Winters Heat (Titan) Read Online Free PDF

steel-toed boot. She sat stock-still on the bed, palms flat against the floral comforter, ankles locked, knees pinched together. Her face was paler than when he left her. Now that her adrenaline had worn off, it looked like shock wanted to take its place.
    Shit. Shock . Something else he didn’t want to handle.
    He trained one eye on her and fashioned an ice pack from a bathroom towel, then moved close to the bed to examine her cheek and lips. Vacant eyes stared to the blank wall in front of her.
    As gentle as he could manage, he turned her face upward for an inspection. Mia’s skin was velvety but bruised and scratched. Broken and damaged. Winters pressed the makeshift ice pack against her cheek with his softest touch. Soft wasn’t his thing, but she didn’t flinch. Maybe he did okay.
    “You doing all right?” He tried to replace his normal edge with tone to show he wasn’t the enemy. He needed her to know that for tactical purposes. She was an asset. Something he needed to take care of. If she was pleasant to look at, well, that was a bonus.
    Her shoulders pinched up in a stiff shrug, and she snatched the ice pack from him. Her gaze flicked to him, then away. And again, she flashed her eyes to him and stole them away. For a brief moment, they weren’t numb or exhausted. They were… beautiful.
    That flash of prettiness tore at his insides. His blood ran cold just as fast as he felt white-hot. Sweat dampened the back of his neck. He worked to keep his palms from sweating and rubbed them up and down his pant legs. It was as unfamiliar a feeling if there ever was one.
    Someone so striking shouldn’t be so scared. Was she deteriorating? Falling apart in his care? A valid concern given her borderline-catatonic state, but that wasn’t the basis for the twists within his stomach. He swallowed against the lump in his throat.
    “Mia, are you okay?” He drew out his words, enunciating each syllable, trying to attract her attention. Her distance worried him. She repositioned the ice pack and crawled toward the headboard.
    “I need to lie down for a second.” She dropped her head onto a pillow.
    The detachment in her request made his heart drop. It wasn’t right. The cruel world dumped on Mia today. She never saw it coming, and he hadn’t made it much better. Did he have to throw her over his shoulders? Couldn’t he have subdued the men without blasting tear gas?
    She peered from the pillow and gauged him. A slow bulge crawled down her throat, the tension visible from across the room.
    The military might have trained him how to survive if captured alive by the enemy, but nothing prepared him for her unblinking hesitation.
    “You’re not my type, and this room is safe. Just get some rest.”
    She nodded. Her eyes fluttered, long lashes drooping heavy. They locked onto him, then sealed shut. She was out. His anxiety washed away now that she rested, lessening his concerns a degree. He must need sleep as much as she did.
    ***
    The room was much darker with the setting sun and only a desk lamp was on when she stirred. Hours passed since Mia collapsed against the motel room bed, and she didn’t alert him when she awoke. But he knew. Her slight body shifted and tensed under the blanket he’d thrown over her. The even beat of her breathing hitched and reverberated in his ears. Silence thundered. Did she worry—or worse, was she scared—because he was in the room?
    “Sleep okay?” Stupid question. His thumbs drummed on the table. He’d been watching her for hours except the minutes he ran out for provisions. But even then, he could see her in the back of his mind. The imprint of her bruised body tortured him.
    She cleared her throat. “How long have I been out?”
    “A while. I grabbed some food. Got you a few things from the store across the street if you want something clean to wear. Like sweatshirts and stuff.”
    Playing the gentleman card sounded like a solid plan earlier, now it felt fake and foolish. Normal