscious for it.
It was CPR, dumbass. Nothing romantic about it.
Lightning flashes—crackling in the night—just as his thumb brushes over my lower lip. My lashes flutter, shoulders shudder, and for whatever reason, it’s suddenly hitting me now—
Nolan saved my life.
Literally.
Not only did he rescue me from drowning, but he breathed me back to life.
How is thatnotterribly romantic?
Something passes through his gaze, there and gone too quick for me to grab hold of—not when it’s quickly swallowed up by more shadows. And then he’s pulling out from under me, easing my leg to the stone.
“I’d say keep it elevated,” he says in the gruffest tone I’ve ever heard from him, “but we’re kind of slim for options.” I feel more than see his gaze leave me.
Standing to a crouch, he makes his way toward the cave opening.
Eyes wide, I stare straight ahead.What just happened?
Minutes pass where neither of us says anything. It’s still raining, but the thunder seems to be fading—the lightning growing farther and farther apart.
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep my trembles at bay.
“Cold?” he asks when my teeth start chattering.
I give a little shake of my head even though he can’t see me, nor is it true. I am cold. I shouldn’t be though.
“You’re crashing. Coming down from an adrenaline rush,” he says softly, knowingly. “Shock’s wearing off.”
I nod, knowing this. “Y-yeah, I…I think I’ve experienced it before.”
“Yeah?”
Again, I nod. “At Canaan.”
“Canaan?”
I swallow, wincing at the rough, textured feel of it. “Y-yeah. Canaan Academy. The s-school I was at bef-f-f—” I clench down on my molars, hunching my head between my shoulders.
His shadow draws closer, and I feel his body heat radiating. “Here.” An arm comes around me, turning me into that hard, sweltering chest of his.
“You don’t have to…”
“I want to. I don’t…I don’t like seeing you cold,” he admits softly, almost reluctantly. Like it’s a secret.
“Oh,” I whisper as my eyes drift shut and I sink into him. His other arm wraps around me, holding me tight, encasing me in his scent. His heat. He’s trembling too, but he’s still sowarm.
So tough.
In his arms, nothing can touch me.
“So Canaan is the school where they were drugging you?” he asks after a moment.
He’s leaning back against the cave wall, legs stretched out in front of him, with me half curled up in his lap.
I wet my lips, wincing when I taste bile.Gross.Nodding, I say, “Yeah. Yeah, that didn’t happen anywhere else.”
