Page 21 of Inevitable
Colin didn’t seem to have any aversion to spreading out on the ground next to me.
I was still propped against the support beam.
“I’ve had problems sleeping since I’ve been here. That concrete floor is disgusting, and I don’t sleep well sitting up,” I shared.
“I hate to admit that I slept in worse places when I was an active SEAL,” Colin replied. “I was trained to sleep in any environment. I spread the blanket out next to me so you don’t have to rest on the dirty floor. Sleep.”
Colin had offered me a blanket earlier, but it wasn’t exactly cold in this place, so I’d told him I didn’t need it.
I shuddered. “It’s not just the filth that bothers me,” Iadmitted. “I saw a rat in here, Colin. It ran right over my leg. I hate rodents. I know that probably sounds ridiculous to you considering our situation, but I don’t want them chewing on my face when I’m sleeping. The thought of it just creeps me out.”
“You’ve been kidnapped, starved, and deprived of food and water. You say that you’re fine after taking a few beatings, but you’re worried about the rodents?” he asked with something that sounded suspiciously like amusement.
“I know it sounds stupid,” I said, disgusted. “But I can’t help it. Rats freak me out.”
“It’s not stupid,” Colin said calmly as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me down beside him. “But you have to sleep, Emma. Use me. I’ll keep the rats away.”
He settled my head on his broad chest, and I let out a quiet sigh.
The blanket felt like heaven under my body, and I felt even safer when he wrapped a powerful arm around me.
Colin was dressed just like I was in a T-shirt and jeans. We didn’t have a lot of skin-to-skin contact, but feeling his warm, muscular body beside me was still comforting.
It was also a little disconcerting.
Like it or not, my body still reacted the same way it had to Colin years ago.
One touch.
One whiff of his masculine scent, and I wanted to get this man naked.
I was exhausted, but my body instantly responded in a carnal way.
It was ridiculous, but all of the memories of all the times we’d had the best sex of my life flooded into my head.
My response to himcouldn’tbe real.
I was a different person than I’d been all those years ago.
It had been fourteen years.
It was probably just a muscle memory reaction.
We hadn’t been together in fourteen years, and I couldn’t say that I’d had a carnal instinct toward anyone since I’d been with Colin in Virginia Beach.
Being like this with Colin felt oddly familiar, even though we hadn’t laid this close together for many years.
His body felt just as rock solid as it had years ago.
I rested my hand on his abdomen, which confirmed that he was still as ripped as he’d been in Virginia Beach.
The man might be in his fifties now, but he was still incredibly fit.
“I wish I was still in the shape I was in when we were together,” I blurted out as I snuggled against him. “I’ve put on weight.”
“You’re still just as attractive,” Colin said earnestly. “Why are you worried about being curvier? It suits you.”
“I was post-divorce thin back when we met. Now I struggle with my weight. The older I get the harder it is to maintain a healthy weight. I walk and I swim in the summer, but it’s a struggle. How do you keep in shape?”
