As soon as Stephan finished speaking, Felicia felt a sharp smack on her backside.
It wasn’t yful. It had real torce behind it.
She yelped, jumping up in pain. She nearly lost her bnce on the massive boulder. Before she could tumble off, Stephan quickly caught her.
Fuming. Felicia snapped, “Fine! Don’t marry me, then! Who cares about marrying you anyway? And now, you’re even hitting me!”
Stephan’s expression darkened. His arm was still around her waist as he fixed her with an intense gaze, his usually charming eyes devoid of warmth. His deep, maic veke carried a hint of coarseness as he enunciated each syble of her name, “Felicia!”
He added, “You sure are brave, huh? Wandering alone through the rainforest at night? Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you?” Beneath his angry toney an unmistakable undercurrent of fear,
sped from a cliff over
When he saw her nearly entangled in the python’s deadly coil earlier, his heart had all but stopped. Without a second thought, he leaped 60 feet high. The palms of his hands had nearly caught fire from the friction against the jagged rocks as he scrambled to reach her in time His fury was palpable, his expression terrifyingly grim
Felicia was equally pissed, retorting without a <b>second </b>thought, “And why did Ie here in the first ce? <b>It’s </b>because I was worried about you! Your men said you were seriously injured and missing I was afraid that something might happen to you, so I ran over here without thinking!
“I haven’t had a proper meal or a good night’s sleep, and my feet are covered in blisters from walking non–stop! I’m exhausted! Instead of being grateful you’re scolding me and hitting me?”
Her voice cracked as she spoke. Her frustration surfaced, and along <b>with </b>it was perhaps a touch of grievance. For some reason, her nose tingled, and her eyes began watering
She red at Stephan and then turned to leave, only to stop short. The boulder was too high to jump down from safely, and below themy the python’s corpse. There was no way down
Hearing her words, Stephan felt his frustration melt away. His anger had never truly been directed at her. It was the thought of her risking her life that
had let him shaken
She had knowingly put herself in danger, all for his sake.
Leming our a soft sigh, he extended his hand toward her. “Does it still hurt?”
With an audible smack, Felicia pped his hand away. Her re was sharp and piercing, tinged with <b>some </b>frustration. “Idiot! Where do you think were touching?”
assage it for you”
<b>“</b><b>I </b>was going to massage
She was speechless, on the verge <b>of </bughing from her exasperation. He hit her, then offered <b>to </b>soothe it. Did he not know what basic respect was?
After having his hand pped away, Stephan retracted his hand and casually stuffed it into the pocket of his jacket. The movement <b>was </b>unremarkable, but Felicia noticed something was off. novelbin
“What’s <b>wrong </b>with your hand?”
“Nothing<b>” </b>
“Take it out. Let me <b>see </b>
“What for? Do you want me to massage your backside now?” Stephan’s lips curved Into <b>a </b>faint, teasing smirk as his eyes gleamed mischievously. “I man, I wouldn’t mind ”
He sure knew how to dream!
Felicia turned her head away, Ignoring hlin
But just as Stephan chuckled softly and let down his guard, Felicia suddenly grabbed his hands from his pockets.
When she saw made her eyes narrow in shock.
“Bloodied and mangled couldn’t begin to describe the
e state of his hands. Flesh and skin had been to away in several ces<b>, </b>leaving raw, exposed
<b>wounds</b>. Two fingemails had peeled backpletely. The jutes were fresh, clearly inflicted just before he had appeared.
Felicia’s p
paze darted toward the clit. She realized it was a sheer<b>, </b>rocky surface over do feet high. And Stephan had descended it without any climbing tools<b>, </b>sliding down with nothing but his hands to brace himself.
He had literally for his hands to shreds just to reach her in time, and now, he was trying to hide them from her!