His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series by Sandra Antoni (top rated ebook readers .TXT) 📕

“Thank you. I feel like I’m constantly saying that to you, but I do mean it. This is amazing,” I told him, pointing down at my plate. He laughed.

“You must be too hungry to know any better,” he replied, and I giggled. It just came out. So, it wasn’t prime rib, but it was still good.

“What are we doing today?” I asked him, not really caring what we did as long as I got to do it with him.

“It’s a surprise,” he replied with a wink. I grinned up at him.

“I like surprises,” I told him, and he laughed again. It was a sound that I loved hearing. When we were finished eating, he took my plate and stacked it on his.

“You get dressed, and I’ll be waiting,” he said as he stood from the bed.

He walked out the door, and I walked to my backpack and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then it hit me. I had just walked across the room. There was no pain in my ankle, not even a twinge. I headed into the bathroom and brushed my teeth and hair, then quickly dressed. When I was finished, I headed out of the bedroom to find Zeke.

I found him sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open in front of him. He was probably working, and I suddenly felt bad that I had taken him away from his work the last three days. He had been with me the whole time and his attention had been on me, so I knew he had not done any work.

He was probably getting behind, and that was my fault. I had literally fallen into his life. Like fallen down the side of a mountain. When he looked up and saw me standing in the kitchen entrance, he waved me over. Then he pushed his chair back away from the table.

When I was close enough, he reached for my hand and pulled me between his legs. Then he leaned his head against my chest and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. It felt like he was just breathing me in. My hands went into his hair. I loved to run my fingers through the silky strands.

“Zeke, do you need to work?” I asked him in a hesitant voice. “I mean, you can’t really just take two weeks off work, can you?” I added. He looked up at me with a lazy smile.

“I will have to do some work while you are here, but not today. I was just checking in to see what we have going on, but I am not needed right now. It’s the advantage of being the boss,” he explained. Then he pulled me down across his lap and nuzzled into my neck. I sighed in contentment.

“Are you ready for another adventure?” he asked when he leaned back. I could not control my excitement and nodded, a smile spreading across my face.

“Zeke,” I said suddenly. He watched me intently and waited for me to continued. “I don’t need the crutches anymore,” I told him, knowing that this would surprise him.

His face turned serious as he studied me, and I wondered what he was thinking. Sure, I had a crazy and unnatural way of healing quickly, but I had always been this way. Honestly, I was surprised that my ankle was already healed. It had been a bad sprain and so much pain, but it was gone now.

“Let me take a look,” he said, setting me on my feet and standing from the chair.

Before I knew what had happened, I was seated in the chair and Zeke was on his knees in front of me. He lifted my foot and examined my ankle closely. Then he watched my face as his fingers probed every inch. My eyes locked with his and I didn’t so much as flinch.

He lowered my foot to the floor, but his eyes were still locked on mine. The ankle had been swollen and bruised, but bruises had always healed quickly for me. It was just the way that my body worked. The silence around us became deafening, and I felt like I needed to say something, but he spoke first.

“Do you always heal this quickly?” he asked me, and I nodded.

“Bruises usually don’t last very long. In third grade, I fractured my wrist. The doctor wanted me in a hard cast, but my parents didn’t let him. So, I left with a brace and a sling. A few days later, my parents let me take the brace off. It didn’t hurt anymore. When we went back to the orthopedist six weeks later, he said the bone had healed just fine,” I told him.

“So, your parents know that you heal quickly?” he asked me, and I nodded again. “Okay, well, I just have one more call to make. If you want to go grab some shoes, we can be on our way,” he said next, and I headed back into the bedroom.

Chapter 12

Ezekiel

Today, I was taking Chelsea to Sabino Canyon. It was one of the places she had said that she wanted to visit. They had a tram tour, and I had already made reservations for us. Of course, that was before I realized that her ankle was completely healed.

I made a mental note to bring her back later and hike to Seven Falls. She would love seeing that. Looks like she would get to do some more hiking while she was here after all, although, I still wanted to make sure that she took it easy for a few more days.

The tram was two connected trolleys with bench seats. The tour guide would give us an informative tour, so Chelsea would get to learn a lot about the area. She was excited as we slid into our seat. Luckily, the tram was not full, and we had the seat to ourselves.

I kept her hand tucked in mine