Page 57 of Love in the Wild

Eden’s face flushed as she pulled on Thorne’s arm. “Thorne, it’s okay. It’s his job to take it.” Thorne stared the other man down, forcing the bellboy to avert his gaze. Only then did Thorne release the luggage to him with a satisfied snort.

Eden nearly groaned. She would have to tip the poor man extra and have a little talk with Thorne about appropriate behavior. He couldn’t act like a silverback gorilla whenever someone came near him.

Thorne looked puzzled as Eden led him into the elevator. With one wary look at Thorne, the bellboy chose to follow them up on a second elevator.

“This is our room?”

Eden realized that this was his first time in an elevator. Back at the hotel in Uganda they had taken the stairs down, since they were only on the second floor.

“It is too small. I do not like it.”

“No, it’s ... it’s going to carry us up to our room.”

Thorne frowned and looked around nervously as the elevator shuddered slightly. He stared hard at the ceiling where a small speaker played music. He looked like he planned to climb the elevator wall to investigate. Eden held him back.

“It’s just music. There’s a speaker in there, like on a phone.”

He frowned but calmed down. “There’s so much I feel ... unsettled by,” he admitted. “How can I protect you if I do not understand this world?”

Eden moved to stand in front of him in the elevator and held both of his hands.

“You protected me in the jungle, and now it’s my turn to protect you, okay? You’ll get used to everything soon and feel safe again.” She stood up on tiptoes and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss.

His hands cupped her bottom, and he suddenly moved her back against the elevator wall, pinning her against the wall as he kissed her with ruthless perfection. He rocked his hips into her, and she moaned as her body flared to life with that wild hunger that only he seemed to ignite in her. She curled her arms around his neck, getting lost in him and the kiss that threatened to sweep her away.

At the musical chime of the doors parting, their mouths broke apart only inches, but it was enough. He turned to look out the door, and he looked very confused not to see the lobby.

“Itdidcarry us,” he said.

Eden bit her lip, trying not to laugh, and gently pushed at his chest. “We should get off.”

He backed away and let her leave the elevator first, leading him down the hall. She stopped at the Imperial Suite, which she discovered had two master bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two spacious sitting rooms. The girlish side of her wanted to spin around in a circle. This was ridiculously expensive, and she planned to enjoy every moment of it. She owed Cameron a huge thank-you for booking a place like this. It went a long way to saying that he believed her.

“This is ... big,” Thorne said as he closed the door behind them.

“It’s huge,” she agreed. “Most hotel rooms are small, like the one you found me in. This is really special, Thorne. Your uncle is treating us very well. Be sure to thank him tomorrow when you meet him.”

Thorne went into one of the spacious sitting rooms and ran his fingers over the back of a blue velvet sectional couch. He lifted the cover of one of the heavy coffee-table books, then moved to the tall windows and the balcony doors. He played with the handle until it opened, and he stepped outside, only to stagger back.

“What’s wrong?” Eden asked.

Thorne leaned forward toward the balcony and gripped the wrought-iron railing, looking down.

“We are so high up.”

Eden smiled to herself. He didn’t realize just how high the elevator had taken them. He was quick to adjust, leaning over and looking out as far as he could in every direction. It made her a little nervous for him to lean so far out, and she called out to him to be careful.

“I fell once—from the great rocks on the mountain.” He gave a casual shrug. “I was hurt for many days and could not move.”

Eden stared at him in horror. “All the more reason to be careful, right?” she asked quietly. If he fell from this hotel, he’d die, but she wasn’t sureheunderstood that.

“I will be careful, for you,” he promised.

“Thank you.”

The bellboy knocked and delivered Eden’s suitcase. She made sure to slip the man an extra tip for his troubles. After the bellboy left, she rolled her suitcase into one of the huge bedrooms. When she came back, she found Thorne still standing outside on the balcony. She joined him, and they shared the view of Hyde Park at midnight together.

“It’s almost like home,” Thorne mused. “So many trees, but yet not the same.” He released a slow breath, not quite a sigh, but somewhere in between.

---