Page 54

Outside, the storm keeps raging, but somehow the cabin feels smaller now.

Closer.

Safer.

Rhett leans back against the headboard eventually, one arm resting loosely beside me while the rifle stays within easy reach on the nightstand.

“You should try to sleep,” he says.

I stare at him like he’s insane. “While someone’s outside?”

“I’m awake.”

The answer comes so simply.

So certainly.

Like that settles everything.

And the worst part?

It kind of does.

I hesitate for another second before finally shifting closer beneath the blankets. Slowly. Carefully.

Rhett’s body goes still again as I settle against his side, my head resting cautiously against his chest.

I fully expect him to tense.

Instead, his arm comes around me automatically.

Protective.

Possessive.

Instinctive.

The steady weight of it loosens something deep inside me I didn’t realize I was holding together so tightly.

“There you go,” he murmurs quietly.

His heartbeat stays slow and even beneath my cheek.

Outside, footsteps circle the cabin one last time before fading deeper into the storm.

But inside?

Inside I’m wrapped around a dangerous man with scars on his hands and violence in his bones, and somehow this is the safest I’ve felt in weeks.

Maybe ever.

My eyes drift shut slowly despite myself.

“You staying awake all night?” I murmur sleepily.

“Yeah.”

“That’s stupid.”