My palms dampened with sweat, though my body had been chilled monts before. Irritation welled up, wave after wave.
He was silent, but his mind was clearly turning. Was he thinking the sa thing? That he was stranded here because of ? Was he regretting following ?
But I hadn’t asked him to co. Why should he bla ? If we were handing out bla, wasn’t it him who had ruined my peaceful cruise, him who had paraded a new girlfriend in front of ?
The emotions twisted tighter and tighter until they strangled my reason.
I snatched the bundle of branches from his hands. ‘Why won’t you say anything? Do you think I’m useless? A burden? That I can’t do anything? Why should you keep watch alone? I can do it too! These branches, whatever you’re trying to make, I can do it! Why won’t you let ? Why do you always decide for ?’
Sweat rolled down my forehead as I glared at him, face burning red, eyes wild. I didn’t know if I was trying to prove sothing or to hold on to sothing slipping away.
Faced with my outburst, Ashton was unnervingly calm. He didn’t answer.
My temper flared hotter at his silence. I opened my mouth, ready to unleash more, when suddenly his hand shot out, knocking the branches from my grip. In the sa instant, he seized both my wrists, holding them tight.
His face ca close. He gave no room. He pressed forward, forcing down.
With a thud, I landed on the bed of leaves.
He lood over , leaving no space to breathe. His body brushed mine, the strength of his thigh against the softness of mine for a fleeting mont.
My lips parted, a question forming, but no sound escaped.
His face hovered above mine, his eyes alight as if the fire within them could burn through the night.
‘It’s just the two of us here. Do you really want to fight with now?’
The fire rising in faltered.
The chill crept across my back, the damp leaves beneath cold with dew, and I shivered. I refused to admit defeat, though, and bit my lower lip to keep quiet.
Ashton’s hold on my thigh loosened. He rose swiftly and let go. His eyes skimd coolly over my head as he stooped to pick up the branches I had dropped, then turned away and went back to arranging them.
The mont he stood, I yanked the leaf dress higher until it covered up to my collarbone.
My temper eased, and reason returned. Watching him work, guilt swept over in place of anger.
‘Ashton, do you think we’ll ever get out of here?’
His hands stilled for a beat. ‘...I don’t know.’
Ashton never made promises he couldn’t keep.
I understood that, yet I had only wanted reassurance.
But Ashton was even more rational than I was. Rational enough not to grant us even the luxury of dreaming.
I rested my head on my knees. He had told to sleep, but after everything that had happened, I couldn’t.
If I couldn’t sleep, I might as well keep talking. But not about the cruise, or the tsunami, or Lea.
‘Have you ever done survival training before?’ I didn’t even know why I asked. Maybe it was the way he cleaned and stripped the branches with such skill, arranging them in a neat pile ready for a fire. It reminded , not for the first ti, how little I actually knew about his past.
Ashton paused, then gave a slight nod.
I glanced into the darkness around us, the forest on one side and the sea on the other. ‘I wonder if it’s possible to make a bow and arrows here. It’d be useful for hunting.’
Ashton didn’t answer. He kept working, focused on the branches as though they were more fascinating than the human sitting right beside him.
Disappointnt pricked at . My throat felt dry from talking too much.
He still didn’t respond, and irritation crept into my voice.
‘Ashton, why are you like this? You weren’t this cold to before. You—’
My words broke off when I t his gaze.
‘You said it yourself. That was before.’
His words struck dumb.
Before, he and I had been husband and wife, even if only in a contract marriage. Later, we had been lovers, an engaged couple. But now... now we were nothing at all.
I shot him a glare, annoyed, and rolled over to face away from him. I refused to give him another glance.
***
I was woken by a tickling at my nose.
When I opened my eyes, a tiny snail was staring straight at .
I pushed myself halfway up, careful not to crush it, and gently lifted the snail onto a damp patch of sand. Soon it began to crawl off happily, full of life, and sohow its energy cheered as well.
I had expected sleep to evade after such a terrifying day. Yet the mont I had laid my head on the bed of leaves, I had fallen into a deep, dreamless rest.
I wasn’t sure if it was pure exhaustion or sothing else.
I turned my head and looked behind at the man who hadn’t moved an inch all night.
I couldn’t deny it. Ashton might have been harsh with his words, but his presence alone filled with a sense of safety.
The early morning air by the sea was far from warm. As I stood, a sudden chill wind cut across , and I instinctively pulled my shoulders in. Then I paused.
I hadn’t felt cold at all during the night.
My eyes drifted to Ashton. His position had perfectly shielded from the wind.
He sat up bare-chested.
He looked at , his eyes calm and distant, the deep blue like glass, emptied of even the faint emotion I’d seen the night before.
It was as if he were looking at a stranger.
That thought irked , but before I could speak, Ashton stretched out his hand towards . His expression was cold. ‘Give your clothes.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)