Page 17

By the way he moved.

Controlled.

Alert.

His gaze swept across the house, the officers, the beach, and Ward’s men before it found me.

Then he stopped.

Everything inside me pulled toward him.

I made myself walk.

For six steps.

On the seventh, I gave up and ran.

Ben caught me against him.

His arms closed around my body so tightly that my feet almost left the sand. I buried my face against his neck and breathed him in.

Salt.

Wind.

Ben.

“You’re safe,” I whispered.

“I told you I was.”

“You tell me lots of things.”

His chest moved beneath my cheek.

A quiet laugh.

“I’ve noticed you rarely believe them.”

“Only when you use that careful voice.”

“What careful voice?”

“The one you use when you’re trying not to frighten me.”

He leaned back far enough to look at me.

The outside lights revealed exhaustion beneath his eyes. His hair was damp, and the collar of his dark shirt was wrinkled.

But there was no blood.

No injury.

No sign that he had entered Blackwater without backup.

I ran my hands over his shoulders anyway.

He let me.