“Thank you Logan.”
“You’re welcome,” he murmured as he
slipped past, brushing her pregnant belly. He stopped in his tracks. “He kicked
me!”
Jayna laughed. “He did. He must like
you.”
Logan hurried out of the room
fighting a bout of nausea. What the Hell was that feeling he’d just had? It was
warm, and fuzzy…and quite uncomfortable. When he heard her call his name, he
felt like crying. He just wanted to get away from her. But he turned around and
went back into the room. “What do you
need?” he asked as politely as he could muster.
“I…I have a favor to ask,” she
hedged. “I… would you stay in here while I take a shower. I’m still so shaky
but I really need to bathe.” She took a
deep breath and turned away. “I’m sorry. Never mind.”
Logan walked over to her and put a
hand on her arm. “Go ahead and shower. I’ll stay here, just in case.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, turning to
him. Tears were shining in her eyes again.
“Yeah. You deserve a shower after
what you’ve been through.”
“Thank you,” she cried softly as she
grabbed one of her bags and slipped into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar
just enough for sound to travel out if need be.
Logan sat down on the bed, feeling
somewhat like a stranger in his own bedroom. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do
with himself. He picked his current read up off of the nightstand and started
to scan it. Concentration was almost impossible at this point. He could only
think of the beautiful, scared, totally off-limits woman standing naked in his
shower. Guilt and shame made him flush. How could he even think of her like
that? She was a complete stranger, pregnant with another man’s child. And he
didn’t want a woman in that way, at least not emotionally. But that’s why he
kept them at bay physically, so the emotions couldn’t take over. He hadn’t been
with a woman in two years and although physically he missed it sometimes, he
knew what he had to do to stay free, so he did it.
Just as he lay back on the bed to
wait, he heard a loud noise come from the bathroom and leapt up. “Are you okay
Jayna?” he yelled.
“No! Help me Logan,” she cried.
He rushed in just as she started to
fall to the shower floor. Catching her just in time, he held her close to his
body to try to stop her shaking. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“I was just so dizzy,” she murmured,
resting her head against his chest.
“Let’s get you dried off and warm,”
he said, adjusting her to be able to grab a towel. He carried her out of the
bathroom and laid her on the bed, covering her with the towel. “You’re staying
with me, right?” he asked gently.
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry.
Help me sit up so I can dry myself off.”
“Sure,” he said, lifting her by the
shoulders so he could sit behind her. “Go ahead and lean back against me.”
Her shaky right hand reached for the
towel covering her body. She started at her arms, her breathing getting heavy.
“Hey, let me do it,” he offered.
“You’re going to make yourself pass out again.”
“Please don’t,” she whimpered. “This
is all embarrassing enough.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed
about,” he whispered calmly in her ear. “You need help and I’m going to give it
to you. That’s all there is to it.”
Jayna’s hands dropped from the towel
and she fell back against him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, taking the
towel to finish drying her off. The marks and faded bruises that lined her
chest and legs made him sick to his stomach. How a man could do that to anyone,
let alone the woman carrying his child, was something he couldn’t fathom. “When
was the last time he hurt you?”
“He caught up with me a couple of
weeks ago,” she whispered. “I was hiding in Deb’s cabin just outside of Denali.
Thank God the caretaker came by when he did…”
Logan was nearly shaking with anger.
“Have you had the baby checked out since – to make sure he’s not hurt?”
“The bastard made sure not to touch
the baby,” she whispered.
No comments:
Post a Comment