Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

telling how long she’d actually been in the water, but clearly it had been way too long. He plunged his arms into the icy water and scooped her trembling body up against his. The sting of cold singed his skin.

“Come back to me,” he commanded.

Her teeth rattled behind lips that had lost their soft-pink color. Air rasped fiercely from her lungs and her heart beat way too fast. “Shit, shit, shit. Come on, Thea. Stay with me,” he implored. “Come on, baby.”

Her eyes blankly fixated on things not in this world.

He sat on the tub’s edge, holding her body close to his with one arm and with the other he reached back and jerked his T-shirt over his head. Icy skin branded his chest, but he pressed into the pain, awkwardly trying to get her body flush with his. He dabbed the dry cotton against her, taking care not to abrade her already reddened skin. When the shirt became too wet, he leaned over, grappling for towels to wrap around her back.

“I’ve got you, baby. Stay with me.” He cinched his arms around her, constricting her.

Please, please, please.

He feared standing up from the bathtub’s edge, but needed to get heat packs out of the first-aid kit. Everyone’s body reacted differently to temperature and duration, it was hard to say how serious things were, but for Nik it felt entirely too damn serious. Shifting contact even for a second wasn’t an option he was ready to risk yet.

“Talk to me. Let me know you’re all right.”

Slurred words dripped from Thea’s pale lips. He grasped another towel and cocooned the lower half of her body, tightly wrapping it like a mermaid’s tail. Then tucked her hands in his armpit. But his skin, now frozen from the cold it’d pulled from hers, was useless to heat her anymore. Fuck!

He held back from turning on the hot water and pouring it over her. The shock would be too much. No, he knew exactly what to do and what not to do. He needed to stay calm. He was trained for all manner of survival, but still he railed against being utterly helpless as he waited.

He should’ve cautioned her more, told her not to stay in the icy water for too long. Hell, he’d said the opposite—stay as long as you can stand it. Given her concussion, he should’ve stayed with her. He definitely shouldn’t have served her a double shot of whiskey beforehand. Shit! What had he done to her?

He rearranged Thea’s body against his, pressing her as flush against him as he could. Any exposed skin he covered in dry towels. Checking her pulse again, he found it still rapid, but coming down. “There’s my tough tiger. You’re doing so good. Stay with me.”

He worked to calm his own ragged breathing, hoping her body would sync up to his. Her trembling weakened the tighter he held her, but her lungs still scraped air between her chattering teeth.

“Come on, Tigger, we’re going to go on a little bounce, okay?”

Her chin bobbed, but her eyes remained closed. Maneuvering again, he changed his grip and stood. Gathering her to his chest, he carried her through the living room and kitchen, then down the stairs to his first-aid station. Titan stayed hot on his heels, whimpering and crying.

Without dropping contact, Nik eased Thea on the counter. One hand kept her pressed against him while the other dug through the first-aid shelves, sifting out heat packs. He ripped the packages open with his teeth, then bent them with one hand to activate them before tucking them against the arteries under her arms.

Whether friend or stranger, he normally had no trouble remaining detached and professional while administering treatment. Even with Will as he died. People trusted a firm command over emotional pleas, plus it kept him focused on what needed to get done. But controlling his emotions with Thea was impossible.

Rationally, he believed she’d be fine, but he couldn’t get a grip on the fear of her slipping away from him the way Will had. Her body had been through so much already, it might not be able to withstand more trauma.

“Open your eyes, baby,” he found himself pleading.

He kissed warmth across her forehead, her eyelids. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t have yet another person he cared about leave him. “Please, baby. Let me check your eyes.”

“Nik?” she croaked out under her breath.

He felt a kick in his chest, relief knocking the air back into his lungs. “I’m right here, Thea. I’m not going anywhere.”

He adjusted, tucking her body flush to his, the towels slipping with every maneuver. His body heat, which had fired up carrying her through the house, was far better for her than cotton towels. He’d make do with constantly securing them instead of fully wrapping her. Sliding his hand to her wrist, he checked her pulse again. Her eyes flicked open and soon registered his presence as he inspected them. He let out a slow breath. “There’s my girl.”

Not yours… His brain flashed back to the engagement announcement. The reminder hit him as hard as seeing her slumped in the tub had. The difference between the two—he was only trained to handle the latter.

“Always checking my eyes, you,” she mocked groggily.

Unable to summon any humor, he countered with, “I’ll stop checking your eyes when you stop trying to die on me. Exactly how many of those tiger lives you got left, anyway?”

He scooped her off the counter and carried her into the living room, Titan following close behind. Grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch, he draped her in it, compressing her as tight as he could while lowering himself down to the oversized couch. Positioning her between his legs, he reclined into the armrest and pushed out a calming breath.

At Thea’s squirming, Nik eyed Titan poking her blanket-wrapped feet with his snout. The poor beast looked as terrified as Nik had been. Nik lifted his chin, indicating it was okay for