Page 53 of Half-Light Harbor


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Blunt as ever, Ramsay replied gruffly, “I’m not a relationship type of man, Silver. I like sex and when I need it, I find someone uncomplicated to have sex with.”

Perhaps it was because he couldn’t run from me here, but I found myself answering boldly, “And I’m complicated?”

Ramsay gave a little huff. “Where do I start?”

“Somewhere,” I insisted.

“Fine. One: You live in Leth Sholas. I don’t sleep with women from Glenvulin. Two: You’re a good thirteen years younger than me. I like women who know the score. Three: You’re hiding something that potentially puts the people I care about in danger. Is that complicated enough for you?”

I raised my chin defiantly. “The only person potentially in danger is me, and we both know you couldn’t care less about me.”

“You believe that and yet you want to fuck me?” He quirked an eyebrow.

My skin flushed at his words. Not at the bluntness. But at the imagery they conjured. The thought of his big body moving over mine.Inmine.

“I’m not looking for complicated either,” I whispered, my voice hoarse with need.

Ramsay turned his head from me, and I saw the muscle in his jaw flexing beneath his beard. “Who is threatening you?” he asked the wall.

“Why do you care?”

“Silver.” He flashed me a warning look.

I sighed and shimmied back up the bed and onto one side. “I’m tired. I think I’ll try to sleep through this storm.”

Without another word, I curled up on my side.

17.Tierney

“The blankets are clean.” Ramsay stood and began removing his supplies from the bed. “You can get under it. I’ll take one of the bunks.”

A few minutes later, I’d kicked off my boots and gotten under the blanket. It might have been clean, but it smelled a little damp, like it had been changed a good few weeks before. I curled into a ball on my side and squeezed my eyes closed, trying not to think about how freaking cold it was now that the storm was raging around us.

“It’s blowin’ a hooley out there,” Ramsay muttered, moving around the room.

“What does that mean?”

“Windy,” he replied succinctly. “Will I turn off the lamp?”

My eyes flew open. “No! I mean … please don’t.”

He didn’t respond to that, but he also didn’t turn off the lamp. I closed my eyes and heard creaking as Ramsay got into the lower bunk bed.

I tried to sleep, but my feet were like ice, and I couldn’t rid myself of the chill. Shivering, I curled tighter into a ball, pulling the blanket up around my ears. My teeth chittered.

“You all right over there, Silver?”

I jolted at Ramsay’s question; I thought he’d be long asleep. “I … I c-can’t g-get warm.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Do you want me to sleep in there with you? For body heat?”

The funny thing is, if any other guy had offered to do that, I would have known they were using the situation as an excuse to get in bed with me. Not Ramsay McRae.

I knew he genuinely was only offering his body heat.

“Yes,” I bit out. Pride be damned. I was freezing.

Turning around, I watched him as he unfolded his large body from the small bunk bed and got up. He didn’t hesitate or overthink things. Ramsay pulled back the blanket and slid into the bed.