Page 137 of His to Burn

I went over to her again.

“How’s your jaw?” I asked.

I hated to make her speak when it was clearly painful, but needed to know.

“It’s fine. I just bit my tongue,” she said.

“New for you,” Caitlin said.

Asia let out a pathetic-sounding laugh. Everyone else ignored her. I didn’t miss Bridget’s frown of disappointment, either.

“This place still has power and running water,” Miles said.

The others all sighed in relief.

“Miles, Elliot, let them get cleaned up. You take first watch,” I said.

“And what will you be doing?” Caitlin asked.

I ignored her and led Asia to the other cabin. This one was smaller, with two bedrooms. I went to the room with the bath attached. The tub, which was huge, also lookedrelatively clean. I turned on the water and started undressing Asia.

“Umm, Jackson? Are you trying to get me naked?” She tried to laugh, but the hollow, pained sound only underscored her discomfort.

“Not trying, doing. Can’t have you falling asleep, and I think a nice, cold bath is just the thing,” I said as I continued to work on her clothes.

“But, Jack, I?—”

I cut her off. “Stop talking and get in the tub.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Jackson Thorne.” She tried to smile but ended up grimacing.

I ignored the kick in my chest at the sight of her pain and guided her into the tub.

“This is fucking freezing,” she yelped.

It was the first time she had sounded like herself.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said.

Some of the weight that lodged in my chest eased up. But the anger was still there and flared back at twice the intensity every time I looked at her face.

“Thank you,” Asia said quietly later.

She sat in the tub long enough until she got used to the temperature.

“I told you not to ever say those words to me,” I said.

“And I told you you’re not the boss of me,” she said. “So thank you.”

I didn’t argue, but when she reached out and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze, I didn’t pull away.

I held on tighter.

Just to be sure.

THIRTY-TWO

Asia