The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest (e reader for manga TXT) 📕

He shrugged and turned back to the rope, pulling more of the slack out. “Absolutely. Because you’re right—I still owe you and her both for saving Grey. So it’s the very least I can do.”

Gratitude welled up in my heart, and on impulse I crossed the small distance between us and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pressing my front against his back in a surprise hug. He went still, and then his hand came up and patted my forearm.

“You’re welcome, dear. Now go get some rest. From the looks of you, you haven’t gotten any in a while, and today has been a very long day.”

I nodded, and retreated into the main area, looking around for Grey. He was fiddling with his hammock, which was strung in the corner next to the wide windows. I looked up, realized that a second hammock was already strung just a few feet above his, and smiled.

I quickly walked over to him, and he looked up at me as I drew near, a soft smile growing on his face.

“Is Roark okay?” he asked.

“Yes, he just... He didn’t grab a picture of Selka before we left,” I informed him, and he nodded. “Where’s Tian?”

“She helped me hang up your hammock and then said it was bedtime before lashing out of here. I’m guessing there’s some sort of bedtime ritual involved.”

“Probably. So... we’re bunk mates?”

He grinned and ran a hand through his wild hair. I noticed that the skin on his arm was fully healed now, and felt relieved that Roark’s medicine had worked so quickly. “Well, I remember you saying you liked a good view, so—”

The next thing I knew, he was shrugging off his shirt, revealing the bare lines of his chest. My mouth went dry, and I met his eyes, trying to keep my heart from tearing out of my ribcage. He was already smiling, and one eyebrow was arched.

“I didn’t mean me,” he said, stepping aside to reveal the window behind him, and I blushed beet red, embarrassment curling up in my stomach, but never finding a comfortable spot to sit.

Still, I was flattered that he had not only remembered that I liked a nice view, but presented one as well.

A smirk tugged at my lips, and I reluctantly looked away, just shy of being too bold. I directed my eyes toward the window, taking in the river snaking along below, the dark mass of water glinting silver under the faint light of the moon. Even though here, under the Tower, was dark and shadowed, I could just about make out the narrow edge of the horizon, the smooth, flat landscape pale in the light.

“It’s pretty good,” I said approvingly. And not just the window. I looked back at him to find him standing, his eyes fixed on me. He speared me with a look I was beginning to recognize in him, and took a step closer to me.

“You were amazing today,” he said. “Calm and collected, and you fought like a beast.”

My heart sped up. “I didn’t win,” I hurriedly pointed out, trying to deflect some of the breath-stealing intensity he was aiming in my direction. “If Tian hadn’t shown up—”

“It wasn’t just that,” he said. “You were smart, resourceful. You thought quickly and helped get us out of there in one piece. You are impressive.”

Only, in my eyes, none of that was right. I immediately brushed the compliments aside. “You realize it’s my fault that we are even here in the first place, right?” I said, the words tumbling out of me, and Grey frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

My shoulders shifted slightly, trying to relieve some of the discomfort there. “What happened with Silvan is what prompted Gerome to confront us. He wouldn’t have been there if I had just followed your lead during our meeting with Silvan.”

Grey’s eyebrows drew closer together, his frown deepening. He reached out with one hand, slowly, his eyes silently asking me for my permission. I nodded, and then his hand touched the side of my face, cupping my cheek. I felt lightheaded as he pulled me close.

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known any of that would happen,” he said, his other arm coming around my waist. I found myself licking my lips, my gaze locked on his mouth. “And you were brave and quick on your feet in the aftermath of everything. I could never be as level-headed as you.”

His head was dropping down, closer and closer to mine.

“You haven’t seen me cook,” I managed.

He chuckled, and I watched as the angular planes of his face softened, his mouth drawing even closer. “I’m not interested in cooking,” he replied. “But I am interested in you.”

My breath finally gave out, but it didn’t matter—his mouth was on mine, his lips and mouth hungry. A hunger of my own—unlike anything I’d ever felt before—erupted out of me, and I found myself kissing him back, my hands reaching for his bare shoulders and then the back of his neck, holding his head in place as he held mine. His breath hitched, the hand on my waist dropping to my hip. He moved us both backward, until I felt the hard press of the wall behind me.

Grey pinned me between himself and the wall as his kiss intensified, and I burned inside, desperately alone and afraid, and ready to lose myself to this undeniable attraction I felt for him.

“You know,” a feminine voice spoke up, and Grey and I froze, suddenly aware that we weren’t alone. “I was raised that girls and boys shouldn’t kiss before they are married. But I never listened to them on that one. The one thing I did do, however, was wait to make love until I was married. I hope you two will understand if I pull the ‘my house, my rules’ card—or I’ll have to split you up to bunk with Quess and Maddox.”

I shifted over slightly and saw Cali standing a few feet away, a bemused smile