Burn

With a lightning quick move he caught her left arm before she could even think of swinging it. "Settle down," he said sharply, and to make sure she did, he exerted enough twisting pressure on her arm that she cried out and clumsily half-fell, half-sat on the mattress. The pressure immediately eased, but he retained his grip. "Do not, by God, bite me again, because you won’t get away with it a second time. She’s fine."

"Then let me talk to her," Jenner insisted, those damn tears overflowing her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. "Now. Let me talk to her now. Please." She didn’t care that she was begging. She wouldn’t beg for herself, but she’d beg for Syd. Because he was still holding her left arm she lifted her right hand to swipe at the tears, only his hand came with it, and swatted her on the forehead. "Ow!" Startled, she jerked back and glared at him through her tears.

Slowly, not taking his eyes off her, he shook his head in disbelief. "If I were Catholic, I’d be calling in an exorcist," he muttered. "We’re handcuffed together! What the hell did you think would happen?"

"Unlike you, I don’t have a lot of experience with handcuffs!" She sniffed and lifted her hand again to wipe her eyes, but much more slowly this time.

He exhaled an exasperated breath, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

She’d removed her wristwatch before she washed her face, so it was still lying beside the bathroom sink. Leaning to the side, she tried to see the digital clock on the table beside him. "Three twenty-six. Why?"

"Because it’s that time in California, too."

"So? Do you think I care if your goons don’t get their beauty sleep?"

"You should," he replied grimly, "since they’re the ones taking care of your friend. You don’t want them grumpy."

"You’re their boss. Tell them to play nice."

Briefly he closed his eyes. He said, "Fuck," then opened his eyes again. "If I place the call," he said wearily, "will you lie down and shut up? I don’t care if you sleep or not, just shut up."

"I’ll lie down," she promised. "Whether or not I shut up depends on whether or not you let me have some cover, and whether or not you stop breathing on me. I feel like I’m in some horror movie."

He released her arm and, muttering words under his breath that sounded like "possessed" and "carnivorous" and a couple of other things she couldn’t catch, he grabbed his cell phone off the bedside table and speed-dialed a number. The connection took longer than normal; they’d already been at sea for almost twelve hours so they were hundreds of miles from the coast. The call was probably bouncing off a satellite or two. Finally he said, "Wake up Ms. Hazlett. Redwine wants to talk to her. Yeah, I know what time it is. I’d like to get some sleep, too, but that won’t happen until she talks to Ms. Hazlett. Just put her on, and save the bitching, unless you want to swap places with me." He paused, listening. "Didn’t think so. I figured Bridget had already been in touch." Another pause. He pinched between his eyes. "Yes, she bites. Damn it, put Hazlett on the phone!"

Grimly he put the cell on speaker and handed it to Jenner. She grabbed it and eagerly said, "Syd?"

A male voice, the same male voice she’d talked to earlier, said, "Hold on a minute." She heard muffled sounds, something that sounded like a knock, then a mumble of frightened, confused words that were definitely in Sydney’s voice. Syd didn’t wake as easily as Cael had; Jenner hated hearing the fright, but the sleepy confusion was so like Syd that she had to smile.

"Jenn," Sydney said, sounding panicked. "Are you okay? Has something gone wrong? Have they hurt you?"

"No, I’m fine," Jenner said, and began to cry. She tried not to let the tears sound in her voice, because that would scare Syd even more and she didn’t want to do that. "I was just so worried about you I had to make sure you’re okay."

"I’m okay and you’re okay. Okay." Syd suddenly gave a watery chuckle, as if she, too, were fighting back tears. "That sounded like some dorky self-affirmation course. But this is a good idea. We’ll talk every day, won’t we?"

"Yes, we will." She gave Cael a meaningful glare, and figured that somewhere in California, Syd was doing exactly the same thing to her captor.

"All right, that’s enough," Cael said, taking the phone from her. "Let’s all try to get some sleep now." He closed the phone and replaced it on the bedside table. Reaching down with one brawny arm, he grabbed the blanket and coverlet from the floor and flipped them up on the bed. "There," he growled. Growling seemed to be a habit with him. Maybe he’d been a bear in some former life.

Silently Jenner reached with her left arm, gathering the covers and trying to bunch them all on her side of the bed, then she stretched out and gathered them over her.

Sighing, Cael turned out the lamp and lay down beside her. He pulled the blanket more securely around her, tucking it in. "There. Are you satisfied?"

"My feet are still cold, but I feel better." She added reluctantly, "Thank you for letting me talk to Syd." She definitely felt better. Knowing that Syd was still alive, that her sudden panic had been unfounded, was such a relief that she felt almost limp. Snuggled under the silky sheets and nice warm blanket, she decided not to say anything if he breathed on her again.

She was so tired. Her reaction to the warmth, the relief, hit her like a tidal wave. She actually felt herself being sucked under, into sleep.

Just before she reached oblivion, she felt a pair of large, warm feet being tucked under her cold ones.