Listed: Volume IV Read Online Free PDF Page B

father had been dead for two years.
    She
clung to Paul blindly, trying to climb out of the water so she could get even
closer to him. “Paul,” she gasped, incapable of saying any other word.
    He
held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe, and he buried his face in her wet
hair. “I’ve got you, baby,” he rasped, as if his voice was too strained to use.
“I’ve got you.”
    It
wasn’t until Amy spoke that Emily realized she and Paul weren’t alone. “I think
her fever has finally broken,” the nurse said with a calm, matter-of-fact tone
that was like a balm on all the frantic urgency. “If you’re able, Mr. Marino,
it might be a good idea to dry her off and get her back to bed. We don’t want
her to get chilled.”
    Emily
was wet and naked, and Paul was just as wet, although he still had on his
clothes.
    She
realized that Amy must be right. Her body wasn’t aching the way it had been.
She wasn’t scorching with heat. She was actually a little chilly in the cool of
the room. She couldn’t seem to let Paul go, though—not even to dry off and get
back under the covers.
    Since
she wouldn’t let go of him, Paul ended up carrying her back into the bedroom.
He released her just long enough to help her into the clean pajamas that Amy
had retrieved. Then he pulled off his soaked t-shirt. His trousers were damp
too, but Emily didn’t care.
    She
huddled against his warm, hard body, dragging him into the bed with her. Her
teeth were starting to chatter, but she nestled against his heat. He pulled the
covers up over both of them.
    He
held her just as tightly as she wanted, and he was still holding her a few
minutes later when she fell into an exhausted sleep.
    *
* *
    Things had changed when
she woke up. She could see from the edges of the window coverings that it was
nighttime. The sheets on the bed seemed to have been changed again, since they
were clean, crisp, and cool. Her body felt weak and drained but blissfully
without heat or pain. And Paul had changed clothes—he was now wearing a t-shirt
and pajama pants.
    He
was also sound asleep.
    But
he was still holding her against him, her body pressed up against his side and
her cheek pressing against his chest.
    She
felt absolutely wonderful, exulting in the relief from fever, achiness, and
delirium. Something was deliciously satisfying about the way Paul was asleep
beside her—that he’d lowered his guard, relaxed, let go.
    But
she was curious enough to make the effort to raise her head and look at the
clock.
    It
was just after three-thirty in the morning. She had no idea what day it was.
    Her
slight stirring must have woken Paul. He shifted beside her and, when she
looked down, his eyes were opened.
    “Are
you all right?” he asked thickly, his eyes still groggy from sleep.
    “Yeah,”
she murmured with a tender smile, emotion rising up without restraint in her
chest. “I’m better.”
    He
returned her smile and pulled her into a soft hug, and she adjusted until she
was comfortable in his arms.
    “How
long was I sick?” she mumbled.
    “Two
days.”
    “Oh.
It felt like longer.”
    “Tell
me about it.”
    Something
about the dryness in his voice touched her, and she squeezed him hard with a
sudden overflow of feeling.
    “So
we can still go camping?”
    “Of
course. You can take it easy today and, if you’re recovered, we’ll leave
tomorrow.”
    She
let out a sigh. “Sounds good. Didn’t want to waste all my wonderful birthday
presents.”
    Paul
gave a huff of soft laughter.
    She
settled against him happily, looking forward to going to sleep again.
    It
wasn't long before she did.
    *
* *
    Paul was in a really
bad mood.
    Emily
had never seen him in this kind of mood before. He’d been angry with her. He’d
been withdrawn. He’d been frustrated and impatient. But she’d never seen him
just generally grumpy for no apparent reason.
    The
closest she’d seen him like this was that day in Egypt when he’d been annoyed
by their guide, Akil, and then