Chapter 162

She could feel the beat of his heart against her cheek through his black button-down shirt. She was enveloped in his masculine scent, sandalwood and amber, exotic and woodsy. Against her will, she closed her eyes. She breathed in his smell, heard the beat of his heart, and felt his warmth.

Everything else faded. The private hospital room, the nurses and doctor visible through the window of the door, the sound of one of Thomas’s men speaking urgently into his cell phone in some language she didn’t recognise, the antiseptic smell, the beeps of the machines—it all faded.

There was only this.

Only him.

Held securely in his strong arms for the first time since her accident, she felt safe and loved. She felt as if she had a place in the world. With him.

He kissed her hair softly. She felt the warmth of his breath and the hot caress of his lips, and a tremble went over her. Fear? Longing?

Did he love her?

She reached upward, cupping his rough jawline with her hands. Though his clothes were s