Page 18 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

Her head began to swim, her breath caught in her throat, and she fought the urge to scoot away from him, but then it all became too much. Darkness began to close around her, and the last thing she was aware of was Max cursing under his breath as he grabbed her and carried her over to one of the benches in the back of the boat.

CHAPTER 12

***MAX***

Max tried not to panic as he crouched next to Nora, but the huge ugly bump on her forehead worried him, and he knew he only had a few minutes to decide if she needed help immediately. A head wound was nothing to mess with, and looking down at her, he understood just how much she had come to mean to him. Just the thought of losing her made his blood run cold.

“Sweetheart, I need you to wake up,” he said, gently rubbing her cheek. “I know it’s hard, but I need to make sure that you’re okay. Can you open your eyes for me?”

Nora’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him, and they started to flutter closed again. Sure that he was going to lose her, he grabbed her hand. “Nora, I’m sorry if I scared you, I didn’t know how else to get to you,” he said. “I would never hurt you, you know that deep down. All I’ve wanted to do was protect you. Please open your eyes again, I need to know that you’re okay before I do something that could scare you even more. You’re tougher than this; don’t give up on me now. Stop being a big baby and look at me.”

Nora’s eyes opened and she glared at him. “Go away,” she said. “My head hurts, and I just want to lay here.”

A huge sigh of relief came whooshing out of his lungs. “That’s better, you sound like your old self again,” he said. “I’ll get you something for your head, don’t move.”

She groaned. “I wasn’t planning on it,” she said. “Now go away.”

Getting to his feet, a little smile on his face, he went into the cabin, found the first aid kit, dug out an instant icepack, and activated it. After grabbing a package of pain reliever, he grabbed a soda out of the refrigerator and climbed back up the stairs to the deck. Nora was lying right where he’d left her, her face scrunched up with pain, and he knelt down next to her again, then gently placed the icepack on the bump on her head.

She groaned, then sighed with relief. “Thank you,” she croaked. “That’s starting to feel better.”

“Can you sit up?” he asked. “I brought you some pain killers too.”

After she’d downed the two pills, he made her a pillow out of a jacket he found, then helped her lie back down and put the ice pack back on her head. “Try to rest for a while,” he said. “I’m going to see if I can get the boat started and figure out where we are.”

“Mmmhmmm…” Nora responded, then her breathing evened out, and he knew that she was asleep.

He watched her for a second, trying not to think about how close he’d come to losing her, wondering why he’d been such a fool, why he’d almost pushed the best thing that had ever happened to him away. It was all so clear now, he could feel the bond between them pulsing with life, filling him with a warmth that only Nora could inspire, and he knew that he’d done exactly what he’d said he wouldn’t do. He’d felt the connection between them from the very beginning but wastoo stuck on who his perfect woman would be to see that she’d been right there the entire time.

He'd fallen for her and fallen hard. There was no going back, and if he was honest, he didn’t want it to be any other way. He just hoped Nora would see the truth as well. She had every right to reject him; he’d been horrible to her, but even if she didn’t want him, he would help her get to Bermuda if that’s what she wanted. Her freedom was more important to him than his feelings for her. He just hoped it wouldn’t come to that; he wanted her on the island with him, right by his side.

After gently caressing Nora’s cheek, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m going to see if I can get us home,” he said. “We have a lot to talk about, and the middle of the ocean isn’t the place to do it.”

An hour later, it was clear that the instrument panel was fried from the flood of saltwater during the wind storm, and he could do nothing to bypass it. Wishing that Nora had stolen an older boat without all the bells and whistles, he gave up getting the engines started and switched into survival mode. It could be a while before anyone found them; the wind had blown the boat a long way from the island, and he’d bet anything that the wind storm had been isolated and his friends might not even know about it.

“That was a nasty trick you pulled,” he said, not the least bit embarrassed to be talking to the island. “It was a bit too close if you ask me. I don’t suppose you’ll give us a little help now. At least send us in the right direction.”

A breeze played with his hair for just a second, then died back down, leaving the water as smooth as glass. With a resigned sigh, he turned and headed down to the cabin, knowing they weren’t going anywhere until the island decided it was time. After a quick assessment, he emerged back on deck, satisfied that they had enough food and waterfor several days if he could find a way to get the generator started.

It would have to wait until Nora woke up, and he wasn’t about to wake her. She needed to sleep, and he felt the pull of exhaustion himself. Sitting down on the bench next to her, he made himself comfortable, then closed his eyes, planning to rest for a few minutes, but it wasn’t long before he was sound asleep.

***Nora***

Nora woke slowly, feeling like she was floating, and wondered if she was hurt worse than she thought, but when she opened her eyes, it all made sense. The memories of the windstorm came rushing back at her and she tried to sit up, desperate to sort out what had been real and what had been a dream. The effort made her head start hurting again, and she flopped back down with a groan, waking Max, who quickly sat up and took her hand.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Does your head still hurt? I could get you another ice pack. There’s a couple more in the first aid kit.”

She reached up and gingerly felt the huge bump on her forehead, then winced. “This must look very attractive,” she said. “Maybe some more ice would be good.”

“You still look beautiful, a little bump on your head isn’t going to change that,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”

His compliment warmed her in a way nothing else could, and a wave of comfort washed over her. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m surprised that you’re not mad at me. Shouldn’t you be yelling at me right now instead of taking care of me?”

“This is more my fault than it is yours,” he said. “I’m going to go get that ice pack, and then we’ll talk if you’re up to it.”

“Okay, but please promise me that you’re not going to tell my father where I am.” she begged, doing her best not to cry. “I can’t go back there, I just can’t, he’s going to…”

“Nora, I would never do that. I wouldn’t have if you’d told me from the very beginning,” he said, kneeling down and taking her hand. “I understand now why you didn’t want to tell me, but you can stop worrying. The only place I want you to be is right here with me.”

---